Archive for the ‘Experience’ Category

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T-Mobile, McDonald’s Make Memories

Wednesday, May 13th, 2009

I am happy to report that two of the biggest traditional interruptive advertisers are finally getting it. This week I discovered incredible examples of how T-Mobile and McDonald’s are launching marketing that creates meaningful experiences for their target consumers. Both examples happen to take place in London; here’s hoping that their model spreads both geographically and habitually.

Over on our Marketing with Meaning community space on LinkedIn (where 367 people and counting have joined despite little promotion), Jonathan Levy shared a video of T-Mobile’s recent event in Trafalgar Square. The brand distributed 2,000 microphones, and more than 13,000 people joined to sing The Beatles’ ballad, “Hey Jude,” together. Here’s what it looked like:

This event is part of a campaign from T-Mobile called “Life’s for Sharing,” which brand representative Lysa Hardy calls, “…something that’s unexpected, wonderful, and exciting that you want to share with your friends and family.” The surprise sing-along was aired for the first time on the TV show Britain’s Got Talent last Sunday. This campaign execution follows a few months after the brand filmed a commercial in which dozens of improv dancers spontaneously appeared and performed at a Tube station in London.

After enjoying a special moment in Trafalgar Square, locals and tourists might have ventured over to Piccadilly Circus to take a picture with an entertaining digital sign from McDonald’s. No, it wasn’t another high-tech tool for ordering a Big Mac from your cell phone. Video describes it better than words:


Find more videos like this on AdGabber

Both the T-Mobile and McDonald’s examples are clearly examples of Marketing with Meaning. More specifically, they fall under what I refer to in my upcoming book as Branded Experiences. What I love about both of these campaigns is that they deliver on what the brands hope to stand for in their target consumers’ hearts and minds. T-Mobile recognizes that mobile phones are used in a very emotional way by people who want to enjoy and share life together. The McDonald’s vision statement is to make every customer smile. Instead of continuing to show us commercials that tell a story of some other people (actors) enjoying life and smiling, the brands finally understand that they have the ability to make special moments happen for consumers—through the marketing itself.

One similar example that I share in my book is that of De Beers and its “When Forever Began” event in New York City in December 2008. The brand created a romantic stage in Madison Square Park and offered kissing couples the chance to be photographed with a 360-degree camera. Instead of more staged actors and TV ad copy, this time De Beers enabled couples to experience and remember a very special moment together. The brand created real moments—through the marketing itself.

There are some downsides to both of these branded experiences. First, there were a few comments on the T-Mobile sing-along that suggested the enjoyment of the event was weakened by the fact that it was organized by and for a brand. This cheapened a special human experience for some people.

Another complaint could be that both programs are difficult to scale up to replace the millions of eyeballs that are lost when TV or print dollars are shifted to expensive events. After all, how many people were in London on April 30? How many Big Mac buyers will get to Piccadilly Circus this summer? There’s no easy answer to this complaint, but I believe such events can be very effective. First, they generate a significant amount of sharing through photos on personal networks—in effect breaking through the clutter with a trusted endorsement. The YouTube video above already has more than 200,000 views, and imagine the PR coverage that comes from taking over a global city like this. Second, I believe it can succeed by winning lifetime loyalty from a core group of consumers, rather than spreading interruption across millions of eyeballs and hoping some tiny percentage actually buys your brand (only because they were unconsciously seeded).

So here’s something to think about over the weekend: How is your marketing creating special, personal moments for your target consumers? Needless to say, 30 seconds of a canned message times a few million pairs of eyeballs won’t cut it.

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The Marketing Power of a Red Cap

Monday, April 13th, 2009

Perhaps one of the best case studies in social networking and meaningful marketing comes from a brand that has been around at least since 1703. This brand creates incredible followers in a true community of shared passions. And it does it without blogs, Facebook, or Twitter. Welcome to the story of red caps from Mount Gay Rum.

More than two years ago in an offsite with the executives of Bridge Worldwide, I first introduced my draft thinking on this Marketing with Meaning concept. I had assigned our small group to bring in examples of marketing that had a personally positive impact on their lives. My idea was for this to help spark the conversation around marketing that people choose to engage with, marketing that itself improves people’s lives. I best remember the example brought by our Chief Operating Officer, Michael Graham. Michael brought in a red hat branded with Mount Gay Rum, and he couldn’t wait to tell me its story.

