Published on April 14, 2009
Marketers today understand that consumers think, feel, and react in ways different from June Cleaver some 50 years ago. We use descriptors like fickle, indecisive, and disloyal to describe the modern consumer.
Just what do these terms mean? Mainly, they mean that consumers have too many choices—multiple brands, brand extensions, and sub-brands—and too much stimulation, especially online, making it nearly impossible to predict their next move.
And yet, marketers continue to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on segmentation analysis and other research, hoping to understand and predict the behavior of these fickle consumers.
Rather than predicting a consumer's next move—which is not only imprecise but also impractical—marketers should focus on forming meaningful brand relationships by listening to and actively engaging consumers as they negotiate the major changes in society and their lives.
Identity Crisis
That no two consumers are exactly alike is a given in marketing. And now, marketers are starting to realize that individual consumers bring with them a whole new set of complexities:
Each person has several identities that shift with context. They may, for example, represent themselves one way in the LinkedIn business network, and another, very different way on Facebook with friends.
Each of those identities has its own idiosyncrasies and behaviors, so when they are in one context—e.g., a busy mom chatting on onechicmama.com—they're more receptive to some brands, perhaps recipes from Kraft, and totally closed to others that don't appeal to that persona.
Let's consider the busy mom further. A typical mom has sub-personas that may include "household manager," concerned with efficiency and convenience, and "gracious homemaker," focused on entertaining friends in Martha Stewart style. These two personas—efficient manager and elegant homemaker—can and must coexist dynamically, even though they may clash on a daily basis. And those are just two of many personas a busy mom might have.
So what's the secret to understanding our modern June Cleaver, she of multiple personas, morphing from context to context? The answer is simple: Listen to her.
Listening is critical for a more meaningful relationship between brands and consumers. First, however, brands must embrace today's epic cultural shift toward more open, flexible, and adaptive communications across the social Web.
What Won't Work
Traditional research—what may have once helped identify, segment, and target June Cleaver—just isn't well-suited to understanding and engaging consumers on the open, flexible Web. To build relationships with ever-evolving, persona-shifting consumers, marketers need new strategies and approaches that are built around listening. Not just once, but continuously and programmatically.
For companies getting started, it pays to rethink how and when to approach consumers. The short answer is continuously. But how can a company sustain continuous connections to customers? Would a purpose-built social network or public online community work? What about an integrated marketing campaign that uses state-of the-art Web and site analytics along with newsletters and customized email?
While those approaches have merit and can be part of a larger marketing effort, they can't help brands truly understand, engage, and sustain long-term relationships with today's dynamic, multi-contextual consumer.
What Does Work
If you want to understand, engage, and sustain, you'll need to embrace three tenets of new consumerism: listening, relationship-building, and empowerment.
Relationship-building, as a process, is misunderstood by many marketers. Too often we confuse willingness to buy as evidence of a relationship. It's not. Brands must earn the right to have meaningful relationships with their consumers, and that isn't accomplished by special offers and personalization alone. Like personal relationships, brand relationships are built on trust that is earned over multiple exchanges and eventually feels natural instead of contrived.
If all you're doing with customers is surveying them periodically, you'll never build trust or a relationship. But if you establish some intimacy with your customers—providing an ongoing, intimate forum to dig deeper and share the many facets of their different personas—you're entitled to ask more of the relationship. You've earned that.
Listening—real listening—is one of the most powerful and often misunderstood "disciplines" of marketing. Social-media monitoring, for example, is a great early warning system, but it isn't really listening. Effective listening can't be keyword-driven alone; it must be done with sensitivity to nuances and with a finely tuned ear for discovering unexpected insights.
One way to effectively listen to customers is through private online communities where brands can begin to understand how customers negotiate changes in their lives. Through communities, brands have the means—like never before—to be with consumers over time, building relationships and being present so that they can really listen. The trick is to isolate the multidimensional voices of the consumer, nurture them individually, and channel what you're hearing into meaningful changes that send a clear message: "We're listening."
Empowerment is the final, misunderstood tenet of new consumerism. Giving consumers a public forum to voice, vent, or vindicate—perhaps a public social network or your blog—seems like empowerment, but it's not. When you master listening and build a relationship with a consumer, you owe them something in return. And, contrary to conventional wisdom, what they want isn't coupons, free stuff, or other remuneration; they want to see the impact they're having on your brand and hear their own voices in new products and promotion. That's real empowerment for today's consumer.
