Friday, January 28, 2011

Marcom this week: From A to zinc – 1/27/11 edition

From social networks' expanded ad offerings to celebrity endorsement ads for the Super Bowl, here is a look at what made headlines this week in the integrated marketing communications industry.

Social networks expand ad offerings
Facebook made a move this week to provide more social context for advertisements through Sponsored Stories. The Sponsored Stories format ditches the days of stock promotional copy and serves ads based on user interactions with a brand. The ads leverage the power a personal network has on purchase decisions by pulling content from a user’s feed to display on their friend’s page. Research shows that contextually targeted ads are more relevant to users, which increases ad effectiveness. Sounds like it will be a win-win for Facebook’s advertisers and users.

LinkedIn also beefed up its display ad offering, announcing many new features, including expanded targeting that enables advertisers to serve ads based on age, location, job title, and seniority. The expanded features were launched in an effort to improve LinkedIn's ad effectiveness and increase its share of revenue from display advertising.

With rumors swirling around impending initial public offerings, both social networking giants are finding more and more ways to monetize their sites. What do you think will be next?

Edelman Trust Barometer®: Trust across all U.S. institutions declines
According to the 2011 Edelman Trust Barometer survey, the U.S. is the only country to see trust in business and government decline. This statistic is not surprising following years of financial crisis and corporate scandal. To build trust, President and CEO Richard Edelman recommends corporations adopt a new trust architecture built on profits with a purpose, transparency in reporting, and multi-channel/multi-communicator engagement.




Super Bowl update: Celebrity endorsements all the rage

The Super Bowl is synonymous with attention-getting, low-relevance advertisemenSuperBowl 2011ts. A couple of weeks ago Vitamin IMC reported that the 2010 Celebrity Advertisements study found that celebrity ads performed below (or on par) with other advertisements. Despite these findings, advertisers continue to sign on hot (and expensive) celebrity personalities to push their product during the big game. A few noteworthy pairings include Kim Kardashian for Sketchers and Justin Bieber for Best Buy. And don’t forget about the yet-to-be-revealed mystery celeb for GoDaddy.

Marcom this week: From A to zinc is compiled by the Vitamin IMC editorial team. They can be reached at vitaminimc@gmail.com. Miss your vitamins last week? Visit January 21's “Marcom This Week.”

Friday, January 21, 2011

LivingSocial’s $10 Amazon deal: Who’s the real winner?

By Lauren Elizabeth Chapman

On Wednesday morning, LivingSocial released its biggest daily deal to date: a $20 Amazon gift card at a cost of only $10 to LivingSocial members. With almost 1.4 million purchases made in 24 hours across 170 markets in the U.S., the deal topped the chart for most buzz, in addition to setting the record for most purchased coupon on a daily deal site. What’s the thinking behind such a bold marketing play by both LivingSocial and Am
azon?



From the start, LivingSocial has struggled to gain as much popularity and to distinguish itself from its main rival Groupon, as well as the other online group deal sites that have sprung up in the past year. Most likely, the Amazon deal was meant to compete with Groupon’s biggest deal to date, the $50 Gap deal offered for $25 in August 2010 that had almost a half million purchases.
It may have come as a surprise to many, but the partnership between LivingSocial and Amazon on this deal is not shocking. In December 2010, Amazon invested $175 million in LivingSocial, which is expected to report over $500 million in revenues this year. It makes sense that out of all online retailers, Amazon would be LivingSocial’s go-to option, as Amazon has a vested interest in LivingSocial’s success.

The more important question is which company will be taking a bigger financial hit from the discount? The deal suggests that LivingSocial purchased the gift cards directly from Amazon, rather than Amazon selling the discount through the LivingSocial site (which is how deals are typically handled). So, is LivingSocial eating the discount as a marketing expense in hopes that it will regain the sales over time from new member subscriptions? Or was Amazon willing to sell the gift cards at a discount knowing that the expense would be recouped through LivingSocial purchases on its site, which would most likely be more than $20?

