Tyson Foods is wrapping its fresh chicken in its first brand campaign since 2004. The $70 million push does double duty by making mom a hero for serving Tyson chicken, and promoting the product as being antibiotic-free. Springdale, Ark.-based Tyson--which this week started selling its chicken in redesigned packaging highlighting it as free of antibiotics and artificial ingredients--is the first major poultry company to nix antibiotics (except for medicinal purposes) on a large scale. The company says economies of scale will allow it to offer drug-free chicken without having to substantially raise its prices. Speaking at a press event, Tyson CEO Richard Bond says the issue of antibiotic overuse is not an arcane one to most Americans. "Ninety-one percent of consumers agree it's important to have chicken without antibiotics on a large-scale basis," he says, conceding that drug-free chicken costs more. "Our research shows that our price will be well below what consumers are willing to pay," he adds, and less than what niche brands are charging for similar products. "They are charging a $1.50 to $2.00 per pound premium. We will be significantly under that." The new TV spot--the first of the "Thank You" campaign, shows a mom setting a dish of chicken on the dining table, to an approving family. As she sits down to join the meal, we see that her daughter has stood up on her chair, and is making an official pronouncement of gratitude, complete with John Philip Sousa-esque trumpet music. As the camera pans, we see that the trumpet is being played by her son, also standing on his seat, as is her husband. Dave Hogberg, senior vice president, Fresh Meal Solutions for Tyson, said the campaign began a week ago with ads for Tyson's "Trimmed and Ready," and new packaging that touts Tyson chicken as 100% natural, raised without antibiotics and with no artificial ingredients. New "Thank You" ads will roll out for Tyson Deli Rotisserie and Marinated Raw Breaded chicken in July. The effort, via Arnold Worldwide, Boston, includes outdoor and radio ads. Houston-based Lopez Negrete is handling the Spanish-language ads, and Chicago-based E. Morris Communications has created ads targeting African-American consumers. The company's last major push was 2004's "Powered by Tyson," which Hogberg said would live on in promotional activity. "That effort was very successful in driving awareness for the brand," he says, adding that Tyson has 96% brand awareness, and is the leading poultry company in the U.S. "Now, with saturated awareness, the new effort strengthens an emotional connection to the brand," he says.
Even the winter holiday travel nightmares could not diminish JetBlue's overall reputation among its peers. The J.D. Power and Associates 2007 North America Airline Satisfaction Study survey ranks Jet Blue the leading low-cost carrier for the third year in a row. Continental Airlines holds the top-ranked slot among traditional carriers for the second consecutive year. The survey measures overall customer satisfaction based on performance in cost and fees; flight crew; in-flight services; aircraft; boarding/deplaning/baggage; check-in and reservations. JetBlue took a hit in the boarding/deplaning category because of its recent troubles in which passengers were trapped onboard while planes sat on the runway, Linda Hirneise, executive director of the travel practice at J.D. Power and Associates, tells Marketing Daily. Here's why Hirneise thinks JetBlue kept its ranking. "JetBlue has not deviated from their motto from the get-go. They are competitive in price, they offer an on-board amenity [satellite TV] which has a profound impact on their customer. They are not a carrier who started out with many amenities that were part of the price and then taken away, like in traditional airlines. They have been true to their motto since day one." What's more, "JetBlue has so much goodwill built up among their customers and their lead is so substantial over the other carriers, even their decline puts them so high above the other low-cost carriers," Hirneise adds. However, Hirneise pointed out that Frontier, which ranks second among the low-cost carriers, recorded improvements across the entire airline experience, and is tightening the gap in the increasingly competitive sector. "Frontier improved in all seven key drivers this year, even with having undergone an expansion," Hirneise explains. For Continental, the airline network category leader, what really stands out is that they continued to improve upon their performance year-over-year, Hirneise says. "They have improved on six of the seven key drivers--check-in satisfaction, boarding/deplaning/baggage, the process-focused areas--and have a service culture, making them one of four airlines that improved, while eight others declined. "Continental is expediting the processes. Anything that can be done to save the passenger time has a profound impact on overall customer satisfaction," Hirneise says. Following Continental in the airline network category are Delta, a second-place repeater, and American, which ranked third. Both airlines showed a decline across the seven key drivers, Hirneise explains, with American showing the largest decline in the in-flight services category. "In-flight services includes the availability of food and beverage or the quality of services and the variety of in-flight entertainment," she says. "American has even stripped the pillow away over the past year." The importance of in-flight service, and especially in-flight entertainment, to the overall customer satisfaction experience cannot be underestimated, with the survey finding that Generation X and Y passengers consider "must haves" the high-tech in-flight amenities, like JetBlue's satellite TV. "Passengers still want the free movie, headset and in-flight meal, but they know that those days are gone by." Hirneise says. "When you look at the emerging trends, Gen X and Gen Y are seven times more likely to say they want radio stations on board, power outlets, and in-flight video games than pre-Boomers and Baby Boomers. Carriers and manufacturers need to look at this. This generation is tech-savvy and used to instant access to entertainment and information."
