Craft beer brewer Breckenridge Brewery of Colorado is extending its low-budget “Truth in Beervertising” TV campaign with two new spots parodying big-brand beer advertising. One of the new 30-second spots, dubbed “The Least Interesting Man in the World,” shows Breckenridge’s head brewer, Bob Harrington, standing motionless and staring with a blank expression as he watches bottle after bottle of the brand’s 471 IPA being capped by a brewery machine. Harrington’s only line: “I like to drink beer. And when I do, I prefer good beer.” A voiceover concludes the spot with “Never stay thirsty, my friends.” In the second spot, Harrington is shown, back to the camera, watching waves roll onto a sunny, pristine beach. As the view pans out, it becomes clear that he’s actually watching a large-screen TV while enjoying a Breckenridge Agave Wheat, whereupon he promptly flips to a football game. This spot has no lines for the brewer/actor, and no voiceover; instead, it ends with a screen message: “Find Your Couch.” If the spots happen to remind viewers of highly visible, high-budget campaigns from Dos Equis and Corona -- well, Breckenridge has no comment on that score. What Breckenridge Director of Marketing Todd M. Thibault will say, however, is that the campaign’s point isn’t about attempting to position the brand’s beers against any specific brand or brands, but instead to humorously convey the message that producing good beer is Breckenridge’s sole focus. “Many beer campaigns always seem to be talking about something else, like their cans’ new technology, or how you should drink their beer when you choose to drink beer,” says Thibault. “We talk about how we always drink beer, and how we like good beer.” The campaign -– including the new spots and the 2011 TV spots -- is from Breckenridge’s agency, Denver-based Cultivator Advertising & Design. Last year’s spots parodied big-brands’ focus on technological innovations, like chill indicators on cans. Those four 15-second ads were produced for $10,000. (Cultivator’s cost efficiencies for the brand include employing the production facilities at Fox 31 Colorado news -- as with last year’s ads, the new spots are being aired on that channel during sports events and Sunday prime time.) This year, the two longer spots were produced on the same budget. The brand now has distribution in more than 30 states, but focuses its limited traditional marketing in its largest market -- Colorado -- relying on viral sharing of its spots to prompt beer lovers around the country to seek out its distinctive beers and ales. In addition to being posted on Breckenridge’s own site (and promoted on its Facebook and Twitter accounts), last year’s spots were picked up by beer bloggers and critics –- a dynamic that the brewery hopes to replicate with the new ads.
When it comes to vehicle dependability, Toyota's back on top -- but with little time for laurel resting: so is everyone else, it seems, and the domestic manufacturers -- General Motors, Ford Motor and Chrysler LLC -- are improving the fastest. After having slipped a bit for sundry reasons in recent studies, Toyota now leads in the just-released 2012 J.D. Power & Associates “U.S. Vehicle Dependability” study, which actually measures 2009 model vehicles since it polled original owners about their experience after three years of ownership. Overall dependability is determined by the level of problems experienced per 100 vehicles (PP100), with a lower score reflecting higher quality. The study, which is based on a survey of 31,000 owners over the past 12 months, finds that overall vehicle dependability across brands selling vehicles in the U.S. has improved 13% versus last year's study of 2008 model vehicles. The new scores give the industry the lowest problem rate since the inception of the study in 1990, per the Westlake Village, Calif. firm. According to the study, 25 of 32 brands have improved in dependability from last year, and the domestic nameplates have improved at a slightly faster rate than imports this year, narrowing the dependability gap. In 2012, overall vehicle dependability averages 132 PP100 from last year's average of 151. That follows, since according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2009 Initial Quality Study, SM overall initial quality of 2009 model-year vehicles was, at the time, the highest level of initial quality since the inaugural IQS in 1987. David