ANA Marketing Maestros

Break Through Creative

by Mark Fogelberg

[Okay, the pun police should surely be looking for me after this one. Break through...]

While reviewing recent killer creative, the Leopard vs Vista / Mac vs PC ad makes for an interesting use of creative and ad unit placement. During the ad, John Hodgman breaks the 4th dimension kinda sorta. He climbs a ladder to reach from one huge ad unit to another in order to append a quote not to his liking.

No matter which side of the mac/pc fence you sit on, the use of creatively augmenting ad space to tell a story makes one realize that we are one step closer to web advertising living up to a promise circa 1999 - display advertising is the future of all advertising. Sure, search has been delivering real ROI and it's democratized the playing field but...come on. Boring text? I could have gotten that on ARPANET.

Being quite visual, I relish in the great work coming out of smart shops like AKQA and Huge and the usual suspects. Viva la creativity - across design, technology and media.

Now that our members have spoken, letting the cat out of the bag regarding TV effectiveness, it's nice to know the creatives are keeping great brands' heads above water on the series of tubes. Thanks creatives.

Are Network-Integration Fees Legitimate?

By Bill Duggan

Last week ANA and AAAA (American Association of Advertising Agencies) issued a press release and a 1-page “perspective” on the topic of network-integration fees.

For many years, ABC, CBS and NBC have charged advertisers an incremental fee to “integrate” a commercial into its advertising breaks. The fees vary by daypart but are pretty consistent from network to network—approximately $470 per unit in prime and evening news and roughly $230 per unit in daytime and late night. This all adds up to an annual bill to advertisers that totaled $125 million in 2007 (as estimated by TargetCast tcm).

Currently, only ABC, CBS and NBC charge network-integration fees; no other broadcast network, cable network or channel, local station or syndicator charges advertisers to physically place their schedules. The press release and perspective were sent via email to the respective heads of ad sales at ABC, CBS, and NBC.

In ANA studies that were previously conducted, 87 percent of those surveyed answered “no” when asked, “Is it fair to be charged network integration fees by ABC, CBS and NBC?” Verbatim comments included:

• “The notion of integration fees is antiquated … This is a throwback fee from the old days when commercials had to be physically integrated into programming.”
• “It's obsolete and doesn't recognize technology changes.”
• “The fees are a legacy charge and no longer have a justifiable purpose.”

In addition to the $125 million, network-integration fees have other hidden costs to both agencies and advertisers. They are a burden for agencies to administer and the extra manpower required to do so invariably costs advertisers more in labor fees.

In today’s environment, marketers are demanding accountability from their media investments and transparency in their relationships with media partners. CEOs, CFOs, and procurement specialists are asking more questions than ever before about marketing expenditures and the impact on business results. Every dollar invested has to prove its worth. Given all this, it’s only natural that marketers are again questioning the network-integration fees charged by ABC, CBS, and NBC.

All advertisers and agencies should “do the math” for their companies or clients on the annual cost of network-integration fees. If those payments seem excessive or unjustified, advertisers and agencies are encouraged to bring this issue up at every opportunity with ABC, CBS, and NBC to encourage a dialogue on the purpose and value of network integration fees.

We welcome a response from the respective networks. Why do network-integration fees still exist in today’s media environment? Can network integration fees be rationalized? In fact, we have formally invited the networks to join a task force to be convened no later than May 1 to address the practice of charging network-integration fees. Responses from each of the networks are still pending. Stay tuned!

Of course, we welcome thoughts from the marketing community on the issue of network integration fees.

 Technorati tags: network integration fees TV spot

Good Night and Good Luck!

By Kaitlin Villanova

My close to two year stint at the ANA has been nothing short of fun and exciting. Some of my favorite memories are: the dinner cruise around Manhattan on the Forbes Yacht, a lot tour of Universal Studio’s, meeting cast-members of Grey’s Anatomy, getting a headlock from Gene Simmons, regular trips to fun (and warm) places like Florida, Los Angeles, and Phoenix. Visiting the chic New York offices of Google, Yahoo, RG/A, Publicis, Deutsch and many more…

The ANA is a wonderful place that has provided me with, what feels like, a free graduate degree in marketing and advertising.  As a content writer, I have had the opportunity to attend most of our industry leading conferences such as the Masters of Marketing, Brand Innovation, Marketing Accountability, Integrated Marketing, Business to Business and various committee meetings. Little me sitting in the audience looking up at the “industry celebrities,” such as Steve Ballmer, Beth Comstock, Becky Saeger, Cammie Dunaway, Steve Sullivan, David Lubars, Linda Kaplan Thaler and many more.

