Nissan has sponsored the national tour of the NCAA Heisman Trophy for three consecutive years. The Nashville, Tenn.-based U.S. sales arm of the automaker is doing it again this September, this time with sponsorship of a custom publication via Sports Illustrated, also a title sponsor of the tour. The 75th anniversary of the Heisman Trophy, to be dubbed the "Sports Illustrated Heisman Tour Presented by Nissan" will show up at 10 NCAA football games with interactive exhibits, and Nissan product demos. The tour will include meet-and-greets with former Heisman winners, trivia challenges, information kiosks and a Sports Illustrated photo exhibit. Nissan will showcase the 2010 Maxima. Also included in the campaign is a new "SI Presents" custom publication about the 75th anniversary of the Heisman Trophy, plus several print and digital sponsorships surrounding college football content. Nissan will sponsor a first-ever "Greatest Heisman Moments" video feature on SI.com. Nissan will be the exclusive sponsor of the custom publication, which includes things like an interview with John M. Heisman, the grandnephew of the trophy's namesake; a gatefold poster showcasing every Heisman winner, and facts and figures. For the first time, each cover will be specific to the host school that the tour visits and will showcase the school's past Heisman winners. In 2007, Nissan inked a deal with Sports Illustrated to get its vehicles and branding in special issues and at multimedia events like the Heisman tour and exclusive sponsorship of a Sports Illustrated collector's edition celebrating SEC football. For June, Nissan North America posted combined sales for Nissan and Infiniti of 58,298 units, compared with last June's sales of 75,847 units, marked a decrease of 23.1%.
Patrón has relaunched its online Social Club (patronsocialclub.com) around exclusive content and event partnerships with trendy media sites geared to the younger crowd. In the first two weeks after its June 22 relaunch, the revamped site more than doubled its existing 20,000-plus membership registrants, reports Jennifer Long, brand director for The Patrón Spirits Company. In essence, the brand is taking online media buys to a different level by aggregating and integrating the exclusive content and event opportunities. Eleven site partners are currently providing exclusive content, refreshed monthly, for an area within the club site dubbed "The Agenda": Going.com, Urban Daddy, Thrillist, Pandora, Tasting Table, TasteSpotting, SPIN, The Cool Hunter, Revision3, Gen Art and Uncrate. Partners are responsible for generating articles relevant to the Patrón brand's core target audience and driving new, qualified members to the club site via whatever brand-appropriate tactics they believe will be effective. Some are teasing the content on their sites -- providing a lead-in to a story about a social or fashion trend or upcoming event that can only be read in full by registered Social Club members. Other tactics include teasing content in site newsletters and promotional banners. As part of the partnership deal, the content-provider sites create and promote events, many of which are exclusive to Social Club members. The co-branded events, which in turn create more content, are also promoted in Patrón's member e-newsletter. Patrón segments its list to ensure that event invitations are matched to members' stated interests, such as music concerts, according to Long. (The club site and newsletter also promote Patrón's solo-sponsored events.) Media sites, always looking for value-addeds to attract and retain visitors, get to tap into a young audience "passionate" about Patrón, as well as the partnership fees, says Long. Metrics-wise, Patrón will be monitoring club sign-ups and engagement measures. The latter include click-throughs from sites, number of sections visited on the club site, time spent and actions taken, such as response to an offer or use of the site's newly expanded social capabilities (article forwarding, voting on articles and drinks, inviting friends to become club members, etc.). So far, the combination of pumped-up content, more social features, co-branded events and a redesign featuring easier navigation are adding up to improved engagement, according to Long, who reports that average time spent on the site now exceeds five minutes.
HP is looking to make people famous for their creative expression. The catch: they can't show their faces. The company's "You on You" promotion is mean to imitate the company's "The PC is Personal Again" ad campaign, in which celebrities such as Shaun White, Serena Williams and Fergie discuss what they do with their HP computers -- showing only their hands. "The project encourages, shares and celebrates personal expression via your PC," Tracey Trachta, director of HP's worldwide personal systems group marketing, tells Marketing Daily. "It truly brings our 'The Computer Is Personal Again' campaign to life." The promotional contest -- through which the company will give away $300,000 in cash and prizes -- uses new video creation tools on You Tube (such as video remixing and webcam video) to create their videos. An introduction to the contest on the site http://www.youtube.com/hp, features musician Kenna showing how people can create videos. "We know you're pretty," he says about the rule of not showing one's face. "But this is about what you do, not what you look like." "We wanted to encourage creativity through technology," Trachta says. "This project enables people to create, share and celebrate digital content that reflects who they are, while also drawing attention to HP's unique details." According to HP, the YouTube contest is the broadest for the site today, and has been localized for 21 countries. Each week during the six-week promotion, a panel of experts will select 20 videos as semifinalists, who will all receive an HP Artist Edition notebook. Twenty finalists (four from each week) will be eligible for a $40,000 grand prize. "This project contains greater audience participation" than past promotions," Trachta says. "This isn't the first time we've reached out to the public to ask them to contribute their creative ideas -- in fact our notebook PC design contest led to the Artist Edition notebook celebrated in this 'You on You' project. But in this project, we've provided tools via YouTube that enable people with varying levels of content creation expertise, to participate and engage." HP is promoting the contest through online banner advertising, as well as placements on various social media sites, Trachta says.
