AirTran Airways has signed Orlando Magic All-Star Center Dwight Howard to a multi-year contract. Howard -- who is also an Olympic gold medalist, 2008 NBA Slam Dunk Champion and leader of the 2009 Eastern Conference Champions -- will be featured in radio spots, online advertising and high-impact billboards. "We could work with Dwight on other media, including TV, in the future," says Christopher White, AirTran Airways director of public relations. To officially kick off this partnership, Howard, along with AirTran Airways and Orlando Magic executives, unveiled "Magic 1" -- a one-of-a-kind Boeing 717 painted in the Magic's colors -- in Orlando, Fla. Despite the ongoing sex saga involving Tiger Woods, which has resulted in several sponsors dropping him, White tells Marketing Daily that the airline is not concerned about signing celebrity endorsers. "We carefully select the athletes and celebrities we choose to associate ourselves with," White says. "Dwight Howard is one of the brightest stars in the NBA and is equally dedicated to the communities he grew up and now lives in. These attributes are very similar to our corporate philosophy of staying involved in the communities we serve. We couldn't be happier with our association with Dwight, his family and his foundation." Since being selected as the first overall player in the 2004 draft, Howard has distinguished himself with numerous awards and accolades, including being named an All-Star three times; being the youngest player ever to reach 3,000, 4,000 and 5,000 rebounds; and winning a gold medal with Team USA in the 2008 Summer Olympics. Howard has also been involved in several charitable endeavors,, including the creation of the Dwight D. Howard Youth Foundation. Howard joins other high-profile sports endorsers on the AirTran Airways' roster, including quarterbacks Matt Ryan and Donovan McNabb; hockey stars Ilya Kovalchuk and Kari Lehtonen; baseball all-star Ryan Braun; pitcher Tom Glavine; and IndyCar racer Danica Patrick. "Associating ourselves with some of the biggest names in sports has been great for AirTran," White says. "Sports fans are particularly passionate about their teams and favorite athletes. By partnering with these stars, we not only raise the profile of our airline in the minds of these consumers, but our goal is to translate that increased awareness into revenue through flight bookings." Ann Green, Sr., senior vice president, marketing solutions, Millward Brown, says it's important for brands to constantly monitor the "brand health" of their spokespeople. "It is critical for marketers to stay on top of how celebrity spokespersons are perceived, particularly how their personality and values align with the brand," Green tells Marketing Daily. "While the return on celebrity partnerships can be significant, so is the cost, and brands must remember that celebrities are human and subject to flaws." Millward Brown's Cebra scoring has shown that celebrity "slips" can quickly impact fan perceptions, which can be quite long-lasting. "Some stories about celebrities are short-lived and don't have a real effect on brand equity, while others can have a long-term impact -- particularly once the buzz dies down and if affinity has suffered," Green adds.
In kicking off the Federal Trade Commission's Dec. 15 public hearing on food marketing and childhood obesity, FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz called on the food industry to "supersize" its efforts and "boldly reinvent the food marketplace." Leibowitz acknowledged "heartening" progress made by the food industry since a 2005 FTC/Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) workshop on food marketing to children, including healthier food offerings and changes in marketing practices implemented by the now-14 food companies and two restaurant chains (McDonald's, Burger King) participating in the Council of Better Business Bureaus' self-regulatory Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative. He also acknowledged that marketing is "only one factor" contributing to childhood obesity. However, Leibowitz noted the non-participation of some key food and beverage companies -- such as Yum Brands -- as well as other restaurant chains, and maintained that change has been coming in "small increments." He said that the FTC and other government agencies comprising the Interagency Working Group on Food Marketing to Children "continue to believe that the food industry and children's media are trying to effect positive change," but added that companies "cannot simply congratulate themselves" on meeting self-regulatory pledges. "We need to be sure that the pledges are adequate," he said. Leibowitz said that the magnitude of the health and societal issues posed by obesity among children requires faster implementation of recommendations made by the FTC in its 2008 report on marketing food to children. That report was based on analysis of 2006 marketing data subpoenaed from food companies and quick-serve restaurants. Specifically, he said that it's time for all food and beverage firms to adhere to "meaningful, nutrition-based standards," and that self-regulatory standardization is needed to "close nutrition loopholes." He also said that marketing-to-children standards should span all media, including virtual media and in-store and packaging promotions. He described children's food marketing as "more integrative and immersive than ever before," citing examples of highly trafficked, branded online game sites such as Millsberry.com. Leibowitz warned that while the FTC and other agencies involved "continue to encourage" the industry's self-regulatory approach,"many in Congress" will call for more direct regulatory oversight "if action doesn't come from the private sector." As noted in a statement during the forum by Dan Jaffe, EVP at the Association of National Advertisers, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) has proposed repealing the limitation on the FTC's unfairness rulemaking authority over children's advertising that Congress put in place in the late 1970s. In addition, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) has circulated a letter to Congressional colleagues stating that he intends to introduce legislation to eliminate the current tax deduction for advertising of "fast food and junk food" marketed to children. Leibowitz also said that it's time for the entertainment industry, and particularly children's cable television networks, "to play a constructive role" in changing the children's food marketing environment. Nickelodeon already has indicated that it will adjust its practices accordingly once uniform standards exist, he reported.
