Love fifteen

So I was at the Australian Open tennis on the weekend and I was thinking about big corporate sponsorships. Fresh data (Roy Morgan) shows Kia and Garnier dominating sponsor recall with non-sponsor adidas coming in 3rd ahead of everyone else (GE Money, Aviva, Evian, to name a few).

Most of the sponsors had experiential elements - there was an hour and half queue to get into the Garnier pamper experience.

What I didn't see though was anything except naming rights, sampling and experiential. I didn't see any offers, any promotions, anything encouraging me to get involved or visit a website.

Seems to me that these brands should think a little more about what happens after the 14 days - how to turn their sponsorships into something more long term, something more involving and interactive. I like Carling's UK sponsorship of music venues in this respect: they took over multiple venues in major UK cities permanently, rebranded them Carling Arenas, served the product, changed the ticketing so you can only book through Carling website...and so on. That is a more long term and effective strategy where they clearly own a very big meaingful piece of the real world all year.

I certainly didn't come away from the tennis thinking I had a more meaningful relationship with many of the brands. Has anyone got any favourite sponsorship case studies?

Advertising spend in tough times

As Access Economics put it yesturday ‘The Budget is Buggered; this is the sharpest deceleration Australia's economy has ever seen”.
But it is not all doom and gloom. Australia is actually in a good starting position to weather the storm:

• Australians have more cash in the bank than ever before (credit card payments up 19.2% YOY)
• The unemployment rate is at its lowest in 33 years
• The price for oil is half of what it was this time last year
• Interest costs on mortgage repayments are down $100/month vs. last year
• Rudd’s just given Aussies $9bn X-Mass cash bonus

There is a range of research that shows there are opportunities for brands to endure - even prosper - amid the coming downturn.

From a media perceptive we know that tumultuous times usually mean people and advertisers will revert back to traditional media, such as newspapers and television. Consumers will turn to the media that they trust. Source: Newspaper Marketing Agency UK, based on survey of marketing & advertising leaders 2008

They will also seek brands they trust. Consumers will be more thoughtful in their purchase decision making – they will investigate, research and compare when buying; more so than they do in boom times. Iconic brands, those that offer value to consumers and “innovators” will triumph over luxury brands and “me too” labels.

When stress goes up, so does stress release. People are seeking relief, comfort & security. Brands that provide this will prosper.

Brands that show empathy will also go a long way right now. All the car manufacturers are not in a great position at the moment, the current Holden ads do make some effort to empathise with their line “Holden’s are tough but Australians are tougher”…to some it may be a bit soppy but it does acknowledge tougher times.

At a December 2008, Financial Crisis and Consumer Behaviour seminar hosted by Colmar Brunton they presented 3 ways to grow in 2009 – underpinning all of them is staying close to your consumer & demonstrating empathy.

• Innovation & NPD – e.g. Sainsbury’s in the UK did a “feed your family for a 5er” promotion that went gangbusters. Unilever & Kraft in the UK are partnering to provide consumers with cross-category value promotions
• Brand communications – e.g. Virgin air, premium economy is benefiting from business class travellers downgrading. They’ve also released “tighten your seatbelt” $45 flights with Virgin Blue
• Customer experience & Optimization – e.g. Westpac “how is the financial crisis affecting my savings” promotion

A UK seminar held in July 2008, three months before the world financial crisis began, investigated the most profitable response for advertisers is during an economic downturn. The seminar, whose proceedings have been published by the IPA (the professional body for advertising agencies in the UK), proves that it pays to advertise during a recession.

Australian research by Milward Brown supports these UK findings, showing that budget cutting is liable to reduce consumers' `bonding' with the brand. Cutting budget in a downturn will only defend profits in the very short term.
The longer-term improvement in profitability is likely to greatly outweigh the short-term reduction.

Buying Share of Voice is effective in terms of both costs and branding. The heightened share of voice leads to increases in consumer preference, and in sales and profitability post-downturn.
It is better to maintain share of voice (SOV) at or above share of market (SOM) during a downturn.

