Ford Motor Company of Canada is launching its biggest marketing push in six years with a campaign that focuses on letting Ford customers serve as brand ambassadors. The effort, which bows a new tag for Canada, "Powered by You," features a raft of new 30- and 60-second TV ads featuring the dance troupe Pilobolus, famous for creating sculptures out of the intertwined forms of individual dancers. The ads don't show Ford cars at all. Instead, the ads show members of the dance troupe creating sculptures of vehicles like Ford Fusion, Focus and Edge with their bodies and car wheels, a grill and window. The ads carry the theme line: "A car is just a car until it's powered by you." The campaign also includes a new Web site, Fordpoweredbyyou.ca. The site is intended as a social-media forum where consumers can air their opinions of the Ford brand, technology and vehicles. Dean Stoneley, director of communications for Ford of Canada, says the site will have three theme areas: design, technology and environment. "We don't own the brand the way we used to; consumers own it. It's not about claims any more. Consumers don't want to be preached to. It's about a dialogue and discovery, giving people the chance to comment," he says. "We see it as more of a consumer site than our site. Barring extreme examples, our intent is to make it open and democratic." The site is being overseen by an editorial team. The company says visitors will be able to post questions, provide reviews and comments on Ford's products and vote on original Canadian works of art for the site. David Greenberg, VP/general marketing of Toronto-based Ford of Canada --an American who has been in the position in Canada for three years--says the marketing is driven by an urban mindset. "Fifty-five percent of the population is in 10 cities. So there is a very urban approach and understanding." "We don't have an issue with awareness or purchase intent. Our issue surrounds the middle of the purchase funnel, around product and brand opinions," he says. "The whole concept of 'Powered By You' centers on conquering new people--kicking the door open and allowing us to have that conversation." The TV spots, launching this week, will run across Canada over the next six weeks and online at ford.ca. In addition, a video depicting the making of the commercial is also available there. The television and print advertising creative were developed by Young & Rubicam, and the media buy was executed by Mediaedge:cia. National print advertisements for the campaign will run in the Toronto Star, Globe & Mail, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Vancouver Sun, Montreal Gazette and La Presse. The company will also run roadblock and home page ad placements on portals like Yahoo, Canoe, MSN.ca, AOL, and CTV.ca.
Does the thought of a slowing economy make you want to reach for a drink? You're not alone. The Beverage Information Group says that beer, wine and spirits sales continued to increase last year, although they did so at a slowing rate. According to the Norwalk, Conn. research company, wine consumption increased 4%, while distilled spirits were up 3.2% and beer rose 1.2%. Distilled spirits sales reached more than 182 million nine-liter cases--their 10th straight year of growth--and wine sales reached 294.4 million cases, growing for the 14th consecutive year. After declining sales in 2005, beer sales continued to recover, reaching 2.93 billion cases. The slowing economy, which has led to less spending at restaurants and bars, also has affected the beer, wine and spirits industry. Bars and restaurants have fueled much of the growth over the past few years, but consumers are much less likely to create exotic mixed drink--think mojitos or Cosmopolitans--for themselves at home, says Eric Schmidt, manager of information services at The Beverage Information Group. "We are seeing a slowdown in people consuming on-premise," Schmidt tells Marketing Daily. "When the economy starts to slow down, they don't go out as much. What we're seeing is that they're not as apt to drink as much [at home] as before because they can't replicate [a restaurant] occasion at home." Despite a receding economy, drinkers were trading up, with high-end products outperforming the general industry. For instance, sales of expensive imported spirits accounted for 40.3% of spirits sales last year, up from 39.7% in 2006. Craft beers also saw double-digit growth, while wine continued to find appeal with newer drinkers. "A lot of people who are indulging in spirits or high-end beer, they're not as affected by the economic crisis in the country," Schmidt says. "This is something that's still very affordable." In the spirits category, vodka remained the most popular spirit--growing 6.7% in 2007, and accounting for nearly 29% of the total category. Rum, the second-most-popular spirit, grew 5.1%. Tequila and Irish whiskey--while smaller than the other two spirits--grew 9.4% and 17.5%, respectively. Blended whiskey, Canadian Whiskey and pre-mixed cocktails all declined in sales last year. Among table wines, which account for more than 90% of all U.S. wine consumption, imports continued to grow at a rate faster than domestics (up 7.3% versus 3.1%), even though domestics account for about two-thirds of total category sales. Italian wines grew 8.8%, while French wines grew 6.6%. Australian wine sales were flat. "The Millennial generation has taken to [wine drinking]," Schmidt says. "We're seeing a lot of imports coming in, and they're willing to take a hit on the currency exchange just to get their products on the U.S. market." Among beers, craft and light beers continued to lead the category. Total beer consumption increased 1.2%. Light beers grew 2.5% and now account for more than half of all beer sales, according to Beverage Information Group. "[Craft beers] will be interesting to watch in '08," Schmidt says, noting that several of them are facing a shortage of hops in the coming year, which could affect production.