Michael told us about how Mount Gay Rum has a long history with sailors. The brand was first launched in Barbados when a trip to the island was challenging, and ship captains would bring back barrels of Mount Gay as proud proof that they had successfully landed at the island. Since then, Mount Gay has continued to be closely associated with sailing events. It is a sponsor of more than 100 regattas each year. What’s special is that at these regattas, Mount Gay distributes its iconic red hats with the specific regatta name sewn under the logo. Only regatta participants get the hats, so it is a modern-day proof of sailors’ skills. Instead of another piece of marketing swag, these hats are prized trophies from a very special event. And they become collectors’ items for the recipients.

Michael also described how these hats become a kind of social networking trigger as well. Fellow sailors use the hats as a way to broadcast their common interest in public places. Sailors who see someone wearing one at the airport, beach, or baseball game will just walk up and start a conversation.

What’s interesting is that every sailor knows and repeats the story of Mount Gay Rum, so not only does this core group of high-income, passionate people stay incredibly loyal to the brand, but they become walking, talking ambassadors to the general population, many of whom are attracted to the story. A quick Google search brought me to a blog (captured above) where an identical story is told. And when I shared this story with a marketing class at Miami University last week, one of the students talked about how a friend she went with on spring break wore her Mount Gay hat and ended up meeting a dozen fellow sailors on the trip.

I believe these are the keys to take from Mount Gay Rum’s success:

1. Embrace your brand’s history and backstory – or create a brand with a story at its core.

2. Focus on a very specific, core customer group that shares a common passion.

3. Go beyond focus; be selective and exclusive.

4. Do something to encourage social connections among your target customers.

5. Don’t just sponsor; add some unique value to the event itself.

My final takeaways from Mount Gay are that this kind of marketing doesn’t take a giant ad budget or rely on the spread of new digital technology. Instead, it comes from standing for something and creating meaning in people’s lives. And don’t you dare buy one of those hats on eBay!

UPDATE: I got a great email from one of our readers, John Irving, who shared the following story:

This weekend, our community had a picnic to celebrate the return of Captain Richard Phillips from his ordeal with the pirates off Somalia.  (He lives about 2 miles from me in Vermont).  When I went up to shake his hand and congratulate him, I was wearing my red Mt Gay hat from a race from Havana years ago.  He looked up with a big smile and said ‘Nice hat, that’s my rum’.”

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Posted in Achievement, Connection, Experience, Social Networking | 5 Comments »

An Idea from the Daddy Daughter Dance

Friday, March 6th, 2009

Like many fellow marketing-geek friends, I have a hard time disconnecting my brain from my day job when I’m outside of work and just having fun. Recently there was just such an occasion, when Jay, Michael, and I from Bridge Worldwide took our girls to the annual Daddy Daughter Dance in the Cincinnati suburb of Anderson. We had a blast with our little princesses, but we also came up with a few ideas that could lead to meaningful marketing and business results in our local area.

This annual Daddy Daughter Dance is a pretty big deal here in Anderson Township, a fairly large and higher-than-average income area. The dance is so popular that it actually is held on both a Friday and Saturday night in February each year. Many fathers who I know in the area attended on the Saturday we went. There had to be at least 250 couples in attendance. It was the first time attending for Jay, Michael, and I, as our girls are just now able to attend a later-night event such as this without melting down.

We had a wonderful time. My wife bought the girls corsages, and we met for dinner at a fancy restaurant nearby before the dance. The price of the event included a free photo (above), and a red carnation for the ladies as we left. We danced and had a blast, but I just couldn’t help thinking that many opportunities for marketers were left untouched.

Let’s start with the opportunity at hand. First, there are several relevant selling occasions wrapped around this annual dance; it’s the kind of event where parents open up their purses and wallets to make the experience as special as possible. The local Macy’s in the center of Anderson could benefit from clothing sales to both little girls and their fathers; the flower shops could see sales from corsages; the restaurants could benefit from hundreds of pre-dance diners; and limo services even could pick up some extra business.

Imagine what these businesses could do to add value and reap greater sales. Macy’s could set up a fashion show for mothers and daughters a few weekends before the event, and have dress consultants on hand to help them pick out a new outfit for the dance. Local restaurants could set up a special prix fixe meal served especially to get dancers in and out on schedule. I’m sure that a small sponsorship would allow the businesses access to the database of ticket purchasers for direct marketing—the kind of marketing that people would find extremely helpful and relevant.

