By Shakerra Grays This billboard reads: “The most dangerous place for an African American is in the womb.”
Since seeing a tweet of this billboard the other day, I’ve found it hard to get it off my mind. I find the statement inflammatory, irresponsible, offensive and shortsighted. Upon researching this organization, I found that TooManyAborted.com was created by The Radiance Foundation, a pro-life/pro-adoption organization founded, run, and supported by African Americans.
This billboard (which is one of many) does nothing to communicate the organization's mission or to move it forward. As a marketer I understand that need to get immediate attention and the inclination to use shock value to break through the advertising clutter. However, this is a cheap trick to get attention. Is it worth it? I don’t think so.
I clipped this directly from TooManyAborted.com:
VISION: We seek to eliminate the destruction of Life by focusing on solutions that empower women, men and children (born and unborn).
MISSION: TooManyAborted.com educates the public about abortion’s impact on the African-American community via accurate and documented statistics, historical perspectives, thought-provoking videos, and personal testimonies. We strongly encourage adoption and provide connections to local resources. Through speaking events and media campaigns, we expose the distortion and destruction of Planned Parenthood and its abortion advocates.
Fine. Fair enough. Pro-lifers have a right to their opinion. I’m also quite aware of Margaret Sanger’s views, eugenics, and the shady history of Planned Parenthood’s agenda for poor women of color. It is not my intention to debate the morality of abortion here. I am purely interested in the message.
I question what black woman would see this billboard and know that this organization seeks to help her. The statement on this billboard makes the mother the villain. It perpetuates the idea that black mothers are irresponsible, negligent, or somehow unable to responsibly carry a child, much less raise one. This billboard is judgmental and hurtful. TooManyAborted.com, you missed the mark here. And I suspect that in the process, you’ve alienated the very population that you seek to educate.
TooManyAborted.com should be more thoughtful about the messages they send out and be clearer about who they are. If they continue with messages like these, they will degrade their cause, erode their credibility, and be seen as part of the very problem that they seek to solve.
Shakerra Grays is a student in the Masters in Integrated Marketing Communications program at Northwestern University’s Medill School. Follow her tweets at http://twitter.com/ShakerraG.
The Huffington Post: AOL’s big ad format will force a redesign The Huffington Post’s cluttered, ad-laden pages may soon change. Following months of negotiations, signs of AOL’s takeover of The Huffington Post are starting to show. This week the website giant began to roll out a new ad format called “Project Devil,” which is a larger ad format that demands high rates but guarantees fewer ads per page. The program may require The Huffington Post to redesign in order to accommodate the format. AOL’s CEO Tim Armstrong claims “Project Devil” is an effort to provide a better experience for users in the form of less ads. While fewer ads may be good for users, another reason for this big ad push is revenue. After another year of decreased revenue (down 25% from 2009 to $2.41 billion), this project seems to be another push by AOL to monetize its online businesses. The Super Bowl’s social long tail It is no secret that social media has changed the way consumers interact with advertisers. But in the case of Super Bowl advertisers, viewer engagement with brands is at an all-time high. Two weeks after The Big Game, advertisers continue to see returns on their investment. According to a study conducted by Visible Measures, Volkswagen’s “The Force” tops the list with 3.5 million views, followed by Chrysler’s “Imported from Detroit” with 11.7 million views. The study not only tracks YouTube views, but also how consumers are engaging with the brands, including sharing with friends, copying, reposting, commenting or rating it. This study shows that the brands are engaging consumers in conversation and interacting with them on an entirely new level. With its ads topping out at $3 million per 30-second spot, the Super Bowl may have found a new incentive to pull in advertisers.
Miracle Whip: Lovers or haters In a campaign developed by mcgarrybowen, Miracle Whip is embracing the polarizing debate between “lovers" and “haters” of its sandwich spread. It asks the questions: “We’re not for everyone. Are you Miracle Whip?” The YouTube campaign features an interesting lineup of everyday people and celebrities, including Pauly D from "Jersey Shore," political commentator James Carville and comedian Amy Sedaris. Each of them takes a stance on his or her favorite sandwich spread. In the battle of Miracle Whip versus mayonnaise, which do you choose?
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 “Marcom this Week” archive.
As an IMC’er, I try to stay abreast of technological trends and advances. IBM has developed a computer that detects nuances in language and meaning. Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland have succeeded in re-creating the conditions that developed shortly after the Big Bang. Google is developing a car that starts, steers, and stops on its own.