Benjamin Franklin once said nothing is certain but death and taxes. It's time to add advertising to this lineup. According to a new survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, nearly 70% of parents worry their kids see too much advertising. Some are more alarmed than others--one in three parents (34%) say they're very concerned, while 35% say they're somewhat concerned that their kids are exposed to too many TV ads. And it's not just the amount of advertising that bothers parents--it's the content as well. "It's a real frustration," says Vicky Rideout, vice president and director of Kaiser's Program for the Study of Entertainment Media and Health. "Parents feel they're juggling media ratings tools and parental advisories. They look for safe versions of songs, and they check out their kids' MySpace profiles and monitor IMing and e-mails. Yet they can't control things like TV advertising. "They check the ratings of the shows," she added, "but can't control the ads with scantily clad women or promos for upcoming programs that pull out the most salacious parts of the shows, like the violent or highly charged sexual scenes." This frustration comes at a time when most parents (65%) are very concerned that their kids are overexposed to inappropriate media content in general. The solution? Many parents are taking things into their own hands. Compared to 1998, parental use of music advisories has increased to 52% from 41%, while about half of all parents use TV and video-game ratings. But parents think the government and TV networks should step in to help. The survey found that 66% of parents favor government regulations to limit TV content during early evening hours. In regard to inappropriate advertising, Rideout says many parents feel networks should only show commercials that are consistent with the age group for which the programming is intended, i.e., put an end to the horrific promos for "House" during commercial breaks for the very kid-popular "American Idol." These concerns are perhaps propelling parents to keep a tighter rein on their kids' media consumption than ever before. The Kaiser study, released Tuesday, found that 65% of parents closely monitor their kids' media use. The study consists of a random telephone survey of 1,008 U.S. parents of kids ages 2 to 17, as well as six parental focus groups. Parents say they're paying particular attention to their kids' online activities. Among the parents with kids 9 or older who use the Internet at home, nearly 75% say they know "a lot" about what their kids are doing online: 87% say they check their kids' instant messaging buddy lists; 82% review their kids' profiles on MySpace and other social networking sites; and 76% check to see what Web sites their kids have visited. Four out of 10 of these parents say they use parental controls to block access to certain Web sites. And among the parents of kids who use e-mail, 39% say they read their child's e-mail or look in their inbox. Rideout says she was surprised so many parents feel they have things under control. "Three out of four parents think they know a lot about what their kids are doing on the Internet," she says. "Going into this, I thought parents would say they feel outgunned technologically. I'm encouraged by their confidence."
