ANA Marketing Maestros

ANA Masters of Marketing - CONFERENCE REWIND Part One

By Barry Garbarino

HIGHLIGHTS FROM 2008

The 2008 ANA Annual Conference once again attracted a who’s who of CMO’s from leading global brands. As promised, the three-day event held October 16-19 in Orlando, Fla., showcased the industry leaders who are driving growth to deliver real results and build brand equity. Many took the stage in front of a record crowd of more than 1,200 attendees, sharing their wisdom, expertise, insights, and opinions — along with examples and clips of the campaigns they have orchestrated to drive growth.

“Great brands truly do lead to impressive and stronger business results,” said Bob Liodice, president and CEO of the ANA, reflecting on the conference. “That’s an underlying philosophy that we have to embed in the minds of all marketers and agency people. The focus needs to be on building brands because all of your results come from that, whether it’s growing top-line revenue, bottom-line profitability, or shareholder value. And what we saw from a lot of the presenters were essentially different ways to grow brands.”

A few memorable moments from 2008 include:

Jim Stengel, Procter & Gamble
In an inspiring and touching keynote address that kicked off the conference, Jim Stengel outlined a road map for “marketing, branding, and life.” Having recently stepped down as global marketing officer at Procter & Gamble, Stengel took the stage for the last time as a P&G employee. His speech was billed as a valedictory address, an opportunity to share a career’s worth of knowledge with peers.

Anne Finucane, Bank of America
“The Bank of America brand stands for action, authenticity, and simplicity. Consumers of all kinds, particularly at times like these, are looking for simple and relevant brand promises that are true on a consistent and reliable basis. Being simple is key. We live in a time of ‘too.’ Too fast, too complex, too much information, too little time, too much stress. It’s our job to be simple.”

Joe Tripodi, The Coca-Cola Company
“The secret formula for growth is that there is no secret formula. It’s doing some of the basics really well, including breaking down internal silos, and moving away from ‘spray and pray’ advertising in favor of precision marketing. Focus on innovation occurs at every level of the organization and extends beyond our breadth of products. Simplicity is key. When you think about innovation, stop chasing the Holy Grail.”

To find out more about the 2009 ANA Annual Conference – The Masters of Marketing and the great line-up of speakers, click here.

Advertising as Art or Creative, Creative

By Barry Garbarino

As I rode home on the train last night – for some strange reason and old jingle from a telecommunication company popped into my head from thin air.  I think it went something like, “second class phones, their making, second class phones, phones you can’t hear though, phones with no tones...” I have an idea who the company is, but I don’t want to point any fingers.  I guess what really jumps out to me is that the creative jingle stuck with me after all these years (normally, I would post the ad creative in this blog, but sadly, it isn’t available online as of yet.)

Classic ad campaigns like, “Where’s the beef” and the ever popular “Meow Mix” jingle (which I believe some ad genius ran during morning news programs, so the annoying catchy song would get stuck in all of our heads.)  have left a void in the current mix of creative execution in the broadcast medium.




The perception that some advertisers have today is that every commercial they produce must have broad-appeal content that reaches multiple demographics.  While other cutting edge marketers are blazing new trails with edgy, dare I say, controversial commercials.  Take the recent “Whopper Freak-Out” campaign that Burger King ran.  The scrappy burger joint, removed their famous menu item, the Whopper, from one location for one day.  The results were not only dramatic, but also shocking and quite amusing for the viewing public.  

Take a look at this daring social / marketing experiment below.

The Initial ad creative spurred many a social media parody (most I can’t post on this blog as they are even too edgy for me…) My suggestion would be to look some of these up on YouTube.

The bottom line I guess is that with new innovative shows coming this fall, marketers need to raise the bar when it comes to their advertising.  Shows like “gLee” on FOX, give creative marketers the opportunity to step up their executions and borrow from the excitement (and musical numbers) of the

show.

 
Times are always changing and the viewing public expects to be more entertained or they will just fast forward with their DVR’s and leave the expensive advertising in the dust.  

You can’t afford to miss one ANA event!

By Barry Garbarino

You can’t afford to miss one ANA event!

Did you realize that ANA members have access to over 75 complimentary events that include committee meetings, training webinars and regional meetings?  Some include the choice of attending in person or via web and phone interface!  (We would love to see you in person, but we totally understand if your travel budget has been slashed!)  ANA Members also receive discounted rates for our paid events.  Check out all the activities that we offer members at ANA.net or see the highlighted event section on the twice weekly ANA Today!

