This was the view of Yorkdale Mall today, which as I mentioned in my last posting has become the environment for some of the most interesting consumer behaviour I have ever witnessed. Here's some evidence of this strange phenomenon:
So why is this line-up of willing iPhone 4 buyers an immense branding mistake? The first problem is the control of their brand. I would suggest that Apple has lost control of what it truly means.
Apple is one of the few technology companies that has transitioned from a supplier of cool gadgets to status items. Not to stir up any controversy, but the new iPhone 4 isn't the most technologically advanced phone on the market (although Apple may want you to think differently). It's this status allure that has fueled international demand for the product, which has led to the sub-culture of grey-market distributors.
And where are all these iPhones going? From what I know personally; South America, East Europe and Southeast Asia. These are all markets which currently do not sell iPhone 4s (with the exception of Hong Kong). The grey market phones are trodden around by the wealthy and privileged; making a nice profit for importers and exporters alike.
So where does that leave Apple? In a position very similar to a luxury apparel brand. Their new product releases are scheduled like clockwork; slightly offset from Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter releases. Everything about the device is "beautiful", but not necessarily advanced. It would also appear that design is favored over functionality in Cupertino; haute couture anyone?
But why is this a problem? The profits in the electronics business is no longer in hardware; but media.iTunes's return on investment is miles ahead of the 100% direct cost margin on most hardware. Apple would be lucky to break even on their hardware when it comes to all the indirect retailing costs associated with a direct retailer. Selling music, magazines, books, applications and anything else software-based has been the sustainable source of revenue and profit for Apple since it launched iTunes.
Apple used to be the cool "Mac" guy. They used to be the counter-electronics culture; focusing on being different and unique, and definitely niche. And as they fail to reach this consumer and are by-passed by distributors who they allow to line up hours before the store even opens; they're alienating their most profitable customers.
It would appear that as time goes on, people aren't thinking as differently when it comes to Apple.
The second brand failure is leveraging the line-up. For those companies who are fortunate (and smart) enough to justify people lining up, it's baffling why they don't make better use of those whom are brand disciples or could potentially be one.
Line-goers typically left to their own device will entertain themselves only for as long as their iPad's battery will last. Apart from books, sleeping and arguing over what's the best feature of the new iPhone, there really isn't much to do for 10 hours while in line (from my experience). And yet marketers tremble at the notion of soaring TV commercial prices with ever decreasing audiences. Does anyone else see a gap here?
Why don't companies like Apple entertain these bored yet fanatic consumers while in line? Why does it even have to be considered a line? Why can't it be an experience? I can imagine there being free concerts (broadcasted to TV monitors around the world outside of stores), food, giveaways, webcams between cities and live discussion? If well-executed you could probably sell tickets. This is how Apple can start to shift its brand perception back to being cool and niche to sell profitable media in the long-run as opposed to fashion in the short-run.
But then again, the way people were lining up today for the launch of Victoria Secret today, you'd think everyone was walking around in the nude. They even needed bouncers at the front doors.
It's a sign of the times. Agencies in the States have lost 65,000 employees in 2008 and client marketing budgets are under greater scrutiny for the impact advertising has on actual sales.
Coke's actions suggest a strategic opportunity for agencies based on the following:
Campaigns executed using channels with high awareness and low cost. Experitential, events promotion, and SMPR are some of these. Television isn't.
Global orientation, either based on a flexible network of interlinked agency offices, or the capabilities of a single office with a seriously multicultural talent pool.
Integrated marketing strategy services which allow an agency to take a stepped-back approach and look at the most effective way to speak to a customer, then you customize a channel based on that.
Close interaction between the ad shop and the media shop (small agencies are often merging these together) to fully optimize how advertising is being used in the right channels at the right time to the right audience. Because of a deliberate separation of media departments in the 1980s, agencies really slit a vein in terms of how much value could be added to clients.
Ultimately a leaner demand for marketing services improves campaign quality and consumer experiences. Agencies are being put to the screws to deliver a better product and more value.