Ultimately the brand will emerge from the downturn weaker and much less profitable if not supported.

If other brands are cutting budgets the longer-term benefit of maintaining SOV at or above SOM will be even greater. A recession provides a window of opportunity for inexpensive gains in market share for those brands which increase marketing investment during this time.

But at a time when every area of the business are being asked to cut costs it is imperative to justify any expenditure.
At OMD our econometrics offering can demonstrate the direct impact of marketing activities on sales. Further to that it can isolate the sales impact of each of the channels allowing us to optimise those that are moving products most cost effectively.
Marketers that can show ROI of their marketing expenditures have strong case to hold on to their budgets.

To summarise OMD’s top 5 tips for 2009 are;

1. Consumers will be more thoughtful in their purchase decision making – they will turn to brands they know and trust.
2. Talk to the consumer’s emotion. Empathy is key. Show them you understand they are struggling and show you can offer them “value for money” or an escape.
3. It is important to continue to have long term focus – continued or consistent spending now will set up brands for the growth cycle that will be coming.
4. It is better to maintain SOV at or above share of market during a downturn, as there is an opportunity for inexpensive gains in market share for those brands which increase marketing investment when others are decreasing theirs.
5. Really know which marketing activities provide you with a return – evidence that marketing spend shows both short-term and long term returns for the business will help protect your marketing budget.
   
   
   

Slow Blogging

BLOGGING


A term used to describe anyone with enough time or narcissism to document every tedious bit of minutia filling their uneventful lives. Blogging - as defined by Urban Dictionary

While I like reading others blogs, is everyone having access to write the first thing that comes into their heads that great an idea?

David D. Perlmutter, author of Blogwars, has called for a movement called "slow blogging". His manifesto can be read here

The practice is inspired by the slow food movement, which says that fast food is destroying local traditions and healthy eating habits.

David Perlmutter writes “Slow Blogging is a rejection of immediacy. It is an affirmation that not all things worth reading are written quickly.”

I actually like his tips which include;

• LIMIT YOUR AUDIENCE
• THINK, STUDY, THEN POST
• and POST BY THEME, NOT BY JOURNAL

All of them can be found here

Slow Blogging is about letting thoughts marinate (some we as strategists like to do with ideas away). Really what he is saying is think before you post

I also thought this trend (if we can call it that) was interesting in light of the buzz surrounding Twitter, mainly in the US. Which some seem to think is the best & biggest thing since say Youtube.

I think the Blogging defination at the start of this post better describes Twitter - it is all about 'the instant' - what is happening right now.

May be because I am older than 20 that I quite like the idea of being considered about what is shared with & by others and don't feel the need to up date everyone, on what I am doing, at every minute of the day.


Not that I am a technophobic, I just use those technologies that seem to add value to my life with changing it drastically.


From a media perceptive it is like we say 'it's is not so much about the channel or delivery device but the consumer'.

p.s. After writing this I hope I have pondered on it long enough before posting it and have not raised the bar to high for future posts

Guide for the Value Hunters

It must be a sign of the times. I was enjoying my Sunday Herald Sun over a cup of coffee yesterday when I came across a new editorial page - Value Hunter.

I discovered Value Hunter is a new consumer advocacy page that will run in the News Ltd Sunday newspapers. News Ltd state the aim of the page is to "provide practical information on how to save money".

Consumer rights is not a new editorial theme - it would be about half of the stories that run on Today Tonight's - but the information to help save readers money, in the form of a regular page is surely a reaction to the current economic climate.

Sunday's page including stories such as 'How it pays to save', which included tips to live with in our means, 'Haggle hard for bargains', and 'Cheap ways to entertain the kids'.

For advertisers there is also a strip ad placement on the page carrying a Value Hunter discount offer.

You can look out for ways to save money in your Sunday Herald Sun/Sunday Telegraph next week or visit the Value Hunter blog.