And yet none of these developments flabbergast me quite as much as recent technological developments in the greasy pizza industry. A few weekends ago on a frigid Chicago night, some friends and I ordered in Dominos. What I discovered on that night blew me away, admittedly more so than news of recreation of the Big Bang.
When you order a Domino’s pizza online, you can now track it in real-time. Want to know if your pizza is still being prepped, or whether it’s in the oven yet? Pizza Tracker has the answers for you. There’s really nothing quite as satisfying as watching a terrible TV show while simultaneously checking on your pizza every 45 seconds on your computer. Now that’s what I call synergy.
Similarly, Papa John’s (which happens to be my all-time favorite pizza, this coming from a native New Yorker) has stepped up its game in the ever-exciting online world of pizza creation. On PapaJohns.com, you can personalize your pizza exactly how you want it. Thin or thick crust? Jalapenos or anchovies, three-cheese blend or banana peppers? And do you want those toppings on the left or right side of the pizza? Watch as animations of each topping you select fall onto your virtual pizza like delicious confetti. You can even choose to have your pizza cut in squares. I chose this option last weekend, and was disgruntled to discover that my pizza came sliced normally—not exactly a tragedy, but I was pretty excited about the squares. Of course, if Papa offers all of these options, he should deliver (literally). The risk of disappointing customers given such an array of options must be managed.
The best of all of these websites is Chicago’s own Homemade Pizza Co., where you can even specify a whole wheat crust. The website is as chic and good-looking as the pizzas themselves.
These developments have several critical marketing implications, and apply to far more categories than just pizza. If a brand has a marketing objective to lower costs, driving customers to websites that grant them as much (or more) control over the desired product as they have by phone can significantly decrease calls and other expensive methods of interaction.
That’s great news for companies and stores like Domino’s and Papa John’s, which have only a few employees working at a time. An effective website frees employees from being tied up on the phone and enables them to focus on the product; this is pivotal during busy times, such as Superbowl night for pizza chains. Customers, meanwhile, are more satisfied with the product, given their increased control over everything from amounts of cheese to shapes of slices. In fact, they may even discover options that they didn’t know existed. It’s a win-win for all.
Most importantly, all three pizza websites appear to reflect serious collaboration between IT and marketing. On each page and at each step, brand character is clearly evident. The Domino’s site emphasizes its high-quality ingredients, in line with its recent TV campaign. Papa John’s site makes abundantly clear that it’s the perfect pizza for football games (this aligns with the company’s sponsorship of the NFL). Homemade Pizza Co. has a sleek, earthy-feeling website design for its upscale, health-conscious customers.
In an age of technology with seemingly limitless possibility, collaborations like this, especially in consumer-centric organizations, will move from “strategy” to what Harvard Professor Michael Porter calls “operational effectiveness.” That is, in-house silos will be broken down and collaborations between marketing and IT (and other groups) will become more commonplace. Porter argues that operational effectiveness is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for organizational success. Companies that are not operationally effective make themselves vulnerable, even if they have sound strategy.
That anyone can create their vision for a perfect pizza and have it delivered to their door in 30 minutes proves the pronounced benefits of convergence of marketing communication and IT activities. Companies should take a hint from the Papa and learn that in order to be operationally effective and thus stand a chance of surviving intense competition, these collaborations become as necessary as practices like quality management and benchmarking. Companies with good strategies but that lack partnership among marketing and other groups threaten their own viability. In other words, there’s no other way to go but forward—or, as we like to call it at Medill, towards Integrated Marketing Communications.
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.
From Pepsi’s controversial new can to a positive outlook on marketing jobs in 2011, here is a look at what made headlines this week in the integrated marketing communications industry.
Diet Pepsi Slims Down for Fashion Week Diet Pepsi’s new “skinny” can got some rough reviews when it debuted at New York Fashion Week this week. According to PepsiCo Inc., the “tall, sassier” version of its traditional can celebrates beautiful, confident women. Pepsi, what are you trying to say? Beautiful, confident women don’t come in “traditional” sizes?
Before we hate on Pepsi, let’s look at this from another perspective. Yes, Pepsi’s positioning of the new can is a surefire way to draw negative attention. However, this new attribute does have its benefits. Skinny cans are more ladylike than wide-mouth traditional cans and add a bit of glam to the otherwise mundane activity of drinking a diet cola. We may not love the messaging, but we’re up for throwing a case of these cute cans in our fridge. We’re betting others will too, which begs the question: will this negative publicity hurt or help the brand?