In another fantastic example of my two birds, one stone philosophy, I'm blog-posting and collecting supporting evidence for a presentation my group is making on Thursday about ad agencies.
I'm reading this interesting book, Adland, all about the growth of the advertising industry. It's a summary account of major global agencies and their influential founders. The book gives equal credit to the importance of consumer insight (research), outstanding creativity (artistry), and compelling messaging (copywriting) as elements of successful agencies. Often the most noteworthy agencies were started as a partnership between a planner, an art director, and a copywriter (or a combination of).
Here are a few examples of successful advertising agencies and how they grew up:
Lord & Thomas, an old print ad agency at the turn of the 20th century into the thirties, led by Albert Lasker, known as the true father or modern advertising. Lasker created the form of the modern agency with a department of copywriters and a focus on sales, planning, and business development. He recruited famous copywriter Claude Hopkins, known for a rational sales-focused style honed through research and empirical results. As simple an obvious as it now sounds, the 'Hopkins Approach' to good ad development implies finding the unique factor for any product that sets it apart from its rivals. Groundbreaking stuff in 1907. The importance here is that even as early as 1907, there was a strong scientific basis to advertising and agencies that could deliver a more effective advertisement were more successful. Lord & Thomas is now DraftFCB, part of Interpublic.
JWT, founded in 1878 by J. Walter Thompson (who actually bought out the agency owned by Willian Carlton), one of the largest and most successful advertising agencies ever (now part of the WPP holding company). Grew significantly from 1920s to 1950s under Stanley Resor and his wife Helen Landsdowne who emphasized the need for credible research to back up claims of product superiority (think doctors, psychologists). JWT is now the largest US agency, fourth largest in the world.
Young & Rubicam, founded in 1923 by John Young and Raymond Rubicam, is now one of the largest advertising agencies in the world. It grew like other modern agencies but had a strong focus on backing up ideas with solid research. It may therefore be considered among the less risk-taking agencies because of its more dogmatic approach to campaign development. Y&R was known for its creativity in the 1950s, but Rubicam also wanted to instill a practical, reason-based foundation in the work. In 1932, Rubicam hired George Gallup (yes, that Gallup), a sociologist and researcher to head a consumer research departmnt of 400 people within the agency. The primary research collected by field researchers working for Y&R would lead to the development of better, more relevant campaigns. In 2000 Young and Rubicam Brands (including Wunderman and Young & Rubicam) was acquired by WPP.
DDB, founded by Ned Doyle, Maxwell Dane, and Bill Bernbach in 1949 as the antithesis to what was seen at the time as stodgy and conservative creative work by the major agencies (Greay, Y&M, O&M, JWT). This was the creative shop in the 1950s, the team responsible for the famous VW Lemon ads. DDB established itself and grew based on creative risk-taking and simply great ideas rather than a focus on consumer research (the Levy's Rye Bread ad, shown above, is a classic example from DDB). A defining quality at DDB was the deliberate collaboration between art directors and copywriters to spark great ideas, known as the creative revolution in advertising. DDB merged with BBDO and Needham in 1986 to create Omnicom, then the largest advertising company in the world. DDB is seriously successful, with many creative awards (to this day) the highest revenue ($12.69B in 2007) of any agency.
Chiat/Day, creative hotspot founded in Los Angeles in 1962, best known for the '1984' Apple Superbowl ad (shown below). Although Stanley Pollitt at BMP developed the practice of 'account planning' - placing researcher and account managers directly together on client teams to better facilitate consumer insights, it was the application of account planning at Chiat/Day that catalyzed the agency's meteoric rise. From the introduction of account planning organization in 1982 to 1992, the agency's client billings grew from $50MM to $700MM. Chiat/Day merged with the European collective TBWA in 1993 and was acquired by Omnicom.
