Archive for January, 2009

Odds and Ends: Posting from the Road

Wednesday, January 28th, 2009

I escaped the snow of Cincinnati this week to join an agency event down in sunny Buenos Aires. The meeting is a gathering of the WPP agencies in South America that work with Procter & Gamble. We are sharing our work and discussing how we can better meet the needs of this important client. I was invited to share our work on this Marketing with Meaning platform, as well as help advise the group on digital marketing. While it is interesting to see several presentations, the biggest benefit is to actually get face-to-face feedback and build personal relationships that will drive mutual success.

Unfortunately, I’ve got less time for a carefully crafted blog post here, but I wanted to take some time to share a few interesting and relevant news items that I’ve been collecting over the past week. Enjoy!

You Touch It, You Buy It

I discovered a study this week that showed that people who touched an object were significantly more likely to purchase it, and pay more for it. It seems that physical contact with a product leads people to begin to picture how it fits into their lives and they develop an attachment for it. This is another reason why product sampling or car test drives work very well. At the same time, I’m a little concerned that the “meaning” in this case is artificially created-in other words, too manipulative.

More Meaning at the Airport

Krista Neher shares some meaningful marketing that she discovered on the road recently on her blog. I specifically love the Little Tikes branded play area in the Cleveland airport. Anyone who has traveled with children and experienced a long flight delay will agree that these play areas are lifesavers. Like Samsung’s recharging centers, Little Tikes is solving a problem, but it goes farther by actually allowing kids and parents to experience its products directly.

Infomercials Work

I’ve written very often in this space about the decline in relevance of television commercials. But I have to admit that they still work incredibly well for some products and services. In fact, you might be surprised that the most successful commercials are… infomercials. About six years ago I spent a lot of time understanding infomercials as I was launching new products. In developing some of these ads myself, I found that they tend to score very high in copy tests. The reason? People are genuinely interested in new products, and will stay tuned to see what they are about.

Products such as OxiClean, the Pasta Pot, and now the Snuggi all succeeded through extensive demonstration and a straight-up product pitch. Infomercial products are also interesting in that they are directly linked to sales. Media is bought and adjusted based on responses and orders, and companies will keep buying media as long as they make a profit. In other words, if you keep seeing the same infomercial, it means the product is selling well. The true winners eventually show up in traditional retailers such as Walmart, which, in turn, unlocks demand from millions of people who have seen the ads, but were uncomfortable placing a direct order. Expect to see a lot more infomercials in the months ahead, as big advertisers cut back.

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Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments »

Burger King Strikes Gold Again

Thursday, January 22nd, 2009

In our upcoming book version of Marketing with Meaning, one of the companies that I feature early is Burger King. Since its acquisition in 2002, Burger King has reinvented itself as an entertainment brand that appeals deeply to young men, while making many of the rest of us smile as well. From reinventing the King character to producing branded Xbox games and branded boxers (my 8-year-old daughter just looked over my shoulder and added that one) to playing the Whopper Freakout prank, Burger King continues to parade new ways for us to be entertained and to form meaningful connections with the brand.

The latest chapter in its story is the launch of the Whopper Sacrifice Facebook tool, in support of its limited-time Angry Whopper. The premise was pretty simple: “Unfriend” 10 people on your Facebook account, and Burger King promised to send you a coupon for a free Whopper (a $3.99 value). The application and offer launched on January 5, and news stories claimed that more than 200,000 people had been unfriended successfully within a week.

I discovered the application on January 8—and I’m a little embarrassed to say that I successfully did the deeds necessary to receive a free coupon. Little did I know that I would be one of the last to cash in on friendship. Facebook quickly stepped in and claimed that Burger King should disable the feature that showed others which friends had been sacrificed. Burger King decided to pull the plug but not before another big burst of media attention came to the promotion.