Subway and MTV Networks have forged a partnership to bring emerging artists, comedians and musicians to a wider audience through a digital marketing program being promoted as "Subway Fresh Buzz." The program, which will feature profiles, performances and exclusive content from 20 performers, will be anchored by SubwayFreshBuzz. MTVIggy.com and will be promoted through the MTV Network of Web sites and digital properties, including social media platforms. "This taps into our consumers' passion points of music and entertainment," Karie Ford, vice president of marketing for Subway Franchise Advertising Fund Trust, tells Marketing Daily. "Social media is a great outlet for us to push our message out, and we're excited to use it." A video on the site introduces several of the artists who will be profiled through the three-month program. Split in two halves, the video shows the artists working and conversing about their craft. The site has launched with profiles of Keiji Ando, a sneaker painter; Jennifer Chung, an online singing sensation and indie rock band Xylos, pop trio Pow Wow! and online comedy team The Fine Brothers. Two new profiles will be added each week through February. The site will offer free merchandise such as CDs, signed photos and work and Subway gift cards, and will feature integrated real-time chat capabilities, while graphics and colors will reinforce the Subway branding. In addition, Subway branding -- denoting the video as part of the company's FreshBuzz program -- will open and close each video and will be transferrable with the content if it's embedded elsewhere). Promotion of the site will be purely digital, with Subway using its customer database and advertising through MTV's various online properties, including MTV.com, ComedyCentral.com and SpikeTV.com as well as other social media initiatives. The site came about through Subway's Upfront negotiations with Viacom, Ford says. "We were looking for a way to come up with something groundbreaking," she says. "It's a great way to associate our brand with content that is current."
Susan Docherty took to the Web yesterday to talk to GM consumers, employees and fans on a range of topics, from GM's vehicle lineup to marketing, and the company's plans to build a relationship with consumers. The newly appointed VP of sales, service and marketing at the automaker said the company is in the process of putting together a new Web-based program focused on communicating with and keeping customers. "We are in the midst of launching a new customer sales, service and retention tool where we will be able to reach out to our customers via direct mail, email, etc. at least 30 times over the customer ownership lifecycle. The purchase of a vehicle is only the beginning," she said. "We also are working very hard to retain our Pontiac and Saturn customers to ensure we can keep them in the family." Docherty also promised that GM is revamping its online shopping platform. "Our customers can look forward to shopping, comparing, configuring and pricing out vehicles on the Web. But in terms of the final transaction, servicing and building a relationship we want customers to do that with our Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac dealers," she said. The company's new marketing chief also said that although the company pulled out of the Super Bowl and Oscars last year, she'd like to find a way back in to the former. "On day six of my new job I am not sure if we have any spots lined up for the Super Bowl, but I am going to a meeting later today, where I will find out. I totally agree that this is a great audience to reach -- but it is also a very expensive one. We are always looking for new and creative ways to reach consumers." The company will also continue to use Fox Sports gridiron analyst and sports announcer Howie Long in its ads for the Chevrolet brand "because it is definitely working," she said, and it will continue the "Professional Grade" positioning for the GMC truck division. "We have a very strong brand in GMC, and we plan to leverage and expand GMC's role as evidenced by the launch of the new GMC Terrain. Both the Terrain and Acadia are bringing women and conquest buyers, which is very exciting for us," she said. Asked how she will differ from Mark LaNeve, former VP of U.S. sales and marketing, and former CMO Bob Lutz, she suggested that her management style will be more transparent and retail-focused. "My leadership style is transparent, inclusive and with a bias towards listening and moving fast," she said. "In my new role I plan to be spending even more time with customers and dealers because this is where I can make the biggest impact, help strengthen our brands, and earn consideration in the hearts and minds of consumers."
