Subaru is launching a corporate campaign to promote its lineup and attempt to bolster brand awareness. The "It's What Makes a Subaru a Subaru" campaign, the first iteration of which launched early last year, will use television, radio and print to tout its core values. The campaign trumpets third-party endorsements for Subaru's engineering and also touts Subaru's powertrain features--particularly the so-called boxer engine and standard all-wheel-drive, which have made the brand fairly unique since its inception in the U.S. market. There will also be an environmental thrust, with ads touting the U.S. Subaru plant's Earth-friendly footprint and low-emissions vehicles. The print ads will run in such publications as Atlantic Monthly, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, Smithsonian, and BusinessWeek. The broadcast spots will run on both national and cable programming, including NPR, Science Channel, Discovery, CNN, Headline News, CNBC and MSNBC. Kevin Mayer, a former marketer at both Mitsubishi and Hyundai, and most recently at Suzuki agency Colby and Partners, became director of marketing communications at the Cherry Hill, N.J.-based Subaru two months ago. He says the ads are aimed principally at opinion leaders--thus the media focus on the Journal and magazines like Atlantic Monthly. "This effort is more of a true brand campaign than we have had in a long time," he says, "because it gets back to the essence of Subaru's brand values." The effort precedes a barrage of new products from Subaru starting this summer. Mayer says about 10% of Subaru's national media spend is going toward this corporate effort, with a much larger spend earmarked for six products coming out in the third and fourth quarters, including a new version of the Legacy sedan, 2008 Outback, a redesigned Tribeca crossover, 2008 Impreza and WRX models. He says that while Subaru is a relatively low-volume brand in the U.S., it doesn't suffer from an awareness problem. "What we are trying to do is get back to what does differentiate us: all-wheel-drive, engineering excellence and the fact that 95 percent of Subaru vehicles are still on the road after 10 years."
Bowing to pressure from retailers like Wal-Mart to squeeze more product onto shelves, Procter & Gamble is readying an autumn launch of double-strength laundry detergents in packages that are half the regular size. Starting in the fall, the packaged goods giant will replace all its $4 billion liquid detergents portfolio in North America, which includes such brands as Tide, Gain, Cheer, Era and Dreft. It will start in the southern U.S. and Puerto Rico in September and complete the full conversion by April in the Northeast and Canada. Known within the Cincinnati-based company as "Tide 2X," the project is being touted via press release as an environmental "breakthrough" because it uses up to 44% less water and at least 22% less packaging. (The issue of recycling or discarding more, albeit smaller plastic bottles was not addressed.) That may be part of the selling proposition P&G uses in advertisements that will try to convince consumers that they are getting the same product for the same price. P&G's liquid detergents dominate in the U.S. with a market share of more than 60%, led by Tide. P&G's largest customer, Wal-Mart, has been pushing suppliers to cut packaging by at least 5%. The company will face higher costs with the introduction of the new products, including converting its packaging molds, in-store materials and higher marketing costs. In 2005, P&G's top competitor, Unilever, launched its more highly concentrated liquid detergent "Small and Mighty" in the U.S. Unilever estimates the product reduces packaging by more than 40%, water usage by about 60% and shipping volumes by 60%, according to published reports. Unilever has a comprehensive advertising and promotional program with TV, print, outdoor, online, product samples and couponing designed to reach consumers "looking to make life just a little bit easier in their time-pressed daily schedules," according to RetailWire. A major component of that program is driving awareness and trial in-store. Supporting the effort are in-store displays in floorstand/mini pallet and PDQ tray formats; educational signage, including shelf strips, cap comparison signage, sign dangler, bottle dangler, flagpole and spring-loaded shelf tray; on-pack stickers, and account-specific options, such as Floorgraphics and take-one coupon boxes. P&G tested the concept in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for six months within the last year. Consumer awareness of the compacted products there reached 65% in the first 12 weeks of the test market effort, indicating that consumers would be receptive of the shift to concentrated detergents, the company said. "We were very energized by the positive results of this test market," said Paul Vraciu, P&G fabric care brand manager, in the press release issued yesterday. "After our testing, we now understand that with the right education and communication around 2X concentrated products, our consumer will welcome this change." The compacted formulas and smaller bottles allow for increased efficiency across the entire supply chain, including reduced fuel consumption and warehouse space usage, the company said. "We view sustainability as an opportunity and stimulus to innovate, to improve consumers' lives, while also making important contributions to environmental quality and society," said Peter White, director of corporate sustainable development, in the same release.