Aside from incremental sales linked to the event, there are other benefits of creating meaningful marketing around this event. Because it is an annual tradition, it becomes less complex to prepare and plans can be made well in advance. And imagine the long-term loyalty that could result from adding value to this meaningful event. Whem Mom brings her daughter into Macy’s for a special event, she feels a tighter bond to the store, leading her to consciously and unconsciously choose this chain more often throughout the year.

So what’s the holdup? Why aren’t Macy’s, Olive Garden, and FTD lining up to get into events such as this? I think the biggest reason is that this means a major change in how these companies look at marketing. They are all raised to think in terms of TV ads and Sunday circulars. Local tie-ins such as these also take more human labor to set up at a time when head-count reduction is rampant.

Perhaps the current economic pressures will lead traditional marketers to try something new. In fact, local, meaningful event marketing such as this plays right into the hands of a company such as Macy’s. Its large, central locations and range of merchandise allow it to beat e-tailers and small specialty chains with such an approach.

We’ll be back at the Daddy Daughter Dance in 2010—and we’ll see if any marketers seize the opportunity by then.

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A Recipe for Brand Experience

Friday, February 27th, 2009

When marketers think about a “brand experience,” we often jump straight to a big, bold example, such as branded stores in Times Square or something like the Virgin Airlines on-plane fashion shows with Victoria’s Secret models. Frankly, such examples scare the heck out of a lot of marketers. We wonder how our meager brands can afford the large budgets and commitments required to create an experience. But tiny investments on smaller brands can create experiences that are just as meaningful and maybe even more profitable. This weekend a simple recipe provided me with a great example.

About three years ago our President, Jay, rewarded me and the rest of his C-level team with a membership to the St. Supery wine club. This moderate-sized winery in Napa Valley has a great range of high-quality wines. Jay had recently joined the wine club and wanted us to share his experience of cooking the featured recipe that is paired perfectly with each wine. He has kept us on the club for three years now, and while I’ve enjoyed the wine thoroughly, I have never actually cooked a featured recipe—until this weekend.

The latest wine shipment of a 2006 Malbec came with a recipe for wild mushroom risotto that sounded amazing. Combined with the fact that my wife and I had a subpar Valentine’s Day due to mutual illnesses, I figured it would be a good idea for me to do some cooking. I’m not a frequent chef, but I do enjoy rolling up my sleeves in the kitchen every once in a while. Cooking this risotto dish was a lot more work than I imagined—I frankly had no idea how risotto was made, and my arms got quite a workout as I got the rice to absorb 5 cups of beef stock in nearly 40 minutes of constant stirring!

We put the girls to bed and enjoyed the dish with a lovely salad, a date movie (Love Actually), and the bottle of St. Supery Malbec. The meal, wine, and movie were all great together, and for a few hours we forgot about our laundry list of chores and stresses.

Thus, St. Supery brought me more than a great wine: Its simple recipe unlocked an experience of cooking and enjoying a lovely meal with my wife. And I cannot wait for the next wine and recipe shipment. The cost was merely that of a simple, folded newsletter tucked into the shipment box.

I plan to spend more time thinking about how other brands (especially my clients) can similarly do simple things to build experiences like this. It also would be interesting to test what kind of brand loyalty results. My hypothesis would be that St. Supery club members who cook the recipes are far more likely to stay in the club and buy more wine for themselves, while encouraging others to join, too.

What can your brand do to stage an experience? It might be simpler than you think.

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Analysis of RecessIsOn

Wednesday, December 10th, 2008

As the word gets out about Marketing with Meaning, we are starting to attract some interesting outreach from unexpected places. A few months ago, a company engaged us in a project to do some consulting, which I hope to talk more about later. More recently, for the first time, I was asked to provide a review of a new marketing campaign from an agency on behalf of its client. In other words, I was suddenly elevated to the lofty list of targets for “blogger outreach.” I feel so special. But seriously, it is cool and I am happy to provide my honest assessment—according to Marketing with Meaning principles—in this post…

The Morgans Hotel Group has launched a new advertising campaign under the mantra RecessIsOn, a clever play on the word “recession,” which is dominating too much of the news lately. Morgans is playing on this depression around the now-official recession by calling for fun. The boutique hotel chain is using targeted print ads (see above), wild postings, and PR to drive traffic to Recessison.com. Once there, visitors can discover the path to parties and other enjoyment at Morgans’ hotels in cities such as New York, Los Angeles, and London. Each hotel is hosting events (most seem to require a charge) as well as several added-value offers such as free massages, room upgrades, and complimentary dirty martinis (full disclosure: my favorite kind).