With so many fond memories here, it’s hard to say goodbye, but it is time for me to continue on my path of career building. Working at an organization like the ANA I have learned the value of a personal network. I have made so many wonderful connections with colleagues, business partners, and conference attendees.

One of my favorite chapters of Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point is titled “The Law of the Few.” In this chapter, Gladwell describes a type of person he calls “Connectors.”

Connectors:
1. People with a special gift for bringing the world together, people specialists
2. Know lots of people
3. Have an extraordinary knack of making friends and acquaintances, making social connections.
4. Have mastered the "weak tie"; a friendly, yet casual social connection.
5. Acquaintances represent a source of social power, and the more acquaintances you have the more powerful you are.
6. Social glue: they spread the message
[Excerpt from: The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell Chapter 2 Page 30]

I am in no way claiming that I have even come close to this type of social idealism but this excerpt reminds me of the true value in every business and personal relationship.

I encourage you to keep your network alive. Now it’s easier than ever to stay connected with business partners and former colleagues with sites like LinkedIn and Facebook. However, never underestimate the power of a good old fashion phone call or lunch meeting just to catch up.

Well, that just about concludes my participation with the ANA Maestros blog. Cheers blogsphere. It has been a pleasure.

YouBama and the Next Wave of Political Advertising

By: Irina Skaya

In light of President’s Week, I want post about the 2008 primary state of affairs as Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton slug it out for the presidential nomination. There are several things that interest me about this particular election, and it’s not the potential win of the first woman president nor the first black president. After all, we already had a black man and a white woman on the presidential ticket - Jesse Jackson in 1984 and 1988, and Geraldine Ferraro in 1984. What is is unique about this election is the viral online marketing campaign Obama has created. According to Time Magazine, no other campaign has tapped into social networks so aggressively, nor used the Internet to leverage the financial power of small donors.

Earlier this month, Obama scored highest among Democratic voters, ages 18-30 in the New York primaries. Why is Obama so popular among young voters? Is it because today’s generation of voters is colorblind or is it the emotional connection that Obama has created with them through social networking communities?

In one of his recent speeches, Obama stated that he wants to get people excited about politics again. I think he will achieve that--Obama is finding innovative ways to create a personal connection with potential voters, and to raise campaign dollars, using online social networks such as Facebook and MySpace. On Facebook, Obama has five times the number of Clinton supporters. Obama’s nearly 5-minute video response to President Bush’s “State of the Union” address became the most viewed video in the world. His own Website also features a community where potential voters may organize their friends, neighbors and networks. Members can build their own profile, form affinity groups, host events, write blogs, and, of course, donate money to his campaign. Obama even has his own user-generated channel called YouBama that features Obama supporters spreading the word on why he should be the 44th president.

Check out this powerful video, "Yes, we can" released by Black Eyed Peas' Will.I.Am, featuring a wildly diverse cross section of celebrity supporters:

Google trends show that in the last couple of months, the search volume for “Barack Obama” has exceeded the search volume for “Hillary Clinton.”

His online campaign has not only earned Obama $5 million more in donor dollars than Clinton’s fundraising efforts, but also allows him to gauge the pulse of his audience and know where to steer his campaign. So, who will win the democratic nomination? The candidate with a recognized brand name and relevant experience or the fresh face candidate who has superseded traditional advertising with buzz marketing, and as a result, leads the primary fund raising race?

Technorati tags: viral marketing 2008 presidential election Barack Obama Hillary Clinton social networks

Pondering Podvertising?

By: Irina Skaya

My daily 50-minute commute to work from Brooklyn to Grand Central station usually consists of reading the Daily News or more recently, listening to news podcasts on my iPod.  It is especially entertaining during the times the conductor holds up the train because of “the red signal ahead of us.” It makes time tick faster and feels like we’re moving sooner than we actually are. 