Searching for the sexiest woman in the United States isn't new for Playboy Enterprises, except when the beauty must wear clothes. The brand, known for beautiful nudes in seductive positions, invites women 18 years and older to enter the Playboy Mobile competition. The slight departure from Playboy's traditional pictorial spreads, accepting and posting only photos of clothed contestants, aims to highlight lifestyles and aspirations rather than body parts. The strategy to find Miss Playboy Mobile 2008 could broaden and boost the icon's online audience and increase the amount of content sold and downloaded from its mobile site. At least that's what Ed Lang hopes. The senior vice president and general manager for Playboy Mobile, International and Online says the challenge was to "design an appealing contest that would get many women to participate, while making it easy for men to cast their vote." The mobile strategy could offset losses in print. Earlier this month, Playboy Enterprises posted an unexpected fourth-quarter revenue loss of $1.1 million, or 3 cents per share, compared with a profit of $3.7 million or 11 cents per share in the previous year. Sales fell slightly to $85.9 million from $86.2 million. Magazine revenue dropped 2% to $24.7 million on flat newsstand sales, fewer subscriptions and a 3% decline in advertising. The company also expects a 30% decline in magazine advertising revenue in the first quarter of 2008. Ads promoting and marketing Miss Playboy Mobile 2008 are scheduled to run across print, television, radio, and online. Print ads start in April in Playboy. Software developers are working on widget applets for Facebook to use as an advertising tool and track hits. Contest planners guide participants on ways to market participation in the contest by adding information to their Web sites and social network pages like Facebook, Friendster and MySpace. Playboy Mobile also plans to hold a spring break competition at Tesoro Los Cabos during Playboy U in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, for college students. The winner of the mini contest becomes one of the 10 finalists that will go to Las Vegas, where Playboy Mobile will crown Miss Playboy Mobile 2008 at the Hugh Hefner Sky Villa at the Palms Casino Resort on April 2, during CTIA. There's a $5,000 cash-prize, as well as the professional photo-shoot at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles. Playboy Mobile will not limit the number of women who can participate, but all submissions must include photographs and bios. As of Tuesday, about 80 women had submitted materials, clearing the registration process for the non-nude competition. Submissions and votes are accepted until March 15. Voting on the finalists runs from March 16 through March 31. Voters are asked to text their favorite contestants' identification number to the Miss Playboy Mobile short code 67000. Lang plans to measure the success of Playboy Mobile's ability to penetrate social and mobile networks to gain a higher response rate that justifies the competition. If successful in the United States, the contest could expand worldwide. "We've taken the idea to our local publishing partners around the world, and more than a dozen have shown interest," he says. "In the next phase we would hold competitions and searches in multiple countries. If the format is successful, we'll hold a global competition." Playboy's push into mobile began last year to attract tech-savvy consumers and address changing market demands. Playboy Mobile offers non- and ad-supported services, such as text-based and information alerts, along with nude images, glamour shots and video. The mobile contest also aims to highlight "The Girls Next Door" reality television series on E!, along with the opening of the entertainment facility at the Palms Casino Resort in the Las Vegas, and fashion clothing stores in London.