In the end, consumers are most engaged when they realize that a brand—perhaps yours—is actively helping them negotiate the changes in their complex lives, from how and where they communicate to what they consume. Give them that, and they'll be empowered to dig deeper and explore more on your behalf. Moreover, eventually you'll offer more than simply a product or service to them: You'll become "their brand."
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Smart::: Creating shorter links
BRAND OWNER:Mercedes Benz
CATEGORY:Automotive
REGION:Belgium
DATE:Apr 2009 - Dec 2008
The Smart car’s key selling point is the fact that it can be manoeuvred into tiny parking spaces – perfect for city living. Measuring just 2.69 metres long, it can even be parked sideways in most road-side spaces.
CATEGORY:Automotive
REGION:Belgium
DATE:Apr 2009 - Dec 2008
The Smart car’s key selling point is the fact that it can be manoeuvred into tiny parking spaces – perfect for city living. Measuring just 2.69 metres long, it can even be parked sideways in most road-side spaces.
In order to highlight this fact online, Smart has created a URL shortening service. Akin to services such as http://www.tinyurl.com/ and is.gd, the service transforms a long URL such as those from Google Maps, into a very short one.
Visitors to http://url.so-smart.be/ are able to ‘navigate swiftly through the busy online traffic’ and ‘park large URLs into tiny spaces’. Visitors can enter a long URL, for example: http://advertiser-in-arabia.blogspot.com/ and it will be transformed into a shorter ‘smart’ URL such as http://so-smart.be/~ns21n4 .
This shorter URL takes up fewer characters on micro-blogging sites such as Twitter, which has a 140 character message limit. Any links shortened with this service automatically become micro ads because of the ‘so-smart.be’ prefix.
Visitors to http://www.so-smart.be/ will find a site called “Smart & the City”, charting the love affair that the car has with the city and featuring information about the vehicle including specifications, carbon emission levels, and the option to request a brochure or a showroom visit.
Fast-Food Research Shows McDonald's Still Number One
McDonald’s and Burger King remain America’s #1 and #2 most preferred fast-food chains, while Subway unseated Wendy’s in 2008 to nab the #3 spot, according to research on the quick-service restaurant (QSR) industry from Experian Simmons.
Other major chains in the top-10 rankings, which show preference trends over five years (2004-2008), are Taco Bell - which reclaimed its #4 spot after dropping to #5 in 2007, Wendy’s, which dropped from #3 to #5, KFC, Pizza Hut, Arby’s and Dairy Queen.
Other major chains in the top-10 rankings, which show preference trends over five years (2004-2008), are Taco Bell - which reclaimed its #4 spot after dropping to #5 in 2007, Wendy’s, which dropped from #3 to #5, KFC, Pizza Hut, Arby’s and Dairy Queen.
The proliferation of QSR chains in the US also has caused “others” (an aggregation of the many smaller chains) to hold a significant market share as well, the research found.
Niche Chains on the Rise
The rankings also show that three QSR chains - Chipotle , Jamba Juice, and Panera Bread - are relative new comers to the market, yet have become an important force in the QSR market by carving out a specialized niche with their offerings. Chipotle has risen from #57 in 2004 to #26 in 2008, while Jamba Juice has jumped #58 to #38 and Panera Bread has climbed steadily from #29 to #18 in the same time period.
Dramatic Jump in QSR Visits
The average number of visits Americans make to quick service restaurants, which has held steady at approximately seven since 2004, substantially increased to 11 between 2007 and 2008. This, Experian Simmons suggests, may be caused by the current economic crisis.
Midwesterners Frequent QSRs Most
Overall, Midwesterners are most likely to eat at quick service restaurants, the research found.
The following table lists the likelihood of people in each of four US regions (Northeast, Midwest, South and West) to eat at the 13 fast food chains Experian Simmons reviewed. The table on the right illustrates the percentage of each region’s residents that eat at the quick service restaurants. Overall, Midwesterners have the highest percentage of visits to McDonald’s and several other major chains, while Northeasterners score highest with Burger King and Wendy’s.
Westerners frequent Taco Bell and “other” QSRs more than those in other regions. One reason they are more likely to eat at “other fast food restaurants” may be because the Western region has a number of quick service restaurants that aren’t present ?in other regions, said Experian Simmons.
Additional survey findings:
Men (115 Index) are more likely than women (87) to eat alone at a fast food restaurant.