The study, conducted by BIGResearch, says the average person had completed just 46.7% of their holiday shopping by the second week of December -- less than last year at this time, when 47.1% said they were all done. (Several other polls have reported that shoppers are holding back in hope of finding better bargains, and also because more are paying with cash.) In fact, NRF reports, that percentage is the lowest it has been since 2004. The NRF predicts that as a result, retailers will keep emphasizing deals and discounts to the very last minute. Separately, the NRF's Retail Advertising and Marketing Association (RAMA) reports that Wal-Mart Stores's "Snowflake" ad has been rated the highest among viewers. In the heart-tugging spot, a son conjures up a snowstorm for his soldier Dad, who is deployed in the desert. Wal-Mart leapfrogged over Target, which has topped the fan-favorite list every year since 2005, when the NRF and BIGResearch first began tracking retailers' holiday TV spots. And Wal-Mart won by a large margin -- this year, 25.5% of those polled selected the ad unaided, compared with just 16% for Target's ads. Last year, 24.2% named Target, versus 21.1% for Wal-Mart. In this year's poll, Best Buy came in third. And Gap, which has been on a several-year hiatus from TV advertising, barreled into fourth place with its peppy "Cheer" spots. Macy's took No. 5 with its "Believe" campaign, followed by Gap's Old Navy division, starring mouthy mannequins. Kmart came in at seventh place, followed by Hallmark, which appears in the top ten for the first time. Sears and Kohl's rounded out the top 10. Of course, how well ads are liked doesn't say all that much about how well they work. Only 16.8% of the more than 9,900 adults polled by BIG say the ads they liked motivated them to shop at a given store, although women were slightly more likely (17.5%) to do so. And about a third say it didn't matter, because they shopped at that store anyway. And while 22.6% say TV influences their decisions, it is a distant fourth place to coupons, with 44.6%, word of mouth (27.2%), and advertising inserts (26.9%). For the first time, the RAMA/BIG survey also asked consumers to nominate an online promotion they liked, and Walmart, Amazon, Best Buy, Target and Kohl's made the best impression.
Carl's Jr., a burger chain that is not exceptionally prudish when it comes to promoting its products with slinky celebrities, is launching a new campaign featuring scantily clad Kim Kardashian. The new campaign is for a line of new grilled chicken entrée salads. The effort for the three new salads -- Cranberry, Apple, Walnut Grilled Chicken; Southwest Grilled Chicken; and Original Grilled Chicken -- follows Carls' Jr. campaigns using Paris Hilton, who soaped a car with her body to pitch the chain's Spicy BBQ burger, and author and TV host Padma Lakshmi, who pitches a Western Bacon burger in an ad that shows her licking as much as eating the burger. To promote its Teriyaki Six Dollar burger, Carl's Jr. had actress Audrina Partridge wearing a gold bikini. In the newest TV spot, Kardashian is in bed with the salads. The effort, by L.A.-based Mendelsohn Zien, breaks next week on the chain's Facebook page, where Kardashian will also host a live event called "The Ultimate Salad Lunch Date" on Jan. 13. During the interactive webcast, Kim will chat via webcam with consumers while lunching on one of the salads. Another element of the campaign has Kardashian appearing in 3D, inviting guests to join her for the lunch. Following the invitation, viewers can have the 3D image of Kim twirl, blow a kiss, and strike a pose and more. The digital elements of the promotion are being handled by 72andSunny, Carl's Jr.'s digital agency of record. Carl's Jr., a unit of CKE Restaurants, Inc., whose roster of 3,147 franchised or company owned restaurants in 42 states and 14 countries includes Hardee's (1,221 are Carl's Jr. restaurants and 1,913 are Hardee's), has been using sex to sell both brands in recent years. Chicago firm Mintel notes that the two chains did a "Hot Chicks Eating Burgers," contest asking for video submission of attractive women eating burgers. A company spokesperson says Carl's Jr. targets "young, hungry guys, 18-34 years old. "Kim Kardashian appeals to both men and women. Her show ["Keeping Up with the Kardashians"] is a huge success, she has a large fan base, and she is very active online in social media." The spokesperson said the concept for the TV spot came about during an introductory meeting with Kardashian. "This product is a perfect fit for Kim and her image as she's recently shifted her lifestyle to focus on fitness and health, though she