Coldwell Banker Real Estate is launching a national advertising and marketing push that attempts to sidestep the "sea of sameness" in real estate advertising by making the founders of the company, or portraits of them, the personalities central to the effort. The campaign also sidestep the elephant in the room: the current real estate fiasco. Charlie Young*, COO of the company, says that Coldwell didn't want to focus on a condition that it sees as cyclical. "Real estate is a local issue. The headlines are more and more dire, but we recognize that real estate is highly local and not all areas are being impacted the same way," he says. "Our biggest learning was that there is a dynamic at work between consumers wanting to be on their own and wanting to reach out for help," says Young, adding that there is "a new space between traditional real estate and online offerings. Coldwell Banker is positioned to offer that." The campaign--via AOR Durham, N.C.-based Mckinney; Morristown, N.J.-based Kinesis, a digital agency; and New York-based PR shop Cooper Katz--includes an array of TV spots featuring animated portraits of the two founders. These are the actual portraits, on the wall at Coldwell Banker's corporate headquarters in Parsippany, N.J.--not actors portraying them. There is also a national PR effort, and a Web campaign focusing on social media. The effort has oil portraits of the two founders of the company, Colbert Coldwell and Benjamin Arthur Banker, engaging in witty repartee about their quirks and business innovations over the years to make a point about the company's combination of Web services and agents. It also bows the tag, "We never stop moving." Young says the humorous ads have not struck consumers in focus groups as insensitive to the current real estate environment. "In order to get them to pay attention, you need to entertain them," he says. "The humor resonates with consumers." He would not divulge spend, but said it would be in line with the $117 million the company spent on measured media last year. Young adds that when the company began planning the campaign early last year, it believed that the explosion in Web-based real estate marketing was more of a challenge then the looming real estate crisis. "In the current landscape, there's a more important trend than today's market correction. There's a need to communicate in a new way about the real estate business." "Our research showed that today's consumer is open to innovation and collaboration. They want access to information and tools, but also direct help and guidance. Young says the campaign, which targets younger consumers, is aiming to tout Coldwell as a "best of both worlds" solution offering both Web-based services and the human touch. The online media mix will include paid search and sponsorship and heavy buys on social media sites and known "fishing holes." There will be no print or outdoor media buys for the effort, per Young. Young says the campaign will also be on social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace as well as a microsite, Coldwellbanker.com/founders. The site has a blog in which the "founders" will chronicle their trip across the country. The company will physically carry the portraits to various locales in the as part of a grassroots effort. Young says other lighthearted elements include a competitive staring contest and something called "portrait Ping-Pong." "What we presented is the longer view--there has been a shift in how consumers look at real estate, and this shift would have happened regardless of the market," says Young. * Editor's note: This article has been amended since being posted.
There's a new catchphrase flopping on the deck of fishing boats these days: Sustainability. "It was everywhere at the International Boston Seafood Show this week," says Mary Larkin, VP of seafood expositions for Diversified Business Communications, the Portland, Maine-based company which runs the show. "It certainly has been around and building momentum for a few years," she says. But this year, a lecture on sustainability "was standing room only, and companies are marketing sustainability in a way they haven't before-it is the buzzword of the industry right now." Whole Foods is clearly capitalizing on the buzz, this week announcing the first certified-sustainable tuna fish to hit the market. Sold under the brand name American Tuna, the fish is produced by the American Albacore Fishing Association (AAFA), which consists of 21 family-owned boats in the Northwestern U.S. The move is a big deal, says Meredith Lopuch, director of the World Wildlife Fund's community fisheries program in California, which sponsored AAFA's application. "It's not just because it is the first tuna fishery in the world to be certified, but because it's also community-based," she says. "That shows that even smaller fishermen can achieve the standards." Wal-Mart also gets some credit for shining the spotlight on the S-word. "Wal-Mart's