Seeing is believing. But when it comes to 3DTV, it’s hard to get people to see the difference when they don’t have the technology to enable it. In a new digital and print advertising campaign, LG Electronics USA uses the expressions of people watching their 3D TVs (which the company calls “Cinema 3D” because they use glasses similar to those used in movie theaters, rather than the battery-powered glasses favored by other manufacturers) to illustrate the effect the screens have on the overall viewing experience. “If you look at the advertising in our industry, it’s really product focused. This is a much different approach. This is focusing on the consumer and capturing that thrill of 3D,” John Taylor, a representative of the company, tells Marketing Daily. “We think that the fun and interesting approach to showing people’s faces when they experience a 3D game or movie is a [differentiator].” A video in the campaign depicts a young man holding a game controller while wearing 3D glasses, reacting animatedly with the game. Onscreen text (fashioned to look like 3D might look without glasses) reads: “He gets it … and Only LG’s got it.” Meanwhile, a print ad uses a sports theme, suggesting “it’s a whole new ballgame when you follow the action on an LG Cinema 3D TV … Experience the thrill of every play. Because you don’t get it ’til you got it.” A second print ad uses a gaming theme to highlight the 3D experience. The tagline for the campaign is “Only LG.” “The focus of the ad campaign last year was to talk about consumer preference,” Taylor says. “This year, we’re taking that to the next level and focusing on the consumer excitement that cinema 3D brings to your life.” Ultimately, the ads are intended to drive consumers into stores where they can experience the 3D Cinema TVs firsthand, Taylor says. The campaign will run on gaming, sports and lifestyle Web sites, such as Hulu, MLB.com, CBS Sports.com. Print executions will run in publications such as USA Today, Sports Illustrated, Golf Digest and Entertainment Weekly. “The vast majority of consumers do a lot of online research and we want to be at those touchpoints,” Taylor says of the print and online approach, which will run through the end of the year.
Augmented-reality apps aren’t just for geeks and gamers anymore: Maidenform says it will use AR technology to introduce its new Comfort Devotion line of bras, panties and shapewear later this year. “We’re really priding ourselves on being in the forefront of the digital and viral space with this launch,” Lucille DeHart, Maidenform’s CMO, tells Marketing Daily. “We understand how women are shopping, and have always tried to be respectful of that. A marketer’s challenge is to figure out a way to engage these digitally connected shoppers in the physical environment. We’re using a free app called Aurasma, which enables us to do that. She can take a picture of a hangtag, and then interface with us in this new dimension. She’s already engaged in that in the virtual space, when she shops online or with a tablet. This will let her do that in the store.” DeHart, who points to Walmart’s recent use of 3D gaming in the Marvel movie launch as another groundbreaking use of in-store AR technology, says this will allow women to see the difference between, let’s say, a racerback version of one bra on a model compared with the strapless version of another. It’s all part of the launch of its new Comfort Devotion collection -- including bras, panties and shapewear -- scheduled to roll into stores in December. Calling it the most important product launch the 90-year-old company has made in a decade, she says it is “the first product expression of the new brand platform,” emphasizing modern textiles and comfort. “The photography of the new campaign really shows that optimism, strength and sensuality,” she explains. In early 2012, it will extend the brand into hosiery and activewear, which will also include shaping benefits, both new categories for the company. While Maidenform markets products to women of all ages, starting with tweens, its core customer is between 25 and 35, she says. “They see us as an expert in the female form, and in fact, many consumers believe we’re already in those markets." She believes the company’s chances in activewear are especially good, since women tend to need more education about these products than others. “We know that about 8 out of 10 women are walking around in the wrong size bra, in general, and it gets worse with sports bras. Many women are wearing bras designed for high impact for lower-impact sports, when they don’t really need that. It’s like driving a Lamborghini on a side street. And a big part of what Maidenform stands for is educating the consumer.” Imagery features models swirling in chiffon. In addition to point-of-sale and digital marketing, “especially through our partner Web sites,” she says, traditional media ads are scheduled to break at the end of the year. “The consumer wants more digital marketing,” she says. “She’s very connected through all her devices. They empowers her to shop the way she wants to shop. So we need to be where she is, and give her that flexibility.”
