ANA Marketing Maestros

Dipso, Fatso, Bingo, Asbo, Tesco

...It Almost Sounds Latin

by Mark Fogelberg (me)
Brand marketing's tough work. Boiling down a product or service to its essence; building that essence back up into something palpable, understandable and sale-able. Much of my current role involves helping define our hundred year old brand -- and it is tough. I can't imagine the gravity of properly branding today's Britain.

Yes, Britain. The land of still active royalty, tremendous military history, quite a bit of colonization, beautiful cars and amazing pubs has been seeking a brand statement. Though the government might call it a statement of values, I am calling it essentially a tag line.

Everyone in the advertising business knows that the Brits have been churning out great, imaginative work over the past couple of decades. Perhaps this contest pulls out a bit of a formula. It's something in their inherent British-ness that's helped fuel their great ad work? After all, entries such as my favourite "Dipso, Fatso, Bingo, Asbo, Tesco" and the winner “No Motto Please, We’re British.” stand out as original (example 1) and perfectly concise (example 2). The brand as lived by the brand seems to have captured the brand.

Circular logic, I admit. But this article from the NYTimes captures the whole affair perfectly. Read on!

Outdoor Advertising is “Hip” Again!

By: Irina Skaya

Today, on average, we are exposed to approximately 5,000 ad messages per day.  With numerous advertisements and increasing consumer control, advertisers continue to produce innovative ways to promote messages. 

Usually, when most of us think of outdoor advertising, which has been around for 150 years, we think of billboards on a highway, parasail billboards or bus wraps. Today, the emerging technologies and hunger for innovative and more effective approaches have made outdoor advertising ground-breaking and innovative. Of course, with that, the cost of outdoor advertising has skyrocketed.  In fact, outdoor advertising spending is nearly as high as Web spending.

Exactly, how much are advertisers spending on outdoor advertising to ensure that consumers are not just speed-reading the ads?

I am always fascinated by innovative billboards, including the scrolling ads at a bus stand, digital subway placards and the iconic video billboards in Times Square. Recently, I stumbled upon two unique ads that I’ve never seen before.
 

Billboards snow in Canada:

WWF Ocean Levels Rising Billboard:

What's best about the OOH industry's digital makeover?
- Helps advertisers reach out to consumers in familiar environments such as health clubs, bars, restrooms where marketers can connect to consumers in a place where they are not preoccupied with other digital technologies
- Allows advertisers to present content that is almost real-time
- It's in-your-face advertising where consumers cannot escape it by pressing a switch off button or flip  the channel
- It's can be tracked successfully 

Technorati tags: YouTube outdoor advertising billboards

Mark Lives in Ikea

by Mark Fogelberg

Having Swedish ancestry courtesy of my paternal grandfather (Fogelberg translates to bird mountain in English), I must admit a fondness toward IKEA. Their furniture filled my first NY apartment, they helped us gain the upper hand in the battle of toy sprawl across our house, and any trip to IKEA still means Shopping with a capital S. I have to admit, though, I may not be as big a fan of the big retailer as another Mark.

On www.marklivesinikea.com, comedian/writer/audience coordinator Mark Malkoff documents his week living at the IKEA in Paramus, New Jersey. When his apartment had to be fumigated, he could have stayed in a hotel or gone on a nice vacation. Instead, by taking an alternate route, Mark has developed a consumer generated outlet for showcasing that, yes, IKEA has everything you need to live your life.

The fact that the brand took the risk of letting Mark Malkoff crash at the store for a week shows the value of taking little risks on behalf of your brand. Who knows what the gang at Deutsch may do to help extend the message. Remember last year when they decorated bus stops, subway cars with 10 tons of merchandise?

Score: IKEA 1, Complacency 0

Nerds Really Do Have More Fun!

By Kaitlin Villanova

Now that Mr. Gates is officially (well, partially) retired, he is loosening up the austere image of Microsoft Corporation by personally indulging in the "consumer generated content" fad of 2007. In this You Tube video unveiled at CES Technology event earlier this week; Gates is willfully playing-on his geeky persona that Apple has burned into consumer’s minds with the MAC vs. PC spots.

In this video, familiar faces from Microsoft reaffirm Gates’ dedication to the company in short camera interviews reminiscent of NBC's hit show The Office. Celebrities and politicians like Matthew McConaughey, Jay-Z, Al Gore, John Stewart, Hilary Clinton, Bono, George Clooney and Barack Obama are featured in the video to play on the idea that this computer genius....is just a big nerd!

This video proves to society that geeks really do have more fun, errr... ahh.... or was that blondes?

Why don't you see for yourself:

Technorati tags: YouTube Consumer Generated Content

Super Bowl Advertising 101

By: Irina Skaya

TV viewers stick around for the Super Bowl commercials, known for their edginess and sense of humor.  Advertisers invest millions of dollars into Super Bowl ads to keep television’s largest audience glued to their seats.  This year, approximately $2.7 million is being spent per 30 second spot, an increase from the $2.6 million spent during Super Bowl XLI.

