ANA Marketing Maestros

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. 

Brands That Follow The Money

By Barbara Bacci Mirque

Procter & Gamble and Millward Brown mesmerized Monday’s ANA Advertising Financial Management Conference crowd by talking about the world’s leading brands, how they follow the money and what we can learn about them.  The top 25 brands added $400 billion in shareholder value in the period examined.  When studied in more depth, these brands – which included Blackberry, Toyota, Apple, Google, Pampers, Method, eBay, HP, Samsung, Zara, Esprit, Red Bull, Freshness Burger and four brands from the LVMH group – had some remarkable similarities.  They share a common set of brand principles, not the least of which is they are built on human ideals, not product ideals.  It is not about what people buy but why they buy.  These brands tend to serve a bigger purpose and tap into universal human values. They believe a brand is about owning a share of culture, not share of market.  And not coincidentally, the latter tends to happen when the former is invoked.  For example, the Pampers brand turned around when they went from being about the driest diaper to happy, healthy babies.  The second principle is they stick with the fundamentals such as heritage and design– the best brands respect and have one foot in the past and one in the future.  Design is part of the brand, used strategically and plays a lead role.  For example, Samsung has won 28 international design awards and Apple 22.  A third principle is they demonstrate brand leadership - the Brand DNA guides everything that they do from recruiting and training to advertising.  They are thought leaders who are first to market with break through ideas.  They know the product attributes that matter to the user and those that do not. They organize around the brand and empower creative minded business leaders.  They are guardians of the brand and always worried about the brand.  The entire organization is united around the delivery of the brand vision – from suppliers to employees.  The last common principle is engagement: the best brand builders don’t tell consumers why to buy the product, rather they invite them in and they co-create. Red Bull is famous for this. They balance price and value while creating exciting encounters for consumers.

The proof that this works is in the financials – these brands have all made more money than other brands and have grown more financial value for their shareholders.  Procter & Gamble shared this research as their hope is that other brands will engage in more research and that learning will also be shared at future ANA conferences.  Contact the ANA if this sounds appealing to you.  ANA members can read more about the study in the ANA members only Marketing Insights Center.

Geiko's Gecko Gets Jiggy With It

By Irina Skaya

Having been around for almost ten years and gracing the screen with funny television commercials and 30-minute vignettes on National Geographic’s Dangerous Encounters with Brady Barr" and "Wild," Geico’s Gecko has become the most popular ad icon since Taco Bell’s Chihuahua brand mascot. In 2005 it was named the top advertising icon during Yahoo’s Advertising Week in New York. This week, Geico launched a new marketing campaign that combines viral video stars such as the “Numa Numa” guy, Gary Brolsma with the green lizard.

The campaign is expected to release nine parodies of popular videos by April 9, three of which have already been created. The campaign created by The Martin Agency and promoted by Geico’s media agency, Horizon Media, is a new way to engage the viewers without bombarding them with direct response messaging.  The parodies are featured on various video-sharing Web sites such as YouTube, Metacafe and Slide, next to the amateur-produced superstar originals. The views of the online videos are already racking up traffic numbers, but only time will tell whether or not these videos will generate leads and drive sales.  

Check out the parody of the “Numa Numa” video (that has generated over 18 million hits since 2004) with the dancing Gecko (my favorite of the three-I think I am addicted!):

You can watch the Numa Numa Kid's original lip-synch performance to the Romanian "“Dragostea din tei”" pop song here.

Here is another parody video that depicts a girl who photographs herself everyday for three years:

Watch the original here.

Keep up with all nine parodies at http://www.youtube.com/user/itsthegecko. I certainly will!

A Fish Named Dorothy

By Susan Burke

I rarely watch commercials. Thanks to my DVR, I can record 30 Rock, start watching it at 9:45 (as opposed to 9:30), and fast forward through all the commercials, while still ending the show on time at 10. This not only saves me time, but also allows me to avoid some particularly grating commercials that seem to be in heavy repeat these days.

However, there is one commercial I genuinely like. In fact, I like it so much that I almost always stop fast forwarding to watch it. It’s a commercial from Microsoft, featuring a little girl named Kylie and her fish Dorothy. If you haven’t seen it already, take a look:

All marketers know that a good commercial, among other things, tells a story, tells you something about the product, provokes an emotional response, and is memorable. For me this commercial does all of that. It’s not only adorable, but it also isn’t quite as aggressive as some of the other PC vs. Mac commercials out there, which makes it seem more like a slice of life as opposed to a sales pitch (even though it is still very much a sales pitch). Plus, if Kylie can do it, chances are that I too can improve my photographs with the click of a button.

In the end, there’s no way to know exactly how or why a consumer will connect with your commercial. I like this particular ad because not only does it work as a sales pitch, but it also makes me laugh and we could definitely use more of that these days.

(Of course, once you’ve come up with a great idea for your next commercial, you still need to produce it.
 
For a case study, click here to learn how Kraft handles their television commercial production.)

Three simple tales of bad experiences with three national brands …

By Bill Duggan

I purchased a pair of slacks at a well known retailer.  The pants required tailoring and the salesman asked if I’d like to get an email when they were ready.  I agreed and provided my email address – [email protected].  A couple of days later I got a “sell” email from the store.  A week later I got another sell email.  I never got a notification that the tailoring was done.  I picked up the pants and opted out of further emails from this retailer.  Maybe if the first email notification was for my pants, and then subsequent ones were sell or promotion emails, I would have been more receptive.

