We’ve been having a national conversation for about a week about commercials. Were the Super Bowl commercials creative enough? Was the e*Trade talking baby funny enough? Was Pepsi Max offensive? What was Groupon thinking? How much did Kia spend to send their car to another planet, then to ancient times? Eminem did TWO spots???
In general, Super Bowl ads aren’t a good example of the best of advertising, since there is so much pressure to stand out from the rest of the pack.
So it can be refreshing to see a sports-themed TV spot that is simple, creative and effective, especially during Super Bowl season.
ESPN‘s brilliant “This Is Sportscenter” campaign continued again recently with this winner featuring Washington Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin:
While Sprite tried to explain to us that “Image Is Nothing,” I don’t think everyone is on-board with that concept.
Professional wrestling legend Ric Flair has made a name for himself by portraying a playboy on-screen in five decades. He rose to stardom in the days where professional wrestling denied the whole fake/pre-determined/story-telling thing and portrayed themselves as athletes competing for a real championship.
While bad guys were hated and good guys revered, most every wrestler “lived” their gimmick – whenever they were seen in public, they were in character.
In Mexico’s Lucha Libre culture, masked wrestlers even wore their masks to the grave. This is/was a serious aspect of the business.
The Ric Flair character was based on a “stylin’ and profylin’” lifestyle…and…wooooooooo…did he live it!
Now into his 60s, the jet-setting lifestyle has taken it’s toll on Flair and his bank accounts. But he apparently is having trouble letting go of that time.
He was THE MAN, the wheelin, dealin, jet-flyin, limousine-ridin, kiss-stealin son of a gun – and one of the greatest wrestlers of all time.
The Ric Flair brand was clearly defined and it remained virtually the same for…a little too long. It never evolved.
Now, when he should be reaping the rewards of one of the most brilliant careers ever, he is faced with the consequences of a life of diems being carped.
For brands, this is an important lesson to learn, grow, change and, most importantly, evolve over time. Don’t run away from the past, but use it to invest in tomorrow.
Keeping a brand fresh and relevant will maintain it’s sustainability and promote growth.
Of course, there are the freakish brands, like, say, Coca-Cola, that have remained relatively consistent for decades to find success, but they are the exception, not the rule.
The key is knowing when it’s time to make changes, because there will come a time when it may just be too little, too late.
Your Turn – What brands do the best job of evolving to stay fresh?
I think just about everyone in marketing has a good trick or twelve about building AWARENESS for your brand. Honestly, that’s not all that difficult. Press releases, publicity stunts, e-blasts…pick something from Column A, something from Column B and…voila…you have an integrated awareness strategy! Mazel Tov!
However, to make a potential customer DESIRE your brand or product, without ever trying it, is a major challenge.
And there are few brands that do this better than Buc-ee’s, a Texas-based chain of truck stops and gas stations.
Their strategic approach starts before you ever get into Texas from Louisiana on I-10, when you see this:
They obviously know you most likely can’t “hold it” for over 250 miles. I mean, the human bladder has it’s limitations. However, it’s a hilarious advertisement that you remember for far longer than 262 miles.
As you get closer to their flagship location near San Antonio, you see more and more billboards…all a bit naughty and with a mileage counter until you are there.
It all adds up to one thing – driving down the road, you keep seeing these funny billboards and, dagnabit, you want to see these “award winning” bathrooms! And you think you can “hold it” until you get there.
On my first trip there, I was blown away. Literally hundreds and hundreds of people packed into this truck stop for gas, laughs and a potty break. Across the street was another, perfectly-fine truck stop…but with absolutely zero customers.
And, man, was it awesome. HUGE, clean bathrooms. Homemade jerky. Every snack and drink option on the planet. Branded merchandise. Toys and games. Audio books and CDs. And their signature Beaver Nuggets, sugar-coated deliciousness. I must add that all of the employees seemed to genuinely love their jobs, interacting with people from all over the world, lured in to this oasis of happiness just off the interstate.
Buc-ee’s had built the desire for their brand over the course of a dozen or so spaced-out billboards on a major thoroughfare, to the point that everyone stopped at their place, totally ignoring all competition!
Here is how Buc-ee’s built their desire – and how you can do the same for any brand or product!
1. Know Your Audience (And remember, you are not your audience!) – Who comes to truck stops? Truckers and travelers. Their marketing blitz focused on those people. You don’t know their demographics, but you do know they need to pee and fill up their tank.
2. Know How To Reach Them – There is no better way to reach those people than billboards on the highway. The Buc-ee’s campaign is a perfect matching of medium and audience.
3. Tease Them With Your Brand - Each billboard along the way displayed a developed sense of humor, but also featured more attributes about the brand. Every interaction you have with potential customers should give them more and more reasons to try you out.
4. Deliver – As good as the Buc-ee’s ads are, if the stops were dirty, had no product selection or poor customer service, the campaign would fall flat. But the fact that the stores were everything they promised, and more, had everyone leaving with a smile and vowing to stop on their next time through town. Make sure that your marketing efforts match what you can deliver upon. Don’t over-promise, because, like a sharp-toothed Buc-ee’s beaver, it will bite you in the rear.
When I’m on the road and the red light turns green and the car in front of me doesn’t immediately start driving, I tend to turn into this:
My dad, however, is a much cooler cat. He calmly asks the driver blocking the way if they are waiting for a “personal invitation” (alternative: “a particular shade of green,” but that’s neither here nor there).