All women may be somewhat vain about their skin, but a new Unilever survey finds that for African-Americans, skin takes on a deeper meaning. In a poll with Essence magazine, the company asked more than 1,400 African-American women ages 18 to 64 to describe their skin, and the most common response was "beautiful" (59%.) Another 30% described their skin as "strong." And 30% say their skin is a source of their heritage, one-fourth say it's a source of pride, and "almost half of African American women say their skin tells a story of who they are and identifies them," the company says. The survey is part of Unilever's Skinvoice campaign, supporting its Vaseline Intensive Care's Cocoa Butter rich hydrating lotion. In addition to magazine ads featuring "Law & Order" actress S. Epatha Merkerson and musician Kelly Rowland, the company has invited women to talk about their skin at skinvoice.com, where users elaborate on what they love about their skin, with comments like "My skin is my life's historian," and "My skin represents the blending of my parents, an outward expression of their love." The survey also found that African American women rank skin as "most important to them" (49%) above their hair, figure, make-up and clothes. More than three quarters of the women surveyed (77%) report they are happy with the color of their skin and never wished they could change it. While Unilever launched the product last September, the renewed marketing support plays into a key trend, with ethnic shoppers galloping back to mass brands, after spending recent years dabbling in more prestige products. A recent report on ethnic beauty products from Packaged Facts, the publishing division of MarketResearch.com, says that after a few years of so-so growth, these mass skincare products aimed at the ethnic market are poised for takeoff. And marketers are becoming increasingly adept at both developing ethnic-specific products, as well as marketing mainstream brands to ethnic audiences. Nothing identifies the Vaseline Intensive Care product as ethnic, for example, and cocoa butter is healing for all skin types. But among African-American users, it is considered especially good for minimizing keloid scarring and other pigment problems. In fact, E.T. Browne, which makes Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula, says it is the best-selling cocoa butter brand in the world, according to Packaged Facts. Nor is Unilever the first to target a general product for specific ethnic use: Procter & Gamble has Pantene formulations for both African-American and Hispanic hair types. And Johnson & Johnson skillfully markets its Neutrogena and Aveeno consumer brands to ethnic audiences. L'Oreal, Unilever's Caress line, Dial Corporation's Tone body washes; and Procter & Gamble's Noxzema products and Secret line are all heavily advertised in ethnic magazines. Overall, Packaged Facts says the ethnic-specific health and beauty care category accounted for $1.9 billion in 2006. But ethnic use of non-specific ethnic health and beauty care products--like Vaseline Intensive Care--is far bigger: $6.5 billion in 2006, for a total of $8.4 billion at retail in 2006. And while skincare is still the smallest category (after hair care and make-up) Packaged Facts expects it to increase 54.5% by 2012.
