ANA Marketing Maestros

Great Ideas Will Create Relevancy

By Barbara Bacci Mirque

A recent ANA survey highlighted that integrated marketing now tops the list as the issue that keeps senior marketers up at night. You have heard me say before that ANA members tell us that the best way to tackle this is to start with the idea and let the idea be the media channel integrator. That was emphasized at the recent 2007 ANA Advertising Financial Management Conference. Bob Lachky, EVP, Global Industry Development & Chief Creative Officer, Anheuser - Busch Inc., talked about how the “Wassup” campaign (here are few of the ads along with some interesting consumer generated versions) began online then spread virally, eventually running on television.

Jeff Hicks, President, CEO and Partner, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, told a similar story for Coke Zero and its very funny campaign with Coke attorneys (again, thanks YouTube). Great ideas will create relevancy so the media should be an outgrowth of the idea, not the other way around. Both of those campaigns were extended into television once they were picked up in the conversations occurring online and it was the consumers who said these campaigns should also run on television. So once again, advertisers should be aware of and participate in the conversations happening around and about their products and services. Start with a terrific brand idea and let that determine which media channels you use. This is great learning from some very smart advertisers.

Technorati tags: budweiser marketing coke creative

Tidbits from Advertising Financial Management

By Will Waugh

I am out in lovely Phoenix at the Arizona Biltmore for our Advertising Financial Management Conference. For those of you who are not familiar with the show, it is a gathering of marketing, finance and procurement/sourcing types congregating over the latest in agency compensation/relations.

So the first topic on Monday's slate - the Net Promoter score. Or, in a nutshell, "How likely is it that you would recommend our product/service to a friend or a colleague?" This is the core of how Enterprise Rent a Car's customer research. It is also a major component of the organic growth of the organization which has more vehicles on the road than its three nearest competitors - combined.

Bob Parsons, the CEO from GoDaddy.com was the tail end of the morning. Here is an extremely interesting character with a fascinating story....fifth grade flunky, factory worker, Vietnam vet, accountant, successful entrepreneur. He is also, as we know, the architect behind some of these most talked about advertising in recent history. Apparently, he also has the most read CEO blog in the blogosphere.

Technorati tags: advertising godaddy

Reinvention of jetBlue

By Will Waugh

Flying out to Seattle yesterday reminded me of the true joys of air travel. I won't say which airline it was, but the comfort level was suspect. I will say, it wasn't jetBlue. Last week, at our Brand Innovation Forum, Andrea Spiegel, VP Sales & Marketing for jetBlue took us through their brand story. A story that, until recently, had evolved magnificently. We all know what happened in February with their first major "operational challenge." (Andrea mentioned several nicknames - The Valentine's Day massacre popping to the forefront) I direct you to a few posts from our marketing blog family about the debacle: Peter Kim, CK, Max, and Global Neighborhoods.

I personally love jetBlue. When I moved to New York seven years ago, I bought a one way ticket from Ft. Lauderdale to JFK on the, at that point, brand new airline. I still have the ticket stub. jetBlue is the one airline that could have suffered this setback and recovered so brilliantly. There are a couple reasons for this. One, which this audience will love, is they listen to the blogosphere regularly and actively track word of mouth. jetBlue's response to this crisis was heartfelt, sincere and personal:

• The Customer Bill of Rights - so far it's working and is another industry first
• The famous YouTube announcement from CEO David Neeleman - the first time a CEO of a major company had addressed customers via YouTube.
• Improved self service tools and call center resources
• The creation of a customer advisory council
• A promise to keep customers posted on progress in 30 days (a second YouTube video went up 30 days later and there was little discussion about it in the blog world)

In a world where brands keep taking away (I am at the W Seattle and I just found out a new W policy has taken coffeemakers out of hotel rooms. Well, I'm on East Coast time and a Starbucks doesn't open for 2 hours - not good!), it is encouraging to see companies do still care about their lifeblood. "Bringing humanity to flying" is JetBlue's brand promise and their hearfelt response - a direct expression of their brand - reminded people why they loved jetBlue in the first place.

Technorati tags: jetblue marketing customer

YELLOWBALL Shines Light on Advertising

By Kaitlin Villanova

So often we hear of the marketing and advertising industry getting bad press and being held responsible for the rise in childhood obesity.

At yesterday’s Integrated Marketing Committee meeting, it was a breath of fresh air to listen to the Arc Worldwide presentation on VERB YELLOWBALL. The impact this viral advertising campaign had on the health and well being of youth ages 9-13 was remarkable.

