Christmas Smackdown - The Champ vs. MANta vs. Macy's

Even though the holiday season is officially upon us, yesterday - as in true MARCOM fashion - Christmas carols were drowned out with brand chatter about the most miraculous advertising day on the calendar:  Superbowl Sunday.  

So, I figured I'd best attend to this season's communications efforts before they are fully eclipsed by New Year's resolutions, the big game, and, what's next - Valentine's Day? 

PEAK PERFORMANCE

Back for another year of intense shopping and yule tidings is Target's Christmas Champ (comic, Maria Bamford).  

Turning shopping and other Christmas related revelry into something akin to competitive sport, the Champ provides a light-hearted dig at the shopping obsessed, while encouraging us to follow suit.

This year's TV campaign looks suspiciously identical to last year's - a little bit of a let down, like leaving stale cookies for Santa.  Still the call to action is clear, the message is relatively timeless, and still resonates.

1 MAN, 7 BILLION GIFTS

Fans everywhere will be happy to find the bare-chested, white towel-clad Old Spice guy in their stockings this year.  

The brand has brought Isaiah Mustafa back as MANta Claus - charged with the task of delivering a Christmas gift to each and every person on earth.  That's about 7 billion gifts, in just 5 days.  

Who needs Rudolf and a sleigh when you have the internet, and the magic of Marketing?

The campaign kicked off yesterday, December 5th, with a personalized gift to @beautyjunkies, followed by a gift of a Bear Deodorant Protector to 25 of Old Spice Guy's "closest internet friends, and, finally, even larger "group" gifts to the City of Baltimore, and the entire country of Australia.  

If you weren't among OSG's 25 closest friends - no worries.  Old Spice has made "limited quantities" of the deodorant protector available for sale via its Facebook page.  For only $19.99 you can be living like a "close friend" of the Old Spice Guy!

As day two of the campaign is getting under way, the impact of yesterday's Facebook posts seem to be strong.  The first posting - in reference to @beautyjunkies - garnered 2,261 Likes and 171 comments as of press time here.  Subsequent postings received healthy likes and comments, but far lower than this level.  

Lesson Learned - personal or customized posts have more resonance and inspire engagement more than group or generic postings.  Even if the post is not directed to you specifically, it creates a "it could have been me" perception, thus encouraging us to engage with the brand more.  This reminds me of the Wheat Thins tweet inspired TV campaign earlier this year.  

SOMETHING TO BELIEVE IN

Perhaps my favorite campaign this season is for another retailer, one which has encouraged us to "believe" since 1858 - Macy's. 

Whether it be Miracle on 34th Street, or Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus, Marketing Communications has been successful at declaring Macy's ground zero for holiday shopping.  This year's television creative keeps that tradition going.

What I love about this commercial is that it is a pretty integrated approach.  Advertising a PR campaign - the "cause marketing" of the Make a Wish Foundation - illustrates how the two MARCOM tools, when used together, are more powerful than on their own.

Also, it encourages kids to write letters to Santa and then DEMAND that they be taken to Macy's to deposit them.  What a great call to action.  Once in Macy's - well, the season takes over.  You might as well shop!

FROM SPENDING TIME, TO SPENDING MONEY

The holiday season is spectacular for so many reasons.  Friends, family, and fun.  It's not surprising that brands want to tap into that, and to shift the enthusiasm from spending time, to spending money.  

Target & Macy's are successful in their appeals to do that.  Old Spice is a somewhat different campaign - less sales directed, and more about building relationships.  If Old Spice knows its customers as well as it thinks it does, it will see continual payoff in high engagement through social media.  Plus, it will sell out its bear deodorant protector - which I imagine will become the gag gift of the season, akin to the Snuggie of holidays past.

Happy Holidays from the BrandDR...  Enjoy the ads!!

 

The Fry's the Limit, But there's a Ring Around the Moon...

Earlier this week I tweeted, somewhat skeptically, about Burger King's big announcement that it was introducing "new fries."

Yesterday, the industry news was abuzz about the creative efforts behind this new announcement.  Keeping with its' "product as Hero" focus that won them the BK account this past summer, agency of record McGarryBowen's spot announcing that "NEW FRIES have arrived at BK" emphasizes product shots and satisfied consumption.  (See the spot here, via Ad Age.)

Wendy's Natural Cut Fries

NO SMALL FRIES
On the whole, the fast-food industry has become increasingly obsessed with "small fry" menu items like french fries.  This is not surprising given that "sides" can be consumed in a variety of contexts - as part of a larger lunch or dinner meal, but also as a standalone snack.  The "small fry" is indeed big business.

Just last year, Wendy's introduced its Natural-Cut Fries with Sea Salt, and this year, even without a new recipe (why mess with perfection?), McDonald's is advertising its fries as "the best on the planet."

FRY ME TO THE MOON
Burger King however, seems to be a bit more over the moon with its fry obsession than than the competition.

In 2002, BK tried to shake things up - putting a "new" twist on the staple fast food side.

In 2006 BK went a "fowl" with this new fry:

And 2007 marked the most offensive FRYasco - Fresh Apple Fries.

(FRIED) EGG ON THE FACE
Fry obsession aside, these three "new" menu items are lackluster at best - coming a day late and a dollar short to a market that already knows the fry, the chicken finger, and the apple slice.

Even with new management, BK has continued its bandwagon/reactive approach, with fanfare for the ordinary.  It's most recent menu additions have been:

BK Toppers - you can add toppings (like cheese, mushrooms, and bbq sauce) to your burger!!  For $1.99!!!

"Revamped" Chicken Tenders - now "nugget" shaped!!

Stuffed Steakhouse Burger - jalapeno peppers & cheddar cheese stuffed into the meat!!

Quaker Oatmeal and Soft Serve Ice Cream (I can't even make light of this - these are so generic and so uninspired.)

What the key competitors - McDonald's & Wendy's - lack, is what BK excels in, yet we hear very little about it.  The onion ring.

RING OUT THE OLD, RING IN THE NEW
With rumors that Wendy's will oust BK as the No. 2 fast food chain (behind McDonald's) growing louder, it may be time for Burger King to quiet down on the small fry issues and reach for the rings.

The whole point of branding, after all, is to differentiate your products from competing products.

Keep it simple BK - no "chicken rings" or "french toast rings."  Onion rings.  Tried and true.  McDonald's may have the best fries on the planet, but there's a ring around the moon, and that's what BK should reach for.

MAXImizing the MINI with Social Gaming

MINI Countryman

How do you double your sales in a geographic  market?  Make consumers hunt for your product. That's how Mini did it in Stockholm, Sweden at least.


Literally.


RUN, OSCAR, RUN
In 2010 MINI looked to mobile apps - specifically a scavenger type "mobile hunt game" called Mini Getaway Stockholm - to engage potential buyers and turn them into brand evangelists.  


The bait?  A MINI Countryman - open for the winning, free and clear.


The task?  Download a mobile app that allows you to track (like a hunter to his prey) a virtual MINI and your competitors.  Capture the MINI and flee from your "enemies."  If you can hold onto the MINI for the duration of the game, it is yours to keep.

BIG GAME HUNTING
The game delivered strong results for MINI:

• 11, 413 physically participated in the game during its one-week duration
• The average participant spent just over 5 hours engaged with the game
• People from over 90 countries followed the game online, via the companion website, minigetawaystockholm.com
• Sales increased by 108% in the first quarter following the campaign

BIGGER GAME HUNTING

The campaign was so successful that MINI is translating its efforts into Japanese.  MINI Getaway Tokyo  is set to launch on December 3, 2011.  

The rules, and stakes, of the game are the same, but Tokyo allows MINI to MAXImize the potential impact in a few key ways:

• The Tokyo gaming area is almost 32 times larger - covering 240 square miles
• At 35.6 million, Tokyo's population is approximately 44 times larger than the population of Stockholm, which clocks in around 809,072

MINI also points to it's creation of an Android App for Tokyo, as a game changer - yet the Dr. debates that point - Japan seems to be an iPhone dominated market, with only about 15% of smartphone users doing so on the Android platform.  

Still, MINI is doing fun, engaging things to nurture MINI brand evangelists.  This is a campaign to watch out for.

The Drama of TV Economics...

Although still early in the season, Fall 2011 is shaping up to be quite dramatic for Broadcast TV Networks.  The body count of cancelled shows has already reached 5, with notables like ABC's "Charlie's Angels"  and NBC's "The Playboy Club" being escorted to early exits.

While the Angels may have gone to heaven and the bunnies descended down the rabbit hole to accompany Alice in Wonderland - all is not doom and gloom on TV.  In fact, things are getting pretty hilarious.

After years on the decline, and losing the rating game to dramas, the NY Times reports that "sitcoms are making a comeback."  According to the report:

So far this season, sitcoms occupy seven of the top 10 spots among entertainment programs (not counting football) in the category of most financial importance to network executives — viewers ages 18 to 49.

Given that ratings have, traditionally, been what drives ad prices and ad buys most, the report goes on to assert:

The result will most likely be an even greater flourishing of sitcoms next season. Mr. [Kevin] Reilly [President of Fox Entertainment] said an increase of as much as 25 percent in comedy was possible.

Sitcoms might not be laughing all the way to the bank, though.  Ad Age reports that, despite hefty price tags for highly rated sitcoms like "Modern Family" and "Two and a Half Men," live programming still manages to command the highest prices.

NBC's Sunday Night Football won top slot, with the average 30 second spot costing $512,367.  American Idol scored a close second, with average spots ranging from $468,100 - $502,900.

The results continue to bolster the notion that the shows most in demand are those viewers tend to watch live, rather than play back days later with a DVR or via video-on-demand. When millions of viewers tune in live, marketers pay a premium.

It seems like the NY Times and Ad Age are presenting two different pictures of what Network TV programming will look like moving forward.  From a ratings base - comedies seem like a strong bet.  However, as networks and advertisers continue to struggle with how to account for the "time shifting" effect of DVR's, the lure of live TV might be too much to resist, as Advertisers have proven that they will pay extra for the privilege of engaging us in real time.

Where have all the creative minds vanished to?

i.Will.admit.  I'm not a fan of Will.i.am.  Other than knowing he was in a Superbowl spot for Pepsi in 2009...

I don't know very much about him.

So, when I saw an "article" he wrote for Ad Age earlier this week, I was surprised.  What was more surprising was that I was digging what he was saying.

Critical of today's marketers/artists/etc for "not investing in the dreamers," he gave cogent advice to businesses and marketers on how to be better, in this new, connected world:

to stay relevant, you or your business or your brand need to be part of the connection... you need to be part of the conversation... or start conversations... you need to invent, or amplify culture... brands need to listen to the community...  you need to turn a moment into momentum and momentum into a movement...

so I say, MAKE CONVERSATIONS NOT ADS... 

Where I come from, this is where I say, WORD.  I think I found at least one of the creative minds Will.i.am fears have vanished...

BrandDR to Marketers - Study Dads As If They Were Monkeys...

My last two posts dealt with target marketing.  Namely, using sex (male vs. female) or family role (moms) as dimensions by which to define targeted customers.

The conversation continued today in Ad Age, which declared:

"Increasingly Influential Dads Are in Marketers' Crosshairs"

What is interesting here is the qualifier; that is, not all dads find themselves pursued by marketers - just the "influential" ones.   So where is this influence, and how can it be useful to us as marketers?

Supermarkets vs. Superbowl

Even though times have changed and household roles have been transformed, the influence held by Moms vs. the influence held by Dads, seems to break along stereotypical gendered lines set in the 1950's. You guessed it - research cited by Ad Age suggests that Moms rule the supermarket, while Dads rule the sports field.

The Ipsos LMX family study completed earlier this year among 2,800 moms and dads, while it didn't confirm dads rule the shopping cart just yet, did find they're the major players when it comes to entertainment. Ipsos found dads spend 50% more time than moms with their kids online, were 50% more likely than moms to take the kids to movies, and were also more likely to take the kids to theater, sporting events or concerts.

Ok.  We get it.  This means that Dads have influence in choosing and buying technology products, online services, and making entertainment choices like the theater, sporting events and concerts.

So, how do brands respond to this knowledge?

Kellogg Co. directed a campaign for Frosted Flakes featuring ESPN sports anchor and dad Rece Davis with ads on ESPN and an ESPN.com microsite. Such Procter & Gamble Co. brands as Gain, Febreze and Swiffer this year have become prominent display advertisers on sections of Yahoo, such as sports, heavily frequented by men.

Huh?  It's like we haven't learned anything new.  Male targeted media has always been the place to talk with men.  And, if women still rule the supermarket - why market cleaning products to men?  (Note:  I'm not suggesting that we shouldn't market these products to men, because they are indeed shoppers of, and users of, these products, but as a "learning moment" from this research, the response by P&G just doesn't fit.)

The article suggests that the research method of a "self-report" or survey, led to an overstatement of Dads' role in household decision making.

But the reality is, while dads are more important household decision makers, they're still not as important as moms, said Gary Stibel, CEO of New England Consulting Group. By letting men self-report, the Yahoo survey overstated their role, he said. New England Consulting Group's own follow-up survey of 200 men and women indicated 70% of consumer-package-goods volume is still purchased by women, though he believes men's role is up "from the high 20s to the low 30s" in recent years.

Regardless of the final word on Men vs. Women; Moms vs. Dads - the real lesson here is about our reading of, and response to, research.

Surveys will always be vulnerable to "bias."  Leading questions may result in answers that don't accurately reflect the thoughts, feelings, or actions of the respondent.  Or, our natural desire to "whitewash" - to make things sound good and positive and to please the researcher - may cause our responses to be more "wishful thinking" than a reflection of reality.

Situations like these remind me of the importance of triangulation in research.  Why rely just on one method - which may have its limitations - when you can supplement that method with another method that may be complementary?  Here, I'd like to see observation or ethnographic research to uncover what household roles in decision making look like everyday.

This may amount to studying Dads as if they were monkeys - but sometimes you have to brave the jungle to understand the animals...

From Zero, to the Max - Dr. Pepper 10 Steps into the Cola War to Battle for the Male Demographic

Since the 1980's, a war has been brewing - almost literally - between Coke and Pepsi.  This is nothing new.  The younger, perhaps swifter "challenger" - Pepsi (born in 1898) - made great headway in terms of chipping away at Coke's (born in 1886) commanding lead in the market through the early 21st century by positioning Pepsi as a "better tasting" cola.

More recently, however, Pepsi has seen its' market share slip, forcing a "retooling" of its marketing.  One aspect of this retooling was bringing Pepsi Max to the US as a means of pulling in male cola drinkers who are self-conscious about drinking "diet" beverages.  

According to the NY Times, Pepsi Max was introduced in Europe in the early 1990's, and made its' US debut in 2007.  

A 2009 report by Mintel, the market research firm, said the soda’s sales had been “impressive,” even during the economic downturn, “likely by attracting price-sensitive energy drink users.”

The importance of "zero calorie, 'diet' alternative" beverages in the market is considerable, and supported by the most recent entry into the war for male drinkers - Dr. Pepper 10.

Pepsi Max and Coke Zero have been somewhat subdued in their targeting of men - relying largely on conventional male humor, and masculine phrasing to indicate the targeted group.

Pepsi Max: "I'm Good," Superbowl 2009

Coke Zero: "Two Men in a Restaurant," 2006

Dr. Pepper 10, on the other hand, is taking a much bolder approach (perhaps as a nod to its' "bold" flavor) introducing the new product under the tagline,  "It's Not For Women."

The appeal of this approach is obvious - generate buzz and word of mouth.

'Is this really for men or really for women?' is a way to start the conversation that can spread and get people engaged in the product... One topic people never tire of talking or arguing about is differences between men and women, particularly if women are excluded... That will always get someone's attention.

Dr. Pepper is, however, taking a bit of a risk.  It's Facebook page for the campaign - the Ten Man'ments - has 10.6 million "likes" and counting, but has been lit up with criticism.  Here's a typical "complaint:"

Given that Dr. Pepper's own research has shown that 40% of those trying the NEW Dr. Pepper 10 are women, and earlier Pepsi research citing similiar 40/60 split in terms of female/male drinkers of Pepsi Max, the brand risks alienating a significant portion of its market.

Accordingly, Pepsi claims it has chosen to downplay gender in its messaging.  Lauren Hobart, chief marketing officer of the sparkling brands division of PepsiCo explains:

while some of our past advertising was more overtly about being the diet cola for men, there’s still a lot of women drinking Pepsi Max, so it doesn’t make sense to be so specifically gender focused.

Pepsi's "new" commercial may be a testament to the brand shaking the shackles of gender and assuming the "taste" positioning that has served the brand well in the past.

Pepsi is erring on the side of caution.  It is a brand that seeks to be all things for all people.  Looking more closely at Dr. Pepper the bold move of ruffling feathers over gender may be more attuned with how they have built their brand - to almost be an elitist, some people get it, some people don't.

As far as gender appeals go, this one may resonate more strongly with key Dr. Pepper drinkers than the lukewarm gender appeals made by Coke Zero and Pepsi Max (in the past).  It is a little ironic, however, that the brand that played on affiliation & social needs by encouraging us to "be a Pepper too" is now taking an exclusionary stance by targeting men.