So now we know. After weeks of breathless speculation, we now have many answers about Apple's "latest creation." We know what it will be called (iPad). We know what it looks like (an iPhone on steroids) and what it can and can't do (basically everything an iPod Touch can do, but it won't replace your television). We know what it will cost ($499 for the most basic model), and we know when it will be available (late March). But what we don't know is whether Apple can work its magic again with consumers, the same way it did with the Mac, iPod and iPhone. While the iPad certainly has many things going for it (in particular, that price-point), it's likely that many consumers have been left scratching their heads over why they would want or need one. "Given the level of hype, I'm sure that lots of people are crushingly disappointed," Dylan Tweney, senior editor at Wired.com, tells Marketing Daily. "That said, it looks like a really cool gadget." At the presentation event on Wednesday, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said consumers were looking for something to bridge the gap between a smartphone and a laptop computer. "Now some people thought that was a netbook -- but a netbook isn't better than anything," Jobs said. "We think we've got something better, and we call it the iPad." As showcased, the iPad does an awful lot. It promises to operate all of the 140,000 apps already created for the iPhone and iPod Touch; it will have a Multi-Touch interface with a nearly full-sized touchscreen keyboard (when in landscape mode); it will store music, movies and photos and have access to the iTunes store, and it will come with its own e-Book reader and store featuring books from publishers such as Penguin, Harper Collins and Simon & Schuster. "It was pretty brilliant," says Lincoln Bjorkman, executive creative director for the New York region of digital marketing agency Digitas. "How could you go buy a Kindle when you can have this for $499? I think they have seemed to have learned an awful lot from the trials and tribulations with the iPhone." No doubt Apple has some hurdles to overcome, not the least of which is the network carrier for the 3G models. AT&T has taken a beating over its network, which is having trouble supporting the data usage of iPhone customers. Although Jobs called the pricing plans ($14.99 a month for 250 MB of data; $29.99 for unlimited data, as well as free use of AT&T WiFi hot spots) without a contract "a breakthrough," the carrier could remain a liability, at least in the early going. (Because it comes unlocked, it's also possible that the device could be used on other networks, and with no contract for data plans, consumers could switch carriers at any time.) "It's quite a coup for them to get that from AT&T," Tweney says. "AT&T has some real capacity problems and this isn't going to solve that." Apple also failed to follow through on hype that other programming, such as television shows, could be streamed on the device (although it's possible a deal for that could come later, Tweney says). But with demos from The New York Times, Major League Baseball and EA, it's clear that Apple has lined up top-tier content providers to help appeal to a broad range of consumers. "We've done a lot of work [on consumer and media research] over the last several years," says Eric Openshaw, vice chairman and U.S. technology leader at Deloitte LLP. "We all want the content we want, when we want it, where we want it ... If it's [just] a big iPhone, then maybe this device is interesting, but not necessarily groundbreaking. But if it wraps in the rest of the customer and consumer experience -- and it looks like it will with the big publishers they've lined up -- and if it steps out even further with a better TV experience, then I think we've got something that's red hot." But the real proof about whether people will buy the iPad will come in April. Considering it's an Apple product, there's little doubt people will line up outside the retail stores when the iPad hits the streets. If it meets success in the consumers' hands, Apple should have little problem selling enough of the gadgets. "I really want to get my hands on it," Tweney says. "I think that will be the acid test when people start using it. Does this interface make content come alive the way it didn't on other devices?"
