Taking a page from its 2008 playbook, Visa is updating its "Go World" campaign with ready-made pieces to congratulate the company's sponsored athletes when they win a medal. "We know through research that the way consumers connect to the games is through the athletes and their stories," Jennifer Bazante, head of global brand marketing for Visa, tells Marketing Daily. "It helps extend the window of the breakthrough moment for the athlete." As a major sponsor of the games, Visa has already aired three commercials congratulating sponsor athletes. One commercial, celebrating downhill skier Julia Mancuso, animates a drawing the athlete made when she was a little girl depicting her winning medals at the Olympics. "Well, she doesn't have to draw her own posters anymore," says a voiceover from Morgan Freeman, as the video cuts to Mancuso celebrating her triumphant run. (Mancuso won silver in the downhill and super combined events.) "It helps extend the story line a bit more," Bazante says. "It [also] helps keep the campaign fresh and relevant." To create the spots, Visa is working closely with Olympics broadcaster NBC to capture moments from the athletes' races. Those moments are dropped into commercials prepared before the games began, Bazante says. The company has then contracted with NBC to run the ads directly after the athlete has been determined as a medalist. In addition to Mancuso's commercial, Visa has already run spots congratulating snowboard cross gold medalist Seth Wescott and Nordic combined silver medalist Johnny Spillane. Visa first ran a commercial congratulating one of its sponsor athletes in 2008, when Michael Phelps won his eight gold medals during the Beijing games. The spot worked so well with consumers that Visa opted to extend the idea during this year's Olympic games, Bazante says. "We thought it was interesting to see the performance of these spots in terms of the performance of the campaign," Bazante says. "As people are exposed to multiple spots, the more spots there are [in the pool], the better the performance for the entire campaign."
African-Americans are the largest racial minority market, constituting 11% of the U.S. adult population, per research firm Experian. And this group is increasing its purchase power, which reached $913 billion in 2008, up from $590 billion in 2000. By 2013, that amount will reach $1.2 trillion, meaning nine cents out of every dollar spent in the U.S. will come from African-American consumers. Using data from several of its consumer and media divisions, Experian says African-Americans are also more optimistic about their financial situation than the general population. African-Americans are more likely than average American adults to say that in the next year they will be better off financially: Experian data says 36% of African-Americans said they would be better off financially, versus 31% of all adults. Experian Simmons' Summer 2009 National Consumer Study surveyed consumers on -- among other things -- which statements applied to them. The firm says statements that indexed most strongly with African-Americans versus the general population included: "Owning a foreign car is much more prestigious than owning an American car;" "People often copy what I do or wear;" "I prefer fast food to home cooking;" and "I'm usually first among my friends to try new clothing styles." In the area of finance, the statements that indexed most strongly for African-Americans were: "I find advertising for financial services to be interesting;" "I'll pay any price for good financial advice;" and "My friends or associates often ask for my advice in financial matters." In the area of shopping, the study says African-Americans index most strongly with statements like: "I'm usually first among friends to shop at a new store;" and "I often go out of my way to find a new store." In the health area, "The most expensive medicine is usually best;" "I gather health info from the library;" and "There is not much point in taking non Rx meds since they don't really work" all index strongly with African-American consumers. Finally, in the area of media habits, statements like "I enjoy reading ads in magazines;" "advertising helps me choose products for my kids;" and "I find TV ads interesting and quite often it gives me something to talk about" index strongly. Per Experian Simmons' Spring 2009 Multi-Media Engagement Study, House Beautiful magazine readers are 37% more likely to be African-American and the magazine scores 83% higher than the average magazine among African-Americans readers who say they are likely to buy products or services advertised in the magazine. Other top-ranking magazines are American Baby, Sporting News, Harper's Bazaar, Health, Soap Opera Digest, Parenting, Hot Rod, Fitness and Ebony. The firm's New Media Study conducted last spring said African-Americans are 20% more likely than average to watch movies online, 19% more likely to listen to Internet radio and 18% more likely to use social tags or bookmarks. The most popular mobile activities were watching video uploaded to phone, uploading photos to social networking sites, downloading ringtones and music and watching streaming video.