Women are more likely to take their children below age 12 to a fast food chain during lunch than any other meal time (126).
Hispanic Americans are more likely than non-Hispanic Americans to go to a fast food chain with children during all meal times.
Americans aged 18-24 are three times more likely than older Americans to snack at a fast food chain with friends/co-workers.
The rankings also show that three QSR chains - Chipotle , Jamba Juice, and Panera Bread - are relative new comers to the market, yet have become an important force in the QSR market by carving out a specialized niche with their offerings. Chipotle has risen from #57 in 2004 to #26 in 2008, while Jamba Juice has jumped #58 to #38 and Panera Bread has climbed steadily from #29 to #18 in the same time period.
Dramatic Jump in QSR Visits
The average number of visits Americans make to quick service restaurants, which has held steady at approximately seven since 2004, substantially increased to 11 between 2007 and 2008. This, Experian Simmons suggests, may be caused by the current economic crisis.
Midwesterners Frequent QSRs Most
Overall, Midwesterners are most likely to eat at quick service restaurants, the research found.
The following table lists the likelihood of people in each of four US regions (Northeast, Midwest, South and West) to eat at the 13 fast food chains Experian Simmons reviewed. The table on the right illustrates the percentage of each region’s residents that eat at the quick service restaurants. Overall, Midwesterners have the highest percentage of visits to McDonald’s and several other major chains, while Northeasterners score highest with Burger King and Wendy’s.
Westerners frequent Taco Bell and “other” QSRs more than those in other regions. One reason they are more likely to eat at “other fast food restaurants” may be because the Western region has a number of quick service restaurants that aren’t present ?in other regions, said Experian Simmons.
Additional survey findings:
Men (115 Index) are more likely than women (87) to eat alone at a fast food restaurant.
Women are more likely to take their children below age 12 to a fast food chain during lunch than any other meal time (126).
Hispanic Americans are more likely than non-Hispanic Americans to go to a fast food chain with children during all meal times.
Americans aged 18-24 are three times more likely than older Americans to snack at a fast food chain with friends/co-workers.
Other research from the NPD Group finds that kids and young adults are visiting restaurants less because of the high cost and because of a perceived availability of less healthy choices. The study also finds that Baby Boomers’ restaurant use is increasing.
About the research: Data analysis is based on results from the Experian Simmons National Consumer Study/National Hispanic Consumer Studies conducted in the Fall of 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007, as well as the 2008 Full Year study.
An additional report that discusses the impact of the recession on family dining and QSRs also is available from Experian Simmons.
ÖBB Austria Railways – HOW OH! (Austria)
Agency name: PKP proximity
Client name: ÖBB Austria Railways
Category: Integrated Communication
BACKGROUND
Travelling by train is not hip among young Austrians.
The campaign target: to motivate young people to travel by train in their summer holidays and to sell 120,000 summer-tickets (+5% vs 2006).
The ÖBB summer-ticket is a special holiday-offer from the Austrian Railway company ÖBB for unlimited train use for € 19 (age <20)>
OBJECTIVES
To motivate young Austrians to travel by train in their summer holidays.
To promote the ÖBB summer-ticket.To sell 120,000 ÖBB summer-tickets.
STRATEGY
Taking the train is not the transport of first choice with young Austrians. But for most of them taking the train is their only realistic opportunity to travel in their holidays. We needed something or someone who would have credibility with the target group, and could say “'move your ass' and go out in summer! It's easy... With the lowest train-fares from ÖBB (Austrian Railways)”.
We created a new hero: the Canadian Indian „Howling Heoro Keese”. He became a real character with his own online platform, TV-show and events.
To approach young people in their own language two linked campaigns were set up:
OTHER COMMUNICATION
Viral Campaign, My Space Site, GO TV, Print, Billboard, Citylights, TV Spot, Online,
CREATIVE STRATEGY
The viral campaign was started by sticking cryptic yellow posters and stickers to walls and places where young people come together.
“The ear” as a symbol for the “hearing Indian” was created and myspace.com/how_oh went online.
On the website people learned about the “Free Culture Network” of a Canadian Indian called Howling Hearo Keese who knows everything about the 'in' places (cause he's “all-hearing”).
Basic Message: HOW OH! “Iroquois” meaning something in between “Get lost!” and meaning in Austrian dialect “get out of here!”
Key Visuals: “The ear” and Howling Hearo Keese
Only four weeks after the viral teaser campaign the TV-, Print- and Billboard campaign started with details of the offer and reservations on www.inmotion.oebb.at.THE STAR & HEROE: Howlin hero Keese
ADDITIONAL INFORMATIONS
An outstanding hero, connecting all media-channels (incl. direct marketing, viral, classic & guerilla) and a slogan as a new word-creation (HOW OH!) that's now in the mind of every young Austrian.
Client name: ÖBB Austria Railways
Category: Integrated Communication
BACKGROUND
Travelling by train is not hip among young Austrians.
The campaign target: to motivate young people to travel by train in their summer holidays and to sell 120,000 summer-tickets (+5% vs 2006).
The ÖBB summer-ticket is a special holiday-offer from the Austrian Railway company ÖBB for unlimited train use for € 19 (age <20)>
OBJECTIVES
To motivate young Austrians to travel by train in their summer holidays.
To promote the ÖBB summer-ticket.To sell 120,000 ÖBB summer-tickets.
STRATEGY
Taking the train is not the transport of first choice with young Austrians. But for most of them taking the train is their only realistic opportunity to travel in their holidays. We needed something or someone who would have credibility with the target group, and could say “'move your ass' and go out in summer! It's easy... With the lowest train-fares from ÖBB (Austrian Railways)”.
We created a new hero: the Canadian Indian „Howling Heoro Keese”. He became a real character with his own online platform, TV-show and events.
To approach young people in their own language two linked campaigns were set up:
- a viral campaign to introduce the Indian
- four weeks after the viral teaser campaign the TV-, Print- and Billboard campaign started with details of the offer and reservations on
OTHER COMMUNICATION
Viral Campaign, My Space Site, GO TV, Print, Billboard, Citylights, TV Spot, Online,
CREATIVE STRATEGY
The viral campaign was started by sticking cryptic yellow posters and stickers to walls and places where young people come together.
“The ear” as a symbol for the “hearing Indian” was created and myspace.com/how_oh went online.
On the website people learned about the “Free Culture Network” of a Canadian Indian called Howling Hearo Keese who knows everything about the 'in' places (cause he's “all-hearing”).
Basic Message: HOW OH! “Iroquois” meaning something in between “Get lost!” and meaning in Austrian dialect “get out of here!”
Key Visuals: “The ear” and Howling Hearo Keese
Only four weeks after the viral teaser campaign the TV-, Print- and Billboard campaign started with details of the offer and reservations on www.inmotion.oebb.at.THE STAR & HEROE: Howlin hero Keese
ADDITIONAL INFORMATIONS
An outstanding hero, connecting all media-channels (incl. direct marketing, viral, classic & guerilla) and a slogan as a new word-creation (HOW OH!) that's now in the mind of every young Austrian.
Pedigree::: Adoption Drive
BRAND OWNER:Mars 
CATEGORY:Pet Care
REGION:Germany
DATE:Mar 2008 - Jul 2008
Pedigree was facing a huge problem, since the dog food market was being polarized between own label and premium brands. Pedigree was somewhere in the middle and did not have clear differentiating brand attributes.
The opportunity was to tell consumers, that Pedigree cares more about every single dog than any other manufacturer. In order to prove this, it created the Pedigree Adoption Drive and raised Awareness for dogs living in animal shelters.
The idea was to activate dog lovers to get them to become part of the Adoption Drive and create a dog rescue movement. Dog Lovers could become part of the movement, by donating money or by adopting a dog.
The first stage saw various rescue dogs profiled in all the big German newspapers, along with a telephone number for more information. Posters at gas stations on the freeway – notorious dumping grounds for unwanted pets – reminded people about the dogs’ plight. This was supported by TV ads.
The second step was to activate consumers to become a part of the movement, largely at point of sale. Images of local animal shelter dogs were displayed along with the message that with every purchase from Pedigree they support these dogs. People were driven to Pedigree.de in an online drive and there were many cases of editorial integration including reports of dogs who had found new homes. All of these homed dogs were shown on the Pedigree site.
The campaign achieved a short term sales growth of 8,6%.
Also the penetration of the brand increased about 4,8% for the first time in three years and remained on a higher level also after the campaign period.
Finally the target to donate €250k to animal shelters was smashed with a donation of €400k and the adoption rate increased about 20% during the period of the campaign.
CATEGORY:Pet Care
REGION:Germany
DATE:Mar 2008 - Jul 2008
Pedigree was facing a huge problem, since the dog food market was being polarized between own label and premium brands. Pedigree was somewhere in the middle and did not have clear differentiating brand attributes.
The opportunity was to tell consumers, that Pedigree cares more about every single dog than any other manufacturer. In order to prove this, it created the Pedigree Adoption Drive and raised Awareness for dogs living in animal shelters.
The idea was to activate dog lovers to get them to become part of the Adoption Drive and create a dog rescue movement. Dog Lovers could become part of the movement, by donating money or by adopting a dog.
The first stage saw various rescue dogs profiled in all the big German newspapers, along with a telephone number for more information. Posters at gas stations on the freeway – notorious dumping grounds for unwanted pets – reminded people about the dogs’ plight. This was supported by TV ads.
The second step was to activate consumers to become a part of the movement, largely at point of sale. Images of local animal shelter dogs were displayed along with the message that with every purchase from Pedigree they support these dogs. People were driven to Pedigree.de in an online drive and there were many cases of editorial integration including reports of dogs who had found new homes. All of these homed dogs were shown on the Pedigree site.
The campaign achieved a short term sales growth of 8,6%.Also the penetration of the brand increased about 4,8% for the first time in three years and remained on a higher level also after the campaign period.
Finally the target to donate €250k to animal shelters was smashed with a donation of €400k and the adoption rate increased about 20% during the period of the campaign.
X-Men::: The Wolverine Buddy Poke
BRAND OWNER:Fox Films
CATEGORY:Entertainment
REGION:Brazil
DATE:Mar 2009 - Apr 2009
To promote the premiere of Fox Film’s new film X Men Origins, the film studio wanted to take advantage of the popularity of social networking site Orkut.
CATEGORY:Entertainment
REGION:Brazil
DATE:Mar 2009 - Apr 2009
To promote the premiere of Fox Film’s new film X Men Origins, the film studio wanted to take advantage of the popularity of social networking site Orkut.
One of the most popular applications on Orkut is The Buddy Poke. The Buddy Poke is essentially a greeting delivered by an avatar from one friend to another. Users can express themselves via the character.
For the purpose of the movie promotion, an avatar of Wolverine was created – the first time the application has been used by an advertiser. Users of the Wolverine Buddy Poke can be select two options – either “claws out” or “ask to respond” – to send to friends.
For the purpose of the movie promotion, an avatar of Wolverine was created – the first time the application has been used by an advertiser. Users of the Wolverine Buddy Poke can be select two options – either “claws out” or “ask to respond” – to send to friends.
Having selected the greeting, their own avatar gets personalized to look more like wolverine – complete with huge claws and side burns.
Then a small animation of the newly wolfish avatar can be sent to a friend. The Buddy Poke is not branded with the name of the film at all – the idea is simply to make a subtle association with the film, which launches at the end of April.
The movie charts the violent and romantic past of Wolverine, from his complex relationship with
The movie charts the violent and romantic past of Wolverine, from his complex relationship with
Audi::: Progressive vanguards
BRAND OWNER:Volkswagen
CATEGORY:Automotive
REGION:China
DATE:Mar 2008 - Dec 2008
High brand awareness for the Audi A8L was failing to convert into sales in China. Consumer research revealed that the Audi brand was perceived as old, conservative and government-related.
CATEGORY:Automotive
REGION:China
DATE:Mar 2008 - Dec 2008
High brand awareness for the Audi A8L was failing to convert into sales in China. Consumer research revealed that the Audi brand was perceived as old, conservative and government-related.
The car brand needed to communicate its new positioning of “Progressive Vanguards” to a niche audience of sophisticated business executives and hence boost sales.
We knew that this target market were confident in their own beliefs and ideals but conversely they were also keen to learn from other people’s success.
The solution was to create Audi’s own list of “Progressive Vanguards” and put their stories at the heart of the campaign.
Audi teamed up with leading business newspapers and periodicals to create Audi branded content where 24 leading businessmen from China and abroad would talk about the secrets of their success.
They included Steve Jobs from Apple, Ma Yun from Alibaba and Li Yan- Hong of Baidu. Readers were directed to their stories via eye- catching banners on the front page.
Special events and business conferences added another layer to the communication, encouraging readers to take a test drive.
Sales of the Audi A8L rose 35% year on year with a saving of 45% on a regular media buy.
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