With this deal, I think LivingSocial was extremely successful in its attempt to get its name more widely known and to compete with Groupon on a higher level. Not only did LivingSocial triple Groupon’s previous one-day purchase record, it also created tremendous online buzz. Members jumped on Facebook and Twitter after making their purchases to post the deal in hopes that three friends would buy–making their deal free. Now that it’s added thousands of subscribers, LivingSocial could do even more to distinguish itself by using the idea of me + 3 = free to entice purchases. Though after Wednesday’s frenzy, LivingSocial is definitely one step closer to catching up or even taking the lead in the online daily deal space.

Tell us: Did you purchase the Amazon deal Wednesday? Are daily deal sites good for consumers as well as the companies that promote their deals on the sites? And how will Google change the game once it launches Google Offers?

Lauren Elizabeth Chapman is a student in the Masters in Integrated Marketing Communications program at Northwestern University’s Medill School and can be reached at laurenchapman2011@u.northwestern.edu.

Marcom this week: From A to zinc – 1/21/11 edition

From the New York Times’ paywall announcement to Steve Jobs’ medical leave of absence, here is a look at what made headlines this week in the integrated marketing communications industry.

New York Times Wil
l Charge
Nonsubscribers for Access

Beginning by the end of this month, the New York Times will charge nonsubscribers less than $20 a month for full access to its Web content. The yet-to-be-announced price will strategically fall below the paper’s $19.99 a month subscription rate on Amazon’s Kindle. Users will be able to read a certain number of articles free each month; to read more, the reader must pay a flat fee for unlimited access. The paywall will provide the paper with a needed revenue stream in the face of dropping ad sales; however, yet to be determined is whether this fee will chase away readers. Signs seem to point to no, as the pay structure should have little effect on light readers, and loyal readers will most likely hand over the money to ensure uninterrupted access.

The New York Times is not the first paper to initiate a paywall, nor will it be the last. Which media outlets do you think will be next?


Can Apple Survive Without Jobs?
It was a week of highs and lows for Apple. On Monday, the company’s CEO Steve Jobs announced his third medical leave of absence. The following day, Apple announced it sold 7.33 million iPads during the first quarter of its 2011 fiscal year, bringing total sales to nearly 15 million. This is an impressive feat considering the tablet category did not yet exist a year ago. However, Apple’s string of hits, including the iTouch, iPhone and MacBook Air, are a reminder of the important role Apple's CEO plays in the company’s innovation process. In the near term, Jobs’ absence should not hinder Apple’s success. However, with the rapid pace of new product introductions, it is imperative the company keep its innovation process moving ahead at full speed.

Despite “Golden Voice,” Kraft Ad Is Flat

The much-anticipated Kraft Macaroni & Cheese commercial featuring Ted Williams – the homeless man with the golden voice – debuted this week. Unfortunately, amidst all the hype and fanfare the TV ad fell flat. Yes, Williams’ voice added some punch to what would otherwise have been a traditional mac ‘n cheese ad. And, yes, the commercial has become a viral sensation, garnering more than 700,000 views and snagging the No. 6 spot on the Viral Video Chart. But despite a captive audience, the ad did nothing to position Kraft as a forward-thinking brand. Rather, the spot, created by Crispin Porter & Bogusky, reinforces age-old stereotypes of wives cooking in the kitchen and insensitive husbands coming home with last-minute dinner guests. We learn from the ad that Kraft’s Homestyle Macaroni & Cheese is a quick dinner solution, but the brand clearly missed an opportunity to tell us something more.





Marcom this week: From A to zinc is compiled by the Vitamin IMC editorial team. They can be reached at vitaminimc@gmail.com. Miss your vitamins last week? Visit January 14's “Marcom This Week.”

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Heineken, give yourself a good name

By Kate Hellman

While participating in a panel at the Albert Lasker event hosted by Medill last October, Susan Credle, creative director at Leo Burnett USA, made a comment that really stuck with me. She said that a product or brand is not the only thing we serve when we advertise: “I think we have to serve the community…the world…[and] the people. Which is that we are inviting them to public spaces not unlike architecture.”