Overall, this had to be a huge win for Burger King: two bursts of media coverage, lots of social network activity, and traffic to stores from people eager to cash in their coupons. The cost had to be tiny: Facebook applications are fairly low cost (even for a nice one such as BK’s), and I would estimate about 20,000 coupons were sent, of which maybe 10,000 will be redeemed. That’s probably in the ballpark of $150,000 all-in, a fraction of what a large weekend TV media buy would be.

On a side note, I was extremely impressed that Burger King sent the coupon to my home exactly a week after I finished sacrificing. Most brands promise coupons in six to eight weeks, and don’t get me started on Dr Pepper’s goof-up.

But is it meaningful to consumers? Of course it is! Tens of thousands of people chose to engage in the tool, and they didn’t have to purchase anything to enjoy it. The coupon and opportunity to clean out some Facebook dead weight are extra benefits. There likely is some net negative karma around the friends who are dropped, but that’s life, and we have a handful of Facebook friends who don’t need to see what’s going on in our lives. This even might start a real conversation and some social norms about what kind of Facebook relationships are legitimate. Oh, and Burger King is capitalizing on its bad karma with the opportunity to send an “Angry Gram” to those who de-friended you.

I cannot wait to see what comes next from Burger King. Odds are that it will break the rules, surprise us all, and be worth talking about at the watercooler each day. You can’t say the same thing for McDonald’s.

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Posted in Connection, Entertainment | 6 Comments »

Another Vote for Marketing with Meaning

Tuesday, January 20th, 2009

Marketing with Meaning seems to be catching on in the early days of 2009. A little more than a week ago, the strategy team at Razorfish promoted the use of the word “meaning” to describe the act of brands acting to do something valuable with their marketing. This week I discovered Tim Leberecht’s blog iPlot, where he, too, is on the Marketing with Meaning bandwagon.

Tim is VP of Marketing and Communications at frog design in San Francisco. In what seems like a relatively new positioning, the firm states its purpose is to “help create and bring to market meaningful products, services, and experiences.” It’s a positioning that makes sense, as great design depends on digging deep into people’s needs, and then creating products that surprise and delight them. The firm works with clients ranging from HP to Victoria’s Secret.

Although frog shares only a handful of marketing-related examples, on January 1, Tim began posting about examples of companies that are pursuing Marketing with Meaning. He begins with a post about how business leaders should become Chief Meaning Officers. Later posts feature an anti-God campaign by pro-atheists in the UK (very gutsy post!), and a new cause marketing effort by Starbucks. Tim even works to lay out some structure for one way of organizing types of meaningful marketing.

I’m very glad to see another organization and individual promoting the idea of meaningful marketing, which adds another voice to the choir and increases the odds of the concept taking hold. However, I wish that Tim had at least acknowledged the work that we’ve been doing here for nearly a year. Even a cursory Google search of “marketing with meaning” would show that we’ve made nearly a hundred posts and have spawned a Twitter stream, plus LinkedIn and Facebook groups. Perhaps a trackback here will convince Tim to join the conversation we’ve started.

Either way, it’s good to have multiple viewpoints supporting a similar overall approach. I’ll keep watching his blog to see how another group makes the concept its own.

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Posted in Coverage | 2 Comments »

The Year of… Equity Campaigns?

Thursday, January 15th, 2009

It’s 12:18 a.m. as I write this. I’ve been continuing work since putting the kids down for bed at 8 p.m. But something is keeping me awake—marketing WITHOUT meaning. It will keep me up even later if I don’t address it now!

In the past few days, I have run across several examples of big, powerful brands that are attempting to correct falling sales by simply launching a new TV campaign. All are losing opportunities to actually do something for people, rather than simply talking about themselves (see last Friday’s post for a good review of “do”). The script is usually the same: Sales are down; CMO and ad agency are fired; new ones are hired, and they need to recast the brand in a more relevant light. Solution: a brand-new ad campaign (preferably with celebrities) and a few hundred million to put it on air (preferably during the Super Bowl).