As a kid, that always made me laugh.
As a marketer, I use it to guide everything I do.
Yes, it sounds silly, but who wouldn’t want a “personal invitation” to a brand? If you communicate correctly, each in your target audience should feel like the brand is reaching out to them individually, inviting them to join the family. Then, it’s not a purchase you are making, but an investment.
Here are two examples of brands doing a great job adding that personal touch to their marketing and advertising campaigns.
Popchips
A few months ago, I got an e-mail from web-influence measurement site Klout that Popchips wanted to send me some freebies, since they are starting a marketing push in Washington, DC.
So, the initial contact came from Klout, not Popchips. No big deal to me.
Since then, I’ve been invited to Popchips-sponsored events and even received a holiday gift box, with a hand-written card from a brand manager. While I know there are hundreds, maybe even thousands, of these packages with the same hand-written note, the extra effort does not go unnoticed. I mention the marketing efforts to friends inside and outside the industry and there is almost always a bag in my house.
In fact, I am happy to say that Popchips (Salt & Vinegar flavor, of course), will be my snack-of-choice for my upcoming road trip from DC to Texas! Good marketing, Popchips, by giving your campaign a personal touch, you’ve turned me from someone who walked past your display to an addict.
Dearfoams
I’m not what you would call a big slipper guy.
Personally, slip-on shoes make more sense to me, especially since they look less like chew-toys for the dog. And since my last pair of nice slippers ended up tattered by my beloved Balki, I’ve stayed away.
But a new ad campaign from Dearfoms may change that.
They have placed a series of billboards all over DC’s Metro Rail system, with each billboard showcasing people wearing their products while doing different activities.
From playing ping pong to rocking out on the electric guitar, they have opened my eyes to new places “slippers” are socially appropriate outside of a living room. My favorite aspect of these ads is that the faces of the models are mostly obstructed, so they are inviting you to envision yourself in that situation.
You can’t walk by these posters and not thinking how much better your feet would feel in a pair of slippers and how much more fun you’d be having in any of those situations instead of commuting to and from work.
Campaigns like these aren’t as 1-on-1 directly personal as the Popchips program, but they turn mass marketing into an individualized experience for all who consume it. It is infinitely more effective than just showing an image of a slipper, no?
What other brands are excelling at putting a personal touch on a marketing or advertising campaign?
The basic premise was that you answered questions to win spins on the randomized electronic board, filled with cash and wonderful prizes. Easy peazy, right?
Well, there was a caveat…a pretty big one.
The Whammy!
You see, the board was littered with “Whammys,” little red monsters that ate your bounty, leaving you with nothing.
Take a look:
It wasn’t fair…you could earn tens of thousands of dollars in cash, trips, appliances over the entire game, and lose it all by hitting a Whammy. And if you accrued four Whammys during the game, you were eliminated.
Real Life Whammys
In the PR world, we do everything we can to help clients avoid that public image Whammy.
We try to present our clients in the best light possible, gathering positive sentiment and brand loyalty like all the cash and prizes the contestants tried to win. But, if the client hits a Whammy, it can end right then and there.
But it is perhaps the most classic “Whammy” story of all time.
Greatest golfer of all time. A brand unto himself. Gorgeous wife. Beautiful kids. Adoration of millions. Jealousy from fellow competitors. An American icon. One of the most powerful and influential people in the world.
And on Thanksgiving 2009, he lost it all. The sex scandals, the rehab, the divorce, the struggle to return to form.
He has spent 2010 living a nightmare and trying to wake up from his year-long funk. He may never return to form or marketability or public appeal.
At some point in every company’s social media strategic plan, you have to make a choice:
Which do you value more – content or conversation?
Let’s examine the two options.
1) Content
You have a person or team of people (or agency) working day and night to figure out what to say on your network. Your actual original posts all fall under the “content” header.
This can be virtually anything, from text, photos, videos, links and more. Basically, what are you saying about your own organization.
For all intents and purposes, this is really the “advertising” portion of social media, where you control the message. The giant billboard on the megahighway during rush hour. You can say anything you want to your audience!
2) Conversation
The other part of the equation is conversation – responding to your network, encouraging feedback, being an honest open ear.
Perhaps you have one community manager or a bunch of them, but you read and respond to every comment, idea or issue.
This is more like the “earned media/public relations” side of social media, since you are letting the user shape their experience with your brand or company to some degree. You lose control, but the interaction is more earnest.
Analysis
So what’s it gonna be?
Does your company value the billboard or the newspaper column aspect of social media more?
Do you want as much control of your message as you would with a radio ad, or are you OK allowing others to take precedence (potentially) over your own goals?
In the PR world, a media hit is worth about three times the space in ads. So, the space filled with a $100 advertisement would be worth $300 in media value. However, there is no proof (yet) that the same holds true at all in the social media world.
So do you feature your own content or build a back-and-forth community, with you original content taking less of a prominent role?
These are questions online marketers deal with everyday.
Unfortunately, I can’t give you the right answer for your situation. Each social media program has it’s own goals that need to fit into the overall communications plan.
Quite honestly, I’m split. The PR guy in me wants conversation to rule, but the advertising agency guy knows a controlled message can drive more traffic.
You be the judge: Which is more important – content or conversation?