I dropped off a roll of film at my local branch of a national drug store chain (yes, even in this digital age I sometimes like to shoot with film).  A week later, on a Saturday morning, I received a phone call with an automated message that my pics were ready.  I wrote my number on the envelope, which is where they obviously got it.  I was a little bothered about getting this type of call, especially since there was no notice or option on the envelope requesting my permission to get such a call.  Plus, it was pretty early on a weekend morning.  I picked up the pics.  The next Saturday, I got another automated call (sorry, but I didn’t drop off any more film) and the next Saturday another.  I went back to the store and told a clerk who said she’d alert the manager.  The next Saturday I got yet another call!

I was out with a friend for a couple of drinks, my treat.  I gave the bartender my credit card when we ordered the first round.  After another round (maybe two), I asked for the check.  I went to the bathroom and upon return my friend announced, “Your card is NO GOOD!”  I was late for a payment and the card service shut me down.  I have had this card for a long time (maybe 10 years), pay on time most of the time, and have rung up embarrassingly high interest payments over the years.  No more with this card.  It’s now deep in my wallet as a back-up.  Since this was my primary card for both personal and business expenses, I am sure that I have been a “heavy user” … a long time, heavy user.  Why on earth couldn’t this company give me the courtesy of a call or email to tell me that my payment was late?  And when I called the company to discuss my payment I asked them this very question … and the concept of such a courtesy seemed completely foreign and unnecessary to them.

Of course, there are obvious lessons here for marketers:

• Keep your promises. I was promised an email to alert me that my pants were ready and that never happened.  
• Know your boundaries. It’s wrong to call me when I gave no prior permission to receive such calls.
• Make sure your systems work. It’s even worse that I keep getting these calls after my pick-up.
• Know your customers and act accordingly. Don’t you think a long time, heavy user deserves just a little bit of extra respect?

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.

What do customers really want

By: Michael Palmer

What is marketing?

Marketing today according to a recent ANA study is less about pushing messages at consumers and more about co-creating experiences with consumers. Okay, but what does this mean?

We need to know more about our customers than ever before.  We need to clearly understand their unarticulated needs so that we can offer them a product or a suite of products/services that will satisfy a need none of our competitors will.  Too often marketers ask their customers what they want.  They can’t tell you that.  Henry Ford aptly said that if I asked my customers what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse.

Finding unarticulated needs is not easy.  It takes digging through reams of data.  It takes not just talking, but living with people.  Procter & Gamble has become a master at understanding their customers–and it shows.  They now have a stable of billion dollar brands, all because they were able to offer innovations that their customers were ready for, willing and able to buy, but could not specify.  By spending time with customers, in their homes, at their place of work, or where they play is the only way to experience what they have and want to have.  Have you changed your method of extracting customer data or are you still using the antiquated focus group method? Putting people in a sterile environment and asking them what they want is no way to be on the leading edge today.

Want to learn a new approach, turn to the ANA School of Marketing.  We’ll introduce you to “Precision Research™”. Just as a doctor diagnoses patients, Precision Research™ upends the classical research process to sync better with today’s consumer in a more logical and productive process. Companies such as Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Vizio, Pep Boys, The Ritz-Carlton and others have used Precision Research™ to gain important insights to build their business.  Here’s a link to ANA School of Marketing’s Web site–check out the many ways you can get yourself ready for tomorrow’s marketing challenges today.

BIG Ideas in a Shrinking Economy

By: Irina Skaya

Having BIG ideas and being creative is crucial more than ever in today's tough economic climate. Being innovative will make your company stand out from the competition. Everyone gathers around the water cooler to talk about creative ads no one talks about dull ads. Even in a recession, customers will spend money on things they like and enjoy. This means that marketers must work even harder to produce creative ads in order to engage consumers emotionally and want their products more.  Here are a few of my favorite creative ads from around the world to inspire you to think outside the box. If you d like to share ads that inspire you, feel free to comment on my blog and respond with a link.

Who said car ads can't be creative?

Subaru Forester 2009 commercial

Below is an example of bagvertising at it's finest: YKM, a Turkish department store chain.

Below is a bus stop ad in Australia advertising customized stamps.

Below is the "Express Yourself Ad" from Samsung

If you want to view more winning, creative ads, visit: http://adsoftheworld.com/blog.

Recession’s Impact on the Super Bowl Advertising '09

By: Irina Skaya

During good economic times, Super Bowl advertising is expensive but in a recession is the return on the investment valuable enough to spend a swooping $3 million on a 30-second spot?  The other interesting question is what will be the tonality of the brands like in this economic hurricane, humorous and risqué, or more somber?

Many companies who routinely advertise during the NFL's biggest game of the year will still continue to do so. They argue that Super Bowl ads reach the largest audience (approximately 95 million people) at one time. Those who are pulling back are beginning the question the value of their ads in this traditional medium. 

Whether or not you are advertising during the Big Game this year, there are a few things you should keep an eye on. Below are some recommendations by top-level executives for those who did purchase a spot in this year's Super Bowl:

PBMAI
Kellogg Super Bowl Advertising Review
AdAge

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.