For Hyundai Motor America, this may be the most important year since the company launched in the U.S. some 23 years ago. Not only is the Fountain Valley, Calif.-based automaker launching its biggest campaign to date for a single model, but that model -- Sonata -- competes in a segment that is both the high-volume region of the car market and the area where a brand's identity can be cemented or shattered. The company is launching three versions of the car this year, as well as the new Tucson compact utility and its first true luxury sedan, Equus, and early next year the next-generation Elantra compact sedan. It's all part of Hyundai's "24/7" plan to launch seven new models in 24 months. And at least with Sonata, the playing field is clear this year, as nobody else on the horizon is launching a mid-sized car in the U.S. right now. Many automakers are, in fact, cutting marketing budgets after a traumatic 2009. Sonata is also the second beneficiary of Hyundai's new vehicle-design philosophy, an effort to unify the portfolio under a stylish body design. Hyundai introduced the fluid, sleek look with the higher-end Genesis and Genesis Coupe in 2008 and 2009. Now, as then, the Super Bowl and the Oscars will be the big stages to show off the new car. Hyundai's VP of marketing, Joel Ewanick, speaks to Marketing Daily about how he's lining up the ducks this year. Q: What makes Sonata such a key vehicle for Hyundai now?A: The Genesis and Genesis coupe were halo vehicles that gave us a stronger value proposition around quality, performance and 'fun to drive', but [Sonata] is in the most competitive segment in the industry -- mid-size sedans -- which means it competes against vehicles like Camry, Accord, Malibu, Taurus, and Altima. Q: But isn't the importance of the mid-size car segment overstated now, given the resurgence of compact cars, mileage concerns, and of course, the ever-expanding crossover market, including compact-crossovers?A: The compact sedan and mid-size sedans make up over 3 million units -- the bulk of car sales. Toyota sold 435,000 Camrys last year; we sold 130,000 Sonatas. We want that number to go way up; we want to steal market share from the Asians and domestics. We want to see a 35% to 40% uptick in sales this year. Q: But do mid-sized cars have the same importance in terms defining a car brand that they used to?A: One of the things we look at is brand essence; we do maps of these things where the core vehicle is in the middle. For a lot of consumers, Toyota is most closely aligned to the Camry -- so brand image is really the Camry. Accord is right in the middle of Honda's brand image. In fact, the mid-size sedan is closely identified with what an auto brand is. And it's no different with Sonata. So when we spend all that time on Sonata, what we are really doing is really communicating what Hyundai is about: it's the core of our brand, the essence of our brand. That's why we are putting so much energy and so much focus on it. Q: The new Super Bowl ads seem to be a lot about design, not a lot of quick visual cuts -- more of a premium-car feel.A: Consumers have been saying for years that the cars in this segment don't look that good. They say, "I need practicality and utility, but why can't they make something that looks good?" We are selling styling, but also quality, performance with the car's 200 horsepower, and its 35 mpg, and the under $20,000 price, which we are going to introduce on the Super Bowl. When you have upwards of 95 million people watching this, you have a huge number of people who are going to buy cars in this category watching. We are trying to make it difficult for them not to consider Sonata when they make that purchase decision. One of the biggest challenges a marketer has is getting moved up in that file drawer of brands in someone's consideration set. Q: How important are the Super Bowl and Oscars to Sonata and to Hyundai's overall brand marketing plans this year? A: We can't de-couple the fact that we are on the Super Bowl Feb. 7 and on the Academy Awards on March 7. They have to complement each other. It's a perfect strategy for us to tie those two together, the two largest TV audiences of the year. We are trying to tell a story to build awareness, and have people reconsider us. Just being in big places is part of that strategy. It's called "big places, big voices" and it's a cornerstone: just telling our story where a whole lot of people gather -- the fact that we are there and a lot of other manufacturers aren't is what it's about in a nutshell. Between the Super Bowl and Academy Awards we are spending 8% of our total media budget. But there will also be a big media push May through August, then again with September through December for the hybrid version and another Sonata model as well.