Gatorade first caught my eye with its “What’s G?” ads. A series of black-and-white commercials with voice-over of rapper Lil Wayne scrolls past a who’s who of celebrity athletes. I captured a screen grab above of some other individuals who make an appearance in the ads.

Most people who view the “What’s G?” ads are saying, “What the heck?” Viewers debate on Web forums that it might be for Nike, Guess Jeans, or… God. Some even thought it was the next Saturday Night Live digital short (that’s never good). The brand actually says the mystery was planned. According to spokeswoman Jill Kinney, “Our strategy is to create consumer intrigue and insure everyone stays tuned for more in our quest for G.”

Unfortunately, most viewers have tuned out. Number of YouTube views is the closest thing we have to a measure of a video or commercial’s popularity. It’s a good way to measure meaningful marketing—if people like something, they will choose to engage with it and share it with friends, who will view it in turn. The brand’s YouTube page shows a total of around 180,000 total views across its six posted commercials since its launch on December 23. That’s not exactly a home run.

For comparison, we just announced today that our Working Lunch live improv program for Healthy Choice has gotten 2 million video plays in only three weeks. I can guarantee our budget was a fraction of Gatorade’s! The main difference? Our program actually delivers value—it’s an entertaining program that allows the audience to play a role—while Gatorade is just talking at its audience as usual.

Gatorade is certainly not the only one using this cliche marketing playbook. Microsoft infamously launched its Bill Gates + Jerry Seinfeld “ad about nothing” over the summer thanks to Crispin Porter + Bogusky (who I usually praise here). Honda has hired celebrities to talk about “The Power of Dreams” in long-form ads that are appearing before short videos on ABC.com and Hulu. And Coca-Cola will unveil its new slogan, Open Happiness, with feel-good Super Bowl ads in two weeks.

Let’s compare these to other, smaller brands that have succeeded with something different. Red Bull has gained on Coke and Gatorade by launching events around the world. Scion became the best-selling new car brand by hosting invitation-only underground art shows. Google has never advertised on television; it just keeps pumping out valuable services.

Look, TV still remains the largest stage to get in front of consumers, and each of these brands certainly sells a “mass” audience. But I’m disappointed that none of them is trying anything truly meaningful. I predict that none of these campaigns will make a significant difference in the equity or sales of the brands that launch them.

A new TV campaign is the old success formula and definitely the path of least resistance, but the only kind of marketing that will drive breakthrough results is that which people choose to engage with—and that which itself adds value to people’s lives.

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Posted in Marketing Without Meaning, Television | 2 Comments »

Saved by Hyundai

Tuesday, January 13th, 2009

A few weeks ago I wrote one of our most visited posts about the lameness of Toyota’s “Saved by Zero” television advertising campaign. Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past three months, you’ve got to recall Toyota’s annoying use of The Fixx’s song and the promise of 0% interest rates. Some of you might have even joined the Facebook protest of this campaign, which now, thankfully, seems off the air.  According to Toyota’s spokesperson, the purpose of the campaign was to remind people that loans were still to be had (at great rates) in these troubled economic times.

But today one of our Search gurus, Ian “Trey” Dahlman, pinged me to let me know that Hyundai was doing something remarkably different. It seems the brand has launched the “Hyundai Assurance Guarantee.” The straightforward program promises to let people return their cars if they lose their jobs. That’s right, “if you cannot make a payment because of a covered life-changing event, we’ll allow you to return your vehicle and walk away from your loan obligation-and in most cases we will cover most, if not all of the difference.”

It’s a pretty dramatic offer, which is very meaningful coming at a time of dramatic economic risk. Hyundai realizes the main dynamic in the auto industry today-that people are holding off on making purchases because they are afraid of what will happen next. The reality is that a lot of these people do need new wheels, and most will retain employment. Hyundai’s downside is relatively small, while the upside is a strong differentiation in the marketplace and the chance to close some sales.

Hyundai’s killer idea obviously comes from honing in on understanding the needs of its target customer, and figuring out what its marketing could do to address the issue. And in this case, it didn’t take months of focus groups or $300,000 omnibus studies-but rather some old-fashioned common sense and human understanding.

