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Archive for the 'mass media' Category

Feb

Olympic scorecard: how to judge ambush marketing

By Kirk 1 Comment

Categories: advertising, event marketing, mass media, promotion, retail and strategy

For the organizers of the Winter Olympics, the pressure is on. They are fighting to defend their sponsors against ambush marketing at the Games.

(Ambush marketers attempt to attach their brand to a major event without paying for the right to do so.)

As the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) states at the Games’ official web site, “Ambush marketing is a real threat to VANOC’s sponsorship and licensing programs as it undermines the value of official sponsorship and licensing rights and impairs VANOC’s ability to attract future sponsorship and licensees.”

Only official sponsors, licensees and government partners are allowed to suggest a connection with the Olympics.

This is because nearly all of the revenue needed to support the 2010 Winter Games is derived from sales that involve the Olympic brand, such as sponsorships, broadcast rights, merchandising and tickets.

Why would a potential sponsor shell out millions of dollars only to have their moment in the sun eclipsed by a non-sponsor?

It’s happening right now. Official Olympic sponsors McDonald’s and AT&T are charging rivals Subway and Verizon with ambush marketing. (See the previous post, “Ambush marketing: dirty play at the Olympics?“)

Why is it VANOC’s job to be the police?

According to them, “One of the key conditions of being awarded the right to host the 2010 Winter Games was a commitment to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that the Olympic Brand would be protected in Canada.”

VANOC’s goal is to ensure that consumers aren’t fooled into believing an advertiser is associated with the Olympics when it is not.

To determine whether a promotion infringes on Olympic trademarks and images, VANOC developed a scoring system. (See the accompanying illustration of how a retail promotion might be assessed.) It measures against six criteria: accuracy, relevance, commercial neutrality, prominence, use of official visuals, and unauthorized association.

The fairness of scoring systems at the Olympics has occasionally been suspect. (Remember the 2002 figure skating scandal?) How do you think this system for scoring marketing stacks up?

Feb

And the winner is … Google

By Kirk 1 Comment

Categories: advertising, copywriting, interactive marketing, mass media, search engine marketing, social media and strategy

In its Super Bowl commercial, Google tells an engaging little story of romance with simplicity and elegance. Appropriately, it uses keywords and search results only.

Its logo is onscreen almost the entire time, while it demonstrates several of its features and benefits. It effectively offsets Bing’s recent efforts at malignment.

Not only was the spot inexpensive to produce, but it stood out from the sophomoric humor and over-the top production of the majority of the commercials.

Erik Sherman, in his negative review of the spot at BNET, misses the point that by airing the spot in the Super Bowl, Google reached millions and millions who haven’t already seen it on YouTube.

Smart marketing all the way around.

Which spot do you feel was most effective?

Feb

Advertising’s swimsuit competition: the Super Bowl

By Kirk Closed

Categories: advertising, event marketing, mass media and roi

istock_000010686107xsmall Let’s be honest.

This week, when we chat online or around the water cooler about the Super Bowl commercials, we will not be judging them based upon which are most effective at doing what they are supposed to be doing, which is actually selling something.

Instead, we will talk about which spots we “like,” which spots we find most entertaining. We’re judging style, not substance.

In pursuit of being popular during and after the game, advertisers and their agencies push the limits to engage us. And we reward them with a couple of week’s worth of buzz.

But how successful are these creative efforts really? Long-term, how many widgets do they sell?

In Advertising Age, Tom Denari blames online ratings. “Super Bowl ads are now dangerously close to a series of Saturday Night Live skits, designed to bombastically amuse the viewer. While I would admit that an ad’s biggest crime may be to be forgotten, Super Bowl ads have become a contest where each competitor sees who can out-gross, out-animal-talk or out-uncomfortable-body-part the next ad. The hype and ratings have continued to erode the quality and integrity of ideas.”

There does happen to be a venue for recognizing the most effective advertising. It’s called the Effie Awards. Effies are given based on results rather than entertainment value. Additionally, the Effie organization shares with the industry its accumulated wisdom by showcasing great ideas that work.

Heard of the Effies? Probably not. They don’t have a football game.

Nov

Patagonia: They also sell clothes

By Kirk 2 Comments

Categories: brand essence, budgeting, cause marketing, loyalty, mass media, promotion, retail and social media

There are brands and then there are affinity brands.

The difference? Community.

You don’t just experience an affinity brand. Your identity is enmeshed with it. You are a proud member of the club.

“Cult Brands aren’t just companies with products or services to sell,” says BJ Bueno, co-author of The Power of Cult Branding: How 9 Magnetic Brands Turned Customers into Loyal Followers. “To many of their followers, they are a living, breathing surrogate family filled with like-minded individuals.”

Few brands exemplify affinity branding as well as Patagonia.

Patagonia makes outdoor apparel for climbing, surfing, skiing, and other low-impact sports. Its clothes are renown for their durability and performance.

But at Patagonia, it’s not about the clothes — which is characteristic of affinity brands. Selling apparel at Patagonia is practically an afterthought. Or so it seems.

Instead, affinity brands build a community of diehard evangelists around a common cause or set of values.

Patagonia’s cause began with its founder, Yvon Chouinard.

Chouinard, a rock climber and surfer, got his start making tools for climbers. Around 1970, he became aware that steel pitons were causing significant damage to rock-climbing surfaces. Inspired, he developed new alternatives and introduced a style of climbing called “clean climbing.” The result: his innovations revolutionized climbing, despite destroying the sales of pitons which accounted for 70% of his income.

Planet first. Company second.

“What is it that we all so love about the experience of being in raw nature?” Chouinard asks. “And having known raw nature, don’t we have an obligation to protect it?”