Many food and beverage brands are pruning their product lines, but Kellogg's Special K is definitely not among them. The latest additions -- Special K Low-Fat Granola and Special K Fruit Crisps -- join a line that already includes eight varieties of cereal, plus protein shakes, K20 Protein Water Mixes, protein snack bars, protein meal bars, cereal bars, waffles and crackers, according to the brand's Web site. The brand's weight-management, "Special K Challenge" platform has, in other words, enabled it to move well beyond the cereal aisle, to stake out territory in the diet/nutrition, snack, cracker and frozen food aisles -- and provide women with reasons to turn to its products throughout the day. While some marketing pundits have expressed doubt about the viability of new extensions along the way (David Kiley predicted on BusinessWeek.com back in 2006 that Special K would soon be running up against the pitfalls of "brand extension greed," for example), they keep coming. The reason isn't hard to identify: Repositioning the brand as a multifaceted weight-management solution for women -- particularly within an increasingly sophisticated marketing strategy that emphasizes healthy, realistic goals and lifestyles that contribute to self-esteem -- has proven extremely successful. "We know from talking with weight-conscious consumers that they are looking for products that help them stay on track with weight-management goals without sacrificing great taste" or feeling that they are depriving themselves, Kellogg Company director, brand PR Susanne Norwitz tells Marketing Daily. "It is with this goal in mind that we are constantly evaluating our portfolio and offering up new and creative meal and snack solutions for consumers to enjoy." The brand's well-researched emphasis on achieving sensible, overall weight/health goals is more evident than ever in its latest TV commercials from Leo Burnett Chicago. The series of ads features "real" women expressing and achieving attainable weight and physical fitness goals, as opposed to featuring rail-thin models ... or even touting specific Special K products. In addition to airing a barrage of these spots timed to start off the New Year, Special K launched a new Web site (thevictoryproject. msn.com) devoted to tools, tips, articles, discussion areas and video profiles of women succeeding at implementing healthier lifestyle plans. Not surprisingly, Special K is also employing online and social media outreach for its product launches. For example, for the launch of the low-fat granola (50% less fat than the "leading" granola, with 190 calories and six grams of protein per serving), Special K previewed the cereal to thousands of women visiting the Special K Web site in January looking for New Year's resolution tips/information, according to Kellogg. Visitors were greeted with a simple invitation: "Granola lovers wanted." Special K also reached out to brand advocates via an email and its branded Facebook page. In addition, having laid the foundation with the general lifestyle commercials, starting Feb. 1, Special K will begin airing TV spots devoted to the new granola. Those will be accompanied by coupon offers on SpecialK.com, Facebook and other online media. As for Special K Fruit Crisps -- two fruit-filled snack bars per pack totaling 100 calories -- the launch plan includes PR supporting the product's debut on shelves this month, a TV spot airing in the first two quarters of the year, and additional digital support in Q3, reports Norwitz. In addition, the crisps will be featured as part of TV support between February and March, and again in July as part of new creative supporting Special K Bars.
After enduring well over a year's worth of brutal sales results, two leading retail organizations are forecasting a much happier 2010, with overall sales predicted to rise by at least 2.5%. The first comes from the National Retail Federation, the Washington D.C.-based trade group, which thinks more jobs and a healthier housing market will spur a gain of 2.5% in retail sales, as compared to a total decline of 2.5% last year. And Retail Forward -- a Kantar Retail Company based in Columbus, Ohio -- is somewhat more optimistic, anticipating a gain of 1.5% to 2.0% in the first half of the year, advancing to 3% to 4% in the second half, for a total gain of somewhere between 2.5% and 3% for the year. Of course, there are plenty of caveats, Retail Forward economist Frank Badillo tells Marketing Daily. "Renewed job and income growth will ultimately outweigh other drags on the recovery, such as tighter credit availability and new credit regulation," he says. "And we've seen some real improvement in consumer confidence levels since the lows of last March. But if confidence and the overall mood of the country were to turn more negative, that could threaten the outlook." The channels that performed best during the holiday period will continue to do well, including non-store and online; food, drug and mass, and soft goods. Still, even those forecasts are somewhat tempered. Since much of the fourth-quarter gain in online spending was driven by products like e-book Readers, that demand may prove to be a blip. "If some of that demand proves to be a one-time surge, then non-store sales growth will subside into single digits early in 2010 and further ease later in the year." Food, drug and mass channels are forecast to register 2.5% growth in the first half of the year, and 4% in the second half. "As we continue to see signs of improvement throughout the U.S. economy in 2010, overall sentiment will begin to lift, making way for slight increases in consumer spending," NRF Chief Economist Rosalind Wells says in a statement. "While we still expect shoppers to continue to be frugal with their discretionary spending, retailers will soon be able to reap the benefits of leaner, smarter inventories and a year and a half of pent up consumer demand."