While the malls may be full of hot new looks for back-to-school - expect plenty of neon, retro sneakers and hints of punk - retailers aren't expecting much. A new survey released by America's Research Group and UBS Global Equity Research reports that 34.4% of parents are planning to spend less this year. And the reasons are hardly surprising: 41.8% says it's because they have less money, 40.5% say it's due to higher debt, and 8.2% say because they're worried about job loss. The survey predicts a depressing drop of between 8.5% and 12%. Last year, with the weakening economy and soaring gas prices scaring consumers, back-to-school sales fell more than 5%. Over half of American parents (50.9%) are trying to get their children to wear what they wore last year, and this year, only 33.4% of parents say they plan to spend more than $400. Last year the figure was 47.0%. Like the last holiday season, the report predicts that retailers will have to resort to drastic markdowns to move apparel, with only 1.8% of those consumers surveyed willing to pay full price. And while parents are typically vague at this point in the season about where they will shop, this year they are laser- focused on bargains. Only 13.3% are unsure (versus 35.7% last year), and they'll flock to value: 22.3% say they'll buy clothes at Walmart, up from 15.4% last year; and 10.5% at Target, up from 7.6% in 2008. Sears may also stand to gain, with 9.6% planning to shop there, up from 6.4% a year ago. JCPenney (11.4%) and Old Navy (6.1%) are holding even with last year's plans. This study confirms predictions released last week by the National Retail Federation, in a survey that found 85% of parents say the economy is weighing on their back-to-school and back-to-college plans. It forecasts that the average family with students in grades kindergarten through 12 will spend $548.72 on school merchandise, a decline of 7.7% from $594.24 a year ago, with total spending reaching $17.42 billion. About 85% say they have made some changes in spending plans as a result of the economy -- 56.2% are hunting for sales more often; 49.6% are cutting their budgets; 41.7% are buying more store brands, and 40% using coupons more. The only category expected to see a gain this year is electronics, where spending is likely to increase 11%. Austerity measures are extending past backpacks and highlighters. About 11% of families are paring spending on sports and extracurricular activities or sports, and 5.7% say the economy is impacting whether their children will attend a private or public school. For college-bound students, spending is expected to increase slightly to $618.12 this year, the NRF reports, up 3% from $599.38 last year. But with fewer people planning to attend college this fall, total college spending is expected to decrease to $30.08 billion. (Undergraduate attendance has held steady, but the number who say they will participate in an advanced degree program is down -- 48.1% of respondents last year versus 38.9% this year.)
Specialty retailer Aaron's, Inc. and La Quinta parent company LQ Management LLC have teamed up to provide their customers exclusive discounts and offers. Atlanta-based Aaron's, a lease-to-own retailer, is offering customers a discount at participating La Quinta hotels. The retailer will include a discount promo code in the 27 million advertising flyers it distributes monthly. Aaron's employees will receive special offers from La Quinta, as well. Dallas-based LQ Management LLC, which operates La Quinta Inn and La Quinta Inn & Suites, will offer $50 Aaron's coupons to customers who currently receive email communications from the hotel company. La Quinta became interested in an affinity marketing program with Aaron's after discovering that many Aaron's employees were choosing La Quinta for their travel accommodations. The two companies found that the demographics of Aaron's customers and La Quinta customers are very similar. The time frame of the partnership is open-ended, says Mark Rudnick, Aaron's marketing vice president, adding that initial response to the program has been very positive. "Since we entered the program in the middle of July, we have had much interest from employees and customers," Rudnick told Marketing Daily. "More than 400 La Quinta customers have visited the Aaron's website through the La Quinta email offer." Promotion of the partnership is still being determined, he says, and could include signage at Aaron's stores and La Quinta properties. "Just think of the possibilities down the road with this continued partnership," Rudnick says. "There could be an Aaron's/ La Quinta race car or other exciting advertising to promote the partnership." La Quinta has 730 properties in 47 states, Canada and Mexico. Aaron's has 1,613 stores in 48 states and Canada.
The Rockies may crumble, Gibraltar may tumble, they're only made of clay, but is Twitter here to stay? Harris Interactive's new study with LinkedIn Research Network suggests advertisers are a lot more optimistic about the staying power of that web platform for pointillist pontification than regular people. The firm ran an online poll of 1,015 marketers and agency types and 2,025 consumers in June, asking their opinions about Twitter and its uses as a marketing platform and found some disparities. The firm says that about 45% of marketers polled felt Twitter will grow exponentially, while two thirds of consumers said they didn't have an opinion, and only 12% of the latter said it is something young people and the media will use. Eight percent of consumers said Twitter is already a digital has-been. Advertisers, per the poll, don't have much confidence about Twitter as an ad platform, either, as only 8% of those polled said Twitter is very effective for promoting products and ideas; half said it is "somewhat effective," and one-third said is "not that effective." Similarly, only 8% of consumers say it is very effective for promoting ideas and products and 42% believe it is just somewhat effective. Three in ten (31%) consumers say Twitter is not that effective and 19% feel it is not at all effective for promoting products and ideas. Not surprisingly, more of the younger advertisers than older had an opinion on Twitter. The firm says 11% of 18-39 year olds don't know enough about Twitter to have an opinion versus 20% of advertisers 40-49 years old and 21% of advertisers 50 and older. Even fewer consumers know or care about Twitter, per the poll. Fifty-five percent of adults 18-34 years old surveyed said they don't know enough to have an opinion, compared to 80% of those 55 and older. Most marketers said awareness is the challenge. Twitter's effectiveness as a marketing tool, they said, depends on consumers knowing what Twitter is, and why they should pay attention to it. "It is the advertisers and marketers who should play the lead role in promoting consumer education if they truly want to move Twitter beyond infancy and into its tween years," says the firm.
Top 10 DMAs in which live adults who used rice in the last six months: 1 New York 2 New Orleans 3 Baton Rouge, La. 4 Austin, Texas 5 San Antonio, Texas 6 Columbia, S.C. 7 Baltimore 8 Houston, Texas 9 Miami/ Ft. Lauderdale 10 Washington, D.C. (Hagerstown, Md.) Source: MRI's Market-by-Market study, www.mediamark.com
Sound in advertising is hot once again. Take the recent VW television commercial making light of a hybrid car's sound or General Motors admitting that the Volt has "the feel of a sports car" but its sound needs to be refined. Or Starbucks' approach to reinvigorating its brand by rejuvenating the coffee experience so that customers can hear the "whir of the grinders." We're often oblivious to the impact sound has on our product perception and choices. But whether we realize it or not, sound has the ability to inspire, create desire and persuade. The automotive industry has long recognized the power of sound to generate sales. Studies show that almost a third of consumers can distinguish one car from another by the sound of their doors closing. Automakers have taken notice. Chrysler, Mercedes and Acura all have acoustic engineers working on refining the sound of their car doors. Bentley's acoustic engineers have actually influenced the design of the car to achieve a unique and instantly identifiable sound in a market where almost half (44%) of consumers say the sound of a car is an important factor in their purchasing decision. It's been proven time and again that sound can alter people's behavior. Numerous experiments have illustrated that the pace of music can influence the size of the check at restaurants - the slower the music the greater the check. A grocery store study confirmed that the type of music played greatly influences the choice of wine. And when classical music is piped over loudspeakers in the London Underground, robberies dropped by 33% and vandalism declined by 37%. In the 1920s, the use of sound actually assisted in making people more comfortable with the elevator. When first introduced, people had a high level of anxiety about riding in elevators. Recognizing the calming effect music had on people, soothing music was pumped in to make passengers more at ease - and "elevator music" was born. While sound contributes heavily to the perception of quality in the automotive industry, it is making major inroads in other categories. Kellogg employed a company to design a particular crunch for its cereal. Nokia succeeded in trade-marking its ringtone, with 41% of global consumers able to recognize the Nokia tone. Bahlsen, a German food company, created a division of researchers to engineer an optimal crunch for its biscuits and potato chips, going as far as developing special microphones placed inside testers' ears to record crunching. Other companies clearly understand the power of sound to convey freshness by focusing on the sound of opening a jar of freeze-dried coffee, along with a can of soda or Pringles. Sound also plays a critical role in gaming. How engaging would Space Invaders be if the music intensity didn't pick up as the aliens got closer? Last year, Ogilvy used sound on behalf of Fanta to more effectively position the product with teens by creating a mobile application that used high-pitched frequencies audible only to people under 25. These sounds included wolf-whistles, warnings and "pssts," along with tags representing traditional words and phrases. Author Julian Treasure said, "Sound affects human beings in four ways: physiologically, psychologically, cognitively and behaviorally. These effects are profound, changing how we feel and what we do -- including our commercial decision-making and actions." Without the effective use of sound, the ability to evoke emotion is severely limited. Sound has an immediate, direct link to both the rational and emotional parts of our brain. Sound shapes our thoughts, our feelings, our behaviors, our lives. With all of the scientific and physiological evidence available, there is a real opportunity to begin using sound and our sense of hearing more effectively in the marketing of products, particularly in radio. After all, there are only two senses that can be "broadcast" to reach customer en masse -- sight and our hearing. Ads have been focusing on our sense of sight and visuals to grab and maintain people's attention, while our sense of hearing gets short shrift. But sound enables the messenger to reach a place within the human mind that visual branding cannot - and does not - approach. We can hear around corners, we can hear in the dark and our sense of hearing enables us to envision a product in a personalized fashion based upon our own individual experiences. In this challenging marketing environment focused on marketing payback, it might be a good time for the pendulum to swing towards the greater appreciation of our sense of hearing and the influence and effective use of sound and audio can have on our purchasing habits. Editor's note: If you'd like to contribute to this newsletter, see our editorial guidelines first and then contact Nina Lentini.