Sargent, J.D. Power's VP of global automotive research, says several brands that have performed very well in dependability during the past several years still face a perception challenge when it comes to outdated consumer ideas. Buick, Cadillac, Ford, Hyundai and Lincoln have achieved consistently strong levels of dependability, but still have relatively high proportions of new-vehicle buyers expressing reliability concerns. “Building vehicles with high levels of dependability is obviously a necessary element in reshaping consumer perceptions,” said Sargent. “Negative quality perceptions are notoriously difficult to change, and it takes considerable time, but effectively communicating improvements in dependability may reduce concerns, and by extension, help new-vehicle sales.” When it gets down to specifics, Lexus ranks highest in vehicle dependability among all nameplates in 2012. In addition, the Lexus LS has the fewest problems in the industry. Other top brands are Porsche, Cadillac, Toyota and Scion, respectively. MINI and Scion post the greatest year-over-year improvements from 2011. Toyota Motor Corporation grabbed eight segment awards -- more than any other automaker in 2012 -- for the Lexus ES 350 (in a tie with the Lincoln MKZ); Lexus RX 350; Scion tC; Scion xB; Toyota Prius; Toyota Sienna; Toyota Tundra; and Toyota Yaris. Ford Motor Company receives three model awards for the Ford Explorer (in a tie with the Nissan Murano); Ford Fusion; and Lincoln MKZ (in a tie). General Motors (Buick Lucerne and Chevrolet Equinox) and Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. (Nissan Frontier and Nissan Murano, in a tie with the Ford Explorer) each receive two awards. In addition, the Hyundai Genesis also receives an award. Although there are no awards in their respective segments due to an insufficient number of award-eligible models, or insufficient market share of award-eligible models in the segment, these models also perform particularly well: Ford Mustang, GMC Yukon and Porsche 911.
E-commerce is increasingly emerging as the primary language for most retailers, reports a new study from the National Retail Federation, with big investments in IT, Web sites and online marketing in store for the year ahead. Chains are also increasingly reliant on new media in their marketing mix: Online marketing activities represented more than 30% of the total marketing budget for 36% of those surveyed -- four times the number in 2010. Print advertising remained a strong focus, with 29% of those polled saying it accounted for 30% or more of their marketing spending. “Direct mail continued to spark renewed interest, accounting for more than 30% of marketing dollars for more than one-third of those polled, a 2 to 1 increase over 2010,” the report says. “Organizations also spent more on in-store promotions to tie outreach more directly to sales volumes. By contrast, radio and event sponsorship saw the biggest drop-off in spending, with the majority of those surveyed spending less than 5% of their total budget in these areas.” The report, done in conjunction with KPMG, finds that customer satisfaction is a top priority, with 82% percent saying customer service strategies will be their top priority in the coming year, up from 75% last year. And increasingly, that means shoring up the e-commerce lines. Retailers are putting their money where their mouth is, too. After years of tight controls, the majority -- 52%-- now say they plan to up their IT budgets this year. More than half (53%) intend to focus on Web personalization engines in the coming months, which includes such enhancements as location-based services and tracking methods unique to shopping habits. And 33% plan further mobile point-of-sale investments in 2012; 17% have already done so. Some 45% are actively developing widgets, gadgets or advanced links that can be incorporated with social media pages; 41% say they intend to develop these items over the next 18 months. “Though customers are always a company’s top priority, customer satisfaction will get a huge facelift this year,” writes NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay in its release. “From increasing their brand visibility through cross-channel initiatives to providing unique, personalized shopping experiences through every channel, retailers have indicated 2012 is all about the customer.” The survey included 247 retail executives.
Every dog owner knows their pet is “good.” Purina Pro Plan, with a new marketing campaign, is giving them a chance to make their dogs “great.” A new advertising campaign for the brand from Leo Burnett and Arc Worldwide celebrates dogs of all stripes, pointing out “Inside Every Good Dog is a Great Dog.” The campaign includes a television spot, as well as social, mobile and out-of-home elements. “[We want] to inspire people to be great pet parents,” Tony Rogers, creative director at Leo Burnett and Arc tells Marketing Daily. “The greatness inherent in every dog takes you to get it out and our goal is to inspire people to be great at it.” Featuring a song written and performed by Rogers (which he wrote as part of the agency’s pitch for the business), the commercial shows dogs of all stripes going through their days, lying on the couch, sleeping in their beds, playing fetch. As the music picks up, the spot interweaves exceptional canines, such as rescue dogs, therapy dogs and assistance dogs, in addition to more typical dogs. The spot ends with the tagline, “Inside Every Good Dog is a Great Dog.” Noting that many people like to post and/or view videos of their dogs on Facebook and other social media, the agency created a Facebook app that allows dog owners to insert pictures of their own pets into the commercial to share with friends. “That’s imagining your dog among these awesome dogs,” Rogers says. “Thinking about personalizing something can [add] that much emotion to it.” The campaign launched to coincide with the recently concluded Westminster Dog Show. To take advantage of that audience, the agencies also created an interactive mobile website that compiles information about the 180 different breeds present in the show. The agency also wrapped a New York City bus with the campaign’s tagline and images from the commercial. Though the mobile app (and Westminster-themed advertising) is geared toward purebreds because of the dog show, the campaign is not leaving mixed breed dogs behind. The song Rogers wrote to accompany the commercial is available on iTunes, with proceeds going to benefit Purina Pro Plan’s Rally to Rescue cause.
Mitsubishi is on the road again. The Brea, Calif.-based U.S. sales and marketing arm of the Japanese automaker has launched a new marketing campaign that -- like several of its efforts over the past year-and-a-half -- aims to increase consideration of its vehicles by making them stars of cinema verité-style real-world testing. The automaker's activities over the past year have included a robotic/Internet test-drive program for the Outlander crossover; test drives and challenges that put the Outlander and Outlander Sport in extreme, (and for drivers) even hazardous situations like Bolivia's road of death; and a fleet of Mitsubishi's i Electric car on the streets of the Midwest town in which Mitsubishi assembles the car, and documenting the town's reaction to alternative mobility. The new campaign, like the previous ones, was developed by LA-based 180LA, which won the Mitsubishi business about a year and seven months ago. This time the documentary-like effort involves all-wheel-drive Outlanders and Lancers on a six-state, five-day storm chase from California to points east. During the filmed expedition the vehicles meet heavy rain and floods, blizzards, snowed-in mountain passes, sleet, and ice. The "Ride the Storm" chase was filmed in December, and involved weather geeks from real-time weather tracking site Weather Underground and a member of Mitsubishi’s social media team, who went along for the ride, tweeting and posting their whereabouts. While the effort features Outlander and Lancer vehicles, the real focus is Mitsubishi's all-wheel technology. Says Grant Holland, creative director at 180LA: "The idea came about from the assignment to highlight Mitsubishi's advanced all-wheel-control in a variety of weather conditions. The strategy was that their all-wheel control is so good, there's no such thing as bad weather anymore. In other words, 'don't be afraid of winter storms,'" he says. He tells Marketing Daily the motif of the campaign -- and probably the several campaigns the agency has done for the automaker -- is "All about 'doing' and 'proving' in the real world, instead of just 'saying' and 'selling.'" As in previous efforts, the long-form video documenting the trip lives online, and on social media sites, while 15- and 30-second ads based on the footage are running nationally and in dealer market areas on channels like ESPN, TBS, USA Today. "We have strong buy," says Francine Harsini, Mitsubishi Motors North America's director of marketing. Harsini tells Marketing Daily that the goal of this and previous campaigns are not so much awareness building but consideration. "Awareness for our brand overall is good. But we want consumers to come to the Web site and experience the brand online, where they can find out more about our products. They may know the name, but when it comes to what we have to offer, we need to focus on that. There is only so much we can do in 30 seconds." Harsini says last year's winter campaign -- filmed in Alberta, Canada -- in which Outlander Sport crossovers broke five Guiness World Records on a frozen lake bed, performed best, driving the most Web and online shopping actions. But she says the key is making sure all touch points reflect whatever campaigns the automaker is doing at any given time. "Everything we do is about integration. When we launch a campaign, it has to be seamless in terms of core message, product features, and look and feel, whether its images on our Web site, point of purchase materials, or ads."
There has been plenty of coverage of the ads on Super Bowl XLVI. After all, the “game” for Americans is about more than football, since marketing is one of Americans’ favorite spectator sports. In fact, research confirms that more than half of us tune in for the ads. Women make more than half of the purchase decisions in America (80%, according to some measures), and women comprised 46% of the Super Bowl viewing audience -- 51 million of the 111 million viewers were female. According to Hanon McKendry, women are particularly likely to follow the marketing game as much as the football (66% vs. 45% men), which means they are likely to pay more attention to the multimillion-dollar spots than to the blocking and tackling. Women’s Favorite Super Bowl Ads Not finding much research on the topic, we conducted our own informal poll among women. The big standout was David Beckham’s ad for his new H&M undewear line -- the #1 winner among women (but near the bottom in the USA Today Ad Meter). These responses were typical: “Looove the fact that finally they want to sell us s*** using a very hot man!” “Like the objectification of a male – as opposed to the gawd-awful Teleflora and Fiat spots – but not sure it’s gonna move the 'bottom line' (no pun intended!)” Most women’s picks fell in line with viewer favorites. In other words, women -- like men -- went to the dogs. They loved the Doritos dog, the Skechers dog, the Volkswagen dog, and the Bud Light dog. You can’t go wrong with dogs. In USA Today’s Super Bowl coverage for the past 20 years, ads featuring animals won the #1 slot half the time; ads featuring dogs took the top slot five times. This year, women weren’t as kind to other animals, saying to Coke: “Enough with the polar bears” and to CareerBuilder: “Didn’t you use chimps last year?” Women noted that Bud Light’s dog “Weego” was a “rescue,” which registered positively (“The rescue dog spot was nice but liked the tie-in to a broader cause; this was a big hit with the other women as well.”) In general, women seemed attuned to the “stories behind the ads.” They noted Chevrolet’s post-apocalyptic ad: “This was in my top five because of the CMO’s response to Ford's cease and desist order;” about the Budweiser post-prohibition ad that, “It got the room talking about what companies did during those thirteen years to make money,” and Chrysler’s post-first-half ad: “It feels good when a brand thinks about the real world and what is going on in America.” In our poll among women, GM’s ad was a field goal compared to last year’s touchdown, which featured Eminem, and left some cold. (“I might be the ONLY one in America who hated it, but to me that Clint Eastwood spot was a snoooozefest.”)Ads Women Hated As important as what women liked was what they hated -- the GoDaddy spots (“So old, so formulaic, so horrible). They hated Fiat’s “Seduction” spot. They hated Teleflora’s Adriana Lima spot. Super Bowl advertisers might seriously consider whether running such laddish fare in front of 51 million women is a good idea. Do women really not register domain names? Buy cars? Notice which company their guy buys flowers from? Dannon -- Yawn Finally, one ad went directly after women, and generated a… yawn. Dannon’s ad featuring Jon Stamos being headbutted by his breakfast companion got industry flak for being a bit too like a 7-Up ad that featured a woman headbutting a teasing man. Our respondents rated it in the middle of the pack. As one woman noted, “How would you feel if you were once famous and now doing yogurt commercials?!?!?” Here are our top and bottom rankers: Big Winners With Women 1. H&M Beckham 2. Doritos Dog 3. VW Dog 4. Skechers Dog 5. Chrysler Halftime Eastwood 6. Chevy Silverado 7. Budweiser Prohibition Big Losers With Women 1. GoDaddy Body Paint 2. GoDaddy Cloud 3. Fiat Seduction 4. Bud Light Platinum (“Boring. Who are they kidding? It’ll taste like Bud Light.”) 5. Movie Trailers (“None of us could remember any of them.”)