A lot of marketers are talking about authenticity. And some are even getting pretty skilled at faking it.
Still, occasionally I see things that are so surprising I can hardly believe my eyes.
Yum Brands restaurants–Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Long John Silver’s and A&W–are offering consumers a free month-long trial membership for the online eFIT4Me tool. Created by fitness experts, it offers customized exercise programs, identifies eating patterns, and recommends nutritional habits.
Seriously? If this tool has any value, the very first advice it would offer is “stay away from KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and every other fat-laden, artery-clogging fast-food restaurant on the planet”.
I get that Yum Brands is trying to walk the walk of getting healthier. And I get that their corporate messaging is stressing that each of its restaurant chains offers “lower-calorie, better for you” menu options.
But still… isn’t there something startlingly disingenuous about putting a dumbell in a consumer’s hands for a month and helping them stuff their bellies with fried chicken and fish, pizza, burritos and french fries all year long?
If we’re going to be rigorously authentic, they should offer a free balloon angioplasty as a promotion instead.
If you worked for Yum Brands, would you have the nerve to suggest that?
Recently, I was talking with some friends about today’s worship of measurement and ROI over all other considerations. While it’s important, it is not and never will be a substitute for judgment.
Even Young-Bean Song, Director of Analytics at Microsoft Atlas Institute cautions “What we have done well is measurement for the bottom of the funnel…clicks, conversion, sales, revenue, etc. But we’ve turned the purchase funnel into a purchase spoon.”
It occurred to me that marketing follows a predictable cycle that ought to be taught in all MBA programs, but never is. Here’s how it works:
—-
1. Declare the last god worshipped a hopeless dead-end.
2. Forget all lessons learned; abandon anything that was working really well.
3. Find a new false god to worship.
4. Affix blindfold.
5. Chase the new false god directly over the cliff.
6. Fall to bottom of chasm. Dust self off.
7. Declare the last god worshipped a hopeless dead-end.
8. Forget all lessons learned; abandon anything that was working really well.
9. Choose the next false god to worship.
10. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
—-
Popular false gods include Substituting Market Research For Judgment, Creativity-At-Any-Cost, and This-Week’s-Technology-Will-Save-Us.
Bill Bernbach had it right more than 40 years ago. “Advertising is fundamentally persuasion and persuasion happens to be not a science, but an art.”
If I ruled the marketing world, I would separate the analysts from the marketers and have them both report to the CEO. The job of the marketer would be to dream and imagine; the job of the analyst would be to objectively look at the numbers.
When you put both functions in the same position, there’s a huge temptation to mix up those two tasks in dangerous ways.
ADDENDUM: When I shared this thought with my wise friend Dane Madsen, he wrote: “The only issue you have to overcome is that the quants run the finance department and they see a savings in personnel costs. Merge the position: Problem solved!”
This is what I call the Winnie the Pooh problem. To paraphrase the first chapters of the book:
HERE is Winnie The Pooh (aka “marketing”), coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin (aka “finance”).
It is, as far as he knows, the only way of coming downstairs, but sometimes he feels that there really is another way, if only he could stop bumping for a moment and think of it.
OK, so a novice meets his zen master in a cranberry bog.
The zen master says: today you must learn how to advertise without advertising.
It’s no joke.
Ocean Spray is running its first-ever holiday TV special, “Cranberry Christmas.” in December on ABC Family. The special will be entirely “commercial-free”.
Yet since Ocean Spray IS cranberries for most people, it will function as a half-hour commercial for Ocean Spray aimed at Moms and Grandmoms at home with young kids.
It’s the most brilliant piece of targeted zen meta-communication I’ve ever heard about. Well done, Ocean Spray.
P.S. On the downside, the special features two new songs by Barry Manilow. If the special had managed to eliminate two Barry Manilow songs from the world, it would have been perfect.
In hard times, poor marketers have a million excuses.
“My brand is too old-fashioned to do anything cool”. “My budget is too small”. “I’d be an awesome marketer if I could only work on a really hot brand”.
Why not do something great right now, today?
In the immortal words of Dr. Frank N. Furter, “don’t dream it, be it”.
Why is this a great idea? What lessons can we learn from what they’re doing?
Focus On What You Can Control
You can’t control when the economy will get better. You can’t control what people will buy, or won’t buy. You can’t get twice as clever with your positioning and market research and double your results. When the economy turns sour, it’s time to focus on the fundamentals.
Velveeta can help feed a family of four for $10. That’s not a glamorous promise. But it’s simple and clear. And for a lot of families it’s hugely relevant.
Velveeta was born in 1928 and was barely a year old when the stock market crashed and The Great Depression hit America. If this was a brand that didn’t know how to deliver value, it couldn’t have survived. This campaign taps into what’s fundamental about the brand.
It’s fair to say that a value message focused on recipes ain’t exactly revolutionary stuff for a food company. And this effort won’t pick up any medals at awards time. But, presented in a fresh and contemporary way that leverages Moms talking to Moms about what matters, it’s very smart business.
Don’t Believe The Hype
“Newspaper and TV journalists see their industry shrinking daily, reinforcing their tendency to see the economic glass as half empty—and draining.” —Paul Maidment, editor, Forbes.com, in an interview with eMarketer
The age of always-on news means that the same stories get beaten into the ground relentlessly. Watch CNN for more than an hour, and you’ll be looking around for your suicide pistol. Ignore the news, and focus on your brand and the opportunities that exist NOW.
Look For The Win-Win
In a tough economy, it’s hard for Kraft to put growth numbers on the board. But it’s also true that in a tough economy, it’s hard for Moms to put something interesting on the table.
There’s a win-win staring you in the face for this brand, if you’re paying attention. Good for Kraft for keeping their eyes open.
Find The “Blessing In The Broken-ness”
My wife’s uncle is a priest. He’s always reminding us to “find the blessing in the broken-ness” — in other words, in everything bad that happens there’s always — always — an opportunity to find a gift.
What new opportunities has this bad economy opened for your brand? Velveeta can help feed a family of four for $10. What can you do for your customers? How can your brand really, truly help somebody with a big problem they have right now?
Anybody can look like a genius in good times. The best marketers deliver when times are bad.
Politics is brass-knuckle marketing in the rawest imaginable form.
The stakes couldn’t be higher. The time to generate awareness and preference is tiny.There’s one winner, and one loser. And, the future of a nation rides on the decision.
No matter what your political preferences are, there’s a lot we can learn as marketers from this election. Here are 5 critical lessons from the 2008 Presidential race.
1. Welcome To The Desktop Democracy
Look at this user-generated video of “Palin as President: A Heartbeat Away”. Attack ads can (and do) now come from anywhere. The mouse is mightier than the sword, and can be tougher and smarter than Washington-insiders. And remember, it’s now as easy for an average consumer to skewer your brand as it is to skewer a politician.
2. The Desktop Democracy Is Both Blue and Red
There are plenty of pro-McCain/Palin videos online, too. Here’s one.
3. Plain Vanilla TV Still Matters
For all the talk about Obama’s digital efforts in mobile and on Facebook, his thirty-minute “infomercial” acknowledges an important truth: millions upon millions of heartland undecideds still watch plain old TV. And sight, sound and motion are still the best way to win hearts and minds.
4. Be Careful How Much You Stretch The Truth
You may be able to get your legal department and the networks to agree to let you stretch the truth of your claims. But, you soon may have to watch out for the watchdogs.
FactCheck.org is a nonpartisan, non profit “consumer advocate” for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. Will this come to CPG marketing as well? Maybe, if marketers continue to stretch the truth too far.
5. Mobile Mobilizes.
Obama’s campaign has made brilliant use of mobile apps, especially for the iPhone.
This may not mean much if you’re hawking softer toilet tissue or peddling whitening and brightening toothpaste.
But, if you’re doing a cause-related marketing campaign, you may find there’s no stronger tool in any medium.
If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, I strongly suggest you get the Obama app and study what it does well.
Lastly, if you care about America, please vote for the candidate of your choice.
I suspect that the rumored experiments with social media by CPG companies are a lot like the talk around freshman year high school lockers about sex: there’s probably a lot more talk than action.
By contrast, this Kraft case study is the first one I’ve ever seen for a CPG company that did two important things:
Shows how they tried social media; and
Addresses how they tried to measure its effectiveness
One could argue the measures are a little soft. Still, they’re tougher standards than I’ve seen to date, which too often rest on ROP (Return on Prayer).
Background
In January 2008, Kraft launched their new 1/3 Less Fat Philadelphia Cream Cheese with a campaign including TV spots, print ads and a sweepstakes that gave away bagels and cream cheese to 100 winners each day at www.creamcheese.com through March 20. Visitors to the site were also able to download a new widget for recipes and party-planning tips.
The social media portion of the campaign was built around a PR stunt. Kraft gave JetBlue passengers a breakfast box containing a bagel, new 1/3 Less Fat Philadelphia Cream Cheese and an info packet explaining the product. Brand managers Adam Butler and Tyler Williamson became the face of the brand on a blog, YouTube videos and on the plane.
The agency, DEI Worldwide, engaged directly with consumers via online message boards, chat rooms, IM and profiles on MySpace and Facebook.
“Authenticity” And Acid Moments
Engaging with consumers in authentic, one-on-one conversations means you won’t always hear what you hope to hear. This game isn’t for the faint of heart. For example, I’m guessing top management at Kraft HQ was less than thrilled with this comment:
One blogger wrote, “As brand managers for this product, it’s all so overly intentional and schticky. You are sales people with an obvious point of view. This blog simply aims to distract from that fact by implying both of you can actually say anything other than ‘Kraft/Philadelphia cream cheese is great.’ A for effort, F for execution. The only thing cheesy around here is this blog!”
According to DEI Worldwide, the social media campaign consisted of 40 blog posts and 28 videos, written and filmed by the brand team, posted on the microsite during the campaign.
Results
The campaign generated 535,088 direct online conversations in chat rooms, instant message applications and message board forums with a potential pass-along 1st generation reach of 2,675,440.
At this point it’s only fair to note that I have no idea what “potential pass-along 1st generation reach” is. Anybody from Kraft care to comment? Anyone else have an idea?
In addition to the 1-1 conversations that took place, the campaign received more than 7,000 video views (really, not bad at all) and 50,000+ blog views.
Also — and probably where the bulk of the measurable ROI was — the campaign was featured on national TV on Fox Business News, on National Public Radio (NPR) and in Brandweek Magazine.
What Did Kraft Learn?
In their own words:
* Be authentic.
* Accept some risk, you will not be able to control everything.
* If you’re not talking about your product on-line, others are, and they’re controlling the conversation.
* We need to be where people are getting their information and talking about food. People are online and doing this every day.
* Don’t underestimate how technologically savvy consumers are, you can reach them through ways you didn’t think possible.
* You need to find a way to respond to people’s comments; this is not a one-way conversation.
* People want to feel like they’re being heard; forums like www.adamandtyler.com are a particularly easy way to achieve this feeling.
* Videos…people love being on camera
* If it’s been done before, don’t do it again, do it better
What Can Other CPG Brands Learn?
There’s a lot to learn (both good and bad) from launching with social media
Social media is an amplifier of traditional media, not a complete substitute
A human story is better than a pure product story, esp. when the full product promise can be delivered in the brand name
Social media may not require substantial paid media, but there is a significant cost in staff time and attention required in this approach
Be sure your management will be supportive, even when not all the “conversations” you start go the way you hope they will
Know your success metrics in advance
What have I missed as a lesson learned? I’d like to hear your thoughts.
Links
Launch TV Spot(despite what you’ve read, brands still do TV commercials)
A sprightly jingle, complete with a string section straight out of the Donna Reed show.
And a Disney-esque voiceover intoning, “Clean and bright as the sun on the sand”.
And, this is how P&G launches a new product today.
Where’s the TV campaign? Where’s the jingle? Why are bloggers involved? And what, in the name of all that’s traditional and stodgy in Cincinnati, do the Kardashian sisters have to do with all this?
Well, maybe a runway launch isn’t a bad idea for a product that’s tall, skinny, and curvy in all the right places.
Alissa Hammond of Procter & Gamble agreed to be interviewed for iCPG about the launch. Here’s what we talked about.
Tom: Who’s the ideal target for this product?
Alissa: Our target is the consumer who is concerned not only with performance, but also design. They want a power toothbrush that fits the aesthetics of their bathroom and is slim and sleek, but still offers the functional cleaning and whitening benefits of an Oral-B rechargeable toothbrush.
Tom: It’s interesting that P&G chose to launch with no TV support at all. What was the rationale? How did management react? How did retailers react?
Alissa: The rationale is based on the insights we have about our consumer. Because the product is unique and appeals to a new consumer group, we wanted to reach them when they are most receptive to hearing about our product and connect our brand to things they are already engaged in, such as design, fashion and beauty. We know our consumer target is engaged and passionate about bloggers, magazine editors, interior designers, and fashion and design events.
We saw a great opportunity to reach bloggers, media and some of our consumers directly at New York Fashion Week in early September. We partnered with Style360 to launch the Pulsonic on the runway. The toothbrush accessorized upscale loungewear clothing from Dash and Smooch, which are boutiques owned by the Kardashian sisters. Also on site at the Style360 events was the Pulsonic-inspired “Ultimate Fashionista’s Bathroom,” designed by Pulsonic-spokesperson Michael Moloney, interior designer for ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Michael was onsite during the multi-day event to describe his inspiration for the bathroom design, as well as talk about the great benefits of the Pulsonic and why he recommends having it in your bathroom.
Tom: I’ve seen web banners for Pulsonic on Amazon.com MP3 download pages, and prominent paid search ads on Google, Yahoo and MSN. Are any banners behaviorally targeted?
Alissa: Knowing that the consumer is interested in design, fashion and beauty, we are able to provide our key messaging on the sites where the consumer spends much of their time online. We also utilize paid search via the major portals and integrate our message and banner advertising in contextually relevant sites.
Tom: Are you doing other digital advertising besides banners and paid search?
Alissa: Yes. We have been promoting the Pulsonic in various P&G newsletters that go out to consumers. We also utilized promotions and advertising through key eRetailers such as Amazon and Drugstore, and the Pulsonic was available for preorder on these sites prior to national launch.
Tom: What role will bloggers play in this launch? How did you reach out to the bloggers? Which company(s) did you use, and why?
Alissa: The unique characteristics of the consumer, specifically where they go to get new product information and suggestions, changes where we normally place our marketing focus. Our insight into the Pulsonic consumer target tells us that bloggers play an extremely important role in influencing her. We are extensively contacting and sampling the Pulsonic to bloggers and even gave one blogger backstage access to the Style360 events during Fashion Week so she could have an exclusive look at how the Pulsonic tied into the events. Our Public Relations agency reached out to bloggers and established relationships with them to spread the word about the Pulsonic.
Tom: Besides this, what role — if any — do you see for social media as you move forward
Alissa: Social media will continue to be an important part of our strategy when our consumer insights show he or she is influenced by social media.
Tom: How will you measure the success of your digital efforts?
Alissa: We measure ROI (return on investment) through our Marketing Mix Modeling and also have quantitative measures that we use along the way to measure our success.
Thanks, Alissa, for the interview.
–
For more observations on the Pulsonic launch, click here.
Anyone who markets to young Moms needs to understand how these women interact with technology. But if you really want to get a clear sense what’s going on, maybe it’s time to fire your futurists, and start taking a closer look at social histories of the early 1900s.
Selling to Gen Y Moms in 2008 looks more and more like selling to new Moms in 1908.
Moms share tips and ideas over the “back fence”: community matters more than media. Today that back fence is digital and global, but the behavior is the same.
Moms learn about new products from connecting with other Moms, and trust those recommendations over any other
Moms tend to view advertising as snake oil salesman. When it’s hard to know which brands have an authentic message, it’s easier to distrust them all.
Moms express themselves through home-made items (1908: pies and knitting; 2008: blogs and video)
Research by Yahoo! and Carat Interactive, conducted by Harris Interactive and Teenage Research Unlimited takes a fresh look at Generation Y and its uses of media.
“What makes Gen Y people different is the way they are consuming media,” says Beth-Ann Eason, vice president, Category Management at Yahoo!. “Research that Yahoo! and Carat commissioned earlier this year showed that not only are teens spending more time with the Internet than TV, but that they also use the Internet as the hub of their media activity. The Internet is the medium from which all other media decisions get made, and that’s a powerful tool for marketers.”
Gen X and Gen Y Moms: How Are They Different?
In broad terms, it’s safe to say Gen X Moms use the web to get things done, and Gen Y Moms use the web to connect.
NewMediaMetrics recently surveyed moms who visited Parenting.com. While both Gen X and Gen Y Moms had similar objectives of exploring mom-related issues online, Gen Y moms tend to have much higher attachment to interactive tools that allow them to connect directly with other moms: online communities, blogs, video-sharing sites. By contrast, Gen X moms have a more utilitarian view: online shopping, researching and reviewing products, and organizing photos.
In their 2007 book, Connecting to the Net.Generation: What Higher Education Professionals Need to Know About Today’s Students, Reynol Junco and Jeanna Mastrodicasa found that in a survey of 7,705 college students in the US:
* 97% own a computer
* 97% have downloaded music and other media using peer-to-peer file sharing
* 94% own a cell phone
* 76% use instant messaging and social networking sites
* 75% of college students have a Facebook account[17]
* 60% own some type of portable music and/or video device such as an iPod
* 49% regularly download music and other media using peer-to-peer file sharing
* 34% use websites as their primary source of news
* 28% author a blog and 44% read blogs
* 15% of IM users are logged on 24 hours a day/7 days a week
Are We Seeing Women As They’re Seeing Themselves?
In my opinion, the imagery of Moms in a lot of advertising is in many ways still 20 years behind the times. There are still a lot of 1980s “I can have it all” moments — the Dynasty shoulder pads are gone, but the attitude lingers like Joan Collins’ perfume. In many ways, this summer’s Sex In The City movie had it more right than marketers do: it’s about friends and connections more than it is about some stale image of an uber-Mommy.
And maybe that’s exactly where we need to start. Good marketing starts with good listening and a willingness to learn. Hasn’t it always?
Photo Credit (Mommy Blogger): Scott Beale / Laughing Squid
There’s a lot of breathless hype out there about social media marketing right now.
Recent Comments