It’s your membership and we are your organization.  Below are some quick links for easy access to member benefits:

Conferences

Regional Meetings (Peer to peer interaction)

Committee Meetings

Listen – in & Learns

ANA School of Marketing (Training)

Marketing Insights Center (MIC)

Take action and utilize us as much as possible.  We are here for you and look forward to assisting your organization!

Engage with the ANA…

By Barry Garbarino

I know you’re out there.  I can sense that you are interested in finding out more about the ANA.  Are you curious what your membership entitles you to?  Have you looked at our website (www.ANA.net) and have a question that hasn’t been answered?  Do you read our blogs and watch Bob’s video blogs, but yearn for more interaction? 

How would you, the member, (or hopefully soon to be a new member, hint, hint) like to interact and engage with the ANA?  While this is not a formal survey, we would love to hear your feedback.  Leave us a comment here or email me directly at [email protected].  (We love and encourage feedback!)

Are there any topics that you would like to see us talk about in our blogs?

We would love to have this be a two-way communication, but without your assistance and comments we are talking to cyberspace.

What’s on your mind?  Let us know if you agree or disagree or have another point of view. 

Are we becoming too connected?

By Barry Garbarino

I know this might sounds blasphemous, but do you get the feeling that we might be getting a little too connected?  If you call someone and you don’t get them, you leave them a voicemail.  After that (just in case) you might send them a text message (on the very phone that you just used to give them a call.)  If that doesn’t work, drop them an email (from the same mobile device.)  And if the previous three ways do not get you in touch with the individual, you could post an “All points bulletin” or a B.O.L.O (be on the look out) on Facebook or even Twitter.  What ever happened to the good old busy signal?

I guess this type of over connectivity can be seen happening in some instances with social media.  All marketers love a good demographic that sits right in their sweet spot and if you know exactly where to advertise or promote to them, you would call that a winning situation.  Although with all the varied flavors of social media and user generated content appearing everywhere these days, marketers run the risk of oversaturation their key demographics with too many contact points.  That is, the consumer may feel like they are being stalked and may completely reject the marketer’s product or promotion.  In a worst case scenario, the marketer may tarnish or even create a negative view of their brand.

Even though you might be able to connect to your consumer in every way possible, try to look at it from the point of view of the consumer (your consumer.)  Do you want to be the target of a marketing campaign that greets you at every corner of your day?  Do you want the consumer to reject not only your product but also your brand? 

I would love to hear what you (the advertiser and marketer) are thinking.  Do you agree or disagree?  Let me know!  I welcome the conversation.

 

To Twitter or not to Twitter, that is the question…

By Barry Garbarino 

As a former employee of AOL and a few other hi-tech companies, I have always felt the need to be on top of whatever new technology that comes my way.  It could be said that I wanted to be an early adopter from an early age (well, as early as I could get, considering that I typed my last senior high school English paper on an IBM Selectric typewriter, but I digress.)  Social media and user generated content seems to be all the rage now.  I will fully admit that I do the occasional status update on Facebook and give a peak (to my friends) on what is happening in my life at that point in time.  From time to time I will also post the lyrics to certain songs (or YouTube videos) that I know will get stuck in people’s heads – it’s a public service that a few of us started a few years back and believe me, there are some whoppers that will take weeks to get out of your head.

For example the following was posted some time back on my Facebook page.  See if it gets stuck in your head (you got to love digital technology!)

That brings me to Twitter.  Some people absolutely love it and others have no idea why people would want to share all this information.  Many companies are jumping on the Twitter band wagon and are utilizing this tool to inform, entertain and connect to their consumers.  Consumers are utilizing Twitter to stay informed and to connect with a larger audience then they may have on other social media sites like Facebook and MySpace.

I came across the following videos on YouTube and thought that anyone who has an opinion about Twitter would get a kick out of them.  Let us know what you think!

“Thank you, It is my pleasure”

By Barry Garbarino

On a recent vacation trip to Mexico, I encountered a new response from members of the hospitality team at the resort. Instead of the usual (and almost always expected) “Your Welcome” after saying “Thank you”, we now heard, “It is my pleasure!”  This response was uniformly used by all the staff members that we encountered during our stay.  To the untrained consumer this may have slipped by, but when I heard it, I knew that smart marketing was in play.  This is an instance where marketing and customer service are intertwined. 

