Looking to build on the success of its promotional program surrounding the first "Sex And The City" movie, Skyy Vodka is hooking up with Warner Bros.' New Line Cinema again for the second movie in the franchise, set to hit U.S. screens on May 28. The new program features most of the elements of the first, including global, co-branded advertising (print, broadcast, outdoor, digital and social media channels); on- and off-premise promotions featuring signature Skyy cocktails inspired by the film; sweepstakes to win tickets to the "star-studded" premieres of "Sex and the City 2"; and a series of charity screenings (100% of ticket sales to go to women's charities) in major cities just prior to the movie's national release, where fans will enjoy Skyy cocktails as well as an advance viewing. "This year, we are doing much of the same, but making [the promotions] bigger and better," says Andrea Conzonato, CMO for Gruppo Campari's Skyy Spirits subsidiary. "We also wanted to play up more of what we call 'cocktail couture,' which is the blend of "Sex and the City" fashion with sophisticated cocktailing." That objective inspired the brand to sign "Sex and the City" costume designer Patricia Field as its celebrity spokesperson across several promotional activities. Field has designed a movie-themed, limited-edition version of the brand's signature cobalt-blue bottle for Skyy (the brand's first-ever change to its design), which will be on retail shelves just prior to the movie's debut. She has also designed several cocktail accessories that will be available at bars and restaurants across the country during the on-premise promotions. In addition, one sweeps prize will be a New York City shopping spree with Field. Field's involvement "adds a relevant face to our marketing efforts, and should help us garner even greater results" than those seen in the first promotion, Conzonato notes. The first co-promotion program, implemented during April through June 2008 (the first movie also debuted during Memorial Day weekend), was Skyy's most successful to date in terms of account sell-in and volume lift during a specific promotional period, reports Conzonato. "The cocktail program was sold into thousands of bars and restaurants throughout the country, effectively opening the door for our new All Natural Skyy Infusions line of products, which had been released at about the same time," she says. "Awareness for unflavored Skyy also increased as we heavily promoted our relationship with 'Sex and the City' through an extensive, above-the-line advertising campaign." "Even we were surprised with the reaction we got from consumers" during that first promotion, Conzonato adds. "Of course, we knew that this entertainment vehicle had a huge following, but you can never be sure how that will exactly translate into consumer reaction to on- and off-premise co-branded programming. All of our promotional efforts around the film greatly exceeded expectations, making the decision to move forward on 'Sex and the City 2' that much easier."
Hyundai on Thursday took to the Web to talk to the press about the company's most important new product in years, perhaps ever -- the 2011 Sonata sedan. John Krafcik, Hyundai Motor America CEO, launched the webcast from -- appropriately enough -- the driver's seat of the new car, whose sticker price begins at just under $20,000. After following Krafcik into the hills of La Jolla, Calif. to the Torrey Pines Lodge, the webcast switched to a press conference in progress there. Krafcik strolled in, apparently having just arrived, and said that the company is spending more on Sonata's launch than on any other vehicle it has ever introduced in the U.S. "Sonata is our best-selling car, and if you can distill our brand to one car, it's Sonata. We spent $80 million to launch Genesis, and $120 million on the last Sonata," he said. "We are spending $160 million for the new Sonata, and that's big money -- especially for an automaker with our share of the market." He said that over the past 11 years, Hyundai's U.S. share increased to 3% by 2008. "By last year, we reached 4.2%, and so far this year we are ahead of that pace," he said, adding that the company's gains do not reflect Toyota's losses, as the 4.2% level was achieved in 2009. "In that economy, consumers had to think more deeply about durable purchases, and that really helped us." Hyundai's marketing strategy this year is a tripartite plan the company is calling "ABC," meant to address marketing challenges around rational, environmental and emotional consumer considerations. Krafcik said that in terms of rational barriers to purchase, Hyundai is putting its warranty offerings, its job-loss car-return program launched last year, and all quality and safety efforts under the "Assurance" umbrella. "Assurance" was introduced initially as the name for the car-return program to address the faltering economy. Hyundai's "Blue Drive" eco-strategy focuses on, among other things, earning the company the best mpg numbers in the industry. Krafcik said the new Sonata gets 35 mpg, and that Hyundai has reached the No. 1 position in EPA fuel economy. Scott Margason, who directs product planning for Hyundai Motor America, said fuel economy is still a big deal for car owners even though gasoline prices are down. "The last big change in fuel prices [in 2008] changed peoples' psychology," he said. "All the research we see suggests that fuel economy is staying at the very top of peoples' radars. It is a big purchase consideration: consumers want good power, style and features but also fuel economy. That's what we are trying to do with Sonata." The challenge on the "emotional" front, explained Krafcik, is connecting with consumers through cars with elements like the "Fluidic Sculpture" design language developed at Hyundai's Irvine, Calif. design studio, as well as "fun-to-drive dynamics and high power-density powertrains," he said. Krafcik said the one remaining barrier for Hyundai has been consumer perception of Hyundai's vehicle residual value. "There is still a perception that Hyundai vehicles depreciate more, but this isn't true now," he said. "Our job is to get consumers to see that." According to Krafcik, Hyundai has a slight advantage over Toyota in resale value based on three-year depreciation, and "compared to Ford, we have a significant advantage. That's terrific for us because depreciation is one of biggest costs of ownership," he said.
Kimberly-Clark is putting a new spin on "The Potty Dance" with new music, lyrics and a cross-country tour for its Pull-Ups training pants brand. The Neenah, Wis.-based company teamed with children's musician Ralph Covert of Ralph's World, to put some fun in the stress-inducing process of potty training. Singing and dancing can be a huge motivator for kids and can help inspire little ones to learn, according to the Pull-Ups brand. Covert encourages kids to ditch their diapers and "do what big kids do." He'll be featured at Pull-Ups Potty Dance parties cross-country in Chicago, Minneapolis, Seattle and Orlando. Pull-Ups brand is providing drop-off areas for party attendees to ditch their unused diapers and donate them to local women and children centers in the area. To bring the celebration into the home, Pull-Ups brand is also teaming up with Irvington, N.Y.-based House Party, an experiential marketing company, to host 5,000 simultaneous "Do The Potty Dance" in-home parties with Moms from coast to coast. During the gatherings, Moms and their kids will learn the dance and share potty-training tips with one another so everyone leaves the party one step closer to ditching the diapers for good. "We're excited to bring 'The Potty Dance' to life for parents and children across the country," said Pete Sawin, director of marketing, Kimberly-Clark North American Personal Care, in a release. "We hope they celebrate with Ralph at a Potty Dance Party or neighborhood party. Even more than that, we want to give families a fun dance to build into their daily routine at home -- a potty training ritual that really celebrates becoming a big kid." The dance is also featured online at the Pull-Ups Web site and consumers can order a free DVD. The dance parties and DVD are being promoted on Pull-Ups Facebook page, where parents can share personal potty-training experiences and photos with other parents and receive expert advice from the Pull Ups Potty Training Partners Panel.
Sprint is showing off the immediacy of its "Now Network" for people going in and out of JFK International Airport in New York, with an installation that will allow free Internet access to travelers. "The airport is a great location," Bernd Ahl, advertising manager for Sprint, tells Marketing Daily. "People are traveling with their mobile devices, and it's where we can really show off the Now Network." The installation is located near the airport's security checkpoint, ensuring high traffic of both business and leisure travelers, Ahl says. "Everybody who walks through there will walk by our experiential site," he says. In addition to showcasing Sprint products and services, the installation's 13-foot curved wall will also feature Sprint Now Network widgets, presenting up-to-date factoids and information. "There are a few that are specific to the New York area," Ahl says of the widgets, "such as traffic and flight arrival information." The installation will also allow up to 25 people to use Sprint's wireless network via intelligent mobile hotspot devices. The area also includes chairs, power outlets and workstations. "We're providing it as a demonstration of the network itself, as well as the MiFi [2200 by Novatel Wireless] devices," Ahl says. The lounge will be available for travelers through December. After evaluating the effectiveness and interest, the company may install similar areas on other U.S. airports, Ahl says.
Rums of Puerto Rico, the umbrella marketing organization for brands like Bacardi, Don Q, Ron Llave, Ron del Barrilito and Palo Viejo, is launching its first U.S. ad and marketing push in two years. The effort, "Reflections," takes a different tack than previous campaigns, which focused more on the umbrella organization than on the specific rum brands. The new effort, however, puts the spotlight on the different brands of rum made in Puerto Rico -- the largest source of rum to the U.S. The message is that Puerto Rican rums adhere to a set of strict quality and aging protocols evinced by the Rums of Puerto Rico logo. The campaign, via Key Integrated Solutions, will include TV, out-of-home, events, promotions, PR, social media, digital ads and partnerships with a focus on New York, Miami and Washington, D.C. markets. The organization is kicking off the campaign with sponsorship of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York and "Rums of Puerto Rico" lounges and spaces at New York's Madison Square Garden and Citi Field. Ads with headlines like "Passion," "Versatility," "Dedication" and "Perfection" are aimed at young professionals with the message that one's drink is a reflection of who one is, with ads showing people in hip settings drinking rum-based cocktails. The print and outdoor ads also show a phalanx of bottles for each major Puerto Rican rum brand. Javier Vázquez, executive director of the Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company, Rums of Puerto Rico's parent organization, said Puerto Rico is the source of 70% of rum consumption in mainland U.S. That organization will launch subway-dominating panel ads at the Bryant Park station on 42nd Street and at the Citi Field stop in April, as well as in Miami and New York airports, on taxi tops and bus shelters. The ads direct consumers to a new web site RumCapital.com. "The main objective is to showcase the brands that are under the Rums of Puerto Rico umbrella. We want to also make sure consumers understand that our rums are a symbol of quality," he says. "When we started the creative process we wanted to look for synergies between the target audience and the rum- making process."