Marketing Jobs on the Rise Good news for integrated marketing grad students: marketing jobs are on the rise. According to a survey conducted by Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and the American Marketing Association, CMOs plan to hire 50 percent more marketing pros in 2011. Gains in revenue and profits are fueling the new hires, with 69 percent of respondents saying they are more optimistic about the U.S. economy, up from 26 percent the previous quarter.
Couple this news with information about the hottest hiring sectors and you should be heading down a bright career path. As CNBC reported earlier this year, industries promising the most growth include IT, healthcare, transportation and financial services. In fact, according to CareerBuilder.com, 24 percent of hiring managers report plans to hire full-time workers in 2011, up from 20 percent in 2010 and 14 percent in 2009.
Harley Debuts First Crowdsourced Ad It’s arguable that Harley Davidson has created one of the strongest brand communities of the last century. Now, the motorcycle manufacturer has turned the creative reins over to its customers, asking them to help develop an ad campaign around Harley’s new HD1 program, which allows customers to go online and design their own bike. “No Cages” is the first crowdsourced spot to air. Inspired by Kentuckian Whit Hiler and produced by Boulder, Colo.-based Victors & Spoils, the TV ad pays homage to the freedom felt by Harley riders and owners. So which brand will jump on the crowdsourcing bandwagon next? In addition, while it seems like crowdsourcing and ad agencies are playing nicely, is this technique a threat to creative agencies?
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 “Marcom this Week” archive.
The battle between the online deal websites Groupon and LivingSocial was one of the most anticipated Super Bowl commercial match-ups this year. Both start-ups used controversial humor in pre-game and Super Bowl spots to get the word out about their daily deal sites. In the aftermath of eyebrow raises and social controversy, did the humor pay off?
Groupon From rainforest deforestation to mountainous Tibet, Groupon’s three 30-second spots seemed to have questionable (not to mention controversial) starts. Although the introductions seemed inappropriate, they stayed true to Groupon’s brand personality, known for its quirky lead-ins to deal descriptions. Groupon’s spots also gave non-users a good idea of how the daily deal service works. In the pre-game spot, Cuba Gooding Jr. says: “…since 100 of us bought on Groupon.com, we’re each getting an $86 whale-watching cruise for just $49.”
Groupon definitely flexed its new funding muscles—$377 million to be exact— and spent $3 million to produce and air its three Super Bowl spots. For its first offline advertising effort, the start-up partnered with big-name agency Crispin Porter & Bogusky. In addition to Gooding, the spots featured stars such as Elizabeth Hurley and Timothy Hutton.
Living Social From golf to go-karts to facials, LivingSocial’s pre-game spot depicted the wide range of deals that consumers can find on the website. In the campaign created by The Martin Agency, one man describes how his life has changed through his addiction to the online daily deals website. The man starts out macho and bearded, but through LivingSocial’s daily deals, ends up dressed as a woman. In the wake of social media backlash, it is obvious that LivingSocial made a big mistake in its choice of humor. Stuart Elliot, writer for The New York Time’s Media Decoder, said it best: “Yes, in 2011, advertisers still believe that transsexuals or cross-dressing is something to laugh at.”
The last time these two start-ups faced off, LivingSocial walked away victorious with the title of “Biggest Daily Deal” by selling over 13 million in the $10 Amazon.com flash deal. In fact, LivingSocial used some of the earning from this deal to fund their Super Bowl pre-game debut.
Who do you think won the offline match-up? Let us know in the comments!
By Courtney Uchytil Rishad Tobaccowala is a marketing innovator, business leader, the chief strategy and innovation officer of Vivaki, and CEO of Denuo. And this Monday, Rishad will be the kick-off lecturer for the IMC Professional Speakers Series for the Northwestern Medill community.
In anticipation of the event, Rishad was kind enough to give us a little insight into his thoughts on social media, the blogosphere and Twitter.
As a guest speaker for the Integrated Marketing Communications program, what does IMC mean to you? And how to you see IMC fitting into the marketing world?
RT: IMC to me is the future of how marketing will be done. In a digital age the old silos of marketing, from promotion to PR to advertising, etc., are collapsing and what matters is planning/measuring across all connection points of paid, owned and earned media driven by consumer insight and business metrics. I see IMC as ideal for this hybrid/mongrel marketing world, which combines data and insight, science and art.