I think the reason that it really stuck out in my mind (as my customer service training took place with The Walt Disney Company) was that the response wasn’t the standard, Your Welcome.  Now-a-days, smart consumers are realizing that as a customer or guest of an establishment or business, we need to be thanked.  Not only thanked for our patronage but for choosing them over the competition.  This new, well trained response (also known as institutional knowledge) made me feel special and it also acknowledged the fact that I was a respected guest of the establishment (it was also their way of thanking me!)

So when I returned home after a great vacation and had a day to try and settle back into the real-world, I was pleasantly surprised to see an email from the resort.  It was a thank you email.  A very well written thank you note, which the following contained:

“Everyday we make it a point to ensure that every aspect of our guests’ vacation is nothing but magnificent.  And having you stay with us again would be the ultimate compliment toward our efforts of providing you with the best!  We look forward to seeing you again.”

As this was my second stay at the Cancun Palace Resort, I couldn’t have agreed more with their thank you note.  I am strong believer that customer service IS the new Marketing and to read more about this topic, please check out the article:  Is Customer Service the New Marketing?

Have you encountered marketing driven customer service?  If so, we would love to hear about it!

Super Bowl Gold

By Barry Garbarino

After watching a great evening of football I almost forgot about the ads this year, but for some reason after the game I felt like I should find all the unwanted gold in my apartment and send it to Ed McMahon!

As we see from year to year, there are some perennial favorites (advertisers) that we always cheer for.  This year, we had a good mix of the old and some new.  I would like to leave the ratings to the professionals, so I will leave you with a link to our friends over at AdAge and USA Today (to give us their rundown of their favorites and why.)

AdAge.com

USAToday.com

I guess my question for the marketing community would be; what type of cutting edge commercial would you create if you had an unlimited production budget and had up to three – sixty second commercials during the Super Bowl?  We would love to hear from you!

Technorati tags: Super Bowl AdAge USA Today

Grab the chips and dip, It’s Super Bowl Commercial Time!

By Barry Garbarino

It’s hard to believe that it was just 25 short years ago when a small company made a big impact on the national stage with their single Super Bowl advertisement (and this being the only time it ever ran on national TV.)  Movie Director Ridley Scott helped not only usher in the age of the Apple Computer, but also the cinematic television commercial. 

Take another look at this iconic advertisement.

Without fail, each year the Super Bowl offers up to its audience at least one or more new advertising concepts.  Good or bad, remembered or not, commercial viewing during this event almost becomes a sport in its self.  This year, we have a few 3-D entries for viewers to judge (for those lucky few who found the 3-D glasses!)  Along with perennial sponsors, the game will almost certainly have a commercial that will have people talking at the water cooler on Monday morning.

Now I would like your opinion, the blog reader, what have been some of your favorite, not so favorite or just plain crazy Super Bowl commercials?  After the game let us know and next week we will post a few of them on here.  We will also feature what sites reviewed the ads and what are some of the industry’s favorite picks.

As for me on Sunday, I will be at home lounging on the couch in my snuggie watching the commercials and the game.

Social Media is Not a Paine in the Butt!

By: Barry Garbarino

It seems that lately more and more people are re-connecting on sites like Facebook, Myspace and BeBo. Gone are the days that we wait until our 10^th, 20^th or even 50^th class reunion to reconnect with friends from the past.  Unlike the awkward experience of trying to catch-up in three hours or less (at the dreaded reunion, which is sometimes held in the gymnasium of one’s alma matter), individuals are able to re-establish relationships and build on them through social media. 

I know this from daily personal experience.  There are numerous people that I have reconnected with over the past year that I have had little to no contact with for many years.  It seems like it only takes two or three days to recount the memories, bring each other up to speed and resume a “virtual” friendship all over again.

In many ways, social media is a very American institution.  I know that it might sounds crazy, but back in the late 1700’s there were many people blazing the trail of social media.  In a way, Thomas Paine produced some of our country’s earliest social media.  As the author of Common Sense, Paine helped start the long tradition of media produced by the people for the people.  He would later write The Crisis, which helped inspire the Continental Army and assisted to swell its ranks!  It was such a popular pamphlet, that as a percentage of the population, it is estimated that it was read by or read to more people than today watch the Super Bowl. 

Ok, so while most people today use social media as away to connect with friends, families and new people, many companies and organizations are also utilizing it to reach out to their audiences in new ways. 

(Insert shameless plug for ANA’s social media.)

Well, if you haven’t joined the ANA as a fan on Facebook or visited us on Slideshare, or Linked-In with one or more of us, or even Twitter’d, you should check us out!

We’ll see you in the cyberspace!