announcement in 2006 that it would move to 100% sustainable fish suppliers, certified by the Marine Stewardship Council, has been an enormous tool in raising consumer awareness," she says. Still, she concedes, the typical American fish eater is pretty perplexed about what sustainability actually means: "It's still pretty much an emerging issue." In fact, seafood is suffering from a perplexing set of marketing dilemmas. On one hand, convinced that fish is an important part of a healthy diet, consumption continues to rise. The average American ate 16.5 pounds of fish and shellfish per person in 2006, the latest year for which statistics are available, which is a 2% increase over 2005 consumption, and just a filet-o-fish under the 2004 record of 16.6 pounds. Yet even as they're talking up the benefits of the lean protein and Omega-3 oils found in fish, some consumers are more afraid of fish than they are of public speaking. They fret about antibiotics in Chinese catfish, the relative risk of PCB and dioxin exposure in farmed versus wild salmon, and shun swordfish, fearing high mercury levels. And of course, concerns go far beyond health: With more than 80% of the U.S. fish supply imported, and 50% of it farmed rather than wild, many fish come from farms in developing countries, making labor practices a concern. And for many people, bycatch-still a significant problem in the tuna industry, says Lopuch--is still the ultimate guilt trip. Many people just can't enjoy a tuna salad, knowing that tuna nets also kill many dolphins, seabirds, marine turtles and small whales. Even the government has taken steps to ease consumer confusion. This week, it launched a consumer Web site to help sort fact from fish stories: fishwatch.noaa.gov. Consumers select 50 species of fish and get the lowdown from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the arm of the government that oversees the fishing industry, from anchovies to wahoo, on safety risks and harvesting practices. Meanwhile, seafood continues to be one of the few types of food that can't use the official USDA Organic seal. Standards haven't been set, because experts are still debating thing like open-net pens, sea lice contagion, and the sources of wild-fish feed. Communicating all those nuances of sustainable fishing to harried grocery shoppers is admittedly a leviathan undertaking, says Wally Stevens, executive director of the Global Aquaculture Alliance, a group dedicated to establishing science-based sustainability standards. "But the major breakthrough has been that consumers really do understand that seafood is good for them," he says "And despite all the debates, consumers really do get that the health benefits of seafood outweigh the risks." And if consumers haven't heard about sustainable fishing yet? "Don't worry," says Larkin. "They will soon--it's going to be everywhere."
What goes better with digital music than....condoms? Well, maybe if a digital jukebox in a bar is touting them. Durex has tapped TouchTunes, an interactive out-of-home ad network, to launch a new branding and lead-generation campaign. The U.K.-based condom-maker will run display ads on 1,500 digital jukeboxes in bars nationwide, complete with a survey, dubbed "Can We Talk Condoms?" The campaign runs through March 11. TouchTunes' network includes more than 32,000 jukebox units--each with a 19-inch video screen--that stream in music via either the Web or an on-site hard drive. In selected DMAs, a full-screen Durex ad will show up after users have completed their music transaction, followed by an invitation to take the survey. Though TouchTunes didn't disclose Durex's campaign goals, network execs expect to snag at least a 7% response to the survey. "We average about a 7%-10% response rate on all of our surveys, because we tailor them to the environment," said Vicki Saunders, director of music marketing and promotions for TouchTunes. "The jukeboxes are in places where people are having fun, so we make the surveys fun, and typically see a pretty good response rate." Saunders said that a recent promotion for Absolut Pears netted more than 105,000 responses--at a 9% response rate--in addition to high performing campaigns for artists like Wyclef Jean and Emerson Hart. The New York-based digital network offers buys on a CPM basis, among other models, with targeting by DMA, specific location, and music genre available. Ad options include billboards, banners, surveys and Flash mini-sites. While TouchTunes has been in business 10 years, Saunders said that brands and agencies had only recently begun to tap the network for ad campaigns. A large portion of TouchTunes' business has stemmed from providing streaming music content for retailers like Abercrombie & Fitch's Hollister Co., as well as entertainment spots like bars, bowling alleys and restaurants. "We're getting considered now as part of the pool of digital media that companies can use to target consumers," Saunders said. "And we hope it continues."