What moves me most about Podcasting is the convenience of portal media that allows me to download my favorite shows to my iPod and time-shift my listening to when it is best suitable for me, like on my way to work.  Today, consumers of Podcasting demand better content and a better personalized experience when they want. The shift in control from marketers to consumers are altering the way we approach marketing.

Podvertising is great tool for forward-thinking advertisers who want to try their hands at alternative media.  Podvertising allows marketers to target their niche audience and prevent ad avoidance at a small cost. Users are unlikely to fast-forward through your ad because they've already subscribed to the podcast and usually, do not mind listening to a 15-second ad. Also, with podcasting, small companies who could not afford to advertise on the big screen have the opportunity to reach their target audience.

How do you start advertising on Podcasts?

1. Sponsorships: sponsor a couple of target podcasts. For example: Gatorade sponsors Endurance Radio.
2. Offer giveaways and promotions: offer discounts and prizes in order to entice the listeners and prevent ad avoiders.
3. RSS feeds: You can time your podcast to be on your site at the same time as a new product launch. When people search for your info on your new product, your podcast will be in those results. If a user likes what he hears, he may decide to not only listen, but subscribe as well.
4. Produce Your Own: create your own podcast, featuring an audio informercial, video demo for new products, audio/video press releases about your product, etc.  Consumer-packaged-goods companies may use podcasts to enhance consumers’ lives and to build a connection with them. For instance, IBM produces podcasts on key business and technology topics. 

There is a great video on Podvertising that I couldn't insert here, but can direct you to. 

Don't underestimate the power of Podvertising! According to eMarketer, podcasting advertising will increase by 400% by 2011.

The Relevance of Marketing

By: Michael Palmer

A silo mentality has been with us for years and is unlikely to change in the near future.  People have too much invested in building the importance of their leadership to give up being in charge.  Marketing, however, truly has the ability to transform this mentality from a “what’s in it for me” attitude to let’s work together as a cross platform team.

What, you ask, is the carrot that can make this horse move? It's customer insight. 

Recently, an ANA member CMO was faced with a challenge from her organization’s production VP about increasing her marketing spend.  Production it seemed needed new equipment so they wanted the dollars available; marketing wanted to extend a current campaign.  Smartly, the CMO changed the conversation from winning or losing to what was right for the customer.  She showed the management team that the campaign she was running was working to drive revenue – the production equipment would not garner the same return.

Make marketing relevant by understanding your customer better than anyone within your organization – use that insight to drive decisions, use that insight to excite the team, use that insight to create cross functional teams focused on one objective, creating satisfied, highly motivated customers who will do your selling for you.

ANA Accountability Study: Marketing, Finance Not on Same Metrics Page

By Barbara Bacci Mirque

You have probably heard about the ANA’s fourth annual marketing accountability survey, written in conjunction with MMA and fielded on our behalf by Guideline Inc.

This survey was previewed at the ANA’s Marketing Accountability Conference in September 2007. The buzz around the conference was the stark finding that marketing accountability efforts had backslided in the past year. As we discussed these findings at the conference and later at the ANA’s marketing accountability committee, a few things came to light about why satisfaction levels with respondents’ marketing accountability efforts had plummeted versus previous years.

Marketing accountability is hard and requires a culture shift and a commitment to expend both human and financial resources. Also, after a few years working on this, the low hanging fruit – the easier to do tasks – have been plucked. Now the hard work is in front of many companies and that takes a senior level commitment that our survey found was lacking. Another realization was that many of the marketing accountability efforts were spearheaded by the marketing department without cross functional support – in only a little over one third (37%) of the companies surveyed was there a cross functional marketing accountability team (20%) or a team composed of marketing and finance (17%). Without the buy in of finance, marketing accountability efforts are most likely doomed.

An ANA best practice recommends these structures. ANA members can download the results here. We are about to launch the 5th Annual ANA Marketing Accountability survey. Join us at our July Marketing Accountability Conference in Laguna Nigel to learn more about this important topic. ANA members can also join the ANA’s Marketing Accountability Committee.

I Can't Hear You!

by Mark Fogelberg

So, the world's biggest marketer walks into sports' biggest arena with a stain on a shirt...

Unlike in the actual game surrounding the ads, this year's Commercial Bowl had quite a few winners. It's fun to see how industry insiders tastes align with average consumers.

Let's forget rankings, though, and concentrate on gibberish.

Tide's ad for the loud mouthed, gibberish spewing talking stain had me transfixed:

Today I made it to the site that enhances the buy. While spending quality, market research time on the site, I have to hand it to the masters at P&G. They have a giveaway and rather than mess around with something small, they give away 10,000 prizes each day! Lesson learned: if you want to leverage a large (give or take $2.7mm) investment - if you want to integrate to deliver - deliver BIG. 10,000 winners per day = 10,000 happy people thinking "I'm a winner" rather than the typical promo "many will enter; few will win".

Normally not one to jump into the the user-generated fray, I jumped because I want that Tide t-shirt they're giving away. Why? I don't know. Perhaps... their advertising affected my brand perception and future consumption pattern?

Tide...I mean...time to go.

New Media to Sell Old

by Mark Fogelberg

With all due respect to a certain futurist/CEO, many people - especially the people I would like to converse with - still read books. Perhaps its the portability, the on-demand entertainment possibility, the ability to engage one's imagination.

Books = Still Very Good.

So when a publisher makes a smart effort to market books differently, there's greater hope for a pulp future.

For the new release, Celebutantes, St. Martin's Press put its marketing dollars behind the creation of video trailers. (Celebutantes is the story of 26 year old Lola Santisi as she narrates her way through Hollywood in the days leading up to Oscar.) The trailers are as well-produced as ones for movies and video games - you know those video screen thingies meant to extinguish book reading. Using video and contemporary marketing channels to market an older product form? Nice.

St. Martin's Press set up a channel on YouTube for the trailers. Since this is PG blog, I'll allow you to find your own way to it.

It will be interesting to see how the book sells upon its release. For those not interested in paper, I am certain that a celluloid pixel version is being shopped round them thar Hills.

U.S. Latinos are bilingual, your ads should be too!

By Irina Skaya

Today mun2 and Yahoo! Telemundo relaunch a live bilingual show similar to MTV’s TRL on pepsimúsica.com, a two-day old interactive multiplatform Website used to target bicultural Latino youth within the U.S.

In the vast swaths of America where only Español is required to function, there is often a misconception that only Spanish is spoken amongst our Latino amigos. Certainly, Latino youth is proud of their heritage and are in-tune with their cultura – second and third generation Latinos may speak Spanish en sus casas, but they are just as immersed in the American culture. Anyone who has immigrated to the U.S. as a child, like myself, knows that after a few years of being on the mainland, you don’t speak perfect English nor your native tongue. Latino youth speaks Spanglish, the most important contemporary linguistic phenomenon in the U.S.

However, Spanglish is more than language, it is a lifestyle, dictating what kind of música, películas, and events Latinos are interested in. Take a look inside the music industry – top rated Latino artists such as Daddy Yankee and Fat Joe have been rapping in both, Spanish and English for years. Then, why do multicultural advertisers still advertise only in Spanish to target Latinos? That is the biggest mistake Hispanic advertisers can make, particularly because all Latin American countries have diverse dialects. Besides, Latinos navigate back and forth from Spanish to English. Remember, they hablan inglés, too.

Now, with the Hispanic trends indicating that Latinos spend more time online than the general market, multicultural advertising has increased in the Internet space. Even though most advertisers have moved away from directly translating ad copy from English to Spanish, a lot of ads remain written entirely in Spanish. Pepsi is among the first (including Sí TV) to target bicultural Latino Youth and to speak to them in their language - Spanglish. Recognizing that technology is crucial to this group because it helps connect them with family and friends, and flaunt their pride in Latino identity, the initiator of sponsorship for music has created an interactive and user-generated site that will allow users to vote for their artistas favoritos, post comments, upload their photos and videos, influence the top 20 countdown and more.

This is going to be viral and cutting edge– it puts consumers in the driver’s seat, giving them the content they want, when they want it and most importantly, present in it in the way they understand it. Tune in today at 5 p.m. to watch the premiere of the Pepsi Música. I will - soy admiradora de Pepsi Música!

Technorati tags: user-generated multicultural marketing Latinos Hispanic marketing Spanglish