It’s true that great ads enhance public space. They make you stop, think, and look, like good art. Other ads seem to have mindboggling disregard for the notion of advertising as a public space.

That is why the Heineken TV ad “The Tiger” leaves me feeling violated in my own living room. The ad shows a man at a wedding reception. He spots an attractive woman, and we assume he will go straight for her. Instead, he charms her by asking an elderly woman sitting next to her to dance (after leaving her with a Heineken, of course). Now, if this ad had been muted, I too would have been charmed off my feet. After all, what woman doesn’t appreciate an attractive gentleman? But then, the ad turns itself on its head. The voiceover says, “There are two types of tigers. One that goes straight for the prey and one that makes the prey surrender to him.”




I hope I speak for women and men alike in that calling a woman “prey” is not just demeaning; it’s sick. As a noun prey means "an animal taken by a predator as food" and conjures the image of a helpless animal being attacked and mauled to death. In a world where women are brutally raped and killed every single day, making a woman analogous to prey is beyond appalling.

The last shot of the ad displays the campaign’s theme, “Give Yourself a Good Name.” Well, Heineken, here is my suggestion to you: Take a cue from the classy man in your ad and give your own brand a good name. Simply substituting the word “lady” for “prey” would accomplish this nicely by bringing women back to human status.

Your ad is shown in public space, where women exist as 50 percent of the population and also happen to be some of your most loyal customers. I would really love to be able to drink a frosty Heineken tall boy without envisioning myself dead in a forest with flies buzzing around me.


Note: Very recently, Heineken changed the word “prey” to “prize.” While not quite as tasteless as referring to her as prey, it still leaves her as a possession to be conquered.

Kate Hellman is a student in the Masters in Integrated Marketing Communications program at Northwestern University’s Medill School and can be reached at katehellman2011@u.northwestern.edu.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Marcom this week: From A to zinc – 1/14/11 edition

From the downfall of celebrity endorsements to eco-friendly TV ads, here is a look at what made headlines this week in the integrated marketing communications industry.

Celebrity Ads Miss the Mark

New research from Ace Metrix may finally dispel the myth that celebrity ad endorsements enhance persuasion and improve advertising effectiveness. According to the
2010 Celebrity Advertisements study, in 2009 celebrity ads either performed below average or merely equaled it. On average, celebrity ads resulted in a -1.4 percent lift, while non-celebrity ads generated an 8 percent lift. Those topping the list of worse ads included Tiger Woods for Nike in “Did You Learn Anything?”and Lance Armstrong for Radio Shack in “No Emoticons.”

Why the lack of love for these hot shots? Participants reported that many celebrity ads lacked information and relevancy. It is not surprising consumers do not appreciate celebrities pushing messages at them. Today, consumers control the flow of information. They pull what they need from a variety of sources – most importantly, their social networks. Celebrities are not part of these networks, so push as they might, it is unlikely consumers will budge.


In fairness, 12 percent of celebrity ads did achieve a 10 percent or greater lift. These included spots from Progressive featuring Oprah Winfrey and Snickers featuring Betty White and Aretha Franklin.


CBS Gives “Green”
Advertisers Stamp of Approval
Beginning next week, CBS will include an EcoAd visual “digital” leaf on TV commercials for green advertisers. These advertisers are participating in the network’s sustainable media program, managed by EcoMedia. By purchasing these value-add spots, a portion of the advertisers’ dollars go toward urban reforestation projects, solar installations and affordable housing projects in cities nationwide. Sponsors include Chevrolet, Safeway, O Organics and Boston Scientific, among others.

EcoMedia launched in 2002; however, this is the first time we've heard about the EcoAd program. With EcoAd sponsors set to receive primetime attention, we are curious to see how CBS grows this program.


Working Out with “The Captain”

According to Captain Morgan, pirates are famous for three things: looting, pillaging and developing high-intensity, low-impact resistance training programs. What better way to market the latter of these skills than with a workout video? This three-minute web video produced by Pereira & O’Dell features The Captain in an infomercial about his life-changing workout routine. You do not want to miss the testimonials.