Wieden + Kennedy, founded in 1982 by Dan Wieden and David Kennedy out of Portland Oregon. W+K is a big favourite of mine for producing amazing creative work, notably Coke's 'Coke Side of Life' and the Nike 'Just Do It' campaign. The shop was the first to challenge the advertising hegemony of Madison Avenue. It's now one of the largest independently owned agencies and still producing great work, like this fantastic spot for Nike (shown below) which premiered during the 2008 Olympics. I still get chills and cry. Seems to have grown as a result of strong TV capabilities.
M&C Saatchi, founded in 1996 by the same Saatchi brothers who were forced out of their original agency, their namesake Saatchi & Saatchi. M&C Saatchi is relatively small but global, highly creative, and highly strategic in their thinking. It uses the concept of 'Brutal Simplicity' to deconstruct brands and consumer strategies to their simplest elemental forms. One word thinking. It's meant to get to the heart of insight. (Note, I really want to work here when they finally open a Toronto office!)
180, an innovative shop founded in 1998, spun off by account managers from Wieden + Kennedy's Amsterdam office who committed the most grievous of sins, pitching for Adidas, the hated rival of Nike, W+K's primary client. 180 is a multicultural agency, strongly reflecting the diversity of its Amsterdam HQ. In 2007 they opened an Los Angeles office and are now 50% owned by Omnicom. 180 describes that they first "think of the big idea and then apply it to media channels. If it doesn't work in all channels, then it's not a big idea." Interesting example of an agency that relies on incredible talent as a driver of creativity.
StrawberryFrog, started in 1999 (also in Amsterdam) as a digital media agency, now is a specialist in creating cultural movements. An example of a shop that really gets the optimism and creative risk-taking (remember DDB in the 1950s?) that makes advertising exciting. The agency specializes in popular movements using a wide array of contact points with consumers, from outdoor advertising to web-based initiatives. They design brand environments, says cheif CD, Mark Chalmers. Cool, cool stuff. Check out their story of advertising.
What I think is cool - and a key linchpin of my 601 group's strategic recommendation for our site - is that successful agencies have grown by a deliberate recognition of the importance of strategic planning and consumer research. In the case of BMP, this function is highly integrated into campaign development in the form of the 'account planning' model. In the case of Young & Rubicam, it's the purposeful distancing of a research department to develop pure, unadulterated and meaningful consumer truths.
Agencies need strategy. It's a higher value adding service and something that can improve the quality and relevance of campaigns for consumers.
But in other examples, agencies became successful simply because of the way they did work. They were more cultural. Riskier and with fresher ideas. M&C Saatchi, DDB, StrawberryFrog, and 180 are examples.
So we're now left with an interesting industry - it's highly divided, with six massive players and their collection of agencies at one end (WPP, Omnicom, Havas, Publicis, Interpublic, and Dentsu) and small boutique standalone agencies at the other. In the middle are micro-networks of agencies with networks of regional offices or partnerships.
It's these mid-tier agencies which are the most interesting to look at because they defy convention. Sure, they're creative, but they're also executional experts at new media channels which they grew up using. StrawberryFrog is an example. Same for Razorfish/Avenue A. They're strategic creatives, talking big ideas as much as consumer marketing strategies. And they're winning business. Adidas is handled by Sid Lee out of Montreal and 180 from Amsterdam. Nike is handled by Wieden + Kennedy. Burger King is handled by Crispin Porter & Bogusky from Miami. The German boutique Heyer & Partners developed the McDonald's 'I'm Lovin' It' campaign.
So what happens when strategy is increasingly being determined by nimble shops that can produce a global impact but don't need global operations?
Someone just made a comment in class about how Obama's election isn't anything new, it's just the representation of American political sentiment at this moment. I'd seriously care to disagree, and Justin emphasized that 2M people in Washington is hardly evidence of the fact that Obama is no different than other presidents.
This all speaks to a larger cultural movement that's churning and frothing but still largely intangible.
Pepsi has relaunched its brand in an effort to ride this new cultural zeitgeist. It's now a fresher, edgier, more movement-focused brand. And it's coincided with the inauguration!