The major thoroughbred horse race that caps the season, the Breeders’ Cup, is celebrating its 29th year with a new Web site and an ad campaign to boost awareness. The campaign, unveiled this week, uses as a soundtrack a major staple of Sinatra-like croondom, “The Best Is Yet to Come.” In the spot, the song is performed by jazzer Kurt Elling. The Breeders' Cup is also planning to have the song performed live at the event, but the performer has yet to be named. It also introduces a new logo, and a multiplatform media strategy comprising digital, out-of-home, event marketing, print, television and radio. Pete Rotondo, VP of media and entertainment for the New York-based Breeders Cup, tells Marketing Daily that this year "is very different; we went all in on a multi-platform branding campaign." He said the last change was in 2007. "But it was not this kind of full-blown, integrated campaign. We are using it over so many outlets." He adds that advertising for the 15-race, two-day series had been focused on horses along the stretch and at the finish. But that new campaign is more about the race as an event. Also, he notes, the Breeders' Classic will be on prime time for the first time ever. "We are looking at it as the fourth major, after the Triple Crown." The campaign, via Conover Tuttle Pace, the Breeders' Cup AOR since 2006, is out of the gate with online and email advertising, with other elements -- including traditional media -- getting added to the mix in the Southern California market leading up to the event. The new www.BreedersCup.com has a new ticket purchase process where you can choose your seats based on photos from all seating areas. There is also an online customer service chat tool. The race, at the Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., marks the end of the thoroughbred-racing season, but it has a lot of influence over final honors for horse of the year. The two-day race, starting Nov. 2, will be carried by NBC and the NBC Sports Network. That coverage represents the first year of a multi-year media rights partnership for the network. The organizers say nine and a half hours of Breeders' Cup coverage includes the first-ever running of the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic in prime time on Nov. 3. NBC had, per a release, covered the race from its inception in 1984 through 2005. The 60-second TV spot shows snippets of horses, riders, the race itself and the racetrack high life, with actors, celebrities, and notables who are ebullient about the event. Testimonials by the likes of actor Kurt Russell are thrown in for good measure. Total purses for the event this year are more than $25 million, per the Breeders’ Cup.
If you live in big Northeast markets with urban transit, you have probably seen out-of-home ads for specific Florida tourism destinations. The state is taking that regional approach to digital and social media with a summer promotional campaign offering an assortment of free vacations to the state's hot spots. The sweepstakes-focused campaign, “Florida’s Three for Free Giveaway,” dangles a grand prize of three Florida vacation packages, but there are nine other single-vacation prizes. People can enter daily through the end of June on Visit Florida's Facebook page, or at a VisitFlorida.com microsite. The program is not a uniform campaign in terms of a general pitch for the state, but a collaboration among regional tourism partners. The organization says that regional tourism organizations are participating in the campaign offering 12 prize packages intended to reflect the state's tourism appeal. Visit Florida expects the five-week campaign to net about 425 million impressions, and is being supported initially with a Facebook and Twitter ad buy, with whom the organization developed a demographic profile of those to whom the campaign is designed to appeal: families and couples throughout the North and Southeast who are interested in summer drive travel. A similar campaign last year, “Sunshine Moments,” showed a 10-point increase in intent to visit Florida and a significantly improved opinion among the state’s key demographic of 25- to-34-year-olds, per Visit Florida. Visit Florida is also promoting the campaign with ads on its Web site and via email blast to e-newsletter subscribers next month. The group says the summer season accounts for 27% of the annual visitor total. And the majority of that traffic is drive-to tourism, rather than fly-ins. These tourists tend to hang out in Florida for an average of 5.1 nights per trip and spend -- on average, $134 per person per day, the highest of any quarter all year.
Sun Life Financial has acquired the naming rights to the Boston Celtics Courtside Club as part of a multi-year partnership renewal beginning in the 2012-13 season. Sun Life has been a sponsor of the Boston Celtics since the 2010-11 season. Under the new deal, the Courtside Club -- the hospitality venue in the used for entertaining team ownership, courtside ticket holders, corporate partners and VIP guests during each Celtics home game -- will be designated as the Sun Life Courtside Club. As a naming rights partner, Sun Life’s brand will be prominently featured throughout the Sun Life Courtside Club, including entry and directional signage leading guests to the club and the club’s interior, as well as on staff uniforms and courtside tickets and passes required for club admission. Sun Life will also receive seat back signage on the first row courtside sideline seats for all Celtics home games, the opportunity to host customer events in the Courtside Club and courtside season tickets and club passes. The partnership “combines the strength and stability of the Sun Life brand with one of the world’s most prestigious professional sports franchises, while providing us with a great opportunity to connect with a highly coveted audience and offer exclusive hospitality experiences to current and prospective customers and our employees,” said Sun Life Financial U.S. President Westley V. Thompson in a statement. Sun Life will also receive additional promotional and marketing assets, including a presence in-arena through courtside signage, branded in-game promotions and features, 21 Sun Life Honorary Ball Kid Experiences and the rights to use Boston Celtics team marks and logos in external and internal marketing and advertising campaigns. As a sponsor of Celtics.com, Sun Life will receive significant exposure on the site, including presenting sponsorship of Celtics Minute, a daily video vignette. Celtics.com averages more than 8.5 million page views and 1.5 million unique visitors per month, for a total of 70 million page views each season. The partnership also calls for Celtics executives, Legends and personalities to participate in Sun Life programs, initiatives and meetings with Celtics mascot LUCKY also to make several appearances at local community organizations in conjunction with Sun Life’s philanthropic initiatives.