According to the Origin of Brands blog, a typical formula for Super Bowl ad is a combination of celebrities, talking animals, sexy girls, potty humor, big stunts and special effects.  Speaking of celebrities, Justin Timberlake (who hasn’t made an appearance at the event since Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction) will rock his body on February 3 in a Pepsi ad. 

The mainstays such as Bud and Go Daddy are expected to once again grace the television screen with off-the-wall humor.  Hopefully, Go Daddy will submit storyboards to FOX first, before wasting tons of money on filming commercials that will get rebuffed. 

So, what is the recipe for a successful Super Bowl Ad?

• Spread a strong brand massage that will resonate and reinforce itself in the mind of the consumers
• Spoon a proper amount of hard-hitting humor — too much, and the commercial will be rejected by the network
• Carefully roll in some controversial parodies with an edgy punch line

A misconception lies about who should advertise during the biggest television event – many believe it should only be the big brands with big appeal and heavy budget.  Although the majority of the Super Bowl advertisers such as Bud and Pepsi do fit the above description, smaller companies can advertise and succeed.  Advertising during this event is an opportunity to market a product to 90 million viewers. This year, advertisers can triple the exposure to their products because for the first time ever, My Space will host the Super Bowl ads in partnership with Fox. The genius selling point in this program is that it will allow advertisers to add additional content to drive the consumers to the product, such as discount coupon offerings, movie trailers, etc. The ads will play at www.myspace.com/superspots.

I leave you with a classic (one of my favorite Super Bowl ads): 

Pepsi “Two Kids”

Technorati tags: YouTube super bowl 2008 super bowl ads

Alternative Advertising at Your Feet

By Kaitlin Villanova

I am one of the lucky New Yorkers that has the luxury of living close enough to my office where I can walk to and from work everyday (13 blocks each way). Lately, I have noticed an increase in "projection advertising". This is a non-traditional form of advertising using light to project a brands logo onto the sidewalks. There is no better place for this type of advertisement than in the walking city of New York. Typically a New Yorker is walking with their head down, earphones in, and their mind racing through the day’s events, therefore the few feet in front of them is the only space that lends room for a brand message. Now do you get why I love this idea? (Enough to blog about it!)

For example, recently a CVS opened on 42nd and 3rd avenue, a location where thousands of people walk by everyday. To compete with the 3 other pharmacy/convenient stores on the same block CVS decided to use some non-traditional advertising to attract new business. Their familiar red emblem was cast onto the sidewalk in front of the store. Chase Bank had the same thing, their recognizable octagon shaped logo dancing around at my feet.

Many non-traditional agencies are experimenting with this new idea. After doing a little research online, I came across Kaboom Advertising,  they offer two types of projection advertising:

Sky Tracker
"Nobody can resist the appeal of a light that sweeps across the sky with the power of nearly a billion candles. It could be a combination of up to four beams that will attract the attention of the public within a three-mile radius. We can project images onto walls, buildings, floors, or in the sky. Our laser shows add that special look to any event. Whenever an event calls for high visibility, sky tracker stands above the crowd to create that "Hollywood" excitement!"

and

Go Bo – Projection Advertising
GoBo advertising is a dynamic light-show in the sky. We take your images and logos and turn them into a slide show that lights up the side of a building or wall. The color show is an eye-catcher that creates a buzz that lasts long after the sun comes up.

The street projections I saw for CVS and Chase Bank were on a much smaller scale that some of the light shows that Kaboom Advertising offers, but nonetheless anything a brand can do to break the monotony is a good thing. 
Whether it’s for a bank, a pharmacy a bar or restaurant projection advertising is a great (an often inexpensive) way to get the attention of your consumer in a non-traditional, non- imposing way.

One minor detail, it has to be after dark or in a shady spot!

Merry New Year!

by Mark Fogelberg

It's January and that means something new is afoot. For so many, the new calendar brings with it a need for resolution and change.

Being the marketing/advertising junkie that I am, I know that January 1st also means weight loss messaging everywhere. You know what I mean. Ads telling you to resolve to lose all that weight you so successfully packed on these last two months. We're all told that it's easy! Yeah, right. For about 2% of the population it's easy. For everyone else, it's work.

Which is why the new campaign for Weight Watchers made me so very happy. The company decided upon a realistic tone that says dieting doesn't work. The core message is "Stop Dieting. Start Living."  After 2 minutes of searching, I found the site built around the message and it's spot on. It expands on the TV ad messaging, follows the same tonality and works to show Weight Watchers' point of differentiation. Yes, the company has its traditional in-person meetings but also has new options such as online only and programs for men. The campaign invites the public in. Who knows - if this campaign succeeds, maybe it's target audience will all be collectively healthier by 2009.

(BTW: If you don't get the title + photo reference, get thee to your favorite video outlet and grab a copy of Trading Places!)