Here's their old look: Here's their new look:
Familiar, but different. It's fun.
The centrepiece of the brand relaunch is the Refresh Campaign.
Check out the microsite: RefreshEverything.com. It's a social media site to aggregate the opinions and voices of normal citizens and Eva Longoria (among other celebrities).
It's been created to allow anyone to upload their own user-generated content that expresses their feelings of hope and optimism with the new President.
Even my current fascination, Lady GaGa, has gotten in on the action!
The Refresh campaign doesn't prominently feature any Pepsi products. I like this campaign because it's not about driving sales, it's about driving engagement (again, how does one actually value this?...is it even fair to value engagement by the classical measures of consumer value??)
The microsite is simply meant as an online interactive destination for their offline commercials. It's tied to a YouTube channel with Pepsi's new commercials and other related videos. The microsite doesn't have any search or folksonomy tagging capabilities so it's not too important for site visitors to find exact information on what people are saying, rather, it's meant to act as a speaker's corner for average voices to be heard.
So what's the point?
Two things:
Think of the optics: Pepsi is showing that they are a brand associated with change and youth (again). The TV commercial, courtesy of TBWA Chiat Day, was shown during key primetime spots (I saw it on AC 360 at 10:15pm, January 20) and captured the momentousness of the day. Check out the commercial. It's fresh and friendly.
Think of the non-quantifiable brand development: Tacitly, Pepsi's Refresh campaign is effectively sponsoring the Obama administration! It's piggybacking on a wave of interest in society in individualism, plurality, and self-expression. Pepsi is demonstrating that it understands the strong needs by consumers/voters for these things.
Pepsi is allowing consumers to be heard at a time when the urge to speak up has never been stronger.
Great work by Pepsi and their agencies on this one, this is definitely a campaign i'd have loved to be involved in.
Excellent example of getting it done, creating a transparent and highly understanding brand personality, and emphasizing that Pepsi is a brand that unites and empowers people.
Killing two birds with one stone is great isn't it?
I'm writing an appendix about advertising channel marketing strategy right now for a report as part of my 601 project and I thought about posting the analysis up to the blog!
I love original content!!!
It's really abbreviated, but it's a quick comparison of old and new best practices of various online and offline advertising channels. I've tried to be comprehensive and unbiased here (although I personally think that untargeted advertising can go to Hell....) but it's a good synopsis of the different benefits and recommendations for effectiveness for each channel.
You'll see that throughout this chart I'm really in support of integrated campaigns. That means marketing communications that simultaneously leverage the other active channels. It's the newspaper ad that tells you to go online and try virtually test drive the new model car, it's the radio spot that tells you to look for Count Chocula sampling this Saturday at Metro stores in the GTA.
God, how I wish there was a product sampling of Count Chocula....but I digress.
Oh, and BBAs, plagiarize away! Just don't expect to develop unoriginal, uncited analysis and hand it to me to give to one of our clients.
Advertising channel
Channel description
Old best practices
New best practices
Website development
Includes website design, management, analysis, promotional microsite development.
Important channel for speaking directly to tech-savvy, younger consumers.
Clear site navigation and shallow site structure with few deep levels.
Integrate web metrics tracking for site optimization and online marketing.
Promotion in offline marketing communications as a source of extra information about a brand.
Site users have the opportunity to create content and interact bilaterally with the site.
Important to integrate websites with offline communications including print and television (often these drive consumers to the website).
Provide relevant brand and product information in multiple formats, allowing consumers an opportunity to take content with them or send to their friends off the site.
Promoted in offline communications as a destination in itself and a place to go as part of Web 2.0 consumer interactivity.
Email
Includes email design, deployment, analysis, and potential integration with database segmentation.
Important channel for direct marketing and establishing brand relevance.
Use an attention grabbing subject line.
Display the best content “above the fold” of the screen.
Do not be too copy-heavy, leverage text and pictures.