Early proof of the meaning and effectiveness of this promotion is seen in the (free) news coverage it has already spawned. A quick Google news search shows several stories from media both small and large.  This free advertising means that Hyundai’s campaign will be even more successful. The only news coverage of Toyota’s “Saved by Zero” campaign was that of its annoyance factor.

According to Hyundai, the campaign is already driving positive business results. The company says it has gotten hundreds of phone calls to inquire about the offer, and showroom traffic is up considerably.

Long-term, Hyundai could reap some great brand equity builds out of a campaign like this-first, with buyers who feel that the company is looking out for them. Even those not in the market who are simply exposed to the message likely forge a more positive opinion of the brand.

I’ll keep an eye on the brand’s progress and track results over time. This should be an interesting case to watch!

UPDATE: Jonah Bloom, Advertising Age Editor has a nice article on the program, which ended up featuring it in a SuperBowl spot on February 1.

UPDATE 2: Here’s an article about other companies in other categories that are similarly aiding people who are out of work.  And, through March, not a single car buyer has returned a car!

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Posted in Solution | 4 Comments »

“Brands Do” in 2009

Friday, January 9th, 2009

‘Tis still the season of predictions of what will happen in the year 2009 in business and marketing. Some say it will be the year of everything from modest to mobile to mob rule. But I’m glad at least one major organization agrees that 2009 will be the year of Marketing with Meaning.

In a recent blog post, Malia Supe and Garrick Schmidtt from interactive ad agency Razorfish (full disclosure: a competitor of ours) write that marketers “need to find meaningful ways for their brands to participate, as well-but not in the traditional manner of pushing tired old messages at consumers. No, today, brands need to build strength through action.”

Naturally, I’m thrilled that Supe and Schmidtt align on the use of the word “meaningful” to describe the concept that we are dedicated to promoting. We sometimes find that the word only conjures elements of cause marketing-which, while important, is only one of many ways that brands can deliver value to people’s lives. It is a word that has much more soul than rival expressions such as “branded utility.” And I believe “meaning” is superior to “marketing as service” because it suggests that there is a progression-i.e., brands can do more by reaching people in an increasingly meaningful way.

I also like that the gang at Razorfish is promoting the idea that meaningful marketing is “active.” In their words, brands must “do” something. Instead of talking at their audience with interruptive advertising-say, telling people that they are a great brand-today’s consumer demands that brands actually prove it. This speaks to our idea that while great products and services are the baseline for success, the marketing itself must add value to people’s lives. Razorfish’s President, Clark Kokich, made a similar comment when I spoke with him at an industry event a few months ago.

Like we at Bridge Worldwide, the employees at Razorfish appear to agree that “our goal then, as a digital agency, is to help create real, tangible expressions of our clients’ brands and make them meaningful to consumers.”  Like us, they realize that digital marketing is the first medium that really depends entirely on meaningful marketing to succeed. We can’t force people to visit our websites, download our widgets, or subscribe to our emails. Digital agencies like ours have always had to earn consumers’ attention by creating value. No wonder that digital agencies such as Bridge Worldwide, The Barbarian Group, Razorfish, and Renegade are leading the way in this revolution.

I am excited that 2009 is the year we will be in market with our book around Marketing with Meaning. I hope it generates more mass discussion of this important topic, and encourages others to rally around a committment to this new way of thinking-and acting.

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Posted in Agency Marketing, book | 5 Comments »

Keeping Us Safe, Making a Sale

Thursday, January 8th, 2009

The week before I left for vacation I was in L.A., one of the only cities where I end up renting a car rather than sticking with taxis or a car service. Hertz upgraded me to a styling Ford Mustang, which I must say has been upgraded significantly since my first car, a 1988 model. As I got into the driver’s seat there was some kind of advertising hanging from the rearview mirror. Out of instinct I ripped it off and tossed it into the passenger seat. Lucky for me I stopped, thought twice, and took a look at this marketing piece. I might have missed a message that kept me legal and makes another great example of Marketing with Meaning.

