ANA Marketing Maestros

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.

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.

TV widgets...upcoming trend of 2009?

By: Irina Skaya

Apparently, widgets are taking on a new life--they are now coming to a TV near you! And who is behind this revolutionary thinking? Yahoo! in partnership with Samsung, Sony, LG Electronics and VIZIO announced their launch of an internet widget-based function for the TV, this week at the CES conference. The idea behind this Widget Channel is to develop mini-applications that can complement TV viewing with information from the Internet, providing viewers with relevant and targeted information while enhancing their television watching experience. Widget Engine combines key attributes of the Internet, including openness, community, and personalization, with the power of television.

This is great for advertisers because the widget could allow users to purchase products advertised on TV from online store. There are several applications planned such as MySpace, Twitter, Flickr, eBay, CBS, Netflix, Blockbuster, New York Times and various Yahoo! widgets.

We all know that despite the rise of the Web, TV is not going anywhere. People still spend more time watching television than they do on the Internet. TV widgets is a great way to converge the two. For instance, MySpace users will be able to access the widget using a remote and type message to their friends using an on-screen keyboard. Flickr users will be able to share photos with family and friends or watch a slideshow on their TV screen. Many of the widgets are still in the development process, but you can preview them here.

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! 

ANA Embraces Social Media

By: Irina Skaya

In an effort to connect marketing professionals and share invaluable industry insights, ANA has established a presence on social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn, and information-sharing communities such as Flickr and Slideshare. 

The ANA Facebook page currently offers a wide-variety of benefits such as branded videos from ANA events, slideshows and photo albums, polls, live RSS Blog feeds, marketing insight slides, ANA “how to’s,” otherwise known as 101’s, an events calendar and relevant announcements.

In addition to Facebook, ANA has created a members-only group on LinkedIn called ANA Marketers.  By joining LinkedIn a marketer will be able to connect with like minded marketers and have conversations with their peers from other companies. Join the 'ANA Marketers' group.

This month, ANA released our “101” series which are available on Facebook and the ANA Web site among other places. The 101’s were developed to provide busy executives with a general understanding of cutting-edge marketing related topics. To expand the 101 series, the ANA is recruiting “industry experts” to contribute to the project. If you have an area of expertise on which you would like to pen a 101 for the ANA, please write to Irina Gorodetskaya at [email protected].

Another new ANA product is Insight Slides.  These presentation-ready slides feature a pertinent piece of ANA content, including quotes and facts. Available to both members and non-members, the insight slides are shared across multiple Web channels, including Slideshare, Flickr and Facebook. Users are free to download the insight slides and incorporate them into their presentations across the spectrum of marketing.

Check out the widget on the right hand-side of this page, and feel free to download it to your own Blog, iGoogle, PageFlakes, and Facebook.

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.

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

Engagement Making Progress

By Barbara Bacci Mirque

Max, you have broken my heart! That is Max Kalehoff I am talking about, the VP Marketing of Nielsen BuzzMetrics who made me a star (to my family and friends that is) by conducting a video interview with me (and others) about engagement that he ran last September on the video blog, Engagement by Engagement. Recently Max commented about engagement in a MediaPost article in which he questioned if engagement has stuck or if it is a passing fad.

The ANA is an industry partner in an important initiative about engagement metrics, spearheaded by the AAAA and the ARF. I agree with Max there was a lot of initial press hype and lately press about engagement has been "quiet," but the fact remains that advertisers are clamoring for information about what and how to measure in a world of fragmented media options and consumer control and our industry group is making enormous and carefully calibrated, progress.

Recently, an ANA poll of senior marketers found that accountability, usually the top issue on senior marketers’ minds, was now neck and neck with integrated marketing communications, specifically "how to bring together the various marketing channels," as what is keeping them up at night. The old purchase behavior paradigms don’t work anymore, we now live in a "feel, think, do" world which has important implications for marketers. Here is what Joe Plummer of the ARF, for whom I have immense respect, has to say about the work of the industry consortium on engagement and about Max’s post:

...the primary strategy for our combined effort is creating brand demand by "turning on" (or engaging) prospects in the brand idea enhanced by the context, this summary is valuable baseline knowledge. The vast majority of the research supports our research and thinking to date, in that much of what occurs between brands and prospects/customers is emotional and behavioral with minimal amounts of cognitive problem-solving and "rational man" economic-decision making. The research confirms that go-to-market components combine with the brand idea signifiers and meanings in a powerful (and possibly complex) process…the lack of buzz in the press reflects the short attention span of journalism in general and the ad industry in particular. It may also reflect a shift to a more applied phase in the engagement journey.

Stay tuned for a dialogue between Max and Joe in an upcoming Engagement by Engagement blog.

Technorati tags: engagement marketing accountability

Twitter Wants to Know: What Are You Doing?

By Kaitlin Villanova

Want to learn exactly what your consumers are thinking and doing and when? Twitter.com allows for that kind of intimacy. The community of “connected” users can communicate to friends their up-to-the-minute activities via IM, text, or email. Think of it as shorthand blogging.

Rather than writing a blog about how you are eating lucky charms cereal, then searching online for an image of the familiar leprechaun on a red box, just text message your Twitter account and save yourself a whole lot of time.”

Some Recent Twitter posts:

“BTW [by the way] I am in the apple store right now”

“Going to get a haircut, it is so warm out”

“Designing second life for you!”

Blogger Kevin Dugan writer of Strategic Public Relations Blog admits “Thousands of geeks texting random thoughts and keeping us up on their mundane status probably has value.”

Example of Twitter's usefulness in the community from Israel Hyman's Twitter microblog:

Robert Scoble wanted to have Kathy Sierra’s speech from SXSW (South by Southwest a music festival in Austin Texas, that has attracted a strong following amongst web creatives and entrepreneurs) so he asked via Twitter if anyone had a link to the audio. Within a couple minutes, someone gave him a link, which he posted via Twitter, and a few minutes later I was listening to the talk in Arizona. Twitter is microblogging at lightning speed. It’s an “always on” chat room.”

Now that you  have a better understanding of Twitter, it’s your turn to upload an image, invite friends, and answer the twitter question: What are you doing?

Technorati tags: twitter community social networks