Survey Says: It’s just so-so.

First, let me say that I love Morgans’ decision to focus on the economy and to embrace the idea of having more fun with more freebies. Many marketers (including our clients) are working on ways to adapt messaging to appeal more to people who are struggling to make ends meet. It is very clever to see a company stare the recession in the face with defiance.

Second, I think that Morgans has some smart promotional offers for its customers. Each hotel has a wide variety of packages with complimentary services at a lower-than-usual cost. I really felt like Morgans was doing something special in this down economy.

My main issue is that this campaign is not offering significant value aside from these specials. If you’re not staying there or buying a party ticket, there’s really no meaning for you. The posters and ads might make you smile for a minute, but they don’t merit more than a half-second pause. This is not Marketing with Meaning.

My big suggestion is for Morgans to turn its party atmosphere into an open event. Once its clever campaign got the attention, it needed a meaningful hook to pull people into something valuable. What if Morgans held weekly parties with free admission, cool music, and low or no-cost drinks? They could use word-of-mouth and these wild postings to, say, publicize a code word to get in these parties. And the company could focus on its historic guest list as the best source of traffic. The attendance could even be limited to out-of-towners to encourage a hotel stay on an upcoming trip. The idea of a free party with a guerrilla-marketing guest list worked well for the Stoli Hotel, which got a ton of buzz for its effort. And if this can work for a $20 vodka brand, it’s got to work for a $300-per-night hotel.

Finally, Morgans and its agency should make sure to do more in terms of blogger outreach. I received an email and a request to cover the campaign. Thanks very little, guys! How about an invite to one of these parties with celebs such as those below, or even a free night’s stay? In case you’re listening, I’ll be in L.A. on December 16 and will be happy to update this blog with more of the Morgans experience. :)

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Teaming Up for Mutual Experiences

Wednesday, November 26th, 2008

As I was putting together material for our upcoming book, I came across several examples of two brands working together to create a mutual experience that benefits both equities, and especially their joint customers. One example I ran across while staying at my regular W Hotel in NYC (541 Lexington) is the above offer for a free ride in an Acura MDX. I didn’t have time to take a ride, but I saw another great example of Marketing with Meaning.

This is a clear example of a win-win-win for all three parties. W Hotels gets to offer another service under its umbrella brand of “Whatever/Whenever,” which itself is a great way to differentiate their hotels from the many choices business travelers have around the world. And this comes at zero cost to the hotel chain. Acura gets a chance to connect with W Hotel customers, likely the kind of young, higher-income crowd that is in the sweet spot for its vehicles. These people can be difficult to reach with traditional, interruptive ads. And a free ride is a great chance to let prospects sample the vehicle in a low-pressure way.

Of course, let’s not forget the benefit to the customer. He or she gets a free ride in a cozy car by a considerate driver who knows his way around town. The customer also feels appreciated, and may feel a little like a big shot or movie star. This is a meaningful experience for the customer that connects her closer to both the W Hotel and Acura brands.

I have run across a few other examples of diverse brands hooking up to build mutually valuable experiences. A while back I wrote about Honda and Mattel hooking up for a special-edition Hot Wheels collectible car. There’s the Nike/Apple join-up with the Nike+ system. I read recently about the story behind how Fox and 7-Eleven partnered to create a dozen branded Kwik-E-Marts to support last year’s The Simpsons Movie. And I also recently came across the story of how Victoria’s Secret put on a fashion show last year in the aisle of Virgin Airways. (Check out the photos below for a glimpse of these diverse experiences.)

These experiential tie-ins seem to work best when the brands share both a common target customer and brand equity elements. The Simpsons and 7-Eleven both target 18-34 Men, for example. But they also take corporate organizations that are willing to give up some control and ownership to the other side. It’s a great exercise to conduct for your own brand: Think about other relevant brands in your customer’s life and consider the synergies that lie around a partnership, and then pick up the BlackBerry and reach out. Chances are there will be another marketer out there similarly looking for ideas to something new and meaningful.

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Posted in Connection, Experience, Partnership | No Comments »

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