Kohl’s has unleashed its holiday ad campaign, and is sweetening its bid for shoppers with extensive contests and picking up the tab for one lucky shopper per day in each of its 1,100-plus stores. The Menomonee Falls, Wisc.-based chain, which just announced that its October comparable-store sales rose 3.3%, says that even if people are feeling some economic pinching, they still want to make dreams come true for their families. “We are providing deeper savings more often throughout the season and creating a comfortable, convenient and inspiring shopping experience in-store, online and through mobile devices,” says CEO Kevin Mansell, in the company’s announcement about the new campaign. Themed “Dream Gifts,” the effort includes TV spots from McCann Erickson, which encourage shoppers to use all of the retailer’s resources, including its Kohl’s Cash program, and mobile shopping, to get the best deal on gifts. The company says in addition to TV, its advertising push is using digital and social media, mobile, email, direct mail, and out-of-home, including its first-ever cinema ads. The 30-second spots are also running within such full-episode players as Hulu, ABC.com, CWTV.com and Adap.TV. And Kohl’s is also sponsoring the Food Network’s “Thanksgiving Live!” Program. In stores, it is continuing the dream theme with designated gift zones that showcase gift-pairing options, such as pajamas with slippers. The “Dream Receipt” contest is scheduled to run from Nov. 23 through Christmas Eve. An online list builder allows shoppers to customize lists and mange them from desktop, tablet or mobile device; and then share them with others, either via email or social. It includes a real-time budgeting feature. And customers can then print their lists in-store, using kiosks. (Customers can also use kiosks to buy items and have them shipped for free.) And the company says it will have free WiFi in all its stores by Black Friday, to aid comparison shopping. Those who check in via Four Square will be eligible for additional savings. There’s also a big social push, with the store’s Facebook fans having access to Friday flash sales, as well as “Like Races” and “New Arrivals Sweepstakes,” which will reward a lucky fan with $100 gift cards for themselves and three friends. It also plans to use Pinterest and Twitter to highlight gift ideas. Kohl’s is also using Facebook for its charitable endeavors, donating $1 to Toys for Tots for each new “like” its Facebook page gets, up to $500,000. Nor is it limiting its efforts to digitally aware shoppers: The company says it has expanded its toy department by 25%, and on Wednesdays, will offer an extra 15% off in-store purchases to shoppers 60 and older.
Lexus has launched a major campaign for its new 2013 LS, the company's flagship vehicles. The effort includes big programs with GQ and the USA Network show about a law firm, "Suits,” in which, among other things, the company gets product integration. There are also a lot of social media elements tied to the partnerships with GQ. Behind this effort is Brian Bolain, Lexus national marketing communications manager. Just back from SEMA, where the brand had a major presence, and headed to New York, Bolain talked to Marketing Daily about the Toyota luxury division, its LS sedan, and the new campaign that supports it. Q: So how big was SEMA this year?A: What felt really good about the show was that it was packed again, it was just like the old days. It was above pre-recession levels for the first time. They were projecting 130,000 attendees this year, and it felt every bit of that. It felt alive. Q: What about Lexus' presence there?A: This is our fifth consecutive year, and we have been showing there ever since we launched the IS-F [F is Lexus' performance sub-brand -- think BMW M, Mercedes-Benz AMG, or Cadillac V-Series]. This year, we took our space and divided it diagonally, so one half was all white and one black, to highlight the fact that we are about design and performance. On the design side, we had the LS cc concept we showed in Paris a month ago, and on the performance side, a Nürburgring version [based on the famed German course] of the LFA. In the middle, we had a modified version of the new LS -- sort of both design and performance in one vehicle. Q: Which is a lot like this new LS campaign with the focus on performance and design as well as lifestyle.A: We are definitely speaking more loudly than before with the LS, and there's a bit of irony in that since LS is a very quiet car. But we are trying to celebrate the lifestyle people lead in this premium category. It's basically the fact that you can speak quietly, and still make an impression. Q: Is this a change for Lexus, which used to be more focused on vehicle attributes and impregnable build quality?A: There have been big changes this year. For example, years ago we never used people; there was no evidence of humanity in our ads unless it was to prove a technical point. Starting with the Lexus CT work we did last June, we really upped the ante in terms of people in the spots. One, it's relatable -- people want to live like that -- and I think it freshens us to have people in the spots. Q: How about the prevalence of social media activation with this campaign?A: In general, in everything we are doing now there are social media involved; we are lucky enough to have 1.7 million followers on Facebook and over 300,000 in Twitter, so everything we do now has a social component. Even with SEMA, there was a social media program around what we did there. With our media buys now, for any place that's appropriate, we have a social component. Q: If you had to choose key elements of the LS campaign... A: There are four major elements. We tried to hit on a lot of lifestyle, so we hit on things that were style-oriented, entertainment-oriented, culinary-oriented, travel and several linchpins in this. For example, the program with GQ makes us the first advertiser integrated into their "Man of the Year" events, which have digital, as well as print and physical components. Then, with "Suits," we are upping the ante there because the LS is going to be the official vehicle of the law firm in the show. Q: These campaigns are also much more digital and "multi-screen" in nature. A: We are finding a lot of value in that. For example, with ABC's "Revenge" -- and we are in our second season working with them -- we are finding a lot of value in recognizing the second-screen approach: people are watching television but they are also sitting with their iPads or smartphones, and they are willing to take an extra step if you are willing to give them a little more information. We are finding that to be of great value, it increases consumer attention. Q: Finally, what's the role of LS in Lexus' car lineup?A: It's the flagship, and in terms of continuity, the car has been around for 23 years. We launched the LS and ES together, but LS has always been the car that defined the brand, and it's the point of aspiration for Lexus. Any luxury brand without a halo car really wouldn't be a luxury brand.
