Brosurance

What is advertising coming to? Modeled after the "got milk?" campaign, this is the most creative attempt I have seen to encourage consumers to get obamacare's new healthcare plan. Now I'm not going to get into a political debate here, but I do have to say that this is well targeted at the stereotyped image of college-aged consumers in Colorado. Though how will others perceive this?

Jesus burger?

Just saw an interesting news bit on the "Ghost Burger" - a burger that is filled with religious references. It has a communion cracker on top and flows with red wine that is supposed to be similar to Jesus' blood. Is this a new tactic at marketing to the religious? Or is it to make a mockery of religion? This is a very risky move. Religious consumers hold strongly to their values and decreasing the sacredness of these values (i.e., turning it into a regular consumption product) will likely cause the religious to turn against this burger. And why would someone that is not religious want to purchase such a product either? Bad move.

Apple's latest iPhone release - a clear statement of brand equity

I tell my students often about the importance of brand equity. There is no better example of this (at least right now) than Apple. The iPhone 5c and 5s were introduced to the market on September 20 and have already sold more than 9 million. I have to admit that I am one of them, though I don't follow your typical consumer. I upgraded from an iPhone 3 which was long overdue for an upgrade. But going back to the topic of brand equity, had Apple's name not been on the phone (regardless if it was the same quality product), it would not have sold nearly as much. Not only that, but Apple is using color psychology to increase sales - a "gold" version of the iPhone 5s leaves consumers with a feeling of luxury more so than most phones on the market today. Brand equity and luxury - a perfect combination.

How far is too far?

I am a big advocate for marketing, but I also think there is a point where marketing has gone too far. Pretty much every holiday is now commercialized. Do we really need to dig into September 11th now too? And how is offering sales commemorating such a tragic day in US history? This has definitely gone too far.

AT&T's Guinea Pig Commercial

 

Anyone that knows me would know that I am partial to guinea pigs. They're cute, don't have many bad sides, and are otherwise tame pets to own. I've mentioned before that there are three things in advertising that sell more than anything else: sex, cute babies, and cute animals. This commercial by AT&T falls into the cute animals category with talking guinea pigs (watch it here). Clever, but at the same time, the clipping between scenes gives it more of an amateurish feel. Cute animals can attract attention but they can only go so far. More movement in those piggies, less fake looking mouth movements, and perhaps some music really could have livened up this clip a bit. Authenticity is definitely key in advertising these days - does this seem like authentic pig moves? Does this increase AT&T's perceived authenticity as a brand?

Kia Hamsters are Back

The KIA hamsters are back. Many people expressed hatred for them the first go around, yet they attracted a vast amount of attention. This begs the question whether negative publicity can actually be a good thing for a brand. Usually the answer is no, but in some cases, publicity for a silly commercial can actually increase top of mind awareness for a brand. Though what is even more interesting here is the KIA hamsters working out on treadmills. I find any subtle cues for health in advertising very interesting. Could this potentially signify that driving a KIA is going to lead you to a healthier life? Based on my findings of health primes in other contexts, I would gander to say yes.

Priming & Businesses

My dissertation research looks at priming from the perspective of causes on product packaging influences perceptions of a brand. However, I think priming in many different instances is very interesting. For example, Business Week had a news article today about NASA's new center to digitize moon photos that will take place in an old McDonald's building (read the article here). However, you have to ask, how is this influencing the image of both NASA and McDonald's. Even though there are no golden arches in the building, consumers around the world are very familiar with the iconic McDonald's building. According to my research, this could have the effect of neutralizing the balance between these companies - in other words, the image of NASA could slightly deteriorate, and the image of McDonald's could increase. Yes, a far fetch especially for well established companies, but every brand should be aware how these subtle (or not so subtle) primes may influence perceptions of their brand.

American Air and US Air Merger

It's interesting to see American Airlines and US Airways merging. Oftentimes, we say that companies are best off merging when brand image is similar so the reputation of one does not lower the reputation of the other. Though some would argue, acquring a company with a better brand image could improve the brand image of the poor brand image company. In this case, American tends to have higher customer satisfaction ratings and US airways poorer. It seems as if US Airways is going to decrease the image of American Airlines, especially if they impose many of their regulations and use the same customer service agents. Where is this focus for both of these airlines now? Is it on the consumer? The price? Or somewhere else.

What does a retail store do with coupons?

Research on consumers and coupons is plentiful - often showing that it is lower income consumers and women that are most likely to redeem them. But have you ever wondered what happens after you turn your coupon into the store?

My husband and I were having a debate about coupons a few weeks back (this is what happens when you are married to a marketer, our discussion is always about marketing). We were at a grocery store and redeemed a coupon for $1 off a box of crackers. As we were walking around the store, we came to a debate about what happened to the coupons after you redeemed them. I had proposed a central office of each grocer that sorted through the coupons and mailed them back to the manufacturers once a month to get a refund check. My husband proposed the coupons were mailed back to the manufacturer and then given an allowance essentially on new product purchase. I ended up finding this interesting article (read it here) discussing the coupon process. The article discusses how the coupon is received by the store which is then transferred to a central point within the organization, and then transferred to a coupon clearinghouse who acts as the intermediary between the retail stores and manufacturers to ensure funding gets distributed where it should. So interesting!

Anthropomorphism in Advertising

Advertising frequently using anthropomorphism to imbue human like attributes to non-human objects. You see this often in car ads as the cars seem to have a personality of their own - desiring to be loved and cared for. This ad by the Keep America Beautiful campaign uses a similar tactic in suggesting that the water bottle has a mind of its own and desires to end its life by being recycled. Many may think this is strange, but research shows that anthropomorphized objects are more attractive than non-anthropomorphized objects. Neat to see non-profits taking on the marketing tactics of for-profit companies to try to increase sustainable behaviors.

Beardvertising

I love hearing about guerrilla marketing techniques. Although this example with the Dollar Shave Club is through a more formalized beardvertising advertising program, I would definitely classify this as guerrilla marketing given its extremely unusual nature and low cost. Dollar Shave club is well known for unusual, shocking ads and now they have transitioned to have stickers on long beards to attract attention in public. They are still going to face the consumer reactions of - "is this really real?", but a great way to get the word out, nonetheless.

Marketing & Over the Top Sex Ads

You have to sometimes wonder what marketing is coming to. Yes, we know that sex is one of the number one things that sells in marketing. However, at what point are we corrupting society by mixing sex into everything. And what does this teach children that are flipping through magazines (I saw this in Shape magazine) and seeing these ads? Effective does not necessarily mean ethical. Who should be in charge of these ads? Where do marketers need to draw the line? These are issues we need to be discussing today.

Branded America

Just a short post for today, but I ran across this graphic and really loved it. It's so true that each state has its main brand that it is known for - whether good or bad. Interesting to think about how brand perceptions influence state perceptions and also vice versa. Are there states that you would not live because of the big brands there? What does it have to say about the state?

Colors and Advertising

Have you ever thought about how color influences your perceptions of advertising as well as companies? Numerous studies have investigated color in terms of psychological reactions and show that colors such as pale pinks and greens are calming, yellows and reds are stimulating, and blues make you sleepy. There was an interesting article in the latest issue of Marketing News that shows the relation between colors and logos.

Yellow logos are associated with optimism, clarity, and warmth (think Nikon, Subway, Best Buy). Orange logos are associated with friendliness, cheerfulness, and confidence (think Nickelodeon, Fanta, Shutterfly, Crush). Red logos are associated with excitement, youthfulness, and boldness (think Canon, Avis, Coke, Kmart). Purples are creative, imaginative, and wise (think Yahoo, Cadbury, Taco Bell). Blues are associated with trust, dependability, and strength (think Facebook, Dell, AT&T, WalMart). Greens are associated with peacefulness, growth, and health (think Tropicana, Whole Foods, John Deer, and BP). Finally, greys are associated with balance, neutrality, and calm (think Apple, Honda, Wikipedia).

Of course, many of these associations don't ring true. Would you really say Kmart is the epitome of excitement, youthfulness, and boldness? Yes, they are trying to get there, but they have a ways to go. Colors are not the driving force of perceptions, but they definitely influence perceptions, especially for a new brand. Something any brand should consider in logo development, branding, advertising, and corporate design.

Komen Fundraising Decreasing

I find the operation of non-profits fascinating. Partly because it is directly in line with my dissertation research examining how charities on product packaging influence a consumer's perception of the product's health, brand perceptions, and charity perceptions. Partly also because non-profits are so needed in our society yet have to look to non-traditional forms of marketing to get the word out about their organization and raise the money needed to operate.

I was reading an interesting article about the Komen foundation the other day (read it here). It talks about how Komen's association with so many for-profit companies (take the KFC "buckets for a cure" campaign as an example) has deteriorated Komen's image. This has led to decreased desire to volunteer with the organization as well as Komen cutting out fundraising events. Non-profits need to stick strong to their values. Yes, money is money, but a cancer research company should not be partnering with a cancer-causing fried fast food joint. Moving away from these values leads to deterioration of brand image and less support - both in man hours and fundraising dollars.

Dollar Shave Club: New Ad

Most people are familiar with the initial Dollar Shave Club ad (view it here if you haven't). It's received over 10 million views on YouTube, capturing much of the attention from the unusual nature of the ad. The ad breaks away from the clutter of traditional ad and leaves you saying "what was that?!?" yet at the same time appreciating a break from the traditional feel of advertising. So where is Dollar Shave Club going from here? They are now stepping into the men's toiletries market further with One Wipe Charlies - essentially men's rear wipes. A humorous new video (watch it here), however I'd like to see them break into this niche market successfully. They would need to create new demand for this product, which I feel is unlikely. Do you really think you'll start to see men carrying around rear wipes with them so they can use these instead of toilet paper? Maybe the new market needs to be murses (men's purses) so they can carry all their new toiletries with them, at least according to the Dollar Shave Club.

Religion and sustainability - motives

When people think about marketing, the most common thing that comes to mind is advertising. However, there is far more to marketing than just advertising. Understanding what a consumer wants and why they would be interested in a product help dictate what product to develop, how to advertise the product, how much to sell it for, and where to distribute it.

In the case of sustainable products, researchers are debating what motivates consumers to "go green". It may benefit marketers to step back from motive generalization applied to all consumers and look at consumer's core values. Religion provides one of the most influential sources of core values. My preliminary research shows that religious consumers are less sustainable due to perceptions that the world will end soon and less of a need to care for the planet. These values should translate into motives for marketers. While a non-religious individual may be highly motivated by "save the environment", "help the planet for generations to come" campaigns, religious consumers, instead, may be more motivated by "save money" or "reduce your energy bill" campaigns. Understanding motives can help all consumers to embrace pro-social campaigns such as sustainability.

JC Penny... a future?

We all know that JC Penny did not do well when the no sale model was introduced. What works for Apple did not work for the clothing giant, JC Penny. Now the company is introducing a new commercial that tries to emphasize its core values (watch it here). However, the commercial thanks consumers for coming back to the company and acknowledges they are making changes, but does not explicitly mention what these changes are. For the many criticisms JC Penny has received over the last 18 months, some mention to addressing the consumer's concerns in their latest ad clip would be beneficial. Research shows that companies need to not only listen to consumers but also make it apparent that their concerns are being addressed - one area where JC Penny's new ad is lacking.

Emotional Ads

Marketers use appeals in advertising to attract consumers' attention. Emotional appeals can have some of the strongest and most sincere advertisements (if done well). Other types of appeals we see are fear appeals (though can sometimes be overdone), humor appeals (good to draw attention and get a chuckle, but can easily leave the consumer not even remembering the brand name), and also informational/rational appeals (just giving the facts, such as the case with computers and cars). I see emotional appeals frequently in advertising, and this ad by Robinson's juice (watch it here) particularly caught my eye. There is something about the parent/child relationship that is touching. Granted, will we remember that Robinson's juice is the maker of this ad? Possibly not, but the ad is well executed.

Religion in B-Schools

I was reading back through an older article today that I realized I had never posted about - the necessity of religion in b-schools (a business week article... read it here). It discusses a viewpoint that I much agree with. We emphasize "global mindsets" and international experience in business school, but we don't require, encourage, or even offer any courses in religion. Much research in other disciplines shows that religion is a core element of a person's value system, and consumer behavior research shows that this value system is what drives much of consumer behavior. So why not educate students in the religious values of the main world religions for students that are increasingly entering a multicultural work environment and companies that are operating across national borders? Even if companies decide not to directly tailor marketing campaigns and ads to certain religious groups, having an understanding of the core doctrine and prohibitions of religions will help companies to avoid taboo topics and prevent messages and products that are offensive to the majority of consumers in a target segment.

Small candy bars healthier?

An interesting article in NPR discussed how Mars is going to be making smaller candy bars that are under 250 calories to benefit consumers (read the article here). However, you have to wonder what the true motives are. Sure, the candy bar will have less calories, but Mars is really benefiting as you know they are not going to be reducing the price. Not only this, but they may add health claims to their packaging saying "healthier than before", "now reduced calories" when in actuality, they are just giving you less candy for you money. Sneaky.

Kmart "Ship my pants"

Kmart's latest ad "ship my pants" has gone viral. Check it out here. So what does this mean for Kmart? Before now, they were known as a dying brand - one that couldn't compete against the low prices of Wal-Mart and the modern style of Target. Kmart is trying to be seen as a "cool" company amongst competition, but is this "ship my pants" video enough to move over a customer base? Likely no, but it has brought back the Kmart name among many who do not even consider it a shopping option anymore. However, even if advertising is attractive, if the service offered (e.g., outdated stores) is subpar, the advertising is not likely to create loyal customers. Great ad Kmart, but think about making your stores hip to follow along. Also, why are the family members and store employee hugging at the end? Strange...

Religion and Marketing

I'm writing a book with a colleague on religion and marketing - a topic that is not often talked about, yet religion plays a huge role in everything we do (whether or not you are religious). In the process of writing this book, I find myself attracted to any news article relating to the topic. Today I came across an AdWeek article talking about how a new site is trying to track God on Twitter (read it here). Yes, you may laugh about it, but it is actually quite interesting. You can see where people are mentioning God the most, see how it relates to relationships, and how God gets used in everyday language including in discussions of past purchases. Definitely good for a brand to know. Having an idea of whether your target market is religious or not will help you tailor marketing to your customers' needs, and more importantly, not offend certain customer segments.

April Fools Day & Marketing

Anyone who found themselves on Facebook or Youtube yesterday (April 1) was likely to see the bacon Scope commercial (watch it here) featuring a new flavor of scope that is bacon flavored and sizzles in your mouth. Yes, pretty disgusting. However, this attracts consumer attention and is a great way of interacting with the consumers. April Fool's Day is a great day for marketers to entertain consumers with phony product offerings (e.g., Scope bacon or REI's line of outdoor products for cats), while also drawing attention to the brand and reminding consumers why the brand has that "cool" factor. Of course, this needs to be done tastefully, and companies should be very cautious about making actual new product introductions on this day.

When are you tweeting?

Are you a 9-5 tweeter? Only found tweeting Monday through Friday? Or perhaps you only tweet once a week, once a month, or even less often. Engagement truly is the key to success on social media. Are you engaging your consumer - BUT it also matters when you are engaging. Will consumers be looking at your tweets (or other social media posts) at the time that you are posting them? Definitely something to consider. You should move to the consumer, not require your consumer to move to you.

Pinkwashing?

We hear a lot about greenwashing - companies changing their packages to be green, placing leaves on advertising, or tossing the word sustainability anywhere they can to appear as a more environmentally friendly company. More and more research shows that consumers are becoming more aware of what companies are doing making it more difficult for companies that are truly engaging in sustainable behaviors to convey the truth of their sustainable efforts.

A new term is arising today for a similar problem - pinkwashing. The term originated with regard to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation being found on just about every product out there - from tshirts to yogurt lids to buckets of KFC chicken to 5 hour energy. Why? What connection do each of these products have to the cause? And does the money actually make it to the cause? Initially cause-related marketing was extremely beneficial in increasing overall attitudes and purchase intentions toward products. These beneficial effects are decreasing today because of the overwhelming presence of cause marketing which has also been shown to decrease perceptions of the cause - i.e., pinkwashing. We need to start considering today when it is beneficial for companies to partner with causes.

Social Media Marketing

It's funny how quick marketing tools come and go. When I teach any marketing course, I try to emphasize to the students that we are teaching what the current tools are but by the time they are in a marketing career, these tools will change. Just three years ago, Facebook and Twitter were the hot tools. Everyone had to have a social media presence - in fact, the social media presence was more important than anything else. We see today that Facebook is again trying to unveil a new layout to the social medium in an effort to make it more user friendly, and I'm sure bring in some more advertising bucks.

And no, I am not saying that Facebook is a thing of the past. Having a social media presence is still important for just about any brand - ESPECIALLY for those brands that don't even have a website. However, a brand should not rely on this alone. You need to figure out what the lifestyle of your consumer is - what groups are they participating in? What activities are they engaged in? Where do they spend most of their time? Connecting with them on a more personal level while not bombarding them with advertising (what some folks call stealth advertising or stealth marketing) is going to be more and more important in the coming years.

Pro-social advertising - where are we?

When someone thinks of marketing, I guarantee they will immediately think of for-profit marketing. They will think about the latest and greatest Superbowl commercial for a car brand (which, by the way, isn't it interesting the rapid increase of car commercials in the Superbowl in the last few years???). Or perhaps they will think about the many Coke, m&m's, or other various brands advertised throughout various mediums. Or those mostly tacky local commercials that get interspersed with the national commercials when watching TV.

