ANA Marketing Maestros

How Great Marketing Led Barack Obama to the White House

By: Irina Skaya

Today, Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44^th president of the United States. Successful Internet marketing is the cornerstone of the 2009 historic inauguration. How did Obama connect with today’s diverse general market? How do we as marketers engage, inspire and motivate today’s consumers?

History was made when Barack Obama was elected President, but his win is beyond historic – his superb use of online marketing to promote awareness and create a loyal following has earned him AdAge’s Marketer of the Year award at the ANA Annual Masters of Marketing Conference. It also became be the template which all future presidential campaigns will draw inspiration from.  

Thomas Jefferson was the first President to use newspapers to promote his presidential campaign, Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first to use radio, John F. Kenny used television. Barack Obama is the first president to have the power to leverage Social Media in such a way as never seen before by our Presidency or Government as a whole.  

The secret behind any successful marketing campaign is to put yourselves in the shoes of the consumers. Sure, his multiracial and multicultural background represents today’s generation, but Obama has also appointed the best marketing staff that represents and knows its target market inside and out. That’s why his campaign has embraced social media. Youth vote had a major role to play in the landslide victory, and the role of the internet - the living space of the youth. His inspirational message of “change has come to America" has remained consistent throughout the presidential campaign. This message became even more important in the economic downturn.

On February 12^th, Jim Margolis, Senior Advisor to the Barack Obama presidential campaign will discuss the power of social media and share lessons from Obama's campaign at the TV & Everything Video Forum.

Building Brands with Widgets

By: Irina Skaya

Everyone is talking about these, many are creating them, and very few understand their purpose— widgets. If 2007 was the year for companies to join social networks like Facebook, 2008 is the year for advertisers to adopt widgets. What are widgets and how can you use one?

A widget is a bite-sized piece of portable web content, allowing anyone to personalize their web experience exactly how they want it to be. Widgets can live in a privacy capacity such as personal portals, wikis, private blogs, or publicly in areas such as social network pages, Web sites and public blogs.  Widgets can be used as a marketing tool, but they different from ads. You can’t force someone to take your widget and put it on his or her web page the way you can guarantee views of an ad. In order to entice people to subscribe to your widget, it has to be compelling. When you have a compelling, dynamic widget that speaks to the right demographic, your widget will do most of the work for you.

What kind of widget can you make? Well, there are two kinds of widgets: lifestyle and functional.

Lifestyle widgets are used primarily for marketing purposes in viral marketing campaigns. Facebook applications are examples of lifestyle widgets. For instance, an Obama badge is a lifestyle widget that can be placed on its supporter’s personal page. A StyleSlam widget on Bebo.com allows one to make an avatar that resembles the creator and dress it up. There are thousands of applications ready to appeal to a wide variety of interests.

Functional widgets help users interact with the brand in a relevant and useful way. Examples include Google maps, clocks, converters, ANA insights widget, Travelocity's widget to search best rates for flights, hotels and car rentals and RSS readers.

As the popularity of widgets grows, so does their potential as a source of revenue. Ads on social networks are expected to rack in $1.9 billion this year. If you haven’t explored the options of a widget, you should. Check out www.widgetbox.com and start making your own widget! 

Brand Yourself For Career Success

By Irina Skaya

As Bob Dylan once sang, “The times they are a-changin’.” In addition to the acceleration of baby boomers, globalization and the changing media landscape, the workforce’s organization is undergoing reconstruction. For example, emerging technologies such as Blackberry, Wi-Fi and mobile phones, which created a “work anytime, anywhere” mentality are blurring the boundaries between personal and work life. A 9-5 work schedule hardly exists for most people and soon, with the help of social technologies, we’ll be working 24/7. As you continue to work from remote location and for increasing amount of hours, your personal brand must be powerful and strong enough to impact your employers. 

In this increasingly competitive marketplace, personal branding is just as important as corporate and product branding. Personal branding does not mean the shameless self-promoting, where one toots his/her own horn and spends working hours to update their MySpace profile. Personal branding means you will be able to clearly communicate your unique promise of value that you have to offer. With the ad-vent of social media, many employers will, “Google” the prospective candidates or look up their profiles on Facebook, Linked In, and other social networking sites. So, being good or having a great resume is no longer enough to succeed. Now, it is important to have strong search-engine visibility and brand recognition.