doesn't want to sacrifice indulgence and taste in her diet." Mintel says the approach makes sense, as men are not only more inclined to eat fast food than women, "they also do so with more frequency, making them an important consumer to the QSR market." In its August market survey of the QSR business, the firm says lower-income households are the most frequent users of QSRs and "the group has a strong uptake in usage frequency as well -- positioning them as an essential demographic to consider in marketing and innovation." The spokesperson says that as a regional brand with an ad budget that's much smaller than the other chains, "we try to make our ads iconic and memorable. If you are watching a Lakers game, you might see five ads for McDonald's but only one for Carl's Jr. so we want to make the most of that ad to ensure our young, hungry-guy target audience remembers it." According to Mintel, Carl's Jr. has seen share flat at around 2.3% of the QSR markets in 2008, even though sales grew 6.9% between 2006 and 2008 to $1.37 billion last year. In terms of market share Carl's Jr. is ranked number eight after sibling Hardee's. Carl's has highest concentration of restaurants in Southern California. The media buy, handled by Initiative Media, is heavy in sports programming.
Food companies' branded online interactive games came in for criticism during a presentation of new research at the FTC's Dec. 15 hearing on food marketing and childhood obesity. Elizabeth Taylor Quilliam, assistant professor in Michigan State University's advertising, public relations and retailing department, presented the findings of a study focusing on food-and-beverages-branded online games. Quilliam and her colleagues analyzed 146 "advergames" on the Web sites of major food manufacturers and fast-food and family-oriented restaurants. The foods featured on the sites were defined as "healthy" or "unhealthy" by using "Nutrition Standards for Foods in Schools" guidelines laid out by researchers at Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. The study included a comparison of the nutritional content of foods featured by companies participating in the Council of Better Business Bureaus' Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI) with foods on non-participants' advergames. One of the CFBAI's core principles states that participants "will commit that, in any interactive game primarily directed to children under 12 where the company's food or beverage products are incorporated into the game, the interactive game must incorporate or be accompanied by products representing healthy dietary choices...or healthy lifestyle messaging." Overall, the study found 83% -- or 99 out of a total of 119 identifiable food products -- to be "unhealthy." The study found that more CFBAI-participant companies (63%) clearly identified their games as ads. It also found that four CFBAI companies that have pledged to refrain from advertising directed to children under 12 honored that pledge in respect to advergames. However, CFBAI participant games were found to include more "unhealthy" products (those not meeting the nutrition guidelines chosen by these researchers as the analysis benchmarks) than non-participants' games. Among 68 CFBAI-participant company advergames, eight (11.9%) featured healthy products only, and six (9%) featured both healthy and unhealthy products. Among 33 non-CFBAI advergames analyzed, 11 (33.3%) featured healthy products only, and three (9.2%) featured both healthy and unhealthy products. A separate analysis of CFBAI participant games only found "better for you" products and healthy lifestyle messages present in about half of these games. CFBAI director Elaine Kolish pointed out that the results of this advergame study were not shared with CFBAI in advance of the FTC forum, making it difficult to respond in detail on the spot. However, Kolish noted that CFBAI's latest compliance report on participants confirmed again that companies were marketing only foods that met their pledged standards, and that these nutritional standards are very similar to various science-based, third-party standards. In addition, in her formal presentation, she showed several examples of CFBAI participant games, including ones that show only generic foods such as fruits and vegetables, ones that "promote nutrition literacy and healthy eating," and ones that promote physical activity by offering instructions for outdoor games and on-screen messages telling kids to take a break and go outside. Kolish also announced that 2010 changes in CFBAI's core principles will include "significantly expanded" coverage of media, including digital and mobile.
