Less is More with Transparent Billboards

I love great marketing, particularly when it’s someone who does something both new and elegant and creates an attention grabbing campaign. The marketing idea behind this is brilliant. Amnesty International must have considered (rightly, I suspect) that people would care more about things happening around the world if they could imagine them happening where they live.

The marketers then had a brilliant production idea. Make the billboards transparent, other than the central image. By doing that simple thing, it would look like the activity was happening right on the street in that neighborhood. Genius. Take a look at this campaign, called “It’s not happening here, but it is happening.”

I originally put this post on my company blog, at Brogan.com.

TV may no longer have seasons

It started with shows like Survivor, Big Brother and the Amazing Race. Not just the reality TV business, but the lines between the TV season and the land of re-runs are getting, well, a bit dirty.

But now the recently settled writer’s strike may help further blur the line. The NY Times is reporting that the giant ad agency holding companies are looking for a year-round television season. The rationale is that September is full of hyped shows that usually don’t make it to Christmas.

The other system that the agencies would like to change (and the networks almost certainly would not) is called the “upfront“– a May period in which the advertisers pre-sell their new shows. According to the article, the media buyers still want to buy ahead of time, but they don’t want to have to make all their bets during the same month.

A lot is changing in advertising and in television broadcasting. In an era when college football is now on virtually every night of the week, all those weeks when there is “nothing on” represent lost opportunities. You can safely bet that those opportunities won’t stay lost for long.

You Can Tell This Commercial Was Done In Europe

I think parts of this commercial would've had a tough time getting by the American TV censors, but maybe that's what makes it funny.

As a marketer, though, it makes me think several things:

1) Amstel understands men and, in Europe (where they sell Amstel AND Amstel Light), they're using that in a clever way to sell beer.
2) There are so many groups that it's not ok to make fun of anymore. But men? Go right ahead. Nobody seems to mind when we're made to look like chuckle-heads... Maybe because deep down, we know we really are.

Enjoy this Amstel commercial, celebrating women who understand men, despite the fact that we don't deserve it.



Now, if they would just sell Amstel in this country...

Marketing Can Make Cheap Wine Taste Better

There’s a science to pricing your product. No question about that. But most people join the race to the bottom, lowering their prices and competing on cost, when many should be considering raising their prices.

Now a new scientific study, “Marketing Actions Can Modulate Neural Representations of Experienced Pleasantness,” published in the prestigious (but poorly acronym’d) Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, says something marketers have longed to hear:

“If we believe the wine cost more, we truly believe it tastes better.”
Here’s what the researchers did. They gave 20 volunteers 5 sips of wine each. They told the volunteers the “price” of the wine and then measured the response of the pleasure centers in the brain.

The brain responded more favorably to the “higher priced” wine, even though each sip of the wine was the exact same Cabernet Sauvignon.

There are many anecdotal stories of increased prices correlating with increased perception of the value of the product. But this is the first study I’ve ever seen that shows the brain actually responding more favorable to the perceived luxury. As you can imagine, it’s getting lots of coverage.

This study is the latest (and perhaps most compelling) reason I’ve seen to re-evaluate how you sell, and what perception you trigger in someone’s brain when you’re willing to discount your services.

What do you think?

Having Fun with Your Brand

HEMA is, I'm told, a Dutch department store that opened in 1926 and has stores all over the Netherlands. They have a great web page up that is being pretty widely circulated on email.

Click this link, and then wait for the page to load. It should look like the picture below. Then wait 10 more seconds and enjoy...
This is a fun use of Flash, a great way to have fun with your brand and a great way to encourage people (like me) to tell people about your company just because you did something interesting.

As usual, the benefits accrue only to the people who do it first, so don't copy them. Find another way to take a small risk with your brand. It's good marketing.

