The hamsters are back. Kia has been hinting that the mascots for its Soul vehicle would make a new appearance in ads -- and indeed, they are here. The company introduced the anthropomorphic Cricetinae in the Soul launch campaign "New Way to Roll" in 2009 and brought them back some months later in a wildly popular ad set to "This or That" by the Black Sheep that established the animals as droll hipsters. The new TV, in-cinema, digital and social media campaign uses LMFAO's hit "Party Rock Anthem." And instead of rolling through a world where un-hip hamsters attempt to travel about on appliances, the three rotund rodents now roll through an interstellar video game world. The new effort, "Share Some Soul," by longtime AOR David & Goliath, launches with a 60-second spot that opens on a futuristic video game world where robots and humanoids are battling to the death with various weapons of mass destruction. Into this landscape the Hamsters arrive in a bright green Soul with "Party Rock Anthem" blasting out the back. The various robots and soldiers stop what they're doing and watch as the Hamsters exit the car and break into the "shuffle" dance. Then the machines and humanoids drop their weapons and break into the dance as well. The Hamsters are also wearing the "Hamstar" clothing line that started as something of an ersatz pursuit at David & Goliath, but has gained a following. The spot is on YouTube now, but is set to hit the air during MTV's Video Music Awards on Aug. 28. Kia also has an in-cinema buy for the spot starting in theaters Sept. 2 -- with 30-second versions on network and cable television beginning Sept. 5, per the company. Facebook, Kia.com and YouTube will be central to a "shuffle" dance video submission contest mid-month for a chance to win cash and other prizes. The new version of Soul comes in three variations (Soul, Soul+ and Soul!) and has cosmetic upgrades to the front and rear fascias. IN addition to new technology and interior accoutrements, it has new headlamps, taillights, side mirrors and wheels.
While consumers say they still love their supermarkets, a new study shows they are spending less money there, with grocery stores now accounting for about 51% of food dollars. The report from AlixPartners, a global business advisory firm, found that while shoppers are value-conscious, they still say food quality -- especially perishables -- and store atmosphere are just as important to them as prices. About 70% of consumers are making trips to buy groceries once a week, with 50% planning to spend more on food in the year ahead, and 39% expecting to spend roughly the same as they did this year. Sales and promotions, however, are key factors, with 79% of the survey saying they take coupons into consideration when drawing up their shopping lists, and 86% saying they use a shopping list at least sometimes. But they are highly likely to deviate from the list once they are behind the grocery cart, with 93% saying that product displays and signage -- which often point them toward sale items -- can influence them to pick up items not on their list. And 79% say in-store sampling can change their mind, too. Grocery chains continue to lose ground, the study finds: While grocery stores still account for 51% of grocery spending by those in the survey, mass merchandisers -- including Walmart and Target -- now get 30%, and club stores 13%. And the Internet is capturing 2% of shoppers' grocery dollars. When shoppers were asked to name and rank their preferred grocery retailers, nearly half of consumers surveyed (47%) named Walmart either first, second or third on their list of favorite places to shop for groceries, followed by Target and Kroger (with 16% each), Costco (14%) and Publix (11%). Lowest-income shoppers are even less likely to use traditional grocery stores, buying just 45% of their groceries there, and 38% at mass merchandisers. Among higher-income shoppers (with incomes of $100,000 or higher), 56% is spent at grocery stores, with club store sales rising to 17%. Loyalty cards and other programs remain an effective tool for grocers, the survey found, with participants buying "20 to 30 times the amount purchased by the occasional or new shopper," it says. The survey is based on responses from 1,000 U.S. adults.
While most mints settle for delivering taste and fresher breath, Perfetti Van Melle's Mentos brand is offering its Facebook fans a way to help friends correct their personality flaws. The candy's Facebook page now features an app that allows users to create and send "Custom Life Guidance" videos, starring the brand's tongue-in-cheek guru character Dragee ("part Zen master, part inspirational leader"). Each video is personalized by pulling information, photos and other content from the recipient's Facebook profile. Think your friend is vain? There's a video for that. For example, notes Mashable, Dragee may point out to the recipient the number of times he or she has used "I" or "me" in status updates, with recent examples included. Other video versions are designed for friends who are boring or have subpar love lives. In addition to the app, created by The Martin Agency and Ted Perez + Associates, Mentos' Facebook page offers video shorts featuring Dragee going to outrageous lengths to demonstrate his "absolute positivity" (personifying the "fresh, positive Mentos way of life"). For instance, two shorts show the hippie-ish character inspiring himself with a Mentos before jumping into horrific city-street traffic and trying to face down a cobra -- in each case getting creamed, while obliviously declaring a mind-over-matter victory. Also coming soon to the Facebook page: Dragee's "Negative Tweet Eliminator." Judging from the impressive "likes" tally (currently at nearly 983,000), Mentos's results are looking ... positive.
Bayer and Major League Baseball are joining for the "Fast Relief: Beat the Streak" contest. The object of the contest is to establish a virtual "saves streak" and keep it going for as long as possible. Consumers do this by selecting one MLB player each game day from a list displayed on MLB.com of MLB players who are on a MLB Club's active roster on that game day. If the player selected for that game day records a save in that day's game, the consumer's streak continues. If the player selected blows a save, consumers can still participate, but their "streak" is reset to zero. Consumers must select a player each MLB game day; however, they can make their daily player selections for up to 15 calendar days in advance. If they fail to select a player for any MLB game day, their streak will automatically reset to zero. Consumers can select any player as many times as they want over the course of the contest, which runs through the conclusion of the final game of the 2011 MLB regular season. The eligible participant with the longest saves streak during the contest period, greater or equal to 20 will win $10,000. If no eligible participant achieves a saves streak greater than or equal to 20 during the contest, the eligible participant with the longest saves streak during the contest period greater than or equal to 15 will win two tickets for the Grand Prize winner and one guest to attend the Grand Prize winner's choice of either the 2012 MLB All-Star Game to be played at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, or one MLB Spring Training game or one 2012 MLB World Series championship game. The prize will also include round-trip coach air transportation and hotel accommodations. Bayer expanded its sponsorship arrangement with Major League Baseball in July to include Bayer Advanced Aspirin, which is now the "official pain reliever of Major League Baseball." The company's One A Day line of vitamins remain the "Official Multivitamin of Major League Baseball," which has been in effect since 2008 and runs until 2012. Another ongoing promotion between Bayer and MLB is the For every 95+ MPH strike thrown in the Major Leagues, Bayer will donate $10 to the American Red Cross. As of press time, Bayer had donated $89,170. The two companies also created the "One A Day Men's presents MLB Strikeout Prostate Cancer Challenge" which supports the Prostate Cancer Foundation and fund research to find a cure for prostate cancer, a disease one in every six men will be diagnosed with during his lifetime. Both brands were part of a "FanFest" event in Phoenix, connected with the All-Star game in July. One A Day has the MLB logo on packaging. Bayer is marketing its new aspirin line as being "twice as fast."
While it's definitely about the Lincolns (or lack thereof), perhaps some of Millennials' unwillingness to spend on houses and cars is a reaction against the venality/materialism of their parents, pre-2008. In any case, they are not buying new cars, houses, boats, or much of anything. Yes, they want things, but they don't want to be encumbered by them. Thus, the popularity of the Zip Car, Netflix and sites where you can even borrow expensive things like handbags. Along with every other automaker that isn't selling exclusively to the masters of the universe who can drop $250,000 on a limited-run Ferrari, Ford is worried about this trend for obvious reasons. They are all trying to figure out how to appeal to Millennials, who care more about the upcoming iPhone 5, apps and music than about the latest compact car. Ford's strategy has been to use in-car technology like its Sync platform to make cars like Focus and Fiesta as much like rolling media labs as possible, and therefore (more) relevant to people who are probably more interested in learning to ride a "fixie" bike than getting a driver's license. The company last week held a panel discussion in the New York offices of PR firm Burson-Marsteller along with Alloy Media + Marketing to talk about these consumers, what they want, and what they mean for the business. Ford's Sheryl Connelly, the company's global trends expert, and Brian McClary, digital and emerging media marketing manager, shared the stage with ... well, other panelists, sure, but also a big screen that streamed real-time videos of people tuning into the webcast itself, as seen from their own webcams. And that by itself made the event oddly "Oz"-like: as panelists spoke, one could also watch the watchers, including Ford's ubiquitous Twitter meister, Scott Monty (who, formal as always, observed proceedings from his cubicle like the Wizard himself.) Here was an event where viewers could watch other viewers viewing themselves viewing themselves, viewing themselves. Anyway, Connelly and McClary were joined onstage by Andi Poch, SVP at AlloyDigital, and mashable.com entertainment and technology writer Christina Warren, a Millennial Shelley Duvall lookalike who seemed to actually channel Duvall's performance from "The Shining" during the webcast, which was a little unsettling. And while a lot of the conversation was like eating a big bowl of "mashable" clichés liberally sweetened with things like "really, really, really," numerous references to things being "awesome" and at least 10 uses of the short form of deoxyribonucleic acid to express brand attributes, the best content was about what Ford is up to, and Connelly's stats about what's actually happening in dealer showrooms. Or what's not happening. McClary said the bottom line for Ford when it comes to things like branded digital games is value-added content, preferably of the digital kind. The company did a big partnership with E3 this year around the Sims game, which I wrote about at some point this year. Said McClary, "Every gaming program we work on you have to give something back so you we don't just hit you over the head with a marketing message." Connelly noted this about Millennials, 11,000 of whom turn 13 each day (my daughter is one, and she totally perked up when Poch talked up Alloy's "Pretty Little Liars" content): according to U.S. Department of Transportation stats, 50% of 16 year olds got a driver's license in 1978. In recent years, that number has dropped to 31%. She noted that some of that decline has been due to tougher guidelines and higher costs. But that can't explain it all. "What we see more critically is that people between 21 and 30 are driving 10% fewer miles. Economics is the simple answer, as this generation is coming of age in a time of great uncertainty. Yes, the recession has officially ended, but Millennials don't feel that way." She notes that employment numbers for Millennials are in the tank, and they are living at home with the 'rents. All that aside, she also says that there are also simply more and more things competing for Millennials' limited dollars. "Today we have such a rapid pace of innovation that things like cell phones and gaming systems are taking away from money reserved for their first vehicle. If a car used to be symbol of freedom and independence, the cell phone has certainly replaced it." That's a serious challenge, indeed. Panelists agreed that Millennials are more interested in sharing things and being able to get those items -- jewelry, music, handbags, cars, you name it -- when they need them, and jettisoning them when they don't. Clearly, there isn't so much cachet these days in being encumbered by big, expensive toys. It is, however, worth noting that such a sentiment is at least as old as Marley's ghost, who, after all, was shackled in death to the valuables he amassed in life. And consider today's syntax for fashion iconography ("Nomad Chic" one might call it): the above mentioned one-gear "fixie" bicycles; extremely thin, light portable computers with no extra buttons; and the advent of (and sheer terror about) the fearsome "hoarding" syndrome. It's all about quick mobility, Spartan living, and constant connectivity.