While most brands steer far clear of controversial issues, Seattle-based craft-beer brewer Redhook has stepped boldly into politics with an ad supporting Washington State’s Referendum 74, which would legalize same-sex marriage. Running up to the Nov. 6 elections, Redhook is featuring the ad on news and sports media sites targeted within Washington. Headline: “Getting married is so gay. It’s about time.” Copy underneath states: “Redhook supports equality on November 6.” The ad is an extension of the brand’s “He’s Redhook” campaign, launched in April 2011. The ads’ creative personifies the brand by using a Redhook bottle to express opinions through the copy – it’s implied that the beer is “a guy with thoughts and feelings,” explains Forrest Healy, creative director and principal in Frank Unlimited, the Seattle-based agency behind the campaign. Redhook’s core audience is males 25 to 35. Sometimes, the opinions or sentiments expressed are just humorous (one past example: "Redhook totally thinks that blonde will give you her number.") In addition, the campaign frequently takes on local issues. For instance, past ads have addressed a debate on whether the Seattle Mariners MLB team should move in its outfield fences, whether the Seattle City Council should vote to build a new NBA arena, Seattle’s notoriously bad traffic and Seattle’s “big dig,” an expensive underground tunnel. Some of those have generated some controversy, but the gay marriage ad is the first to venture into an issue that’s become a political hot button on a national basis. Is Redhook concerned that it might alienate some of the Pacific Northwest consumers who make up much of its customer base? “We didn’t do any research specifically surrounding Referendum 74,” says Healy. “However, we do know that the Seattle area, where much of Redhook’s media dollars are spent, is largely liberal. As for taking a political stance, Redhook was aware of the potential risks and possible backlash. But this is a principle that we and they believed in. Doing the right thing is always worth the risk.”
Companies have to connect with their customers if they want to succeed in today’s marketplace, according to a survey commissioned by rbb Public Relations. Make consumers fall in love, and they’ll even pay more for your products. Think of the lines outside of Apple stores when a new product is released. The survey, conducted by polling firm IBOPE/Zogby International, indicates that 83% of consumers are willing to pay more when they feel a personal connection to the company. Of the 2,000 adults surveyed, one-fifth said they would pay 50% or more if they felt the company put the customer first. Questions focused on a newly identified evolutionary marketing strategy that nullifies the traditional challenger brand approach. The PR company has named it the “breakout brand” strategy. Breakout brands make the customer their first priority rather than chase their competition. The survey’s list of the top 10 breakout brands includes: Apple, Amazon, Chick-Fil-A,Wal-Mart, Costco, Starbucks, Google, Zappos, Toyota, Ford, Trader Joe’s and Southwest Airlines. Examples are illustrated in rbb’s white paper outlining the strategy and include: Why being a good company isn’t enough, what it takes to become a breakout brand like Apple and why positioning for market share from your competition will render stale results. The survey found that to stay competitive, companies are adopting marketing strategies that align with today’s new consumer perspective. Instead of chasing the competition to become number one, creating powerful customer experiences is top priority “Breakout brands don’t challenge their competitors,” said Christine Barney, CEO of rbb Public Relations, in a release. “They challenge their employees and leaders to make life easier/better for their customers, which create the kind of strong emotional bonds that inspire repeat purchases and loyalty.” Of the companies included in Fortune Magazine’s Most Admired Brands in 2012, Apple and Amazon were the only two considered breakout brands by more than half the people surveyed. The research indicates that breakout brand companies share a common strategy. They deliver services and products that trigger a response, an emotion, and a reaction from customers. Consider Zappos.com with its free return policy backed by a fun-loving customer service approach that delivers “happiness.” Or the anticipation coffee drinkers feel for Starbucks’ limited edition menu options, like the Pumpkin Spice Latte or Peppermint Mocha that signal the arrival of the holidays. “Breakout brands have communication in their souls,” Barney said. “They build incredibly rich feedback loops that keep the company in touch with customers’ needs today and tomorrow.”
