Commentary

Real Media Riffs - Wednesday, Jun 22, 2005

  • by June 22, 2005
THE MANE EVENT -- We're big fans of the Media Lions. Next to MediaPost's own Creative Media Awards, they're probably the best recognition of breakthrough thinking and creativity in the field of media planning and buying that we can think of. And if we have one gripe, it's that the Lions, which are bestowed each year during the International Advertising Festival in Cannes, France, tend to be dominated by media markets other than the U.S. That's okay, to a point. But last we checked the U.S. still represented more than half of worldwide media spending. Of course that doesn't give the Yanks the automatic right to yank a few Lions off the table in France. We've got to earn it the old-fashioned way: with ingenuity. Which brings us to the subject of today's column: The only U.S. entry to win one of the 2005 feline awards.

You might have thought that the best of the best in U.S. media planning and buying would have had something to do with, well, media planning and buying. As it turns out, the international crowd was less impressed with U.S. media services ingenuity than it is with our ability to give things away. You guessed it. Pontiac's giveaway of 276 of its new G6 cars - one for each member of the studio audience of the 2004 season opener of the "Oprah Winfrey Show" - took top honors in the "All Adults" category. Presumably, that's an award bestowed on the best example of a product that's given away to all adults.

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Don't get us wrong. We don't mean to take anything away from the Pontiac team, or their media agency, GM Planworks, that came up with the stunt. But let's face it. It was a stunt. A brilliant one. An incredibly merchandisable one. And one everyone immediately sought to copy. But a stunt nonetheless. So if that's the best example of American innovation in media planning and buying, we're in a lot more trouble than we thought.

Provincialism aside, it is worth taking a look at what took top honors - the so-called "Grand Prix" - among the Media Lions. Interestingly, it was MediaCom Tel Aviv's campaign for Procter & Gamble's Biomat laundry detergent. The win is interesting for several reasons. One is that P&G tossed MediaCom aside as a media planning roster agency in the U.S., consolidating its communications planning account at Carat and Starcom MediaVest Group. It was also interesting for another reason: It exhibited creativity, ingenuity and a great deal of what we would qualify as media planning and buying. You be the judge. Here are the specs:

Title: Clothing Donation

Category: Vertical marketing for special interests.

Communication goals: P&G was re-launching Biomat, a low-priced clothes washing powder, specifically targeting the Jewish Orthodox sector (15% of population). The Orthodox are almost unreachable via traditional media: for religious reasons, they do not own TV's or radios, and have limited suitable print publications. They also have negative attitudes towards "classic" persuasive advertising. Despite obstacles, the goal was to create a "big-bang" effect, suitable for a brand re-launch.

Media strategy: The Orthodox have a well-accepted belief (and religious commandment) of aiding the weak. Our idea was to connect this belief to Biomat: Biomat helps you help the needy. The mechanism of the promotion was simple: bring your used/unneeded clothes to us, we will wash them (with Biomat, of course) and distribute them to the needy. The main feature was a Biomat-branded truck with a giant washing machine in the back. Wherever the truck stopped (in Orthodox town centers), people gathered with their sacks of clothing and were able to see how their clothes donations were washed with Biomat.

Creative execution: We appealed to the target by engaging their core beliefs, and we overcame the media access limitations of the target by focusing on out-of-home activity. An alliance with a non-profit organization ensured the believability of the campaign, especially important for this target group. Equally important was that Biomat and its superior cleaning properties were clearly and successfully communicated in all materials, including PR.

Integrated harmonized effect: The Biomat-branded truck and events were supported by wild street postings detailing the activity and the dates. The in-street communication was also supplemented with insertions in traditional Orthodox print publications, through in-store shelf communication, as well as through huge PR coverage and free publicity.

Value for money: Biomat's shares in the Orthodox sector have grown by almost 50% since the activity began. The campaign was a huge success and the client (P&G) is planning to do it again in the upcoming fiscal year.

Shalom!

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