I believe the biggest thing IMC should plan and plot about is how to measure and plan across paid, owned and earned media. Today database marketing and understanding a person’s media usage and the context in which it is used is critical and will remain critical. But over time instead of marketing types (above line or below line) or forms (analog or digital) it will be about paid, owned and earned connections.
How effective are blogs and other social media as a form of word of mouth?
RT: Hugely effective especially when used in combination. Blogs are where your content is written and stored and discussed, while social media like Twitter and Facebook are where they are promoted and to a certain extent discussed.As you know I have a blog, which I promote on Twitter (@rishadt) which is connected to my Facebook page and LinkedIn page. If I post a blog there is little traffic until I tweet about it. If people like it they retweet. So for instance, when I blogged about the four trends of 2011, I tweeted it to my 3,800 followers. Now at any time only a fraction will see my message and a fraction will click on the link. But because those that did liked it, they tweeted and retweeted it and so within a week I had nearly 10,000 visitors. Social media is the new discovery engine.
In one interview you referred to Twitter as a “great discovery engine.” How do you see the role of Twitter evolving over time?
RT: As noted I believe social media (not just Twitter, but Twitter is the most effective in promoting discovery) is a discovery engine. I see Twitter evolving in the following ways:
A) It becomes a place where you discover things in real time.
B) It becomes a place where you search for things and perspectives (which is why Twitter made $140 million in advertising because brands are now promoting tweets, promoting their accounts and promoting trends). It is an addition to Google.
C) It is where you eventually will have curators. For instance, I make lists of people who are very good at pointing things in art or film, and I look at these lists almost like a magazine article by a critic pointing me to important things.
Faculty and students, make sure to RSVP to the event to reserve your spot and to hear more of what Rishad has to say. The lecture starts at 4p.m. in the MTC Forum, Monday, February 7.
Courtney Uchytil is a student in the Masters in Integrated Marketing Communications program at Northwestern University’s Medill School and can be reached at courtneyuchytil2011@u.northwestern.edu.
Despite Blizzard 2011 wreaking havoc on one in three Americans this week, the marketing industry managed to squeak in a few of its own headlines. Put aside the snow shovel and check out what you may have missed while digging out from the storm.
Print media on track to rise again? The week was chock full of big announcements from leading print publishers. Just when we thought print was a dying media, it appears some pubs may be on their way back to the top. Leading the pack was People.com, which reached 1 billion page views in January, according to Omniture. This is a first for People, and for all magazine websites.
Perhaps the most anticipated news came from News Corp., which announced its iPad-only newspaper, The Daily. As Rupert Murdoch, News Corp. chairman and CEO, said, “iPad demands that we rethink our craft.” Developed in partnership with Apple, the made-for-tablet pub will cost users $40 a year.
With advertising revenues decline, the Web is where publishers are hoping to cash in. However, billions of page views and highly followed Twitter handles don’t generate cash on their own. In addition, while The Daily may set the tone for the future of the news business model, we’re left wondering who its audience is. We applaud these media companies for their efforts, but hope their strategies are fully baked.
With Farbman, who is currently worldwide managing director for Ogilvy & Mather, at the helm, Gap hopes to set itself on a course to better performance in North America. Ogilvy also is stepping in as Gap’s worldwide agency of record, replacing Laird & Partners. While the retailer denies these changes are a result of the logo fiasco, we find this hard to believe. Here’s to hoping 2011 brings the brand better luck than last year.
Love doesn’t conquer all, but money does When offered a choice between great sex every week for five years and free chocolate every week for five years, U.S. women pick sex 73 percent of the time. Throw a one-lump sum of $1,000 into the mix, and the majority of women (91 percent) choose the cash over weekly chocolate. These findings from the latest Saatchi Wellness and Time Inc. annual tracking study shed light on a growing trend: the “Me-Covery.” That is, women increasing spending on beauty and health products and services.
This shift is evident in the growing percentage of women who are spending money on anti-aging products and salon services – both were up nearly 20 percent in 2010. It appears women are loosening their purse strings and putting aside recessionary spending habits, which should bode well for marketers of health and beauty products.
You just read the first line in Taco Bell’s rebuttal to a class action lawsuit that claims the fast food chain doesn’t use real beef in its tacos and burritos. Last Friday, Taco Bell hit the public with a massive ad campaign to make it clear to the people who are suing them: "Not only is your claim a lie, but guess what? We are going to sue you!"