I learned from the RadioShack marketing piece (scanned above) that California recently passed a law that drivers must use hands-free systems if they wish to use their mobile phones while driving. I didn’t know this and surely would have spent many of the hours I sat in traffic on the phone with coworkers and clients.  Of course, there is probably a low chance of being busted, but I would rather comply with local laws.

Aside from advising me of this law, RadioShack’s ad offered 20 percent off a Plantronics brand headset, and listed some of the nearest store locations. It would have been a breeze to punch an address into my Hertz Neverlost system.

I believe this advertising tactic passes the two tests for Marketing with Meaning: First, it is pretty clearly something one can choose to engage with or not. Although it was stuck on my mirror it didn’t prevent me from starting up the car, and I could easily toss it in the backseat. Second, the marketing itself added value, whether I purchased something or not. It informed me of the local law and possibily prevented me from paying a steep fine.

Although I don’t have data, I would expect that this program could perform well for RadioShack. The company is able to reach potential customers when and where it is most relevant. The store address list and 20 percent discount help push people to close the sale. And the unique UPC on the piece will even allow the company to track its effectiveness and return on investment.

Hertz also gets some credit and business benefit from this effort. It gets a share of the credit for keeping its customers out of trouble, and likely collects a fee from RadioShack for the advertising opportunity.

RadioShack as a company is on somewhat uneven ground. The company has been boxed out by big-box retailers such as Best Buy and Walmart, and it is suffering from decreasing mall traffic. But 2008 sales and profits were up, and it has carved out a unique niche with specialty electronics products and nearby locations. I think if the company continues to shift its marketing to more efforts like this, the company could find itself in a leadership position once again.

(BTW, is that Denise Richards on the right?)

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Posted in Solution | No Comments »

Nice Follow-up By Netflix

Tuesday, January 6th, 2009

I hope everyone is having a great start to 2009. I spent much of the past two weeks finishing the first draft of our Marketing with Meaning book. It took a ton of time and we still have some work to do in editing, of course, but it’s a huge step and I’m extremely excited about how it reads so far!

Aside from working on the book over the holidays, I got a chance to play around with a few grown-up toys.  I spent a little time with the new Xbox 360 interface and specifically with the new Netflix viewing service that it added. I have been interested in testing the Netflix service since I heard it was coming several months ago. I have been an active Netflix user, and it seemed smart to allow members to download movies direct rather than waiting a few days for a DVD to arrive in the mail.

I tried out the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie, At World’s End, which I have been waiting to see for some time. Unfortunately, the experience was way below par. The movie started easily enough, and it was nice to play it immediately like a pay-per-view movie. But as the movie began to play, the quality was horrible. On my 50″ HDTV it looked like a low-quality YouTube video. I turned it off after a few minutes, highly disappointed.

The next day, however, I got an email from Netflix that specifically asked my opinion of the quality of the picture (see screen grab above). I was very pleasantly surprised to see the company notice that I had tried the service for the first time, and that it followed up proactively on an issue that obviously was experienced by other customers. As a Netflix member, I’m disappointed with the service and likely won’t try it again for some time, but I actually feel more positive about the brand itself.

On another level, it is remarkable to me that this kind of service quality is so remarkable. It is routine for restaurant servers to come back and ask how your meal tastes, so why doesn’t every other service brand do the same? It is even easier in digital businesses, where a quick email like this can be programmed to go to millions automatically.

It reminds me of my friend Pete Blackshaw’s quote that “customer service is the new marketing department.”  If that is the case, proactively asking for feedback is another great example of Marketing with Meaning.

(P.S. Check out this investor presentation by Netflix a few months ago. It is one of the best company strategy decks I have seen in years-and also adds to my confidence in the company.)

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Posted in Solution, customer service | 4 Comments »