Ben & Jerry's says it's diving headlong into Fair Trade, and that by 2013, all of its flavors in all of its markets will be converted to Fair Trade Certified ingredients. And observers expect that the ice-cream brand's pioneering move will usher more consumers into the still-fuzzy Fair Trade fold -- and force other brands to follow. The Burlington, Vt.-based company, which has been owned by giant Unilever for a decade, began introducing Fair Trade Certified-ingredients into some flavors back in 2005. And other major marketers, including Dunkin' Donuts, Starbucks, Wal-Mart and Whole Foods Market, also offer some Fair Trade options. But observers say it is the all-or-nothing nature of Ben & Jerry's announcement that makes this important. "It's the first 100% commitment from such a mainstream brand," Stacy Geagan Wagner, a spokesperson for TransFair USA, the nonprofit group that certifies ingredients as Fair Trade, tells Marketing Daily. (Cadbury's Green & Blacks, a niche brand in organic chocolate, pledged to switch 100% Fair Trade ingredients last month.) And in some ways, it seems that Fair Trade's mainstream moment is nigh. Once seen as a fairly obscure concern focused on a product's price, consumers are increasingly sympathetic to the Fair Trade's implications for sustainability, the environment and the social and labor issues. In the U.S., 2008 -- the year the certification first began appearing on coffees in Starbucks and Wal-Mart -- sales climbed to $1.2 billion, up 20% from the prior year, Wagner says. Still, the concept is foreign to more than two-thirds of U.S. shoppers, many of whom still grapple with the meaning of terms like "organic," "environmentally friendly" and sustainable:" Just 29% of U.S. consumers are familiar with the Fair Trade certification concept; globally, that familiarity is 50%, according to the group's most recent polling data. And even among those who understand the concept, as many as 16% don't see such certifications as credible, says Liz Gorman, VP/corporate responsibility for Cone Inc., the Boston-based cause-related marketing firm. But Ben & Jerry's, with its flair for social marketing (its Facebook page has more than a million fans, and it often links new-flavor launches to built-in fan groups provided by popular bands) hopes to change that. "Fair Trade is about making sure people get their fair share of the pie," company co-founder Jerry Greenfield says in the company's release. "The whole concept of Fair Trade goes to the heart of our values and sense of right and wrong. Nobody wants to buy something that was made by exploiting somebody else." "I see it as the rise of the social consumer," says Wagner. "We have the ability to choose product A, which tastes great, or Product B, which also tastes great, but doesn't exploit anybody." The transition, Ben & Jerry's says, involves "converting up to 121 different chunks and swirls, working across eleven different ingredients such as cocoa, banana, vanilla and other flavorings, fruits and nuts," in cooperatives that include 27,000 farmers. Gorman says the move will serve to enhance Ben & Jerry's brand as a market leader, and further dispel the criticism that they have "sold out," an accusation that still dogs the company, even a decade later. "It is still a values-driven brand," she says, "and this Fair Trade move is evidence of that. They've really moved the needle for big companies."
The California Milk Processor Board, the state-market trade group that created the original "Got Milk" campaign, is launching an iteration of its four-year-old California-focused Hispanic-market "Toma Leche" (drink milk) campaign. The new effort, which carries the theme "More than Just Milk" (Mucho Más Que Leche), is the board's biggest Hispanic-market effort to date. It is also the first that uses radio ads. The campaign, by Long Beach, Calif.-based Grupo Gallegos, touts the nutritional benefits of milk with three 30-second Spanish-language spots: "Dentist" (Dentista), "Hair" (Pelo) and "Sports Drink" (Bebida Deportiva). The first two set up a conceit suggesting the product is toothpaste and shampoo, respectively. In the first, a little girl is being examined by her dentist when suddenly, animated teeth begin dancing about the office to the surprise of the dentist, his assistant and the patient, singing about the virtues of beautiful, healthy teeth: "Beautiful teeth. Strong teeth. Healthy teeth all-year long. Presenting a product that has it all, that fights for you." Cut to a carton of milk in a fridge. "Presenting milk," says the voiceover, "Its calcium helps produce strong teeth and prevents cavities." The second ad, breaking March 22, uses the same approach by exploiting a shampoo-ad cliche of a beautiful woman with long, silky hair walking in the forest. The sports-themed ad, breaking in April, touts chocolate milk as a drink that builds muscle and is ideal for sports. Steve James, executive director of the board, tells Marketing Daily that the campaign includes a robust online component, "where we will have a website dedicated to 'Mucho Mas Que Leche'," as well as print for the first time, and special events including pop-up kiosks at malls. "It is much more multifaceted than anything we've done before in the Hispanic market," he says. "We felt that with the very high awareness of 'Got Milk' combined with the fast-growing Hispanic population, which over-indexes on consumption of milk, we felt we could afford to shift media dollars to the Hispanic side." Sports sponsorships may be coming, although that hasn't been hammered out. He says that since the sports-themed ad doesn't launch until later in the year, "we have until August or September to decide how we will support that tactically." Spanish-language radio spots in California broke last week. The campaign will also feature a new Web site and magazine wraps for People en Español, which will be distributed at family doctors' offices starting June. James says the CMPB is also prepping a general-market campaign that will launch in about a month: "It will be very, very beautiful to look at and very aspirational." The most recent general-market campaign, "White Gold," is based on a fictive rock star who benefits from drinking milk and has a milk-filled transparent guitar ended in the fall.
Although the recession has had a significant negative effect on frequency of restaurant visits for the dinner/supper meal, particularly among younger groups, the decline is a long-term trend that also has much to do with the aging population and changing lifestyles, according to a new report from The NPD Group market research company. The evening meal is the restaurant industry's largest sales driver, but it has been the weakest-performing daypart for the past decade, according to "Getting a Grip on the Supper Market." And while dinner is the meal that normally leads the industry out of recessions, that will not be the case this time, NPD concludes. The youngest adults -- those 18 to 31 -- represent the largest share of dining traffic (28%), and have also seen the largest drop in per-capita supper meal occasions per year. Between 2001 and 2009, their average dinners out per year dropped by 13, from 79 to 66. During the same period, the average number of restaurant dinners per year also declined (by seven, in each case) within three of four older groups. Among those 32 to 34 (representing 19% of traffic), average dinners out declined from 70 to 63; among those 44 to 51 (20% of traffic), from 67 to 60; and among those 52-61 (16% of traffic), from 63 to 56. Only the oldest group -- those 62 and up (17% of traffic) -- showed a slight increase in average suppers out during the period (up to 49, from 48). What's behind these numbers? First, says NPD restaurant analyst and report author Bonnie Riggs, the numbers demonstrate a general, already-known trend: People tend to eat dinner out less often as they age. Even in 2001, the average number of dinners out per age group was progressively lower from youngest to oldest. Therefore, the aging population is creating a shift in the profile of supper restaurant users, she points out. Whereas younger consumer groups had -- and continue to have -- the highest restaurant-supper frequency, their pullback on visits has narrowed the frequency gap -- and the sheer number of aging Boomers has increased the importance of more mature adults to the supper occasion. "The fact that older consumers make up a larger portion of the population, and are lighter restaurant supper users, is part of the explanation" for the general slip in per-capita dinners-out numbers -- although not the full story, says Riggs. Economic factors have also played a role, especially among younger groups. For instance, among those 18 to 31, the entire 13-visit decline actually occurred between 2006 and 2009. Although the official recession didn't kick in until December 2007, this youngest group -- which includes those with young families -- had to cut back on expenses in response to the first precipitous gas price hikes in summer 2006, and was also among the earliest and hardest-hit by employment challenges, notes Riggs. Similar economic effects, to a lesser extent, were also seen among the next-youngest group (ages 32 to 43), where most of the decline in dinners-out also occurred between 2006 and 2009. The older groups' dinners-out cutbacks generally have been less directly recession-driven -- their average number of restaurant dinners show decline both before and after 2006. For instance, the average for "young Boomers" ages 44 to 51 dipped by five between 2001 and 2005, and by two between 2006 and 2009. However, even shifting demographics and the recession don't entirely account for dropping restaurant-supper rates. "Even if you subtract out the changing age composition of the population, restaurant usage for supper would still be slipping," sums up Riggs. "While this is especially notable since the recession began, it was also visible between 2002 and 2007." In short, even before the recession, adults across age groups were making changes in how they addressed supper needs for their families and themselves. This, says Riggs, points to a critical need for restaurant operators to focus on understanding and meeting the needs and motivations of their specific target demographics. For instance, restaurants should not assume that younger consumers will just naturally return to a greater frequency of eating dinners out when the economy recovers. "Younger people indicate that they've come to enjoy the benefits of staying at home and cooking and eating with their families," Riggs says. "In addition to the family time, they cite benefits such as portion control and generally feeling that cooked-at-home meals are healthier and more nutritious." Meanwhile, those 62 and older are a bit more inclined to eat dinner out these days, in part because some of the already-retired have been relatively less affected by the recent economic troubles, but also because they relish the convenience of eating out, says Riggs. "These consumers appreciate the ease of having someone else cook, serve them and clean up" -- perhaps pointing to a marketing direction for restaurant operators looking to attract this demographic, she notes. Riggs also points out that while the 18-to-31 group will grow by 5% to reach 63 million by 2019, making them the second-largest age group, those 62 and up will grow by 35% to 65 million, making them the largest age group. Meanwhile, as the population ages, the 50-to-61 group will grow by 12%, but younger Boomers (44 to 51) will decline by 8%. All of these trends are obviously extremely relevant to restaurant owners, who "can't control population trends, but can influence buying-rate momentum by understanding the levers that appeal to their target customers," observes Riggs. "Through product and concept innovations, availability, understanding their consumers' value perceptions, right pricing, and targeted messaging, they can re-attract consumers to restaurants for supper."
First, there was last year's double Forbes slam, then the Olympics debacle, Blago, the unhappiness scale -- and now, adding insult to injury, Fortune couldn't find a single Chicago-headquartered company worthy of its annual listing of the Top 100 Companies to work for. It seems the city of Big Shoulders is in a public relations/branding slump these days. Ironic, as it's also second base for the world's largest marketing firms. Where's the civic pride, guys and girls? Chicago's most recent brand problems were started in 2008 by Forbes magazine, which is about lists: the Richest, the Best, the Most Richest Bestest, and, in the case of Brand Chicago, the (sixth) Worst City and then the Most Stressful City. Comments like "lousy weather, long commutes, high unemployment rates, political corruption and the country's highest sales tax" were cited as reasons why Chicago was being treated like a gassy, leprous old uncle at Thanksgiving dinner. In early 2009 it seemed like Obama-mania might pull Chicago out of its downward PR spiral. While it wasn't Camelot redux, the halo effect of the Obama campaign/election had a definite, albeit short-lived positive impact on Brand Chicago. The election night million-person group grope at Grant Park was so lovingly televised, anyone watching it could have mistaken Chicago for the ethereal cloud city in the second "Star Wars" movie. And all those people we Chicagoans had stood behind at Starbucks -- Valerie, Desiree, Rahm, David and Barack himself -- were now running the country! But leave it to our friends at Forbes to yank that cloud away when they declared Chicago the third Most Miserable City. And as if this wasn't enough, America's least popular governor (Rasmussen Report), Rod Blagojevich, created more controversy with his appointment of Roland Burris to fill Obama's senate seat. PR problems were compounded by Chicago's failed Olympic bid, which even presidential intervention couldn't save. A report by the Trust for America's Health found that Illinois adults were the 27th fattest in the country but the kids were the 10th! Then the New Year's double tap: a Warwick survey of 1,000,000 Americans ranked Illinois 45 on the nation's happiness scale, and of Fortune's Top 100 Companies, not a single one was headquartered in Chicago (or Illinois, for that matter). If your company was described as miserable, stressful, unhappy, corrupt and fat, you would have a marketing nightmare on your hands. Those are the words that the media has used to define Brand Chicago. Forget the fact that Chicago is home to several world class museums, an amazing lakefront and more bars than any other city in the country; it's clearly not a happy place to live or work! As a matter of fact the only populations that seem to be in a rush to move to Chicago are invasive fish: the Gobi and Asian Flying Carp! So, with the collective brain trust of companies like Leo Burnett, Edelman, DraftFCB and Ogilvy & Mather, among others, why isn't Chicago's marketing community taking care of its home turf? Why not pool resources for a marketing blitz that kicks Arnold's smirking California campaign back to the fault line? I work in Chicago, and I'm not particularly stressed, miserable, unemployed or unhappy, which makes me either atypical or about to move. Chicago is a story in a room full of storytellers who have yet to figure out that they should be picking up the pen and siren and telling it to the rest of the country. In the meantime, you'll find me at one of 300 bars within walking distance of my office. That fact alone should make any sane person happy.