Smell My Burger

Finding it hard to pull a chick who works your local drive through? Perhaps you have had your eye on meat loving gal and just haven't been able to crack a date.... well consider your woes over.

Burger King in the US has launched a fragrance called Flame which they claim is the scent of seduction with a hint of flame-broiled meat. It's cracking news though and what a bargain at US $3.99!

The website is absolutely top notch... no description can do it justice so you will have to pay it a visit. http://www.firemeetsdesire.com/ Make sure you click to have a 'virtual' spray of the scent as the images and music is well.... Barry White meets Hallmark. Keep 'spraying' till you get to the image of the Burger King himself... what a guy!

I know you can actually buy this stuff as there is a site in the US that is selling it but surely this is a brilliantly executed stunt? I searched around for a reveal on it being a brilliant PR story but found nothing... what do you think?

Realism

I was chatting to someone this morning, and they were talking about how they won a major head to head strategy pitch based on one thing: proof. Specifically the client liked the fact that their strategies were well grounded and their ideas were achievable. They were up against another agency, a boutique strategy agency, and the client apparently asked agency 2 to actually go and cost their idea. They came back with tail between their legs saying they couldn't actually achieve half of it on budget. Pitch over.

This reminded me of a project I know of where the comms strategy agency came up with the idea of having helicopters drop people into the CBD. This was approved as a strategy by the client and then given to the implementation agency to organise. Except that you can't get helicopters to fly over George St. Full Stop.

So, I think there is a lot to be said for checking that ideas are well grounded, measurable and achievable. Next time someone says to me they are going to get their clients logo on the Harbour Bridge (and this actually happened this year and was presented to the client), I will be pushing back on them to take the essence of the idea and try and achieve it another more realistic way.

It's definitely not to say we should push ourselves and try and overcome barriers and try stuff that's never been tried before, but if an idea is strategically sound there should be different ways of achieving it that don't rely 100% on projecting a logo onto the moon.

Are you experienced?

Summer has finally arrived after months of the usual anticipation… Spring Racing Carnival , the arrival of daylight saving and watching your gym start to burst at the seams with that mad dash for the bikini body.
Tis indeed the season for being out and about and its one that opens up a raft of opportunities for brands to be ‘at one’ with their consumer. Have a look at Ticketmaster, Citysearch and the myriad of other event listing destinations and overwhelm yourself with things to get out of the house for, not to mention opportunities for your brand to bring out it’s best for.

A few quick ticket stats:

• In 2007, Australians bought more than 20 million tickets on live concerts musicals and plays
• More than 1 million aussies have been to a either a live concert or live sports event in the last 3 months… that’s rich pickings!
• 40% of revenue generated from event sales comes from rock and pop concerts

These stats would suggest we are keener to pay for the live experience more than we have been before…
“Spending by Australians on live performance has grown YOY compared to declines in spending on recorded music”
Live Performance Australia Chief Executive; Evelyn Richardson

PIGGY BACK RIDER OR PIGGY?

Media, as we all know is all about piggy backing on the right times and places for a brand to get amongst…
When it comes to the live experience or event, there are some truly inspiring examples of where brands have gone down the piggyback rider (sponsorship) path as well as where brands have clearly decided to create something where they get to play a starring role.

Red bull has made a rather impressive name for themselves with their bespoke and ‘energetic ‘events like the Red Bull Flugtag, where participants jump from a ramp in a do-it-yourself flying machine into a lake. The brand is bringing itself to life and communicating experientially that "Red Bull vitalizes the body and mind."

Moomba, held annually in Melbourne, is Australia’s largest free community festival and is a Yarra River waterfest to boot. The Birdman rally has an esteemed tradition a little like a local Red Bull Flugtag where crazy people who build a load of manmade flying set ups and then jump off a platform into water to see how far they make it before landing in the drink.
To launch itself as a new low cost car insurance operator in 2008, Bingle.com.au sponsored the Birdman Rally.

It’s quite simply a lovely fit to showcase themselves as a having a real Aussie sense of humour and appreciation for the ‘bingle’.

We’ve talked about these guys before but it’s worth a reminder - Innocent drinks in the UK.
They have a wonderful history for events that bring to life their values around all things to do with being natural and importantly doing good.

This comes to life quite ‘fruitfully’ via The Innocent Village fete that they held this year in August in Regents Park. You could experience all the classics there: the coconut shy, ferret racing, morris dancing, pin the tail on the badger, a flea circus and of course the fruit smoothie tasting tent…
Importantly profits went to three charities bringing to life their commitment to doing good. Check out their website, their blog, their flickr page or Youtube to get a flavour of how big brands can think small.

The Rooftop Cinema in Melbourne ran a strange and memorable experience for one of their sponsors Mini last summer to encourage test drives of the new Clubman. The campaign idea centred around the thought that ‘normal’ has become like a virus infecting the nation but the ‘anything but normal’ Clubman can help solve this problem.

The Rooftop Cinema ran a couple of Zombie (i.e. virus like) film nights and handed out breathing masks to all the customers. As customers left they were provided with specially bottled remedies which had the details of the Safe Zone / test drive time and place and a promise that MINI had developed a cure for ‘Normal’ that could be administered to all who turned up… A weird and wonderfully playful campaign idea that saw both Mini and The Rooftop Cinema work their brands in together to build an intimate yet highly measurable campaign experience.

No doubt about it, the music festival can be a great opportunity for the more youth targeted brands to do their thang so here’s a couple of interesting examples:

Wrangler jeans piggy backed the Lowlands festival in the Netherlands to not only add a much wanted service to the scene but to get as many people wearing Wrangler as possible.

If you have ever been to a weekend festival and camped there you will be more than familiar with the handicap of your gear being sweat soaked and stinking with a day of festivities still to go! Wrangler set up a massive Laundromat where people could drop off their dirty laundry and when it was clean, they would receive a txt message to come and collect it. To add a dash of genius to this already smarty pants idea… they handed out black Wrangler overalls to anyone who used the Laundromat to wear whilst their duds were getting a good wash. Check out how it rolled: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQakGyUhSes

Telco brands and festivals are a cosy couple…
When Virgin Mobile wanted to create an experience at the Big Day Out they started with a great insight: There is nowhere to have a conversation on your mobile cause it’s so damned noisy.
They created ‘quiet booths’ for making phone calls that were not only visibly Virgin and pretty kooky but they were clearly being useful to the festival goers

SO DOES THIS STUFF DELIVER RESULTS?

Firstly it depends on what you want to your brand presence at events to actually do? Chances are if you are expecting to see a huge spike in sales straight after the event, you may be tad disappointed but it’s just like any other communication, know why you are there and have a benchmark for your expected success.

Having the client and agency teams working on the brand, being clear on what success should be about and have a strategy on how to measure the impact of the festival activity is a great start. Traditional tracking methods alone will not do the business so ensure you include a portion of the budget for measurement. And here’s a shameless plug for our OMD Insights team who have a whole raft of measurement approaches including mobile phones or PDAs and getting participants to keep diaries for longer running events such as sports sponsorship.

There’s no doubt that events offer a rich opportunity to get close to your consumer whether you create a bespoke experience or whether you piggy back on another event out there. For those brands that get this right, there are fantastic rewards so here’s a few thoughts to leave you with:

1. Make sure your brand has purpose and relevance at the event you’re choosing. Without purpose it can be a waste of time and money, not just for the advertiser but you could end up wasting consumers’ time, potentially leaving a bad brand taste in their mouth!

2. Remember to set a benchmark for success and to do this, you’ll likely need to think outside of traditional measurement

3. Ensure all stakeholders are involved in the planning process as events are at their most effective when they are built into an overall communication strategy. So don’t just see them as an ambient tack on, make them work hard for your brand by giving everyone a vested interest in the design of your brands next experience.