While social media dominates the conversation among marketing executives, most companies are very slow to adopt it. The unrestrained nature of the medium makes a lot of executives nervous. The fact is that social media is a global phenomenon because it has penetrated our daily lives faster than any other mechanism in history. Four out of five U.S. online adults now participate in social media. Social networking penetration climbed from 58% of Internet users in 2008 to 86% in 2009 and 80% of female Internet users said they had become a fan of a product or brand on a social network. Given these surprising adoption statistics, I'm perplexed about the lack of investment, trials and cases proving social media ROI. It's time we brought social media more credibility. Like every other medium, there needs to discipline around the strategy, technology, process and measurement of social media. Of course, there are companies that are testing social media strategies, but it seems like everyone is throwing anything and everything at the wall to see what sticks. People are tweeting from conferences and events, ads are populating Facebook and YouTube and spam is sloshing around forums and chat rooms like beer at a tweet-up. Anyone with a Twitter handle gets instant credibility. It's time we increased the discipline and strategic planning around social media and give it the same respect we do every other marketing channel. Companies should utilize traditional strategic mapping and channel mix analysis with their social media programs in the same way they apply these discipline to other channels. Discipline forces consideration of return-on-investment and leads to better integration with the other channels. This "Social Media Mapping" will result in better results, which will fuel further investment in this underserved medium. Here are six points to help you map a more effective social media marketing experience:
These days, people are willing to go to great lengths to get people talking. They crash White House State dinners. They give their kids named like Apple, Banjo and Pilot Inspektor. They undergo 10 plastic surgeries in one day to alter their appearances. And those are just the celebrities! So why would brands be any different? In our oversaturated marketplace, companies know they need to really "shock and awe," advertising-style, to garner a degree of attention. The problem is, every once in a while they go a little too far (read: Brittany Spears shaving her head) -- and get people talking a little too much. Case in point: Taco Bell's new "Drive-Thru Diet," in which a very slender, very attractive, bikini-clad customer claims that she lost 54 pounds by swapping her usual fast food fare for Taco Bell's new Fresco menu. Say what? You mean to tell me that Taco Bell, home of the Mexi-Melt, the Gordita, the Enchirito, is now "good for you," too? The outlandish claim was enough to make Jared from Subway -- and just about everyone in the world who saw the commercial -- do a double take. Curiosities were piqued, all right: A recent Google search for "Taco Bell Diet" resulted in no fewer than 558,000 articles on the topic. Ay carumba! But it turned out that the Mexican fast-food company was taking a huge risk by subscribing to the old "all press is good press" mantra, and opening itself up to a huge amount of backlash. Take these tweets, for example: "Lmao at #tacobell diet menu lol aha." Or, "who the (!@#$) goes to #tacobell for health food. Come on now, they're going way too far with that claim." And, "#TacoBell is now saying that you can lose weight being on their taco diet. I've truly seen everything now!" In fact, Zeta Buzz, a company that mines blogs, message boards and social media postings to measure buzz about a subject, reported that "Taco Bell's buzz rating has dropped six points after launching the diet. While volume of posts increased 44%, the tone has become more negative." Taco Bell, we've got a problem. Or do we? The fact that so many people, many of them ardent Taco Bell fans, took to the Internet to question the diet's validity is proof in itself that these individuals care passionately about the brand. In the depths of their beings, they probably harbored hope that the diet actually worked; I know if I were a Taco Bell lover, I'd want to believe that I could continue eating my favorite fast food and lose weight. So, even though "Christine" (no last name) lost 54 pounds by limiting her daily intake to 1,250 calories daily (despite the fact that the average American eats 2,000 calories daily), the claim that she was able to do so while eating Taco Bell resonated with enough consumers to drive traffic to Taco Bell to try their Fresco offerings. In the end, yes, Taco Bell did something provocative to get itself on the lips of consumers. But was it any worse than Heidi Montag's day of 10 plastic surgeries? My answer is no -- and besides, its result was a whole lot more appetizing.