At Patagonia, protecting it is the priority.

In 1986, Chouinard committed the company to environmental activism and paid employees to work on local community projects. In 1994, Patagonia switched to using pesticide-free (organically-grown) cotton as well as recycled polyester in its clothing. Always planet first.

Today, the scale of Patagonia’s commitment is impressive. The environmentalism page of its web site lists its numerous initiatives, including Conservacion Patagonica, working toward the creation of Patagonia National Park; The Conservation Alliance, encouraging companies in the outdoor industry to support environmental organizations; 1% For The Planet encouraging all businesses to donate at least 1% of their annual net revenues to the environment, and more.

Through its Common Threads Recycling Program, Patagonia uses a fiber-to-fiber system to make new garments from old.

“For us at Patagonia, a love of wild and beautiful places demands participation in the fight to save them.”

How do brands create affinity?

“Brand communities exhibit three traditional markers of community,” according to Thomas O’Guinn and Albert Muniz in “Brand Community,” a 2001 article published in the Journal of Consumer Research. “Shared consciousness, rituals and traditions, and a sense of moral responsibility.”

All are present within the Patagonia community.

Company “ambassadors” share knowledge and experiences from the field on its blog The Cleanest Line, its own video channel The Tin Shed, and its YouTube channel. Outdoor enthusiasts and preservationists connect on Facebook and Twitter.

True, there’s a big difference between summiting Everest and wearing a Patagonia hoody to the park. But an affinity brand allows one to participate in the common cause. As Patagonia says, “Reward comes in the form of hard-won grace and moments of connection between us and nature.”

Which other brands inspire community?

Nov

Your social media marketing linchpin: branding

By Kirk Closed

Categories: art direction & design, brand essence, guest posts, mass media, social media and standards

I’m pleased to share the following guest post by Gary Moneysmith. At the time of posting, Gary was the Interactive Strategy Director and social media guru at Conrad | Phillips | Vutech (where I work). Be sure to visit his blog, Social Media @ Work & Play, for more insights.

Ever watch your grandmother sort through her (postal) mail? If your granny is anything like mine, she carefully inspects and opens piece after piece. You just want to scream, “Just scan and throw it out — it’s all junk!”

Having grown up in the era of bulk postage rates, we’ve developed a ninja-fast ability to discern what’s real and what’s not when it comes to the daily mail haul. Why? To preserve our mental health. We’re overloaded with marketing messages every day on the radio, television, billboards and of course, our mailbox. If we gave every offer a neighborly, 1900s-like consideration, we’d never make it through our day. It’s too much and most of it’s crap.

As a defense mechanism, we’ve developed a sixth sense to gauge what’s legitimate and what’s not. We can scan an email inbox with hundreds of messages and quickly identify the few “real” ones. We rifle through pages of Google results to find sources we can trust and which should be ignored. We read product reviews on Amazon and quickly decide which are helpful and which aren’t. Our brains are gold-panning supercomputers instantaneously filtering our way through daily information overload.

Now, consider social media, the most eclectic, ever-changing fire hose of information in human history. As online marketers, what can we do to make sure our legitimate voice and information is taken seriously?

Answer: Branding. Yep, that old school marketing stuff …

Your brand is the genuine, distinct personality of your company. It’s what your organization stands for and makes you unique in a sea of otherwise sameness. It’s an emotional connection or way people react to a logo or product. And while it’s often associated with a visual/logo (an icon that symbolizes your brand), it includes what you say and how you say it as well. Over time, your brand builds equity — it means something to people and has value. It builds trust, justifies your attention, and rationalizes a premium price.

When it comes to social media, the need for branding is greater than ever. People may find your organization’s Web site in search engine results along with your Twitter account, Facebook group, YouTube channel and blog. Do all these places “feel” the same? Do they speak with the same voice? Do they offer consistent materials?

Now, considering the chipmunk-on-meth attention span of most Web visitors, does your social media channel pass the five-second brand consistency test? Pull up one of your social media channels (say, your blog) then quickly review it for visuals, personality and content:

Visual Presentation
Are you using your logo correctly — colors/size/spacing? Does your color scheme match your Web site? Do your photos match your other marketing materials?
Personality
Does it convey the right tone and spirit? Does it “feel” like your organization?
Content
Is the material you offer appropriate? Or is it just copy-and-pasted from your annual report? Does the depth and breadth of content reflect your expertise? Is it what people would expect?

There’s a lot in social media that you can’t control, but what you say and how you say it is still your choice. Your online brand identity should be treated as an invaluable asset that MUST be nurtured and protected. Because without it, you’re just a commodity fighting to breathe in an increasingly crowded online marketplace.

May

12 things to do before the upturn

By Kirk Closed

Categories: advertising, budgeting, interactive marketing, mass media, research, social media and strategy

Sales are flat. Travel is canceled. Your budget has been cut. It’s a good time to do some housekeeping.

With an eye toward the eventual upturn, here are 12 tips to get your strategic marketing plan ready:

Take the time to retreat with senior leadership and strategize now. Think long-term.
Audit your competitors.
Talk to your customers. Conduct a satisfaction survey.
Review your customer relationship management (CRM) program. Rebuild your database. Ask for email addresses and mobile numbers. You’ll need them soon.
Update your brand positioning and message strategies.
Review and update your advertising and sales materials. Or at least get them ready to print.
Keep in touch with enewsletters.
Reuse old ads. Save on production.
Media rates are down. Buy more with less money and stand out from your competitors. Or shift the savings to other channels, such as search engine marketing.
Update your website with more functionality for customers. Make sure it is search engine optimized.
Get up to speed on the newer interactive channels–social media marketing and mobile marketing. Set up and monitor your social media channels.
Train your sales staff.