Right Guard is playing a strong defense with the NBA. The official deodorant of the NBA is launching a new ad push during the April NBA Playoffs that backs Right Guard's new premium anti-perspirant, Right Guard Total Defense 5. Doug Weekes, general manager of the Dial Corporation brand, tells Marketing Daily that ads will feature Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets. "We have a multi-year relationship with Paul, who happens to be another great defensive player," says Weekes. "In the spot, he is something of a metaphor for defense on the court, in life and of the product itself." He says ads will most likely have game footage, "for instance where, in the final seconds of a game, he steals the ball, runs it down the court, gets the final point -- that sort of thing." Chicago-based Energy BBDO handles. Weekes says that while the spot is built around an NBA thematic, the media buy isn't limited to hoops, but will include a heavy presence around other sport networks. "We also plan to run it across multiple other media not specifically sports to broaden our reach to core consumers." The tag for advertising, point of sale and online for the new Right Guard Total Defense 5 product is "Upgrade Your Defense." Weekes says the Right Guard brand still uses "Never Get Caught Off Guard" as its umbrella tag line. As part of the campaign for Total Defense 5, Right Guard has signed on as third founding partner of the NBA's new youth basketball initiative called iHoops, an effort to find and cultivate talented young players. Adidas and Nike are also sponsors. Among other things, Right Guard will be official sponsor of "The Right Guard Total Defense Challenge," a nationwide search for the best high school defensive stopper, which starts next month. Right Guard will get online branding and a presence at grassroots events and online. Said iHoops CEO Kevin Weiberg at a New York event on Wednesday to announce the program: "It fits with Right Guard's Total Defense 5 product, and offers them an avenue to extend their basketball positioning to grassroots." He said the company will get display ads on a number of pages at iHoops.com. The Right Guard Total Defense Challenge includes an online-contest component wherein players, coaches and parents can upload videos of defensive highlights at the site through July. IHoops judges and online voters will select 30 winners, who get one-on-one training with NBA players and staff coaches and tickets to games. Right Guard's new product replaces Right Guard Xtreme, which has been Right Guard's premium product for 15 years. Weekes explains that the market is bifurcated. "There are two price points in the category. Right Guard Sport is our opening price point, but the premium end of the business is growing very nicely across the category as well for us, and that's also the end that's especially relevant to younger males," he says. "They are willing to pay a little more for better performance." Weekes said that in addition to the reformulation, the name needed a change. "We launched Xtreme when extreme sports were new, but they have become more mainstream over the last two decades, so I felt the relevance of the name wasn't as clear. Now people want more straight talk and so Total Defense was just a very clean and simple way to communicate it. And it tied in very nicely with what the NBA was doing."