Communicate exclusive offers, promotions, and deals to “our best customers”.
Perform active segmentation and response analysis on house list to determine most optimal messages/content to be included in targeted email to consumers.
Must be easy for consumers to unsubscribe or change their email settings. Position as nonintrusive consumer touchpoint that is relevant to you.
Email is highly useful to create a curriculum or education campaign for new consumers or a multi-wave campaign.
Social media
Includes brand promotion through social media public relations, viral content development and distribution, network ‘seeding’, and identity development on social network profile sites.
Important channel for brand identity building through online affiliations and new project promotion.
Note, because this is such a new channel, best practices are being developed as part of an ongoing mutation of the medium.
Social media is too young to have any “old” best practices, because marketers are still trying to understand how to use it effectively.
Pay attention to emerging consumer memes and viral trends online. Ride these.
Create a clear identity that allows users to comment, rate, or interact with the brand’s social media presence.
Use social media PR sparingly and only to announce exciting brand developments or significant launches.
“Feedback 3.0” is the act of brands actively responding to and commenting back to their commentators in online forums.(TrendWatching.com)
In-store retail promotion
Includes design of product packaging and printed promotional materials, development of coupons and offers.
Also includes total management of promotional projects and events, including multiple-party promotions.
Eye-popping visuals and unique creative execution.
Display in preferred locations in retail environments (end of aisle, eye level, front of store and produce area).
Promotions are used to highlight exciting new product launches or as a boost to seasonally low sales.
Retail promotions are immediately relevant to the consumer (because they are physically interacting with the product and have opted-in). Therefore how are promotions used by brands to develop long-term positive relationships with their consumers?
Promotions must be thought of like big impressions for brand building and used for activating new brand strategy.
Strong integration of promotions with other non-tangible brand communications.
Experiential
Includes the planning, execution, and management of in-person demonstrations, sampling, physical product interactions, sensory advertising, and other impression-based advertising experiences.
Create innovative and original experiences – make the consumer say “wow, I’ve never seen this before”.
High traffic locations are effective to reach as many people as possible.
Eye-catching or permits prolonged or repeat impressions.
Demonstrate measurability and big impact on sales by using experiential techniques. Cannot simply generate a ‘big splash’.
Use experiential advertising projects as opportunities to also establish customer listening posts and gain valuable primary research about brand perceptions and usage.
Direct mail
Includes the design, writing, segmentation, deployment, analysis, and management of print advertising, flyers, brochures, offers, product samples, and house-list magazines that are targeted to specific consumers (not mass mail).
‘Test and learn’ – perform frequent empirically controlled tests to different consumer segments to understand what is the optimal form of creative and offer to generate higher response.
Personalize direct mail and provide a compelling reason to open it (similar to an email subject line)
Integrated use of direct mail with CRM database for clients. Understand customer behavior across response channels (direct mail, web, email, SMS).
Like in-store retail promotion, direct mail establishes an intimate connection between the brand and consumer because it is highly interactive and tangible.
Clear announcement of purpose and call to action so that customer understands role of direct mail in context of all other interactions they have with the brand.
Out-of-home
Includes the design, deployment, and management of all messaging that appears on outdoor ‘surfaces’ in high-traffic or visible areas.
Note, limited effectiveness of this channel at driving response and engagement from consumers. Highly passive engagement by prospects in this channel.
Like experiential and in-store retail promotion, out-of-home should be immediately understandable and capture interest.
Copy must be concise and non-informational. Strictly call-to-action.
A classic medium, the best practices have no changed significantly because of limited innovation potential of the platform.
Obvious integration of out-of-home advertising with existing in-market campaigns in other channels.
Mobile
Includes copywriting, segmentation, deployment, management, and analysis of text or multimedia messages distributes to mobile phone subscribers over a network.
Important channel for brand building and relationship development.
Note, because this is such a new channel, best practices are being developed as part of an ongoing mutation of the medium.