What is the secret formula of successful branding? According to Dixon’s and Arruda’s Career Distinction: Stand Out By Building Your Brand, the three C’s: clarity, consistency and constancy are key.

• Clarity – be clear about who you are and what you are not; understand your unique value
• Consistency – continuously expressing your brand with different communication vehicles
• Constancy – always keep your brand visible
 
They also highlight the importance of networking with your targeted audience. Instead of communicating your brand to the entire world, it is crucial to convey your brand to a targeted group of individuals who will help you achieve your career goals. The easiest way to brand yourself is through the Internet. You can use several online identity tools to build your brand:

• Join the blogosphere
• Create a web portfolio
• Prove yourself, not just say you can things: show articles, awards, white papers, video, press re-leases, schedule of speaking engagements, etc.
• Use online networking sites

From politicians and entertainers such as Barack Obama and Oprah, strong branding is crucial for their success. In the age of social networks and user-generated media, self-branding is no longer just for the wealthy and the powerful; it is also important for career-driven individuals.

Technorati tags: self-branding personal branding career development social networks

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

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!

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!)

Facebook: Advertisers Are Your Friends

By: Irina Skaya

Earlier this month, Facebook  launched its new ad system that allows advertisers to track users’ activities on the Website to deliver product referrals and target advertising.

With a recurring theme of behavioral targeting at last month’s ANA Annual Conference and industry headlines that consumers must be part of the brand, Facebook is up to something.   

Embracing a most powerful form of advertising, word-of-mouth-marketing, the idea is that consumers are more likely to trust a recommendation from their friends rather than from a 30-second TV spot. The only question I beg to ask is, “Why would anyone publicly disclose their shopping habits, unless they were getting paid for it?” Facebook might have to throw serious discounts or perks to win participation. 

Facebook’s new ad system has also raised some privacy concerns. Although Facebook does not ask users for permission in way that lets them know that they might appear in an ad, it will not share any personal information with the advertisers. And it is a personal choice for users to sign on as fans of a company.

The new ad system presents a major opportunity to tap the high disposable income student demographic currently using Facebook. You can create relevant ads according to users’ interests, relationship status, education status, etc. For instance, if you are a recruiter looking to fill a position and want to hire people from specific companies, you can target people based on what company they are employed by. If you are an advertiser promoting wedding consultancy business, you might want to target those who have, "Engaged” under their relationship status. 

When it comes to online, the power clearly lies in the hands of the consumer – from growth in user-generated content to Facebook’s new ad system, we are witnessing a transformation in the nature of advertising.

Budweiser Is *Bleeping* Awesome!

By: Irina Skaya

The Anheuser-Busch presentation at the Annual Conference was *bleeping* awesome! *Bleep* wine, *bleep* hard liquor, Beer is NOT dead! In fact, alcohol is a multi-billion dollar industry with beer being America’s number one choice and Anheuser-Busch racking up almost 50% of the market share.

SOCIABILITY AND MODERATION - two benefits Anheuser-Busch pushed to reinvigorate the image of beer. Surely, casual drinkers appreciate this kind of justification to drink in moderation. With a beer-and-food-plan and film on the history of beer, drinking beer cannot be more convincing. From the clacking glasses for “Cheers” in different foreign languages to the ability of drinking beer with anyone a consumer desires, Budweiser's creativity not only promoted sociability, but created a personal connection between the product and the consumer.

For companies that want to reinvent their brand, Anheuser-Busch advised them to:

- Focus on QUALITY - No Shortcuts (with the brewing process)
- Keep the brand image relevant
- Take risks
- Lead with innovation
- Ad personality to their ads


Bob Lachky, EVP Anheuser-Busch had more advice for the advertisers: “Don’t let the celebrity overtake the message” - his statement could not be more accurate. Often times, consumers can only recall a commercial because it featured a famous actor or athlete, but they often do not remember the message. Budweiser not only featured celebrities like Cedric, The Entertainer, but also created a humorous message that made Bud Light the largest selling brand in the world.

All of the commercials shown to the conference attendees blew them away, but the one I refer to in the first couple of sentences of this blog is the Bud Light “Swear Jar” commercial, which became a YouTube phenomenon.

Check it out!

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.

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