They dropped 500,000 yellow softball size balls at parks and schoolyards across the country, leaving no demographic, ethnicity, and economic class untouched.

The YELLOWBALL campaign had three simple rules (printed on each ball):

1. Play with this ball
2. Go to verbnow.com, enter the code below and tell us what you did with it
3. Pass it on to another kid

The incredible response and engagement reaffirmed my personal belief in the power of advertising. This campaign got 5 million kids “moving” in a time where childhood obesity is at an all time high. It also encouraged blog participation, an act these kids are already engaged in.

The results of the campaign:

• 21% of balls were passed on
• 6,500 Schools visited
• 168,000 videos made on micro site
• 16,980 blogs received

As U.S citizens, advertisers are protected by the first amendment, so you might never see an end to those ads dangling chocolate pastries on your television, but it is nice to know advertisers can encourage healthy and positive changes in society.

Technorati tags: VERB Yellowball, Viral Marketing

A Customer's Story - What Bad Employees Do To Your Brand

By Barbara Bacci Mirque

During a winter trip to the lovely Whistler Blackcomb Ski Resort in British Columbia, Canada, I learned firsthand about the dark side of one to one marketing. No, not the digital type this term invokes but the good old fashioned one on one, personal sale that built companies such as Fuller Brush and Avon.

My experience was with a vacation timeshare and the outcome was not pleasant, but now that company is going to learn about the power of the conversation and how in the digital communication world we inhabit, the customer has a voice – a loud voice. I can express my displeasure with this company not to a few friends but to many hundred through blogs, social network sites, etc.

So what happened to incur this wrath? As my husband and I sat warming up in one of the ski lodges, we were scoped out by a marketing person since we fit their demographic (stable looking couple, in the age bracket of those who might be induced to purchase a timeshare at this fabulous resort – how is that for traditional targeting?!). When the pleasant young man started chatting us up, whereas this hardened New Yorker would have ignored him back home, we began conversing and were ultimately invited to a vacation timeshare presentation. Since we had never participated in one before we accepted (and the offer of 2 free lift tickets was enticing!) Little did we know what we were getting into when we later arrived at the sales office– the hard sell began. Ultimately our twenty-something salesman - a former self-acclaimed champion snowboarder - became very offended when we steadfastly refused his incredible price incentive. He ended the session by loudly insulting us and berating us for attending "just for the free gift" (Well of course – but they offered!)

So what are the lessons here?

• For one, be sure you thoroughly train all of your touch points. Your most customer facing among them should not insult your customers. The well honed marketing campaign about this company’s charming accommodations at this terrific ski resort can all be for naught when up against a rude employee.
• Second, monitor the conversation and respond – read the blogs and track what is being said about your company and correct negative perceptions. I plan to post negative comments about this company on communities that I frequent such as TripAdvisor and I will actively seek out other relevant blogs on which I can complain about them.

Don’t let this happen to your company and if it does for legitimate reasons, react to it and correct it at the source.

Technorati tags: timeshares marketing blogs

"Everybody Wants to Work in Marketing"

By Will Waugh

My favorite quote (thanks goDaddy.com) from a rather inconspicuous round of creative showcased for the Super Bowl. Everyone will have their Top Ten Lists, good and bad, but I recommend taking a look at a group of experts, pundits, bloggers and creative types over at SuperAdFreak. Seth Godin mentions there is nothing like the good old days when the Apple 1984 ad transformed commercials in to content and advertisers looked to create something that would be talked about versus actually trying to sell something. Here is the Apple story from our recent publication The Super Bowl of Advertising: Are Advertisers Still Winning the Game?

Bob Garfield, of course, has his opinion (on video no less!) over at AdAge.com. If you missed the ads, CBS is hosting them here.

Technorati tags: super bowl advertising word of mouth

Marketers: Why No Blogs?

By Barbara Bacci Mirque

This week I sat in on a new ANA marketing skills course – “Word of Mouth Marketing”, facilitated by ANA instructor Phil Gomes of Edelman.  As I sat in the class and listened to the comments of those present, once again I was struck by the number of marketers who are not experimenting with blogs and other forms of new media for one reason or another – and not even following the blogs that cover their category.  “The world is in the midst of an ongoing conversation” says the CMO of a low interest category, whose company is on the leading edge with their involvement in digital media.  “You have to know what the conversation is and earn the right to be part of it.”  Every day this CMO reads the blogs that mention their company.  What a good role model for all ANA members.  I encourage you all to attend the next ANA “Word of Mouth” marketing skills training session and learn how you too can engage in conversation with your consumers.

Technorati tags: word of mouth