Public relations professionals know that in most cases it’s better to respond than to say nothing at all. Taco Bell’s tongue-in-cheek ad will certainly grab the attention of consumers but will it convince them that the Bell's seasoned beef is really 88% beef and 12% secret recipe?
I am not convinced. However, I don’t typically eat at Taco Bell so the lawsuit and its allegations aren’t changing my behavior. Taco Bell probably shouldn’t worry about consumers like me anyway. But for those customers who are actually raising an eyebrow at the idea that its meat filling is a mixture of oats, ground meat, and whatever else is thrown in there, it’s time to call in an expert.Edelman just released the results from its 2011 Edelman Trust Barometer, which show Americans don’t want to hear from “a guy like me” (think Jarred from Subway). They want to hear from a trusted expert. Americans want a response from the CEO of a company or someone who has substantial credentials and authority.
My advice to Taco Bell: Hire a team of food scientists to test and confirm that your beef is really beef. And if you can’t back up your claim then it’s time to be more transparent with the public. It’s difficult to sound believable when you’re the second guy to scream foul. It’s turning into a “he said, she said” game and for people who do care, Taco Bell should do more than just run a snarky ad campaign.
But again I have to ask, do people really care and why? You’re eating Taco Bell, not buying organic groceries at Whole Foods. Are you really that surprised?
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.
When I was 13 years old I had a dial-up modem, a Compaq desktop, and a copy of Napster. In the eyes of the record labels, I was public enemy #1. Labels hated me for making fewer trips to Best Buy, and major artists like Dr Dre and Metallica hated me for taking money out of their pockets.
That was 1999. Fast forward to 2011. Download speeds are faster, technology is better, and the 25-year-old version of me can now access an entire band’s discography on my cell phone while waiting for a bus in the same amount of time it took me in ‘99 to download the mp3 for Smashmouth’s “All Star” (a track I am not necessarily proud of owning).
More than a decade later and the record labels and movie studios still feel their worst enemy is the pirating consumer. But they may have a bigger issue on their hands: content producers jumping ship.
When it comes down to it, record labels and movie studios are nothing more than a means for distribution and marketing. But in the age of digital downloads and Facebook friends, the entertainment marketing techniques of old have been proven obsolete.
In 2000, while Metallica and those sub-par rockers from the Great North, Nickelback, were complaining about losing money on illegal downloads, other bands who never dreamed of a record contract were seeing unparalleled success. Dispatch, an independent jam band from Vermont, had failed to find much of an audience outside of Northeast college campuses. But thanks to Napster, word-of-mouth peer-to-peer downloads spread their music and opened up doors for nationwide tours. The band broke up in 2002, but held a reunion show in 2007 that managed to sell out Madison Square Garden… three nights in a row. All of this without a single track on Top 40 radio. They announced a tour this June that has already sold-out shows at Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Boston’s TD Garden, and Chicago’s Millennium Park. All from fans who received a presale code when they spread the word about the show on their Twitter feeds and Facebook updates. In addition to the presale code, they were also given free access to the band’s entire discography.
While a small band finding success on the Internet doesn’t turn many heads at the labels, the story is different when a major established act follows suit. In October of 2007, Radiohead ended their relationship with record giant EMI to release their new album In Rainbows independently online, allowing fans to pay whatever price they wanted for the material. Their reasoning: the record label was no longer necessary. While labels felt the distribution would prove a massive disaster, the album actually came out as number one in both UK and US Billboard charts upon release.
Much the same is beginning to be seen in movies. Director Kevin Smith (best known for his cult classics Mallrats, Clerks, and Dogma) made waves at Sundance Film Festival last week when he announced he would not be selling distribution rites for his newest release, Red State, to a movie studio. His rationale: he has more Twitter fans, podcast listeners, and social network friends than any studio in Hollywood – why would he pay someone else for marketing when he can do it better himself? Instead of a wide-release, Smith is taking his movie on a road show this March, hitting venues across the country. The event kicks off at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall March 5.
So while EMI and 20th Century Fox hire copyright lawyers to chase down every kid with a computer and WiFi, they may be missing the bigger threat to their future revenues. As social media influence increases, the strength of entertainment giants as an integral part of the process is subsiding quickly. In the near future we may see the end of labels and studios, not from lost profits on illegal pirating, but the departure of artists altogether. Because it does not matter how big your company is, you can’t market what you don’t own.
Chris Millichap is a student in the Masters in Integrated Marketing Communications program at Northwestern University’s Medill School and can be reached via Twitter @ChrisMillichap.