Why GPS will change advertising

GPS units are becoming cheaper and cheaper, which means more than saving a hundred bucks on a Christmas present. Since GPS units are essentially just receivers that can do math (to triangulate your position, basically), when the chips' cost falls that's a big share of the cost of the unit.

But what happens when the chips move out of the GPS units and into cell phones (obvious applications), cameras (Flickr geo-tagged pics), and of course advertising. Business Week points out that a company named Yell.com is putting GPS-enabled ads on the sides of London buses. This lets them serve ads based on where they are.

Look for 2008 to be the year that we started to see GPS technology really change our lives as it moves out of the car and into a lot of unusual places. The marketing implications are huge.

Brutal Honesty, the new marketing advantage?

Two companies have used marketing tactics recently that whipped my head around (figuratively, fortunately). Both were brutally honest. It was amazing, funny and rereshing.

Remember that 1990 movie with Dustin Hoffman and Darryl Hannah called Crazy People? He was an ad exec that went crazy and started writing lines like, "Metamucil. It helps you go to the toilet. If you don't use it, you get cancer and die." and "United, most of our passengers get there alive." These two companies suggest he might have been on to something.

The first, Woot.com, offers only one product every day at a deep discount. When it's sold out, you're out of luck. When it's the next day, you're out of luck. What I really like is their FAQ section. Here are some excerpts:

I want to talk to a live person there, can I call you?

No. We are busy sourcing new products and shipping orders. You can post a comment to our community board, but we don't guarantee we'll respond. You should Google for the manufacturer contact to get product answers – we suggest a dating service, magic 8 ball, or ouija board for general life solutions.

Will I receive customer support like I'm used to?

No. Well, not really. If you buy something you don't end up liking or you have what marketing people call "buyer's remorse," sell it on eBay. It's likely you'll make money doing this and save everyone a hassle. If the item doesn't work, find out what you're doing wrong. Yes, we know you think the item is bad, but it's probably your fault. Google your problem, or come back to that product discussion in our community and ask other people if they know.

Maybe I'll just wait until this item becomes more widely available, so I know what other users think of it.

If that's how you want to live your life, sure. Fine. There are those who would say that your type will inherit the earth. Until then, though, the rest of us will have all the coolest gizmos.

Boom. Loved the company instantly. I now check it daily and yes, I wooted and bought something... Cool.

The other is Buckley's Cough Medicine. Their ads compare the taste of their product to the liquid that collects at the bottom of a garbage can. Apparently, they've been doing this shtick in Canada for years, but now they're rolling out down here. Reminds me of Listerine's brilliant campaign to battle Scope by acknowledging that it tasted bad, but it worked.

I haven't tried Buckley's yet, but I think ALL cough medicine is horrible, so might as well suffer a bit extra to get something that works...

What do you think, is brutal honesty a trend? Probably not, but it's giving these two companies an edge.



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Can't Fight Tivo? Use it...

Let's say that you're a local car dealer in Utah and you fear that everyone is using Tivo to skip over your TV ads. You can fight it, whine about, move your TV budget elsewhere, or get clever.

Tony Divino Toyota decided to place two 15-second "bookends", spots that run at the beginning and end of a commercial break. Check them out. (There are two sets below, each of which would ordinarily be split by other commercials. )





Pretty clever. Can't do it forever, but it will likely get good buzz for them for a couple of months.

And so come the parodies...

Remember the Dove posts I did earlier about their great Campaign for Real Beauty?

Well, you didn't think guys would sit around quietly forever on that topic, did you? And so come the parodies. Here is Slob Evolution, from the Campaign Against Real Life...



That is really funny. As for Dove, being heckled with a high-end parody like this is the ultimate complement.

~Jim

The Power of a Brand, Demonstrated

People get confused as to what a "brand" is. It's not a logo, not a color scheme, not your CEO, not any ad campaign you've done or will do. A brand is totality of all the thoughts and feelings people associate with your product, your company, or even you.

A brand can be articulated any number of ways. This video is a funny example showing just how different Microsoft's brand is from Apple's brand. It's demonstrated based on design changes that are oh so accurate, but I think it also shows the dramatic difference in how MS and Apple approach the world.

What would happen if Microsoft redesigned the iPod packaging? Here's the answer. Enjoy.

An Ikea Commercial That Won't Run In America

Other countries are a bit more liberal in their sensibilities as to what can be shown on TV and what can't. Ikea's "Tidy up" campaign is just enough off-color that I don't think we'll be seeing these in the States any time soon... This one is being called "Always Pick Up Your Toys."



And this one... We'll call it spaghetti, for lack of a better name.



There are much more twisted ones in this campaign. If you'd like to see more, check out this link.



Whether you want to buy an American flag or you just want to know more about the US flag, or even any other flag, the Internet could be of help. There's plenty to read about the different flags of the world and lots of places that would like to sell you flags to fly.

Dove's OnSlaught Video Nearly as Powerful as "Evolution"

Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty is back again, with a new viral video. A follow-up to their wildly popular "Evolution" video (Remember that one? Average looking woman sits in a chair and is transformed over about 75 seconds into a supermodel on a billboard? If not, see below).

The new video, called OnSlaught, is compelling to anyone who has daughters. (I have 3, so I'm paying attention.)

Check it out:



IMHO, this video is excellent, on message, compelling and will be shared. It's just 5-10% short of the Evolution video. Here's why:

• Evolution came first. Sequels are almost never as interesting because you already know generally where they are going with it. You didn't know where Evolution was going when it started to play the first time.
• Evolution was more subtle. This one makes a great point. It's well produced, but it's like it's trying harder to be hard-hitting. The other hit us when we weren't looking. This one still hits us, we're just looking for it in this case.

What do you think? (If you don't remember the Evolution video, watch it below... It's great.)



Which one do you like better?




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What if Google AdWords Could Listen to Your Phone Calls?

We all know how Google AdWords works, right? Whether on the search engine results page of a Google search or even from the text of your Gmail emails, Google is constantly evaluating content and serving up relevant text-based ads.

Now, a company called Pudding is looking to do the same thing, by electronically listening for keywords you say during the free VOIP phone calls they provide you. If you know what Skype is, then you're on the right track.

Basically, Pudding is like Skype except it's designed to be free instead of really, really close to free. And in exchange for giving you free calls, Pudding listens for words you might say like "pizza" or "vacation" and serves up ads relevant to what you are talking about.

Some, like the video below, are squawking about privacy concerns. One relevant point they make: Do BOTH parties to the phone call know that they are being recorded?



Because our research at Brogan & Partners has shown that people value relevant ads. These could be relevant ads. This newscast seems to be a bit of a hatchet job on this CEO, who is poorly prepared to defend himself. What do you think?



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New Ideas for Commercial Theme Songs

This is a great video. Self explanatory. Very funny. The comedian is Eric O'Shea. He's talking about new ideas for putting theme songs into television commercials.



Have a great weekend.

TV "Events" Are Compelling Media Buying Opportunities

Cross-published on Brogan Blog

I think I watched about 1 hour of TV over the last 3 months. There was nothing on. I've got stuff to do. I didn't really miss it.

But then Monday: Wham! TV was back, and it wasn't playing around. How I Met Your Mother, Heroes, the new weird show Chuck. Tuesday with Two and Half Men. All of sudden TV was back. And I watched some Monday and <<gasp>> even a bit more on Tuesday. (Completely coincidentally, someone in my office just said to someone else: "Isn't tomorrow the Office premiere? Boom. Done. I'm there.")

There's been lots written about fragmentation of TV channels, the proliferation of DVRs like Tivo, the rise of alternative entertainment choices (online, gaming, etc.) and much of it is true. But let's remember that TV can still be an event that brings people together.

These events are advertising opportunities, and they are getting more valuable. Think season premieres, season finales, award shows, big sporting events... We've bought the Oscars for clients and been very happy with it. TV has problems, but to reach the world quickly, there are still opportunities.

What do you think? Leave a quick comment.

Google Moves toward Behavior-Based Targeting

First of all, apologies for my less than prolific output recently. Working on a book on social media marketing and it's taking a lot of time. Hope to have it finished in the next 30 days.

In the meantime, news out of Google that they are working to introduce behavior-based ad targeting. They made the announcement very quietly. Perhaps they fear a backlash from privacy advocates.

I could see that backlash coming, but frankly I don't get it. As a marketer, I look at behavior-based targeting as sort of the holy grail. Advertisers get to reach the people they really care about, but equally important, the ad recipient sees ads that are most likely to interest them. Lots of surveys have shown that people use ads to help them make purchase decisions. They like ads about stuff they like. They don't like ads about stuff they don't like. Easy enough. Behavior-based targeting does exactly that.

Maybe privacy advocates don't realize that they are already leaving big, giant, easy-to-find tracks all over the web. (Look at all the murder trials where they go back and reconstruct exactly what the person did on their computer after the crime.)

Good for Google. We can already do behavior-based targeting in TV, radio, print and direct mail. A few firms have it for the web. Good to see Google in the game.

"Creativity" in Ads May Be Linked to Media Buying

In an earlier post, I've talked about how important the media buyer is to the creative team. No matter how creative the ad, it does no good if it's in the wrong place. Now, new data from Tivo is providing further proof that the "right" ad in the "wrong" place is not worth much.

Would you believe that the top three least skipped ads among 20,000 Tivo families were for:

• Cort Furniture Rental
• Dominican Republic Tourism
• Hooters Restaurant

Not particularly "creative", not funny, not touching and not big budget, the Cort Furniture Rental spot shared these attributes with other winners. They tended to be straight forward and, most importantly, relevant to their viewers (that's where media buying savvy comes in).

A Bowflex commercial running during professional wrestling was one good example.

Watch for more segmentation to come, not just among stations, but WITHIN INDIVIDUAL SHOWS. Digital signals will allow one type of household to get one TV spot, while another type of household can get another TV spot, even during the exact same show, at the exact same moment.

Yeah, best be nice to your media buyers...

4 Fun Ads for a Friday

Sorry for the fewer postings recently, but I've been swamped the last couple weeks. I did want to do a quick post showing four fun print ads for you to enjoy on a Friday morning, to make up for the four horrible TV ads we looked at last week. Here goes:Full credit to Technospot, who collected all of these and 11 more. Check them out. Have a great Friday.

~Jim Tobin
Life Is Marketing

Marketing is about much more than ads

I've been on the road a lot these last few days--including today. The other day, I dropped off my rental car at Enterprise in Romulus, near the Detroit Airport. Not only was I greeted nicely, but it was about 2:00 p.m., I had a flight to catch and I'd not eaten.

The woman told me to board the second shuttle, which was on it's way, but then pointed me to a grill where they were grilling hot dogs. They offered all the customers hot dogs, with all the fixings and bottles of water to take with them to the airport.

This is not only marketing, this is really good marketing. Despite the fact that I just got the American Express Platinum and that gives me free club access to some other rental companies, I keep going back to this Enterprise, because they always greet you quickly, offer you a bottle of water and get you on your way.

Congratulations to the Enterprise team for making sure that marketing goes right through to the customer experience.

The Worst Recent Advertising?

Slate has a recent post in which they suggest the worst ads currently out there. Here are a few of them. Which one do you think is the worst?

"Filet-o-Fish": McDonalds


"Chicks with Swords": Ask.com


"Blowfish, Lobster, Skunk": Vagisil


"Oreo Pizza Mustache": Domino's


Take the poll on the right hand side of the screen? Which ad is the worst of the worst?

~Jim Tobin
Life is Marketing