Mobile technology is also rapidly evolving and permits unique applications like proximity sensitive out-of-home marketing (billboards that activate when a consumer walks by) and geo-targeted messages direct to the consumer.
Must be an opt-in house list and must permit easy unsubscribe for recipients.
SMS marketing is highly invasive (it’s marketing that vibrates in your pocket). Therefore the message should be targeted, relevant, and actionable by the consumer.
Therefore, SMS is not optimal for informational campaigns. Instead, use for direct response or experiential purposes (e.g. respond now).
Television
Includes the design, production, media buying, and management of television commercials or infomercials.
Important channel for broad awareness of brand strategy to consumers. This sets the tone of an integrated campaign with multiple channel strategies.
A great ‘hook’ to immediately capture attention.
Clear link between story and brand, story and message, and brand and message.
Clear call to action for viewers, or an understanding of what they are being made to believe.
Best practices somewhat unchanged for mass media.
Perhaps greater concern for how television commercials are able to change behavior among consumers. Is this really an advanced form of marketing that succeeds at building a relationship with consumers?
Call-to-action that is integrated with other marketing communications in market. Useful capstone to large campaigns which rely on a broad mix of mediums (out-of-home, online, promotional, print, and radio).
Radio
Includes the design, production, media buying, and management of radio commercials.
Memorable messages that listeners can associate to a brand with unaided prompting.
Local message optimization because of the ability to purchase large blocks of commercial time from radio station conglomerates that own stations in different markets.
Same as above.
Positive associate to highlight existing in-market or upcoming promotional campaigns for integrated marketing campaigns.
Mass print media
Includes the design, production, media buying, and management of printed advertisements in newspapers, magazines, flyers, and other non-targeted print media.
Classic principles apply here for copywriting and call-to-action development.
Same as above.
Considering existing volume of print media advertising that continues to be done, important to integrate this activity with marketing mix of online and offline channels.
Can be used as a traffic-driving source of consumers to online channel where more information can be found about brand.
You know those people who say they hate marketers and never pay attention to ads? The ones who extol their imperviousness to calls-to-action and freedom when it comes to making their own decisions as consumers?
Imagine how much it stirs an anger deep inside you to just shake them and scream "it's not about selling you on something you don't need, it's about engaging with you in a relevant way that articulates the value proposition!"
Well, imagine how nice it would feel to hear that same person who pooh-poohed marketing talk about what a cool new P2P marketing strategy they interacted with. The same person who selfishly says that they're uninfluenced by marketing messages is now oblivious to the fact that an experiential campaign has made a real mark on them.
In Sydney, Australia, a social networking campaign has been launched to increase tourism to Alberta. It uses online social networking forums and street-based 'experiences'
A number of these unique mammals have been exported to Sydney, Australia, where they will be displayed in cages at Sydney’s Darling Harbour Nov. 20-22. On display will be: Western Party Animal—also known as Extremeous Winterous Dudeous Maximus—the Elusive Skier/Snowboarder Dude, and the Great Outdoors Lover. Every hour a “zookeeper” will bring one of the “animals” out of its cage to answer questions and interact with the crowd.
That's really cool.
It's also a terrific example of a integrated marketing campaign. Alan Middleton argues that with an increasing number of marketing campaigns utilizing different distribution channels, it's more important than ever to "integrate communication systems across this ever-increasing rane of target groups, distribution outlets, and media." Furthermore, "while the creative message will be strategically and conceptually similar, each medium will have create developed to optimize the message, and the role of the medium, and its contribution to the target's buying system."
BTW, how funny is it that Rogers is one of Canada's top marketers, as written in this week's Marketing Mag - a Rogers Media publication!
It's been a while since I've written another Bad Ad Rodeo, an analysis of awful ads that fail to inspire - but this one is juicy!