Consumers’ demand for freshness is driving trends in restaurants and in aisles throughout grocery stores (not just produce and meat sections), according to a new “Freshness: Culinary Trend Mapping Report” from market research publisher Packaged Facts and strategic food and beverage agency CCD Innovation. Consumers consider freshness a marker of artisan quality, good nutrition and full flavor, and look for it “in every corner of the food world,” notes CCD Innovation CEO Kimberly Egan. The report summarizes key freshness trends, with stage 1 denoting a trend that is just gaining traction among creative chefs and adventurous diners, and stage 5 denoting a trend that has gone mainstream and is now on grocery shelves (and perhaps QSR menus): * Ceviche (stage 1): Ceviche -- raw fish marinated in citrus juices -- is a cuisine staple in Peru and many Latin American countries. American chefs are adding unexpected herbs and vegetables to make it a fresh experience. *Wine on tap (stage 1): Wine drinkers have enthusiastically embraced wine on tap, encouraging a growing number of winemakers and restaurants to respond. * CSA programs (stage 2): Community Supported Agriculture programs -- in which consumers typically sign up as members or subscribers to buy fresh food directly from farmers on a regular basis -- are now expanding into new sectors of the food industry. *Fresh fruit in entrée salads (stage 3): The “bistro salad” got glamorous in the late 20th century, and the trend has accelerated in this century. The range of foods being featured in salads, especially fruits, has grown exponentially. *Natural grocery prepared foods (stage 4): The prepared foods trends and choices made by natural grocery stores are setting a new standard for mainstream retailers to continue providing fresh, healthful, on-trend eating options for diners at all hours of the day. * Milk (stage 5): Fresh staple regular milk is now being joined by a growing number of milk varieties, including flavored milks, raw milk and goat milk.
Using the ever-unflappable Michael Jordan as its spokesperson, Hanes is introducing tagless underwear for men with a new TV campaign. A spokesperson for the company, which eliminated tags in its undershirts way back in in 2002, says the ads are scheduled to run on high-profile entertainment and sports programming, including the NBA playoffs. It says it introduced the tagless undies when consumer research showed that men were hankering for tagless briefs, boxers and shorts, too, and that the labels tend to chafe and annoy them. So in the spots, the tags take on annoying personas. Jordan, who has been appearing in Hanes ads for 20 years, steps in to rescue men from these relentlessly irritating tags. In one, a mild-mannered cubicle dweller is trying to get some work done, constantly interrupted by the banter of his tag. Jordan yanks it out and runs it through the shredder. In another, the tag gives gratuitous (and insulting) grilling advice to its owner, before Jordan throws it into the flames. And in a third, a guy and his date are in a theater, trying to watch a horror movie. But the man's undershirt tag keeps yapping, giving away the plot. Jordan pulls the tag out, and shoots it into a cup of soda. Each spot ends with a tagline that simply states: "Tags are annoying. So we got rid of them." Each spot is set to air on high-profile sports programming, such as the Western Conference NBA Playoffs and the MLB (TNT, ESPN, MLB Network etc.), as well as entertainment networks such as TBS, Spike and SyFy," the spokesperson says. Hanes, which claims to be America's No. 1 Apparel Brand, competes with Fruit of the Loom, and is not the first to the tagless party. Fruit of the Loom released a hilarious spot, “You can't overlove your underwear” -- created by the Richards Group -- back in 2010. In it, the apple guy soulfully salutes the brand: “There’s no labels hanging anywhere.”
Google+ launched brand pages six months ago, introducing new social nomenclatures like “circles,” "hangouts," and "+1s." But it appears that anticipated ballooning of interest in "+1s" has been burst by the "pins" of Pinterest. And although Google continues to invest in products and marketing, the consensus among digital marketers seems to be that Google+ is where folks go to set up a profile, but seldom return. In fairness, many brands have created pages, but have not posted anything since, which is a very real and fundamental problem for brands. It calls into agonizingly clear focus the problem that brands entering the digital space face every single day: Now that brands know what they can do, they remain unsure of exactly what they should do to create a truly strategic digital plan that will provide real engagement and/or return on investments. A new study -- the Digital Platform Engagement Index, a national study of 49,000 consumers looking at 83 categories and 600 brands -- demonstrates unequivocally that not only does digital platform engagement differ by category, but when it comes to digital marketing, one size does not fit all. Sure, there's a widely held notion that Google+ users skew male and are tech-savvy, but that’s just more demos and segments, and figuring out how to locate the right consumer is pretty much the last thing that brand marketers struggle with today. Brands can optimize their digital investments and answer the following questions: