ANA Marketing Maestros

All Brands Are Not Equal

By Mark Fogelberg

“Brands are important assets requiring proactive and consistent investment, management, and measurement.”

Interbrand's recently released report on the top global brands showcases the differences among brands and how these differences can amount to a huge valuation disparity. The rankings, a barometer of successful brand management, offer great data into leading brands. It also includes the element of how to quantify a brand’s total value including the intangible assets.

The brands ranked cross geographies, cultures and market segments to build the equity of their business. Great brands create demand, sell products, drive shareholder value, make for proud employees, and more. And the strategies used to propel these brands can make for fast economic growth – a company already owns the assets; it’s the execution of the brand strategy that creates incredible valuations. Interbrand evaluates brands as assets by forecasting the current and future revenue directly attributable to the branded product.

It’s a brilliant read and I encourage all marketers to download the complete survey. The methodologies and significance of the rankings are detailed on pages 44-46. Ways to analyze whether companies are investing adequately or whether marketing strategies are fully exploiting a brand’s potential are also defined.

Advertising is Flying High

By Kaitlin Villanova

Tray table advertising, in theory this is a genius idea - a branded image staring your customer in the face for an infinite amount of time. Folks at companies like InterAirMedia are finding all sorts of opportunities to impose a brand on airline customers.

Let me tell you about my experience a few weeks ago...

I boarded the 6am flight from JFK to LAX getting to my seat early enough to grab a blanket and pillow. Once I was settled in, (ipod on, phone off, blanket on) I brought down my tray table to begin flipping through a magazine when I was bedazzled by a shiny unobtrusive advertisement for the dining service at a hotel (which will remain nameless).

The image in front of me was of a delightful plate of breakfast food with utensils on the left and a steaming coffee in its designated table-setting spot. This image really communicated the quality of cuisine that is offered at this high-end hotel chain. As an advertiser, I took a moment to relish over this clever ad-space... then dosed off to sleep.

An hour later I woke up to a grumbling stomach realizing that thanks to my bright-and-early-flight I had nothing to eat or drink since the night before. It was approaching 9:30 AM, 3 hours to go and nothing to eat but a miniature bag of pretzels (at 9AM? No, thank you). This is when I lifted my magazine and was face-to-face with a delicious plate of scrambled eggs, what looks to be turkey bacon, toasted to perfection wheat toast and an attractive side of exotic fruits. At this point, I am salivating over this appetizing non-meal on the tray table in front of me, cursing at the advertising industry in my head for getting the best of me.

In the industry this aviation advertising space is available on seat backs, aircraft wraps, tray tables, jet bridge wraps, and cocktail napkins. For the hospitality and cpg industry this great space for advertisements allowing you to capture the attention of your consumer for a long period of time.

Just make sure you feed them first :)

Technorati tags: airline advertising marketing

The UPS Whiteboard Guy

Last Thursday brought us to the ANA B-to-B Conference in Chicago. B-to-B marketers converged for a day of sharing & learning.

What's interesting about B-to-B marketing versus B-to-C is the high degree of specialization that many of these marketers contend with each day. Working with more limited resources, B-to-B marketers step into integrated marketing programs readily and eagerly - often to stretch their limited budgets.

Other times, a B-to-B campaign must have a big enough idea to support B-to-C components as well. That's where our friend drawing on the whiteboard comes in.

The now famous Whiteboard Guy happens to be the same gent that helped create & shape the ads. Andy Azula serves as SVP/Creative Director at The Martin Agency for his day job. Overtime starts when he picks up the wonderful smelling pen.

Whiteboard offered just what UPS needed to take its "Brown" brand to a new level. Plus, the pure simplicity of the concept lends itself to deep integration. Whiteboard.UPS.com showcases much of the effort so far - 17 commercials, deep interactivity, user interaction, and some seriously good salesmanship.

I dare any business person (or anyone who's ever wondered what's behind those brown trucks) to attempt a quick visit to the site. You can't because the content compels; the execution delights. You'll be pulled into the site to learn tons of great info painlessly and entertainingly. Talk about a great B-to-B marketing success story. Congrats to the client & the agency

Summer Friday Tea Partay

It was bound to happen.

After standing atop the preppie heap for nearly a year, P-Unit and his Cape Cod Crew have had their ode to Smirnoff Tea attacked by West Coast haters.

Boyz N The Hillz debuted a video immediately attacking East Coast cred and spilling over into a West Coast diatribe. The fact that both videos are allowed to co-exist on the Smirnoff Tea official site should only add fuel to the fire.

Marketers embracing consumer generated content must be vigilant against times when said content crosses the line. What will happen when this battle of rhymes escalates into all out war? Here's hoping that Smirnoff parent Diageo steps in to broker some sort of accord. The prepster community must find ways to heal, to mend fences.

(With tongue planted firmly in cheek, I am out.)