It’s called bumvertising, an offensive and ridiculous new invention by marketers (Zig Interactive here in Toronto) as a way to be tongue-in-cheek and promote a client’s socially critical message using socially distasteful means. Homeless people in Toronto have been paid $250 per day to sit with signs for CFRB talk radio and act as human billboards. We’ll talk about whether this is good marketing or not later, but it’s so transparently lacking in basic values that I’m inclined to say no matter how effective a campaign this was, it has really done our business and the client a disservice because of the general tone and reception of the campaign.
Click the image to read larger. There really wasn’t a better way to get the message across while still keeping your chins up? Are the CDs at Zig actually proud of the social discourse that they’ve catalyzed in Toronto about the homeless? How about whether they’re proud to call themselves marketers? I can certainly appreciate why observers might now have a bitter taste about our profession when this schlock can now act as a focal point for all the negative perceptions people have about ad men.
‘They are immoral’ ‘They sell me things I don’t need’ ‘They don’t care where the message is as long as someone sees it’
Bumvertising and Zig Interactive have done nothing to advance the state of marketing in Canada. There’s no differentiation or evolution of ideas from good to great. This isn’t great marketing…it’s just a sleazy shill for a client.
…and that’s another thing. If this was a campaign actioned at the client’s request, didn’t someone at Zig have enough of a spine to take a stand and express their dissatisfaction with how the agency might be selling its soul for CFRB?
But I guess the campaign might have actually been effective. Think about it. High-traffic locations, unique context, appropriate message, “should panhandling be illegal?” It’s hit the checklist of effective out-of-home campaigns, and it seems to have created a good buzz. You’d be hard pressed to find someone who does not have an opinion on this campaign or doesn’t show some sort of emotion when learning about it. It was likely also cost effective – I’m guessing $30K, including creative development and street execution?
But is that what the homeless are now in our downtown streets? Marketing campaign executioners?
I’m really disappointed in Zig and CFRB. Someone should have had the common sense to stand up amidst the back-slapping, hand-shaking, and self-congratulatory praise for developing such an “innovative, thought-provoking, and socially stimulating campaign” to say that while it may have been all of those things, it falls down on basic marketing morals and human decency.
Interactive media is where it’s at these days in terms of delivering excitement and experience to consumers. Often though, the message is gets lost in the punchiness of the medium. The channel distributor has done a great job selling ad space and gross consumer impressions to unsuspecting, wide-eyed brand managers that the issue of whether or not the marketing is effective or not is never raised.
Such might have been the case for an interactive billboard I experienced a few weekends ago at the Harbourfront Hot and Spicy Food Festival. Watch the video, it’s a 6 x 8 foot led screen which is touch-sensitive. As people step and tap on it, colourful led balls go flying around the screen. It’s wild. My friend Olga took the video as we played around.
…but what was it advertising again? What brand was there?
I’m not saying that this was an ineffective vehicle – far from it. We stood there giggling and jumping around on this led mat for probably ten minutes. People around us joined in. So the audience is tuned in and captive, they’re rapt by what they’re seeing and the fact that they have control over the ad itself is a big plus. As mentioned before in this blog, participation is a critical factor in modern marketing, especially in an ad targeted to Gen Ys. It afford a modicum of individualization and personal spin on the marketing, making the consumer feel like they have accountability over the marketing. This, in turn, makes the consumer feel that the ad has greater relevance to them (because they created it or had a part in it).
Adverblog talks about some of the better interactive online marketing campaigns. It’s interesting in all of these to see how prominently the brand and product are featured. It’s never unclear what is being explained.
So as for that wild led screen, perhaps its use is better for promotional settings where you can physically interact with the brand. Imagine Nike setting up two of these in stores and allowing consumers to try out the shoes as if they were a soccer goalie or seeing how high they can jump in the shoes. Imagine these displays in high-traffic locations like the PATH system and each step displays the kinetic energy created – a potential ad for Bullfrog or Bruce Power looking to promote their clean energy options to consumers.
Anyway, some food for thought. The new series of 90210 just started, featuring AnnaLynne McCord:
…and yes, bad television counts as legitimate research into consumer culture.