Quick: Name an ad campaign that's specifically geared to single adults in their 40s or beyond. Not easy. Amid the increasing emphasis on serving Baby Boomers, marketers seem to be behind the curve in addressing the growing number of their single brethren. Half of all U.S. households are now headed by unmarried adults, 43% of all singles are 45 or older (one quarter are Baby Boomers), and nearly two-thirds of single women are 35 or older. And contrary to what one would guess based on their absence in advertising, mature singles have significant discretionary income and a broad range of interests, confirms a new study on the U.S. singles market from the Packaged Facts division of MarketResearch.com. Nor are they just buying anti-aging cosmetics and incontinence products. Single Boomers are particularly interested in experience-oriented travel, luxurious personal care products and spas, and mind-body services, as well as products for their grandchildren. Single Boomers ages 45 to 54 are as likely to use online dating services as 18- to-24-year-olds, and nearly half of those in this age group are interested in starting a new business. Next to married adults, single women are the largest group of home buyers. Last year, they accounted for a record high of 22% of all home sales, versus 9% for unmarried men. Yet, most marketing to singles is not only geared to the 18- to-24-year-old cohort but intent on depicting all of them as thin, urban-dwelling, and childless and focused on their appearance. Campaigns that address older adults tend to focus on married couples--clear evidence that marketers are "missing the boat," concludes PF. In truth, mature single women prefer to be portrayed spending time with friends and family--especially with several generations of family--and singles are now inclined to view their unmarried state as a choice, rather than a temporary and undesirable situation. Thanks to Suze Orman, the financial sector has begun addressing mature single women, but there's little sign of movement within other categories, notes Laura Ries, principal in the branding consultancy Ries & Ries. "Many marketing plans are still being developed by 50-plus, married men who have a stereotypical view of singles as lonely people desperate to get married," she says. Even more important, not enough marketers are willing to focus on a specific demographic. "It's always better to target someone rather than anyone, and one generation's brand is rarely another generation's brand," Ries stresses. "But most companies aren't willing to 'sacrifice' the entire possible universe for a product in order to focus on developing and appropriately marketing generation-specific products and brands." A positive exception, she notes, is Toyota, which developed the Scion specifically for younger consumers, keeping the Toyota and Lexis brands for the mid and high-end markets. Some key points about singles and marketing best practices from the study: Singles are twice as likely as married adults to have gone to bars, nightclubs or out dancing in the past year. (Interestingly, single parents are just as likely as childless singles to have engaged these activities.) They're also into taking classes, making art or playing music, attending performing arts events and engaging in sports offering a social component, such as billiards, bowling and ice or inline skating. They're more likely to describe themselves as "TV addicts" and are particularly hooked on cable shows. They buy and read more magazines, attend and rent more movies, and are more receptive to TV and movie theater advertising than marrieds. Single parents are particularly open to marketing and advertising in any medium and are the heaviest adult users of traditional radio, Internet radio and cable music stations. But childless singles are also quite open to marketing: Nearly half say that ads help them learn about products that are available, for example. Nearly three quarters (73%) of singles are online. Singles are more likely than marrieds to use the Net for social and entertainment functions but are less likely to buy online. Therefore, using entertainment-oriented promotions and games to promote off-line purchases can be particularly effective. Marketers looking to target singles with children should show their lives in a realistic but positive light and make messaging clear and informative. Use of a wide variety of media is recommended, including short TV and radio ads supplemented with more detailed information online and in print. Include an interactive component, and remember that single parents are hooked into their kids' entertainment, including TV, movies and games. Marketers looking to appeal to childless singles should consider strong event marketing, sponsorship and street promotion elements. Generation Y singles are best reached through viral efforts, while Boomers respond to more traditional media, albeit with untraditional messages. Boomers also want special treatment in sales and service transactions. Use positive messaging that shows singles engaging with friends and family.
In the drug treatment market for asthma, the launch of Schering-Plough/Novartis' indacaterol/mometasone is not likely to displace market leader Advair/Seretide from GlaxoSmithKline, a report from Decision Resources finds. According to the new Pharmacor report titled "Asthma," the launch of the once-daily emerging therapy indacaterol/mometasone--estimated to achieve blockbuster status in 2016--will not displace Advair/Seretide, the current market leader, which generated sales of more than $3 billion in 2006 in the world's major pharmaceutical markets (the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Japan). Despite the future blockbuster status of several drugs, the increased cost-consciousness in many markets combined with the impending arrival of multiple lower-priced emerging therapies will result in only modest annual growth in the asthma market from 2006 to 2011, and a small decline in its growth between 2011 and 2016. The report also finds that the emerging biologic agents Amgen/Wyeth/Takeda's Enbrel, Centocor/Schering-Plough/Tanabe/Janssen Pharmaceuticals' golimumab, Abbott/Eisai's Humira, and PDL BioPharma's Zenapax will generate $785 million in sales in 2016. "These high-priced emerging biologics will generate significant major market sales despite the small eligible patient population that will receive such agents--severe asthmatics who do not respond to conventional therapy," said Madhuri Borde, Ph.D., analyst at Decision Resources, via a press release.