But what about pro-social marketing? I am talking about those ads that are for and by non-profits. Ads that are really trying to help society. Obviously, non-profits don't have the ad budgets that for-profit companies have, but then that raises a challenge. How can non-profits compete against for-profits to get their word out there? BC's Children's Hospital Foundation is making a stab at indicating cramped hospital conditions with the ad above. Not a ton of money to communicate this message, but the more memorable the message (i.e., sometimes known as the Von Restorff effect), the more it will spread through word of mouth and other social channels. We all know that non-profits can't compete against the spending of large companies, but through creative tactics, pro-bono work from ad agencies, and free ad spots to non-profits, these non-profits still have the chance to make a great impact.

Superbowl commercials

Isn't it interesting that many of the most interesting and engaging commercials from the Superbowl had strong emotional appeals? Take the Dodge Ram commercial telling the story of farmers or the Jeep commercial telling the story of military members returning from war. Although many say that the Superbowl is targeted all at men, these commercials have strong appeals that apply to the woman in the room as well. It's clear that humor is not the overwhelming winner in Superbowl commercials now. Also interesting that both of these top commercials had religious undertones. In a time when the nation is claiming to be growing more and more agnostic, these top two commercials both mention God and religion. Why? Is their target market religious? Does stating them somehow state quality in the reputation and values of the company? Or rather is it just a strong match to the emotional pull of the commercials? In any case, nice job with the emotional appeals - many wet eyes during the Superbowl commercials this year.

Wedding dress marketing

I just went wedding dress shopping with a friend and was reminded just how much marketing influences our lives in so many ways. Not only in advertising, but sales personnel have a large impact on our buying decisions. We initially went to a store because of a sale (and anyone who has shopped for a wedding dress recently knows just how expensive this can be... thousands upon thousands of dollars). We got to the store and looked through the sale rack, identifying dresses that looked good on the bride to be. Then the sales attendant proceeded to show us the most expensive dresses, set up a fitting room for the bride to be, and proceeded to bring her the dresses that she wanted to try on. Of course, as you might guess by now, the attendant NEVER brought over the dresses that were on sale. Think back to the latest time that you were drawn into a store because of a sale and the sales clerk ended up upselling you to the next best item. Once you've tried on these more expensive options (especially for an important special day like a wedding), it's hard to go back to the cheaper, lower quality sale dresses. Very tricky, yet smart.

Coke and Anti-Obesity??

First off, just saying these two words in combination (coke and anti-obesity) seems completely incongruent. We know that Coke really doesn't care about reducing the obesity epidemic. If they did, they wouldn't be selling soda, placing it in the schools when schools have no choice but to accept in an effort to find funding for educational programs, and continue to push their product to consumers of all ages. Yes, the ad features skinny arms, but that's about it. If they really wanted to fight the obesity epidemic, they would make an effort to reduce sugar, make bottle sizes smaller, take vending machines out of schools, and encourage smaller consumption. However, that is not in their best interest financially. So what are they to do? The answer isn't banning soda completely or closing down all companies producing soda because a treat every now and then is ok. The answer instead is educating consumers for less consumption, not using soda as a way to fund educational programs, and emphasizing their healthier alternatives more often than their non-healthy bottles of fizzy sugar water.

JC Penny's marketing

We've all heard about JC Penny's marketing tactics over the last year as they decided to end all sales and instead go to a model where cheaper prices are available every day. I was just reading through an interesting Forbes commentary (read it here), and I must agree that JC Penny's success is likely to dwindle in the future. Yes, they did well recently, likely because they did institute sales over Black Friday that encouraged shoppers to visit the store. Had they not had a sale, it is more than likely that this last quarters earnings would have been down like all prior quarters. Consumers are used to sales, they expect sales. If companies drop these sales, consumers will be skeptical that prices could in actuality be lower. If JC Penny wants to maintain competition against it's greatest competitors, bringing back their sales model will be key to their success.

Apple do not disturb ad

Creative ad by Apple came out recently emphasizing the "do not disturb" feature on the phone. Although creative, I do question how relatable this is. Why would you dream of the williams sisters playing Ping Pong? This is attempting at a humor appeal, but it did not come across as extremely humorous. Top this off with the fact that Apple's "do not disturb" feature did not work for many over New Years when the ad was running, and this was not as great of a hit as many had thought.