McKesson Corp.'s Health Mart is launching a five-week TV blitz starring real pharmacists. The campaign breaks Jan. 31 during the Grammy Awards and runs during the Super Bowl, Winter Olympics and the Academy Awards. Created by Avrett Free Ginsberg (AFG), pharmacists in Vernon, Texas, and New York City relay true stories about how they have impacted their local communities by taking the time to care and provide special services such as diabetes counseling and testing. The TV spots are an extension of Health Mart's recent "Health Across America" campaign -- a combination of national screening events, PR and social media. It includes three 30-second spots, a 15-second spot and a 10-second spot. The campaign also includes outdoor, since the focus is all about locally owned, community-minded Health Mart pharmacists and the personal service, clinical expertise and community-minded caring they deliver. Every element of the campaign uses a drive-to-site call to action to find a locally owned Health Mart, so online and the Health Mart Web site also will play a role. Independent pharmacy network Health Mart has grown 850% during the past four years in all 50 states. The spike in franchisees has been driven by community pharmacists signing on for the branding, advertising, and wholesale pricing to compete with big chains. The campaign will air in 77 local markets nationwide. Beyond the Grammys, the media buy will include multiple TV spots during the Super Bowl on CBS, about 15 units during NBC's broadcast of the Winter Olympic Games from Vancouver and two units in the Academy Awards telecast on ABC on March 7. The entire country will receive an additional five-week blanket of TV spots on networks including CBS, NBC, HGTV, TLC, USA, A&E, Fox News, Style, TNT, Lifetime and Food Network, says Bob Piwinski, executive group account director at AFG. "Smart media buying will reach specific regions of the U.S. that represent high concentrations of the communities in which the 2,500 Health Mart pharmacies currently operate in today," Piwinski tells Marketing Daily. All footage was shot on location with the pharmacists playing themselves. "It was important to all of us to use as many real elements in the shoot as possible," says AFG Creative Director Alex Bloom. "The main point we're trying to communicate with Health Mart Town is that no matter where you are -- whether that's a small town in Texas, or a big city like New York City, and anything in between -- a locally owned Health Mart Pharmacy turns any place into a Health Mart Town." Shot by director Andrews Jenkins of Go Films, the spots are black-and-white, with the Health Mart signage the only color element.
Just like clockwork, the Olympics are here again. Since the change to two-year rotations between winter and summer games, it seems like we are always hearing about the wonders or limitations of the next host city. As cities and countries beg for the honor, we hold our breath with suspense (for what feels like 20 years), when finally the decision is revealed in what turns out to be only the day after tomorrow. All this focus on where the Olympics are now and where they will be in 10 years started us thinking about where they might be if consumers, not the Olympic governing bodies, picked the locations. To learn more about how American consumers see various locales, we tapped into Landor's consumer brand equity tool, BrandAsset Valuator (BAV). In the United States, we measure over 2,500 brands annually on 70 key measures of equity and imagery. BAV includes products, services, companies, TV shows, and just about every type of brand you can think of -- including 28 countries. According to 2009 BAV data, the following 28 countries were ranked by their overall brand health: 1. United States 15. Russia 2. Japan 16. Spain 3. Australia 17. Holland 4. United Kingdom 18. South Africa 5. Canada 19. Brazil 6. Israel 20. Chile 7. Italy 21. Singapore 8. Switzerland 22. Puerto Rico 9. Ireland 23. Mexico 10. Germany 24. India 11. China 25. Costa Rica 12. Scotland 26. Argentina 13. France 27. Cuba 14. Hong Kong 28. Hungary So what does this mean? First of all, as citizens and residents we feel good about our country and would probably be just as happy to have the Olympics here all the time -- economic factors aside. Year after year and on nearly all measures, the United States is ranked as the number one country brand. It is tops on all four key pillars: differentiation, relevance, esteem, and knowledge. In fact, the United States is usually rated the number one brand out of all 2,500 brands. Our next strongest brand is Japan. Because we often consider ourselves biased toward Western countries, this may at first seem surprising. But the data doesn't support that self-critical notion. Japan scores well on all pillars except the relevance measure. This means that Americans find Japan differentiated (unique and distinctive); esteem it (hold it in high regard); and even claim to really understand Japan (high knowledge score). Who knows, maybe Japan's heritage of successful Olympics -- Tokyo, Sapporo, and Nagano -- may have helped build its brand. Certainly this is what the organizers have