Having worked on multinational brands and having lived and worked in countries all over the world, I thought I would share some of the key steps for ensuring a successful global advertising campaign. 1. Collaborate, conspire and integrate from day one The journey starts with identifying key people on both the agency and client sides that will be required to make the trip as smooth and as insightful as possible. Gaining involvement by people with responsibility for all areas of brand experience will create greater ownership of the plan and ensure relevancy to all areas of the business. Buy-in is critical. 2. Invest in research I can't emphasize enough how important research is before launching a global campaign. The U.S. is actually lagging behind other parts of the world in 3G adoption, smartphone penetration, high-speed Internet connectivity, etc. So, do test ... and realize the rest of the world is very different from the U.S. 3. Understand your clients and customers As with any category, there are always groups of target customers that can have interest in and desire for a product or service. It is important to identify a core group of consumers whose needs and values match those of the brand you are promoting. Fish where the fish are. 4. Build the brand architecture Once you fully understand your customer, you need to fully understand the brand. Develop and validate a competitive global brand positioning accompanied by a set of brand values and personality. What is key to building the brand architecture for your local market is to understand how that positioning and those values translate to your local customers and clients.
"Brand architecture is the organizing tool that dictates how you go to market"5. Interrogate and scrutinize the competition Now that you understand your customers and your brand, dissect the competition. Track press releases, annual reports ... know them, own them. 6. Review the business environment Understand and review trends as they relate to technology, media and legislation that may have an impact on your customers or how you can market your products. These can provide opportunities to communicate your brand in new and different ways that can enhance your brand values. 7. Develop key strategies and set objectives You should always use the global brand positioning as a filter to evaluate whether everything you are doing locally in contributing to what you want the brand to stand for globally. In this way, you remain focused in your efforts to build both your brand and your business in every market.
"Brand strategy should direct all facets of the company; it links the business strategy to customers' needs/expectations"8. What are we going to say? Having a strong understanding of a customer, a brand and our competitor, you now need to identify what message or messages you want to communicate to your customer to change their current perception of your brand to the perception which you desire. It is important to review all areas of brand experience to ensure that the message can always be supported in a real and meaningful manner. 9. Where and how do we want to communicate? Having now determined what is the most compelling message you want to communicate to your customer, it is time to work on how to execute that message both creatively and through media (online and off). When the agency presents work, it should be evaluated against the agreed criteria in the brief and also against the overall global brand objectives. 10. Create employee brand engagement Employee brand engagement is the creation of intellectual connection and emotional commitment between employees and their brand in order to motivate and direct behaviour change so that their words, actions and intentions are aligned to the brand. It is so important in today's crowded marketing environment that the brand acts as the "central organizing thought" to drive business performance. In Summary The aim for a worldwide campaign is for a balance of global brand consistency and authenticity, e.g., values, etc., with local market relevance, flexibility and precise target marketing of segments with the correct marketing mix and budget. Finally, the core objectives of a global campaign should not change but there may be market developments that require changes in strategy and execution. There must be flexibility within any plan to accommodate those changes. In other words, planning is a continual process.