Hyundai is expanding a mobile media campaign pitching ringtones, music and cars to 18- to-34-year-old consumers on their cell phones and wireless media devices. The effort includes a multimedia mobile Web site, content downloads, and a text messaging campaign, and ads. The campaign, developed earlier this year with mobile technology company Enpocket, includes a Hyundai mobile Web site touting the new Veracruz crossover vehicle; a Hyundai ringtone download site focused on Hyundai's Elantra sedan and featuring tones from emerging artists like the Ataris and Secondhand Serenade--with the ringtones also on the Elantra MySpace Web page. The Fountain Valley, Calif. automaker is using mobile banner ads running on the Sprint Mobile Media Network to promote the raft of mobile programs it is running. Back in March, Hyundai sponsored a text-to-vote campaign during the South by Southwest music and arts festival in Austin, Texas. Eric D'Ablaing, Hyundai interactive marketing administrator, said in a release that "Enpocket was able to quickly deliver a complete mobile program for Hyundai that included cutting-edge ad mechanics and complete campaign reporting." Mike Baker, CEO of Boston-based Enpocket, said Hyundai is one of 10 international automakers using Enpocket--which delivers Sprint's mobile ad network--to develop integrated mobile advertising programs. "There has been a wave of advertisers moving through test phase into some steady-state budgeting for mobile," he says, adding that the first advertisers were, not surprisingly, mobile service and content providers like EA Sports, and Mobile TV, whose services can be purchased for handsets. As advertisers on mobile, the automotive category ranks closely behind mobile content, he says. Another automaker testing the service, he said, is "ecstatic about the number of leads they are getting to dealers." Hyundai's effort, which involves activity around music, is less focused at the bottom of the purchase funnel, says Baker, where consumers are actively shopping for vehicles. "It's mid-funnel. It's about getting people engaged with the brand," he says. Hyundai's campaign exploits voice, text messaging, picture messaging, Web browsing and video, the five "modes" Enpocket uses as ad platforms. "If you want to do it right you have to incorporate sponsored downloads, applications, texting, mobile banner ads, mobile Web sites ... the answer for a compelling (mobile) ad experience is appropriately mixing these things," he says.
Best Buy, the nation's leading electronics retailer, posted disappointing first-quarter profits--but says it is confident that its problem-solving brand positioning will pay off. Short-term, there is plenty of bad news: While first-quarter revenues for the Minneapolis-based retailer increased 14% to $7.9 billion, earnings sank 18% to $234 million. "Our first-quarter results fell short of our expectations," the company says. "Strong revenue results from lower-margin products significantly cut into our gross profit rate." Overall, same-store results gained 3% in the quarter. But long-term, company executives say they are confident Best Buy's core marketing and merchandising strategies are working, and that the company will continue to outperform competitors. In a conference call discussing the results, execs were particularly bullish about the strong growth in its Magnolia Home Theater unit, which helps people deal with the baffling mysteries of flat-screen TVs, and the Geek Squad, which simplifies people's computing needs. Growth in those units are in the triple digits and double digits, respectively. "We've got to touch consumers where they live, and solve problems in their home," execs said. "So we're driving this business to build a relationship with our customer. We're just building the trust in making this crap work right now, and candidly, consumers just want their lives to be better." The investment in solving technology problems "is extending our lead over the competition," said Brian Dunn, Best Buy's president and COO on the call. "Our market share is at an all-time high, and so are our customer satisfaction scores. Moreover, we're nowhere close to the end of the story on improving the customer experience." The company lowered its earnings outlook, but says it believes revenue projections are on target. "Early evidence suggests that consumer spending will be more difficult to predict this year, but it appears to be accelerating in lower-margin categories," said Darren Jackson, Best Buy's executive vice president of finance and CFO. "We are confident that flat-panel TVs, notebook computers and gaming will remain very appealing to our customers." While the flat-screen TV massacre continues to pressure profits throughout the industry, Best Buy says it is comfortable with inventory levels. The company's multichannel efforts continue to gain: Online revenue grew nearly 25% in the first-quarter. Execs say the company is also enthusiastic about the prospects for Best Buy Mobile, its phone sales unit, as well as its Apple store-within-a-store concept. It plans to have 300 Apple stores in place by the holiday period.
Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions and Starcom MediaVest yesterday released a study focusing on how to reach the one-third of 17- to-35-year-olds they dubbed the "Ad Avoiders." This elusive group consists of people who say they never pay attention to advertising, who use various methods to avoid brand messaging, and who hold less than favorable attitudes toward the media content designed to influence them. The research found two kinds of Avoiders: