To promote its new, limited-time Angus Steak & Egg Sandwich, Dunkin’ Donuts has launched a “Like a Boss” Facebook app that lets fans create humorous video resumes that draw from their Facebook profiles. The app is intended to let Dunkin’s customers tell the world that they’re eating “Like a Boss” by buying the new sandwich, which features Angus beef topped with an egg and melted cheese, on a toasted onion bagel. The sandwich is designed to offer on-the-go consumers a hearty but portable breakfast option, according to John Costello, Dunkin’ Brands chief global marketing and innovation officer. Located on a tab on Dunkin’s Facebook page, the app creates a personalized video resume using the fan’s first name and Facebook profile photo, randomly populating pictures and qualities from the profile that illustrate how the user is “taking care of business.” Fans can share the resumes with friends via Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Ram Truck is making a big commitment to country music this year by expanding its relationship with Yahoo around its Ram Country on Yahoo Music channel and launching a separate campaign called “Ram Trucks Road to the Ram Jam.” The latter is both a digital and grassroots campaign built around national and regional sweepstakes that also happens to put the spotlight on five ascendant country music artists, sequentially, over the course of the year. It culminates in an invitation-only concert featuring all five. That 2012 Ram Jam concert event will be Dec. 29 in Nashville, Tenn., in a venue that seats about 250. Among attendees will be winners of online and local-market radio-based promotion dangling a trip to two to the Nashville concert. The program also puts each of the five artists behind the wheel of a 2012 Ram 1500 Laramie Longhorn truck. The trucks, which are leased to each artist for a year, will then be auctioned off in early 2013 with all proceeds going to benefit a military-focused charity of each artist’s choice. Online, the Ram Jam effort will have video content and music downloads from each of the five artists. Local-market sweepstakes through country radio stations nationwide include prizes like collectible posters and old-school vinyl records. One of the five artists, Kellie Pickler, is also coincidentally involved in Ram's expanded country music program with Yahoo Pickler will give a Feb. 29 invite-only concert that Yahoo will film for the nascent "Ram Country Live on Yahoo Music," a new video extension of Ram's country channel on the portal, which launches on March 14. All told, Yahoo will film four such private concerts for the Ram's country video channel this year. Marissa Hunter, head of Ram Truck advertising, tells Marketing Daily that Ram Country on Yahoo Music is a custom platform that essentially aggregates all of Yahoo Music's country news, lifestyle and music content in one place with the Ram name on the marquee. "We wanted to provide something to fans where they could do one-stop shopping for things like news, social media, and music," says Hunter. "We have a really solid partnership with Yahoo that has allowed us the ability to very innovative, and to create custom programs," says Hunter. She says the automaker has been doing online marketing to drive country fans to the channel. "We have a very aggressive online campaign on Yahoo outside of the Ram Country channel and also outside of Yahoo on lifestyle sites. We are also leveraging social to push traffic to the site and we support it on our own brand Web site as well," she says. "And we have also included Ram Country in traditional advertising and we are also doing a healthy PR campaign around the platform." Hunter adds that it would be a mistake to compare the channel -- or to characterize it as competing with -- Internet radio platforms. "It's not just music, it's an entire lifestyle experience." In addition to music, video content, news, and lifestyle content, there is also Ram advertising on the Yahoo Ram Country platform, and (new this year) ways for hand raisers to get direct communications from Ram. The automaker is also involved in the 47th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas this year, both from a media and ground activation standpoint. "We were excited to expand an established platform like Ram Country on Yahoo Music, where we have seen repeat customers coming back again and again. People spend ten minutes, on average," she says. There is a point of contact between the Yahoo program and the Ram Jam series, per Hunter, who says the automaker will use the Yahoo channel to add promotional horsepower to efforts like the Ram Jam tour. "This is an opportunity for us to take what we built with Yahoo and leverage it to promote grassroots country music activity. So you will, in time, see the content from Road to the Ram Jam -- including custom video and photography -- migrate into Ram Country on Yahoo." Meanwhile, the Ram Jam tour has its own marketing campaign, including national and regional radio, print, digital and newspaper. "We have been able to partner with key country music radio across the country in collaboration with the artists we are featuring on the Ram Jam tour, in markets where they have strongest audiences," says Hunter. "We will give the radio stations tools -- including prize packages -- to promote the program." Hunter says Ram Truck is also doing affinity marketing around equestrian events like the Kentucky Derby, and Churchill Downs; and around outdoor lifestyle with a focus on hunting, camping, fishing and boating. Ram also advertises against college and pro football and around online fantasy football.
Fifth Third Bank is launching an integrated marketing campaign pegging itself as the “curious” bank. The campaign -- which is the first work from agency Leo Burnett, which won the business six months ago -- includes print, digital out-of-home, regional TV, online and radio for the Cincinnati-based financial services company. “Curious people ask better questions, listen carefully, and find better answers,” said Larry Magnesen, senior vice president and chief marketing officer, Fifth Third Bancorp, in a release. “As we sought to reflect the important changes we have made over the past several years to the way we do business, curiosity surfaced as an important value we wanted to affirm with our own employees: be curious about our customers’ needs, be curious about the way things could be made easier, and be curious about how we can innovate our products and services.” The campaign demonstrates how Fifth Third and its bankers are never satisfied with the status quo. Instead, they want to know more, do more and create more. Customers benefit from a bank that is engaged in people’s lives and businesses and inspired by what people really need. The campaign leads off with two TV spots that illustrate how curiosity inspires people to go beyond the conventional wisdom and lead to better ideas. Additional campaign components continue the theme of going beyond conventional wisdom and reiterate the value of curiosity in service of better banking ideas. Customers have said that it’s time to see a change in the banking industry, Magnesen said. “They want to see a bank make a real break from the industry mold and place them first,” he said. “We are committed to challenging the status quo and improving our customers’ lives.” Many banks seem out of touch with the world around them, said Rich Stoddart, president, Leo Burnett North America. “This new brand platform shows that Fifth Third bankers listen differently, which in turn lets them truly understand their customers and respond with fresh approaches,” he said. The bank operates 15 affiliates with 1,316 full-service banking centers, including 104 Bank Mart locations open seven days a week inside select grocery stores and 2,419 ATMs in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Florida, Tennessee, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Georgia and North Carolina.
There are certain rites of passage for Americans: seeing “Star Wars” for the first time, senior prom, owning a first car. Subaru of America is looking to tap into people’s nostalgia for their first vehicles as a way to promote its Imprezza line of cars, via an effort that illustrates each person’s unique “First Car Story.” The online effort, FirstCarStory.com, uses an animation generator through which people can recreate the look and feel of their first car (such as style, color and condition) and tell the story of what made that car special. The program uses a technology that turns words and phrases into custom animation. As users type out their story, the program highlights the words or phrases that it will animate. Users are also encouraged to highlight the words and phrases that are special to them. Users can choose between several soundtrack options (from punk to metal to beach jams) for their video and can record a narrative for the video. They are then encouraged to share the video on Facebook (and tag appropriate friends). The effort is intended to link those first-car memories to Subaru overall, and the Imprezza specifically, evoking the feelings of freedom and independence that comes from owning a car. Subaru’s overall reliability (96% of the company’s cars built in the past 10 years are still on the road) makes it an ideal first-car choice, according to the company. “Everyone loved their first car, no matter how bad, beat up, or borrowed. That first car became a new chapter in life or a ticket to freedom and first-car stories are often the most memorable stories we have,” said Alan Bethke, director, marketing communications, Subaru of America, in a statement. “The First Car Story campaign provides a creative outlet for reliving those unique, funny, unforgettable car experiences anyone who had a first car can relate to.”
There's a lot of traffic at the Daytona 500, and it's not just the cars. The race -- the 54th running of NASCAR's biggest event (Feb. 26 on Fox) -- has a near-record level of sponsor advertising, but also a lot of advertisements from NASCAR itself, which is promoting the race big-time this year. And for good reason. For some time, the trend for NASCAR racers has been convergence of technology and appearance, so that it has become hard to tell a Ford Fusion apart from a Toyota Camry. Not anymore. This season, the cars will start looking more like what NASCAR used to be about -- stock production cars. The association will launch a raft of ads around the Daytona 500 touting NASCAR and featuring the folksy voice of actor Neil Flynn, the janitor on the TV show “Scrubs.” The ads are slightly mocking comparisons of NASCAR with more (no pun intended) pedestrian sports. One shows NASCAR winners celebrating with abandon -- backflips off of their cars, post-win donuts, Champagne, fireworks -- versus other sports that have enacted rules to curtail excessive celebration. Another, touting NASCAR's Nationwide series, shows how NASCAR eschews farm leagues and a slow and gradual approach to bringing up talent, creating an up-and-comers versus proven veterans environment where anyone can win. “Following a thrilling to-the-wire 2011 season, NASCAR wanted to build on our momentum by breaking new spots on the broadcast of our sport’s biggest event -- the Daytona 500,” said Kim Brink, NASCAR managing director of brand, consumer and series marketing, in a statement. “The advertisements are part of a series of spots in this year’s brand campaign, aimed at elevating the sport by demonstrating the key attributes that make NASCAR more than a game." And then there are the sponsors, such as Sprint, Coca-Cola, Subway, and Ford. The latter, which is touting the new Mustang and by extension its online Mustang customizing site, went on Google+ Friday morning to have kind of a bicameral conversation with fans and press about the automaker's online Mustang customizer: The first part of the conversation was inside baseball (or maybe infield racing) with digital marketing types and geeks talking about what's under the hood…of Ford's customizing Web site. The second part was fielding questions from real people about what's under the hood of Mustang -- people who actually go online and customize Mustangs and probably will watch the race, too. One of the guys, Bruce, said he'd customized about 30 Mustangs and used the images as wallpaper, which got thumbs-up all around from the Ford folks. That was actually the most interesting part of the video, aside from the ad. Ford's ad shows the Mustang cruising down a street, changing colors and design, chameleon-like when seen by different admiring bystanders. Back to NASCAR's effort: The campaign carries a message that “Everything Else Is Just A Game” with messaging within each spot communicates the positioning of each individual NASCAR series or initiative. Coca-Cola's ad has a bunch of top NASCAR racers distracted during a race by all the fans drinking Cokes. They all decide to pull off for their own. Farmers Insurance has an ad using its Farmer's Insurance university platform, where the students meet racer Kasey Kahne. Sprint's spot touting its NASCAR race app features driver Clint Bowyer and his obsession with karaoke. A NASCAR spokesperson told me that sponsorship activity is higher than the league has seen in recent years.
If retailers are expecting a little bounce from consumers’ tax refunds this year, they might be disappointed. A new survey from the National Retail Federation reports that more people plan to bank their refund, with 43.8% saying they plan to save at least some of it, up from 42.1% last year. The survey also found people are in a hurry, with 64.4% saying they will have filed their taxes by the end of February -- the highest since 2006. The survey, conducted for NRF by BIGinsight, reports that 66.2% expect a check from the government -- the same as last year. The Internal Revenue Service says the average 2010 refund was $2,902. “After a rocky few years, consumers are now more vigilant about how they spend their money and the importance of preparing for future financial stability,” NRF CEO Matthew Shay says in its release. Roughly 40% say they also plan to use some of the money to pay down debt, and 28.7% say some will go toward everyday expenses. Fewer are splurging, with just 12.3% reporting a plan to spend the money on a major purchase such as a car or TV, and 11.3% plan to use it for a vacation. The survey is based on responses from 8,700 adults. One snag: People are now waiting a little longer, with this year’s refunds reportedly taking between 10 and 21 days from e-filing, compared to one to two weeks in past years, a hiccup the IRS has attributed to new fraud safeguards. Electronic filing continues to gain in popularity, with 60.7% planning to file this way -- up from 57.6% last year, 36% using computer software, 21% employing an accountant, 18.7% relying on a tax prep service, and 10.6% asking a friend. Some 13.8% say they will do their own taxes by hand. For retailers like Walmart and Sears, taxes are big business. Sears, for example, has launched a unique web page with H&R Block, which offers 15% off the cost of H&R Block’s Basic, Deluxe, and Premium H&R Block online editions. Both chains are offering free tax file for those using form 1040EZ, and Walmart is promoting its $3 check-cashing service for refund checks.
Data-driven marketing continues to grow by leaps and bounds. It’s on the minds of many marketers, and is in evidence as online advertisers amass search, demographic, behavioral and intent data to design their campaigns. Each type of data has its place and value. As the volume of data skyrockets, it's useful to step back and consider the different types of data, where they come from and how they can be used most effectively. Unique and highly focused data can be used as a signal booster for more effective intent-based targeting. Marketers are becoming increasingly aware of the value of their own data -- and of the value of third-party data available from a wide range of sources. Much of this is general behavioral data based on online activities. It can be layered on top of a marketer’s own information to help identify lookalike audiences or for granular audience targeting. Used appropriately, it can be very effective in reaching audiences with online campaigns. In many industries there is an increasing trend toward a more focused approach to audience data. This is not based simply on a company's own data, nor is it built on general third-party behavioral data. The most valuable data is unique, aggregated from multiple industry sources and highly relevant to the task at hand. It also has the critical ability to demonstrate consumer intent. The travel industry provides an excellent example of how focused data can be used. Search and purchase data from multiple travel service providers can be combined to create a pool of clear intent. It can show who will be traveling, where they will be traveling, when they will be traveling, and even provide details such as many people are in a party. Even aggregated and without any personally identifiable information, this is incredibly valuable information for a marketer looking to sell downstream travel services, such as hotel rooms or rental cars. Intent-based targeting and retargeting using focused data improves the value of impressions by limiting them only to people who need a service at the very time they are most likely to be seeking that service. It augments first-party data with highly relevant third-party data to create strong signals for reaching customers in a cluttered media environment. Let’s look at how this approach might work in practice. It’s well understood that people typically book travel in a fairly set order: airline tickets first, then hotels, and finally rental cars and in-market activities. These steps occur as the travel date draws closer, with rental car bookings often happening only within 72 hours of a trip. Rental car companies are aware of this, but they’re not aware of who will be traveling during any specific time frame. This limits their options. Rental car companies could simply use search data, targeting anyone who looks for destination information; but this is inefficient and would result in wasted impressions. They could use general behavioral targeting based on visits to various travel-related sites; that could reach people likely to travel, but it wouldn’t provide any insight into timing. The targeting might be improved but impressions would still be wasted. A more successful approach is a focused data model that would include search and purchase data from multiple travel industry sources. This allows rental car marketers to deliver impressions only to people traveling within a specific time frame. Focused travel data provides actionable intent information that marketers can use as a signal strengthener to direct their efforts most effectively. Data is everywhere, and new types of data become available every day –- along with new ways to put it to work. Marketers must recognize that all data is not equally suited to every purpose -- and must consider the goals of a program, the audience they are trying to reach and the types of focused data most likely to provide actionable insights into that audience’s intentions. Once they do, they can begin exploring which sources provide the information that will be the most effective for them and their campaigns.