in mind when they vie for the very expensive privilege of hosting them. If Americans voted for an Olympic location, Japan would have a pretty good chance of winning. Next, we have Australia -- always an interesting country to analyze. While Australia is well differentiated, well known, and more relevant than Japan, American consumers don't esteem it as highly as some other countries. That usually means they just don't like and respect it so much. Australia scores lower on esteem than the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Canada. Looking deeper into the data, Australia falls down on being innovative and seen as a leader, two attributes Japan does well on. However, we do find Australia charming, carefree, and down to earth. Sounds like that old "shrimp on the barbie" campaign endures. Time for something new to move Australia to the next level and give us something to admire? Another great Olympics? But what about Canada? This did start out as an article about Olympic locales, and Vancouver is just around the corner. In our list of 28, Canada is the fifth strongest country brand. Breaking it down, we give Canada high scores for differentiation but only middling respect in terms of relevance and esteem. Why? Canada falls wa-a-a-a-a-y down on innovation -- scoring only in the seventh percentile. It also underperforms most other country brands on leadership, prestige, and being stylish. At the same time, we believe Canada is friendly, fun, healthy, especially kind, obliging and caring, socially responsible, down to earth, and even gaining in popularity. A nice fit for the Olympics, and a profile that should encourage visitorship and viewership. The question is, can the Vancouver Olympics help build the Canadian brand in the areas in which it is weakest-style, prestige, and innovation? A brilliant design and great-looking games with lots of new ideas and effective use of technology could go a long way to rectify those weaknesses. Let's see how it all comes out.
Integrated Marketing Communication requires the integration of multiple sensory experiences. But, what happens if one of our senses is compromised? What if your ears could no longer hear what I have to say? Take a few minutes, and experience any one of the available online hearing loss simulators. The experience will change you. You will begin to "listen" with greater intent. Consumers today are hearing-impaired in a metaphorical sense. It is no longer easy to hear anything above all the noise that bombards people. They are expected to take in multiple conversations through multiple channels (often concurrently) and hear what we have to say. If someone cannot hear, we often respond by turning up the volume. We give them more of what they cannot process. In essence, we amplify the problem. As marketers, we tend to shout and we expect that consumers will listen to us on our terms. After experiencing "hearing loss" you quickly come to realize that hearing and listening are two very different things:
1. Hearing is an auditory process. Listening involves multiple senses. The spoken word is simply a gateway into a more meaningful experience. When we truly listen, we look for expressions and gestures to lend context and meaning to what we hear. Ultimately, we reconcile intentions with actions. The old expression, "actions speak louder than words" is profoundly true. 2. Listening takes effort: We may passively hear, but we actively listen. Listening takes extra effort, and we expect to be rewarded for such effort: either inform me, touch my heart, spark my passion, acknowledge my words, and/or show me that you care. Otherwise, I'll become frustrated that you put me through such effort when you really had nothing valuable to say. And ... I'll tune you out! 3. Conversations require empathy. We are all accountable for our conversations, and we must do what it takes to be heard. Unfortunately, marketers often mistake "doing what it takes" with chasing media consumption and intercepting consumers with brand messaging at every turn. The marketing term "surround sound" mistakenly assumes that consumers want to hear you at every juncture. Rather, it's time we asked. Maybe, it's our turn to listen.What if, as marketers, we changed our brand conversations to account for such hearing loss? What if we applied the three lessons described above to our approach to being heard?
1. All of a sudden, a brand's behavior will become more powerful than its words. We will strike the term "share of voice" from our marketing vernacular. We will opt for creating and measuring brand actions and interactions, instead. 2. We will acknowledge the effort that consumers make to engage with brands, and we will continuously reward them for their efforts by providing valuable and contextually relevant brand experiences that meet their needs and desires as opposed to our own. 3. And, finally, we will approach marketing with greater empathy. We will openly acknowledge that being a loyal consumer isn't easy. We won't stalk them. We won't shout at them. We won't compound their hearing loss; rather, we will make the necessary accommodations to ensure that they can hear us on their terms.