Bosch appliances, part of Newport Beach, Calif.-based BSH Home Appliances, is launching an integrated campaign this week that is also the brand's first major push to highlight its environmentally friendly major appliances. The effort actually comes on the heels of the beginnings of a rebranding earlier this year, in which Bosch created a new tree-frog icon for its "green" products. The new campaign, its largest to date, extends that brand imagery with a TV ad spotlighting the energy efficiency and quietness of its appliances. The ads put Bosch appliances in different locations in nature, emphasizing how they help preserve nature and don't disturb it either, when they are operating. Tagline: "Invented for life." One 30-second spot has a mule deer walk up to a Bosch Nexxt washer and dryer duo in a forest. Although the machines are on, the deer is undeterred from examining them. Two other spots show an eagle owl flying through a red rock canyon toward either a Bosch Evolution, or in the other spot, an Integra dishwasher, and landing on them. Voiceover touts features and energy efficiency. "Bosch dishwashers: they aren't only the most energy efficient and environmentally friendly. They're also the quietest." The ad then goes on to show the J.D. Power and Associates trophy, perched on the machine, with voiceover saying the awards are for customer satisfaction. The effort is by Bosch's AOR, Santa Monica, Calif.-based Hamon & Associates. This year, the company started touting its EPA and DOE Energy Star award for its appliances, across all of its products.
Immigration is no longer the main driver of growth in the U.S. Hispanic market. It's been surpassed by natural growth of the in-country population, according to a report from the Mercanti Group, an investment-banking firm that tracks Hispanic marketing issues. In the future, the trend will have major implications for advertisers trying to reach Hispanics with tailored marketing programs, including choice of language and media for delivery of ad messages. From 2000-2005, growth was split between immigration and natural increase of the resident Hispanic population, according to Mercanti's Edgar Mendez, who led the study. But in recent years--despite popular perceptions to the contrary--Hispanic immigration has been declining, according to the Pew Hispanic Center. Now, natural growth has the upper hand, with a substantial base population tending to produce families larger than the national average (3.87 versus 3.19). As the population's characteristics shift, the most important area of difference for advertisers will be language. While 73% of Hispanic immigrants prefer Spanish over English, the number falls to 25% of their children and just 1% of their grandchildren. With a larger proportion of Hispanics being born in the U.S., English will increasingly supplant Spanish as the most effective language for marketing messages. This forecast seems to contradict other recent studies, including a 2006 Unilever survey, "Winning the Hispanic Shopping Trip," which found Hispanic shoppers respond positively to in-store communications in Spanish. But that survey's middle-aged female subjects are far more likely to belong to the immigrant cohort; the linguistic shift resulting from changing patterns of birth and immigration will take decades to play out. There are some early signs that advertisers are planning ahead. According to a recent article in the Los Angeles Times, Spanish-language TV leaders Univision and Telemundo are having a hard time courting ad dollars from banking and financial-service categories, since media planners are skeptical of the need for Spanish-language media. Although overall Spanish-language ad spending rose 14.4% in 2006, to $5.9 billion, according to research cited from the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies, 100 of the top 250 advertisers didn't include any Spanish-language component in their advertising. However, the increasing preference for English doesn't mean tailored multicultural messages aren't necessary: Third-generation Hispanics, born in the U.S., retain a sense of Hispanic identity and heritage that translates into English-language media consumption and purchasing decisions. For example, one popular new magazine, Urban Latino, is an English-language publication catering to the "New Generation Latino"--ages 18-34--with music, lifestyle, health and beauty content. The same phenomenon is powering the emergence of a new, mostly English-language radio genre, "hurban" ("Hispanic Urban"). Still, Mercanti's research shows a continued affinity for products from the country of origin, even among non-immigrant descendants born in the U.S.--resulting, for example, in a boom in the Mexican food market, which now tops $52 billion a year. Here, the study found that Hispanic consumers visit grocery stores three times as often as the population at large. For marketers looking for broad reach, one increasingly popular solution (in print, at least) is bilingual publication--producing magazines with duplicate content assuring accessibility to Hispanic readers regardless of age, date of arrival or national origin. Recently, Unilever announced that its ViveMejor Hispanic marketing program, produced by Mass Hispanic Marketing, will include a bilingual Web site and free bilingual magazine. To cater to the older Hispanic market, a mix of relatively recent arrivals and longtime U.S. citizens, AARP produces a bilingual magazine titled Segunda Juventud ("Second Youth"). The U.S. Hispanic population remains an attractive market. According to Mercanti, its buying power will grow from $838 billion in 2006 to $1.3 trillion in 2011.