Top 10 DMAs in which adults reside who contributed money to an arts or other cultural organization in the past year: 1 San Francisco/ Oakland/ San Jose 2 Seattle/ Tacoma 3 Boston 4 Washington, D.C. 5 Hartford & New Haven, Conn. 6 Albany/ Schenectady/ Troy, N.Y. 7 Rochester, N.Y. 8 Minneapolis/ St. Paul 9 Honolulu, Hawaii 10 New York Source: Scarborough Research, www.weknowthelocals.com
Around the turn of the 20th century, people were moving into North Dakota in large numbers. With the growth of railroads, settlers from Norway and Germany filled empty swathes of landscape with vibrant, rowdy towns. Over the years, the railroads have long gone and the settlers have disappeared. Nowadays, few words of Norwegian or German are heard on the North Dakotan plains. The empty towns stand silent -- testaments to better times, serving as stark reminders of what might have been. Ghost towns might seem like obscure relics of a bygone era. But they have come back to life in the first decade of the 21st century. Just take a look into some of the nightmares of online marketers. More often than not, a brand marketer looking to build a social networking group cannot help but think: "Will they come?" and "If they come, will they stay?" In 2009, several brands connected with people in a meaningful way via social networking. JetBlue offered travel updates through its Twitter page. The Starbucks MyIdea site and Facebook groups provided people with an opportunity to provide real-time updates like "Stop wasting so many pastries!" and "Free refills with gold card." Skittles boldly went where no fruit-flavored candy had gone before and changed its home page to a listing of Twitter posts that contained the word "Skittles." In addition, Kimberly-Clark delivered relevant content to expectant moms through a pregnancy countdown widget that they could embed into their social networking profiles. Graco chose to engage moms on its brand community site Graco Nation, an approach also deployed by automotive makers like Mercedes, the BlackBerry lounge and the Fox show "The Simpsons." These are some of the success stories. However, the Internet is also littered with more than its fair share of empty or hopelessly sluggish social networking groups, the modern-day equivalent of the Old West ghost towns. It was no wonder that 2009 saw a spirited discussion on the best ways for marketers to sidestep the minefields that lay scattered across the social marketing landscape. A variety of studies served as useful pointers to marketers in this regard. A September 2009 Harris Interactive study indicated that marketers were better served by building trust and relationships with people via email before engaging them on social networking sites. A recent Nielsen study emphasized the importance of listening to consumers. It recommends that retailers not only listen to what they have to say, but to actively take part in that conversation. Through online listening, retailers can observe conversations that occur naturally to understand people's attitudes and needs -- and then proactively engage customers transparently to answer key questions or concerns." At the IAB MIXX conference this past September, a variety of keynote sessions and tracks dealt with how marketers were building vibrant and authentic community sites. Of particular interest was a session in which Cheetos discussed the Boredom Busters campaign with Federated Media, and how Betty Crocker brought moms together for birthday planning sessions on Cafemom.com. These are still early days for social marketing. That said, there are certain best practices through which marketers can avoid building the next generation of ghost towns:
• Have the right users It's obvious. Really obvious. Any social networking program is as good as its community members. Just like you can't make good pizza without good dough, you can't build a good social networking group or site without the right members. At the very outset, marketers can garner responsive members for their social networking group by tapping into their in-house list. These are people who have already reached out to your brand and said that they want to hear more from you. Why not talk to them through your social networking effort? Marketing can also deploy performance marketing (CPC/CPL) campaigns to recruit new users. Performance marketing is not only more cost-effective; by its very nature, it delivers a more engaged user -- the college student searching for that laptop on Google, or that sports fan signing up for a special offer on ESPN.com. • Engage consumers at multiple touchpoints Communicate with your member base through multiple touchpoints -- even beyond your social networking site or group. Email is a highly effective vehicle that marketers can use to keep consumers engaged with their brands. According to the Harris study referenced earlier, 96% of online U.S. adults said that they have provided their email address to receive special offers or more information from brands. Take a look at one of the most successful social marketing programs of all time: The Obama Presidential Campaign. Beyond the Facebook group, the Obama campaign kept users engaged through email, YouTube, iTunes, vertical sites (Asian Ave, BlackPlanet) and Twitter. • Listen And answer honestly. Building a relationship in the social networking space is not very different from a relationship in the real world. You have to be honest and transparent for the relationship to be meaningful. Threadless.com is a great example of a Web site that alters its offerings based on consumer feedback. In addition, all Twitter posts regarding Skittles make it to their home page -- not just the ones that say "OMG. You are the best thing to have come into the world since sliced bread."By following these practices, marketers can drive engaged consumers to their social networking groups and keep them there. They can keep their sites from becoming ghost towns. I am sure there are other ways that marketers can harness the potential of social networking to the fullest. What are some other best practices you can think of?