Archive for the ‘Sampling’ Category

Survive Breast Cancer, Get a Free Bloomin’ Onion

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

bloomin onion breast cancer

Well, not exactly, but bear with me and read on if you don’t mind, because I do have an important point here and I sincerely need your help in figuring out the meaning of this marketing.

It all started over the weekend when I was catching some college football on good old-fashioned network television. I was actually getting ready to head out and was coming out of the shower when I heard the Australian voice from the Outback TV commercials in a very serious tone. This surprised me because the guy is usually full of “We’ll put a shrimp on the bar-bie for ya!” optimism and excitement. I listened as the voice explained that Outback was a proud supporter of the brave men and women who risk our lives to protect our freedom on Veterans Day, November 11. And to show this pride and support the troops, any veterans and active-duty military personnel who visit Outback on this day will receive… a free Bloomin’ Onion (regular price, $6.25)!

Something in my gut didn’t feel good. No, it wasn’t memories of the last time I downed nearly an entire Bloomin’ Onion by myself. Rather, I felt that Outback’s promotion was self-serving and potentially insulting to our military men and women.

Now, I’m a big fan of Marketing with Meaning, as regular readers know. And anytime a brand provides a free product or sample to its customers, there’s a good chance it’s meaningful marketing. Denny’s, for example, earned a rave review in my book for its wildly successful free Grand Slam giveaway after this year’s Super Bowl. Such giveaways grab customers’ attention and hit the “free” value button we all have programmed into our heads, which is especially sensitive in this economy. Such offers bring people who are attracted to the freebie, and they end up spending a lot more on full meals and beverages for themselves and the rest of their family members.

Several other restaurants are also getting in on the free food for veterans act. According to an article in Slashfood, Applebee’s and McCormick & Schmick’s are both providing free entrees, and Krispy Kreme is offering free donuts on Veterans Day. And the benefits are extending beyond casual dining; for example, both Lowe’s and Home Depot are offering 10% discounts to military men and women.

The issue I see is that a free Bloomin’ Onion seems so petty for something as meaningful as military service at a time when we are actively losing men and women amid war. What’s worse is seeing this “offer” plastered across our mass-media TV screens in a blatant attempt to convince the majority, non-military personnel that Outback is doing the right thing for real American heroes. Toss in the odd fact that Outback, which aspires to be an “Australian” steakhouse, is honoring American military personnel.

It just feels to me that military service is far too serious a sacrifice to be linked to free appetizers at a restaurant chain. Let’s compare this to the recent cause-related marketing around National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the pink ribbons that have been everywhere from soup cans to NFL players’ gloves. What if Outback ran commercials that said, in a serious Australian accent:

“You’re a survivor. You’ve beaten breast cancer, and are a hero to us all. So we salute you by offering you a free Bloomin’ Onion.”

Ridiculous, right? Or am I wrong? And how is risking one’s life in military service any less odd to reward with a delicious onion app?

Restaurants such as Outback are well-known for one-time gimmicks to lure people into their restaurants, and as a longtime advertising watcher it made me cringe. On the other hand, I do believe restaurants can win by doing more over a longer term. Serving a full meal or entree, like some of the examples above, is a step in the right direction. I do have to give Outback credit for sending some of its employees to Afghanistan to provide meals to the troops, but this is not mentioned in its mass marketing. I think the company should take a lesson from Golden Corral.

Golden Corral is hosting its 9th annual Military Appreciation dinner on Monday, November 16. The company moved its event to this day because it knows that many people have other plans for the holiday itself. And it is offering complete buffet meals for military visitors. Not only is this a real commitment to the troops, but it’s a better brand fit, as most military men and women are on tight budgets and cannot afford the $100 or more it can cost to visit an Outback with their families. Golden Corral is a budget-friendly brand.

Now, this is one of those blog posts where I have a strong opinion, but I am willing to admit that I could be wrong. It is hard to chastise a company when they are doing something with some kind of customer benefit for an important cause. What do you think?

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Posted in Cause Related, Marketing Without Meaning, Sampling | 1 Comment »

Preparing for Our Book Launch Event

Monday, October 5th, 2009

hack night logos

In a matter of hours, at 9 a.m. ET Tuesday, about 240 Bridge Worldwide employees will launch a social-media marketing experiment to support the launch of our new book, The Next Evolution of Marketing: Connect with Your Customers by Marketing with Meaning. I’m excited about the launch, and can’t wait to see what comes out of the groups’ work—and I look forward to readers’ participation and feedback.

The book officially launched on Friday, October 2, and it got off to a great start. That morning Advertising Age published an outstanding book review by Pete Blackshaw. I could not have asked for a better and compelling review of the book, and sure enough the sales lift-off was immediate. On Amazon.com, the book rose to the #1,200 seller across all books, and shot up to #2 in the Advertising category, just under The Tipping Point. McGraw-Hill emailed me soon after to let me know that they are already getting ready for a second printing. Thanks to all of you for helping me along the way and for your early book orders.

Tomorrow morning our entire company is going to try to generate some more buzz around the book by engaging in an exercise modeled after P&G’s successful “Hack Night” from back in March 2009. You might recall that the company brought together a couple hundred senior-level marketers and external digital experts for an evening to compete on teams, using social-media tools to sell the most Tide T-shirts in support of its “Loads of Hope” cause marketing program. I got to attend that event and saw it not only raise a lot of money in a few hours, but also get people to learn by working together and experimenting.

A few months ago, our President, Jay Woffington, asked me if we might do our own company-wide “Hack Night” in support of the book launch. His goal was to not only juice book sales, but to give all of our people a chance to further improve their digital sensibility by rolling up our sleeves and working together. This conversation spawned a project and a team and tomorrow’s event.

Here’s how it will work: The goal of the competition is to get as many people as possible to download the free chapter of the book.  We decided to do this because the free chapter itself is Marketing with Meaning, and it is much easier to track chapter downloads than actual book sales. We have split up the company into teams, and assigned each team a specific medium to use to market the free chapter: Facebook, Google, Twitter, LinkedIn, WPP resources, and this blog and community. The teams first met a little more than a week ago to start planning and preparing, and tomorrow at 9 a.m. they will begin their activities in earnest. We will have them each in separate War Rooms, with a live monitor feeding in the total downloads of each team. Everyone will stop working at 1 p.m. so we can go to have some fun at our annual company offsite, where we will announce the winner of the contest and present a few other awards.

Already people to seem to be having fun and are learning a lot. I don’t know much about what they have planned, though. A few teams have asked me mysterious questions, and one team dragged me into a room to film something before I left on a trip last week. “Winning” is one of the key words of our agency’s equity, so I’m sure the competition will be hot and heavy.

My only fear for the day is that the competition will drive people to do things that end up angering our carefully crafted audience. During the P&G Hack Night, one of my friends, Kevin Doohan, who knows several of the participants, wrote about how the contest felt like spamming. I have tried to reduce this risk by providing a coaching brief on how to approach people, as well as how to ask for forgiveness when you make a mistake. But I am sure that some of you might find tomorrow’s event annoying. I apologize in advance and hope that you see that our hearts are in the right place.

Although I am the author of this book and the most public voice of “Marketing with Meaning” I really believe that I am just one of many members of what can be an important movement. This idea has been driven by nearly everyone at Bridge Worldwide, readers of this blog have been incredibly supportive during the past 18 months, and now we have new tools such as our community to bring others into the cause. I am excited that our experiment tomorrow might give many more people exposure to what we’re trying to do together, and give more people the chance to be a part of driving a better future for marketing and society.

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Posted in Agency Marketing, Sampling, book | 4 Comments »

Book Review: ‘Free’ by Chris Anderson

Monday, August 10th, 2009

I was expecting—maybe even hoping—to hate Chris Anderson’s new book, Free: The Future of a Radical Price. As a digital marketer I have seen far too many poor business models pop up, become addicted to annoying advertising, and slowly fade away (e.g., the Bloglines RSS reader is killing me). I felt that Anderson was launching his book at the worst time, just as the economy hit new lows and businesses were burned by failing to act responsibly. I even started putting together notes for a thought-piece on why “free” is wrong and why the “99-cent economy” with iTunes songs and iPhone apps is the real answer. But after reading Free, I have to admit that Anderson is right, and I must thank him for providing yet another pillar of proof that the world must shift to Marketing with Meaning.

Anderson wrote the book with his biggest detractors and doubters well in mind. The result is a book that is well-researched with bulletproof logic and hundreds of examples. As an economics major myself, I appreciated that he went down into the details of this dismal science in order to make his case. He also blends in psychological studies to teach us how we think and react to free versus paid offers. For example, one study suggests that, “Most transactions have an upside and a downside, but when something is FREE! we forget the downside.”

Free aspires to be a general business book and approaches the simple, compelling work of Malcolm Gladwell (The Tipping Point, Blink, and Outliers). However, I believe we marketers will get the most out of the Free manifesto. Anderson describes how one of our traditional tools, free samples, is powering new business models in industries as diverse as music, retail, and bike rental. But his thinking for us is much deeper…

One of Anderson’s fundamental points is that while the cost of information (and many real-world products) nears zero, the amount of attention people can give to something has remained unchanged. Unless we figure out how to avoid sleep or sprout additional heads, we’re pretty much limited here. This means that consumer engagement—the doorway to selling them stuff—is becoming harder and harder to open. As a result, if you’re a musician hoping to break through, or a game developer hoping to attract players, you are better off giving something away in order to earn this engagement. Once we have their attention, there is a chance to sell them something.

This is actually very much the thinking behind Marketing with Meaning. Because consumers are less willing or able to give their increasingly valuable attention to interruptive advertising, we must try new methods to get their attention. Through free samples or free services—meaningful marketing—we can break through the clutter and begin a dialogue that can effectively lead to sales.

For example, by creating a tool that lets people create their own Simpsons characters, the franchise wins viewers for its programs and movies. By providing live lunchtime entertainment, Healthy Choice has a chance to share information about its new line of Fresh Mixers. And by providing free education for you, dear readers, through this educational blog for more than a year, I have earned the chance to tell you about my upcoming book.

Imagine if the $500 billion in annual global advertising spending was completely diverted away from unwanted, interruptive advertising and toward marketing that adds value to people’s lives. It’s not a utopian dream; rather, it’s the simple economics of a world where the most scarce resource for business is consumer attention. If you’re not giving them something valuable through your marketing itself, then you have little chance to win them over. But win their attention through meaningful marketing, and you have the chance to achieve short-term sales and loyalty for life.

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Posted in Concept, Sampling, book | 3 Comments »

Starbucks Supplies Free Music and Drinks

Monday, July 27th, 2009

Last week I stopped into the Starbucks that I drive by nearly every day on my 20-minute commute to work. It was the first time I had been to this store in several months, and my first Starbucks visit of any kind in at least eight weeks. During that time I’ve been away, Starbucks seems to have been working hard to win back regular customers in a tough economy, and a few small signs of life suggest that this customer at least might be visiting more often.

There were two pleasantly unexpected examples of meaningful marketing that I encountered on this visit. First, when I was handed a receipt for my Vente Coffee with hazelnut, the server said that if I returned to any Starbucks today I could show the receipt and get a free Grande cold drink. This is a smart promotion in that it rewards purchase, plus helps drive in a second visit and perhaps an afternoon-visit habit.

I found the second bonus when I went over to load my cream and sugar choices at the toppings bar. (Is there a better name for that?) There was a small display of cards (see above) offering a Starbucks and iTunes “Pick of the Week” song. In this case it was a new Dave Matthews Band tune called “Write a Song” from their new album, Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King. All I had to do was redeem a code on iTunes and I was enjoying free music from a band I love. This is actually an ongoing weekly promotion, with a new free song every Tuesday. The idea of free music at Starbucks is particularly new because the stores are infamous for pushing CDs on its visitors at every corner.

These are two small examples of meaningful marketing, but they suggest that the company is working hard to win our business back. It makes me want to stop into Starbucks on my daily drive more often to check out what new surprises the store has brewed up. And that’s exactly what the company is hoping for. Maybe there’s life in Starbucks yet.

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Posted in Connection, Sampling | 3 Comments »

A Tanning Company That Stands Out

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

Last weekend when I was at the iMedia Breakthrough Summit in Fort Myers, Florida, I enjoyed a nice break from the cold Cincinnati winter. While I didn’t have much free time to hit the beach, it was nice to have the warm sun hitting my face for the first time in months. A reader from Canada wrote me recently to share a story of how two companies paired up to extend his Florida vacation, and it makes for an interesting Marketing with Meaning case.

Johnny (I’ll let him identify himself in the comments if he likes) lives in Winnipeg, Canada, which is also known as “Winterpeg” for the notoriously cold weather each season. He took a vacation to Mazatlan, Mexico, on Skyservice Airlines to escape the cold for at least a few days. On the return flight, where sad fellow travelers prepared to snap back into a cold reality, Johnny found his tray table decorated with an advertisement for Fabutan, a chain of 151 tanning centers located throughout Canada. He first thought, “Great, more interruptive marketing,” but then read on the advertisement that a flight attendant would come around and offer 75 minutes of free tanning so that people could “extend their vacation.”

Just as expected a few minutes later, there was an announcement that flight attendants would be passing out the free tanning vouchers. Everyone seated around Johnny was excitedly talking about the offer and grabbed the vouchers that were offered.

Johnny sent me this story and asked if it was meaningful marketing. Overall I would say it fits pretty well. It was relevant, coming when the entire flight of people is returning to the real (cold) world but wants to keep their tans and good spirits. The 75-free-minutes offer is clearly marketing that itself adds value, falling into the “free sample” camp. The tray ad and intercom announcement are a bit interruptive, so points off there. But people talking excitedly around Johnny is more evidence of meaningful marketing. Leaving discussions about the safety of tanning aside, this is a very smart way for a tanning company to target perfectly and drive visits.

Thanks to Johnny for sending in this story. I think it goes to show that once you have meaningful marketing on the brain, you begin to notice both good and bad examples more clearly. Please keep sending the stories!

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Posted in Sampling, Solution, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

Where’s My Dr Pepper?

Sunday, November 23rd, 2008

I was all ready to bang out an extremely complimentary post on Sunday night for Dr Pepper. If you hadn’t heard, Dr Pepper is offering a coupon for a free single-service bottle on November 23 only. In fact, as I type this, there are less than three hours remaining on its offer countdown clock. Alas, a fun and rewarding opportunity is going down in flames, as Dr Pepper can’t process the offer on its servers. It’s a lesson for all of us to nail the basics and prepare for the best to happen.

This isn’t just another free sampling program for Dr Pepper. It’s actually the culmination of a very unique and successful buzz marketing campaign. It started back in March 2008, when a blog appeared out of the ether and promised to give a free Dr Pepper to everyone in the country if the long-delayed Guns N’ Roses album, Chinese Democracy, would be released before the end of the year. It wasn’t clearly an official Dr Pepper marketing effort, but the buzz built and people started anticipating a big payout by the marketing team. Sure enough, in October the band announced that the finished album would hit in November, and the blogosphere wondered if Dr Pepper would make good on its promise.

Dr Pepper could sure use the buzz. The brand continues to fade from the soda scene—both due to the continued growth of Pepsi and Coke franchises, along with the rise of new upstarts such as Red Bull and Monster. The TV advertising is using long-retired basketball legend Dr. J in its TV advertising now, which isn’t helping much.

So here, into the laps of the marketing team, drops the culmination of a very successful, low-cost buzz campaign—a campaign that has attracted the young, connected generation that all soda brands covet.  There are more than 100,000 Google results for “chinese democracy dr. pepper” and seven of the top 10 Google search trends are related to this payoff. The coupon sign-up sheet allowed a great chance to harvest the email addresses of new brand fans. The brand team should be high-fiving right now. All it had to do was fulfill its promise and get the free soda coupons into our thankful hands.

But here we are, less than three hours remaining, and the Dr Pepper server is down—overloaded by the vast numbers of people who want to have a free soda. The brand had eight months to prepare for the possibility of having to deliver on its promise. Sure, it’s less than the more than a decade Axl Rose took to prepare his album, but c’mon, guys—you gotta deliver! The blogosphere is already starting to react negatively. This could be this week’s Motrin-like storm.

It probably isn’t a total lost cause for Dr Pepper. Lots of people will get their drinks, and many people will just forget about this unfilled offer by tomorrow morning. Maybe the marketing team will reopen or extend the offer. I would hate for other marketers to look at this as a complete failure and be discouraged to take future risks. Rather, we should all take this as a lesson for our future efforts: Plan for enormous success—after all, you just might reach it.

UPDATE 1: Check the site today and you will find one of the saddest website messages ever witnessed, nearly mocking the visitor with the unproofread line: “Thanks for visiting Dr Pepper site.”

UPDATE 2: Now Axl Rose is responding on behalf of angry fans with a set of demands through his lawyer, including a call for a full-page apology ad in several national newspapers and a re-opening of the free soda offer.  Essentially, Axl’s beef is that his band went along with the promotion in good fun, despite the fact that the band didn’t get paid for it; but when Dr Pepper violated its promise, the band is no longer willing to go with this rights infringement.  Advertising Age also quotes word-of-mouth marketing agency leader, Ted Wright, who makes a good point: “Nobody is really mad about an 89-cent [soda].  They just wanted to be part of the fun, and they took all the fun out of it.”

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Posted in Buzz, Sampling | 5 Comments »