It goes without saying that effective marketing to youth is both unique and impactful. In fact, youth are perhaps the audience who demands uniqueness the most in their advertising because of the competing sources for their attention, their dynamic multiuse of media, and their relative low tolerance for pithy, info-focused messages. Hit them hard and hit them fast. As my co-blogger and fellow B!G Executive, Olga, wrote in her previous post, if you can also make them laugh, then awesome!
As I’ve introduced in previous posts in this series on marketing to youth, uniqueness is rooted in Gen Y’s strong sense of individuality. Bland or generic brands simply have no place in the spectrum of bold designs and transparent, authentic company values. This was the problem, among others, faced by The Gap at the end of the 90s when customers began to fall out of favour with the unoffensive blue and white style that the store was so well known for. Gap became dull and quickly lost touch with changing consumer trends. There was nothing to make its brand voice unique and identifiable among the din raised by all other casual apparel retailers.
In comparison to the other youth marketing best practices which we’ve analyzed here – transparency, participation, and relevance – uniqueness stands out as being perhaps the most uncontrollable and challenging to master. How do you inform a brand manager how to come up with a witty zinger subject line in the email? How do you suggest a standout call to action in an experiential marketing campaign when it has never been attempted by the brand before and there’s no basis for determining whether it will prove to be a success.
Uniqueness is a gamble.
It’s a risk that brands must take to show that they can be unconventional and hip, while also retaining the legacy aspects of the brands values that appeal to the demographic. Condom manufacturers (from Europe) have always seemed to excel at this:
A real standout though - and I seriously wish I could find an embeddable clip to show - is FearU.ca, a microsite created specifically for a HP laptop contest. MacLaren Momentum, a Canadian promo agency created it and integrated the online campaign with some pretty scary tv spots that are currently running on Much and MTV Canada. Great ads that immediately capture one’s attention and pique interest. Why? Because they’re unique and unlike other sales ads for electronics and back to school shopping.
Although not specifically targeted to youth, another famous commercial from HP stands out and perfectly conveys the simplicity of the ‘click and print’ message:
Also clever is this from Guinness, too bad it didn’t show here:
But uniqueness from the Gen Y perspective implies originality as much as any twist, pun, and memorable tagline. Sure, your spot is quirky or obscene…but has it been done before and been overplayed too much? Marketers’ zeal to have a commercial or campaign out the door with a zippy message can sometimes do more harm than good if that message has been diluted and worn out in the consumer’s mind. Enough already with the Telus animals and the Rogers Wireless teenagers on summer vacation. Go home, Abercrombie, with your intimidating abdominals and idealized WASPy lifestyle. No one lives like that!
…I wish my high school experience was like that…so full of beauty and boredom. Suddenly I feel like I’m not wearing enough pointless dogtag chains. And stop trying to pay homage to the semi-nude B&W style of photography of Herb Ritts:
Being derivative and unoriginal can only get a brand so far with a young audience. Gen Ys crave creativity and novelty. New content, media, or ideas all resonate with the ring of a tuning fork to young consumers’ ears. Repetitive messages and different plays of the same game really are unsustainable brand strategies that do nothing to push the brand forward in new directions and build itself a new avid base of customers.
Being unique is a great quality. You stand apart and can assuredly state that your values and message is your own. For marketers that’s a golden ideal in brand building and it’s a moral that youth consumers live by.
So there it is, the best practices for youth marketing. It has to be transparent, participative, relevant, and unique. Hit all these, with a little bit of luck, and some magic pixie dust, and you'll have an effective campaign that stands out and still builds the brand.
There's a limit to how much marketing can be learned in the classroom!
Simply put, we're creative, web-surfing, marketing geeks! We'll blog about the brightest campaigns in market today and chew through the spin of contemporary advertising in Canada.
The Bright Ideas Group is a student marketing agency at the Schulich School of Business in York University, Toronto. We produce insight-based solutions for small and large businesses looking for customized marketing plans, on-campus blitzes, and intensive research in youth and online marketing.
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