Captain Morgan was not the only adult-beverage company hitting the web with a film short this week. Heineken debuted a 90-second video entitled
“The Entrance.” Produced by Weiden & Kennedy, the spot features a man with perfect party-entrance timing. Both brands pumped significant marketing dollars into the production of these web-only videos, strengthening the argument that marketers are placing greater importance on the web.

Marcom This Week: From A to Zinc is compiled by the Vitamin IMC editorial team. They can be reached at vitaminimc@gmail.com. Miss your vitamins last week? View January 7th's “Marcom This Week."

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Noodles in Nigeria: Adapting to cultural change

By Lenny Layman

“Did you know that
IndoMie (an Indonesian brand) instant noodles are a big hit in Nigeria?” said Eugene, between mouthfuls of rice.

“Really? But why?” I asked.


“Well, the company’s really smart,” he replied. “It marketed the noodles to kids at first. The product’s novelty and great taste attracted an immediate following. The kids then pressured their moms to buy the noodles for them. Even the men now love noodles ‘cause they’re much faster to prepare than their normal meal.”


It was my last night in Singapore, my native country, and I was in the company of old school friends. The next morning, I would be returning to the United States, where I’ve lived for the past eight years. As I looked around at my friends—a mixed lot in terms of ethnicity, nationality, marital status and the industries we work in—I reflected on the rapid changes in Singapore I’ve observed every year during my return visits.


For most of the ‘80s and ‘90s, American and Japanese culture dominated Singapore’s retail environment. Today, Chinese and South Korean influences permeate mainstream
tastes in food, entertainment and consumer electronics. The expatriate community has also broadened beyond Americans, British and Australians to include Mainland Chinese, Indians and even Russians.

Big changes. My advice to those marketing products in Asia:

  • Identify commonalities in target audience to achieve effective segmentation.
    Consumers are inundated by choice in a region heavily courted by global brands and local variants. To rise above the noise, effective segmentation based on a sophisticated understanding of audience behaviors, values and attitudes, alongside demographic attributes, becomes key. I’ve seen too many ads that still “push” product features. Few “pull” the consumer in like this ad by the late filmmaker and former creative director at Leo Burnett Malaysia, Yasmin Ahmad.


  • Adapt concepts to resonate with target segments.
    At my first job at an ad agency, each launch campaign was executed in multiple languages: English, Mandarin and Malay. Concepts were adapted, translated and tested to ensure cultural relevance. Imagery was carefully chosen so as to not offend.
  • Connect with customers where they are most comfortable.
    Asia is a region of diversity beyond language and culture. The rate of adoption of new media channels and technology varies too. While the Internet and self-service kiosks are popular transaction mediums, the older generation still prefers lining up at post offices and banks. From a media standpoint, the environment is littered as much by electronic billboards, similar to New York City’s Times Square, as by flyers and pamphlets painstakingly distributed by hourly paid workers.
Right: An underground train station becomes a canvas for the latest Hollywood offering.

So what does this all mean for a marketer? Understanding consumers remains a priority. However, with changes in the population, it’s even more important that marketers themselves evolve. It may be advantageous to learn Mandarin to embrace the tide of change that is China. As a parallel, I’ve noted how my Chinese friends, whose work has taken them to Indonesia, have adopted Bahasa.


If an Indonesian brand could successfully penetrate a West African country, odd pairings in other parts of the world certainly stand a fair chance. Marketers simply need to listen, communicate and interact with consumers.


Lenny M. Layman is a student in the Masters in Integrated Marketing Communications program at Northwestern University’s Medill School and can be reached at lennylayman2011@u.northwestern.edu
.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Can Starbucks' "Siren" hold her own?

By Hillary Grey

In March, the Starbucks mermaid, or Siren, will get a new look. To mark its 40-year anniversary, Starbucks will update its logo by removing the words “Starbucks Coffee” and featuring the all-green Siren.


In light of the recent fallout from the Gap logo fiasco, tweaking the current logo is a better choice than a complete redesign, especially considering Starbucks’ incredible following. But the real questions are: can Starbucks sustain its brand image without any mention of coffee in the logo and is the Siren as well known as McDonald’s golden arches or Nike’s swoosh?


My thoughts: yes and yes. Starbucks is a global phenomenon with more than 16,700 stores in 50 different countries. Loyal customers will continue their morning, afternoon or evening ritual of a Starbucks fix regardless of what the cup says, and new customers will quickly catch on when they see their peers holding cups branded with the updated logo.


The logo change signifies that the company is updating aspects of its business model. By removing the words “Starbucks Coffee” from its logo, Starbucks will have more freedom to feature new food groups. To that end, in the social media world, rumors are starting about the possibility of offering a full breakfast or serving alcohol at night in select locations.


Come March, Starbucks management will see if customers like the change, but I’d bet that double caramel non-fat tall lattes are here to stay.


Hillary Grey is a student in the Masters in Integrated Marketing Communications program at Northwestern University’s Medill School and can be reached at hillarygrey@u.northwestern.edu.

Marcom this week: From A to zinc – 1/7/11 edition

From Oprah Winfrey’s successful cable network launch to cash inflows and employee outflows at top social networking companies, here’s a look at what made headlines this week in the integrated marketing communications industry.

OWN Debuts with Strong Numbers
Early results show Oprah Winfrey’s new cable network – OWN – enjoyed a successful launch on New Year’s Day. For its Saturday premiere, OWN was the No. 3 cable network among women ages 25 to 54 during the 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. hours, averaging 1.2 million viewers per time slot. Sunday proved tougher, with the network attracting 968,000 viewers for the launch of “Ask Oprah’s All Stars” and only 602,000 viewers for “Master Class.” Although Oprah has a solid track record and loyal following, extending her personal brand to include a cable network isn’t without risk. However, backed by the world’s leading tastemaker, along with the many stars she has helped make famous, we don’t think the network is in bad shape. With the launch complete, we’re anxious to see the full programming schedule – and what product integration opportunities it will afford marketers.

Social Networking Site Shakeups

2011 is ushering in big changes at top social networking companies, including Facebook, Myspace and LinkedIn.

In an effort to stay private longer, Facebook struck a deal with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Digital Sky Technologies, among others, to raise $500 million. The agreement values Facebook at $50 billion. The deal also puts Facebook over the critical 500-shareholder limit set by the Securities and Exchange Commission, meaning it will be forced to begin disclosing financial information or host an initial public offering by April 2012.


In other IPO news, LinkedIn plans to go public this year, according to sources close to the matter. In fact, the social network is expected to deliver a prospectus as soon as this quarter. The company’s estimated value is $2.2 billion.

Unfortunately for Myspace, its future doesn’t look as bright. It’s rumored the social network will soon announce massive layoffs, which could lead to reductions in staff by as much as 50 percent. This news follows the company’s 30 percent reduction in staff that occurred last summer. Myspace recently redesigned its site, but it continues to lose market share, dropping to 4.75 percent after losing nearly 7 percent over the past year.

LEGO® Makes it “Click”

Thanks to this latest film short from LEGO, this week we enjoyed a momentary return to the innocent and imaginative days of childhood. Entitled “Brick Thief,” the video promotes LEGO’s idea hive, Click, which provides an online forum for sharing stories, videos and photos that depict moments of inspiration. “Brick Thief” is a sequel to “Cl!ck” and features the same oddly spectacled and mustachioed Imagineer hard at work in his lab on his latest LEGO creation. We bet you’ll be scrambling to dig out your LEGO Pirate’s Fort set before it's over.




Marcom This Week: From A to Zinc is compiled by the Vitamin IMC editorial team. They can be reached at vitaminimc@gmail.com. Miss your vitamins last week? View Jan. 1's “Marcom This Week."

Thursday, January 6, 2011

The next Susan Boyle?

By Katie Lombardi

Thumbs up to Kraft for hiring Ted Williams, now deemed “the Homeless Man with a Golden Voice.”

Kraft made a smart move. Williams has signed on to be the voice for Kraft’s new mac and cheese TV commercials. Williams has a great voice but his life story and the random discovery of this homeless man are the more compelling aspects about him. What American doesn’t love a good comeback story and a bowl of macaroni and cheese?

The original video received 4.5 million hits on YouTube in just two days.



Now that Williams is making it big thanks to The Columbus Dispatch and YouTube, maybe more companies should look to viral stars to promote their brands. Check out a few popular YouTube videos (and potential missed opportunities) that people loved to watch but whose stars failed to score a deal.

David after dentist
Why isn’t David pictured on a Crest for Kids toothpaste package?

“Is this real life?”

Yes David, it is! Real life includes going to the dentist and hey, it can be fun.



Charlie bit my finger – again!
These kids are so cute, especially the older one with his British accent. Surely these kids can sell something.



Hahaha
Potential E*TRADE cameo? Gerber? Pampers? Anyone? A laughing baby is right up there with an adorable puppy dog – it’s hard to go wrong.



Katie Lombardi is a student in the Masters in Integrated Marketing Communications program at Northwestern University’s Medill School and can be reached at katherinelombardi2011@u.northwestern.edu.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Marcom this week: From A to zinc – 12/31/10 edition

From social networking sites dominating our search queries in 2010 to growing social media budgets in the year ahead, here’s a look at what made headlines this week in the integrated marketing communications industry.

Facebook Beats Google in 2010 for “Most Visited Site” Title

According to Experian Hitwise’s analysis of the top 1,000 search terms for 2010, "facebook" was the top-searched term overall, accounting for 2.11 percent of all searches. This is the social networking site’s second year as the top-searched term. Not surprisingly, overall, social networking-related terms dominated the results, accounting for 4.18 percent of the top 50 searches. "YouTube" was the third most-searched term, followed by "craigslist," "myspace" and "facebook.com."
Facebook also took top honors as the most-visited site in 2010, moving up from No. 3 and accounting for 8.93 percent of all U.S. visits. Google came in second with 7.19 percent of visits, followed by Yahoo Mail at 3.52 percent, Yahoo at 3.3 percent and YouTube at 2.65 percent. Bing popped up on the top-10 list for the first time in 2010, sitting at No. 10. Will be curious to see where the newbie search engine site goes from here.

Social Media Spending in 2011

With nearly 80 percent of corporations undertaking social media efforts, social media has quickly evolved from a shiny new object to a marketing toolkit must-have. So it’s no surprise that total budget for social strategy is projected to rise in 2011. Advisory firm Altimeter Group recently asked 140 corporate social media strategists how much they spent in 2010 and learned that the amount varies greatly based on the size of the organization. However, on average, companies spent $833,000 last year on social strategy. Next year, this number is expected to reach an average of $1.16 million. The following chart breaks down social media budgets and strategy based on an organization’s level of SM sophistication. We’d be curious to hear how this compares to your experience – let us know in the comments.



TaylorMade Scores a Hole-In-One with "Sesame Street"
The leading manufacturer of golf clubs, TaylorMade, has teamed up with the sounds of “Sesame Street” for a major TV ad campaign that will launch Jan. 3 on the Golf Channel, ESPN, NBC and CBS. The commercial features the song “One of These Things is Not Like the Others” – a “Sesame Street” staple – and will plug the company’s high-tech R11 driver, which has an unusual mostly white-colored clubhead. While we think the cutesy song will perk the ears of golf enthusiasts tuned into the season’s top competitions, we’re not sure these viewers will totally get the deeper meaning intended by TaylorMade’s ad agency, NYCA. As Michael Mark, CEO and creative director of the Encinitas, Calif.-based shop, explained in a recent AdAge interview, “We wanted to disarm the fear. We wanted to bring people back to a time of learning and openness when they would make personal leaps ahead without worry of what they didn’t know. That’s what ‘Sesame Street’ is all about.”




Marcom this Week: From A to Zinc is compiled by the Vitamin IMC editorial team. They can be reached at vitaminimc@gmail.com. Miss your vitamins last week? Visit the Dec. 24th edition of “Marcom this Week."