With Sandy outages fading from the headlines as fast as Halloween, the retail industry is loading up for the holidays, pushing the fourth-quarter envelope in every possible direction. In more evidence that Black Thursday is turning into the new Black Friday, Sears now says it will be open at 8 o’clock Thanksgiving evening, staying open overnight until 10 p.m. on Black Friday. (Its Kmart stores have opened on Thanksgiving for decades, and this year will open from 6 a.m. until 4 p.m., and then from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day.) In recent years, Walmart and other retailers have been opening late Thanksgiving evening as well. Last year, the trend even sparked some employee protests. And Target is upping its gift-card game in novel ways, adding lights and even sounds. Consumers have the calendar to thank for many of these innovations. This year, retailers are getting a bonus: There are 32 shopping days between Black Friday and Christmas, the greatest possible number. And while ShopperTrak is forecasting that national retail sales will rise 3.3% during November and December (with foot traffic climbing just 2.8%), it says the two “extra” weekends will require many stores to shift their strategies a bit. Certainly, it expects that Black Friday will be the biggest shopping day of the year, and points out that last year, sales rose 6.6% to $11.4 billion. And as has been true in recent years, “Super Saturday” -- the last Saturday before Christmas, falling on Dec. 22 this year -- will come in as the season’s second-biggest day. The preceding Saturday, Dec. 15, will again come in third. But it now predicts that the Friday before the holiday, Dec. 21, will jump from eighth-biggest day of the year to the fourth, and that the final Sunday (Dec. 23) will become the fifth-biggest day, moving up from the sixth. “Those 32 days provide extra time for consumers to shop more frequently and to visit more stores during the holidays,” says Bill Martin, ShopperTrak founder, in its forecast. “But retailers must prepare to capitalize on the holiday opportunity while managing the increase in operating costs that go hand-in-hand with extended store hours on more shopping days.” Gift cards offer chains important calendar advantages as well. Now a $100 billion market, they guarantee that lucky recipients will bring them in the days and weeks after the holidays, which helps stores’ sales in January. (They help in other ways too: TowerGroup has estimated that as many as one-third of gift card redeemers actually go over the amount of the card. And in some states, stores are allowed to keep the “breakage” of cash generated by unredeemed cards.) Target is hoping its new WOW! cards generate plenty of enthusiasm. One plays “Joy to the World,” and in yet another, a bear wears a sweater that lights up. The Minneapolis-based retailer is offering another first this year, enabling customers to use the in-store gift card displays to send digital gift cards. (The market for e-gift cards is expected to reach $11 billion by 2014.) Mobile cards are also available, and by scanning barcodes, people can turn any Target gift card into a mobile one. It’s even adding features to make that option more tempting, with one version offering a QR code that can be converted to “Santa’s Sleigh Ride,” an online game. Holiday Shopping from Shutterstock
What timing for “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” as the program spent the week holed up at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Harvey Theatre. Monday’s show was cancelled, but the rest of the week went on as planned, and was pretty much booked solid (God knows how people got there, if not by bicycle, which is how I went.) But it worked out for Hyundai, which months ago put a deal together around the show's nightly music feature to tout the new 2013 Santa Fe crossover as the vehicle for "Helping Parents to Rock." In addition to signage on the show's music stage, there were a series of humorous faux PSA's around the idea that parents must confront existential anemia pursuant to raising kids. The way it worked is that when the music guests -- Jack Black, Alana Morrisette, and Alicia Keys, for example -- took the Kimmel co-pilot chair, they would make a mention before the break that people would see a very important message pertaining to the syndrome. "The genesis of this was that we had gotten to know some of Kimmel’s people; we had a big interest in the music side of the show, and about six or seven months ago, we had a meeting with their head of music programming, Doug Deluca," says Hyundai Motor America VP marketing Steve Shannon. He tells Marketing Daily that word came down about the Brooklyn series half a year back. "With the buzz about [the borough's new sports and entertainment venue] The Barclay Center, and Jimmy being from there, and the famous musicians who would perform, we knew the ratings would be usually big." The show was looking for a limited number of sponsors, and "for us, the timing was perfect for the launch of the new Santa Fe, which is what we often look at up front." It also aligned with the Santa Fe positioning around families and the theme that parents don't have to give up their passions, but that younger parents can involve kids in whatever they like to do, which the ads exaggerate. Each of the 90-second "PSA's" -- the others feature Tenacious D, and Travis Parker -- include 10-second bumpers showing a Santa Fe customized with rocker theme. "We launched one per week a month ago," says Shannon, who says the Kimmel viewer demographic hits the sweet spot for the new vehicle. "It's late 30's early 40's, skewing a little more male; it's good numbers, and since it's late night, it also has a slightly hipper sensibility, which we like because we want this vehicle -- in a sea of SUVs, which aren't terribly differentiated -- to have a different edge to it."
Hi, Bob: I hope this note finds you well. As you know, Tooboozoob has just received a first-round investment from Prodigal Group Venture Partners for its cutting-edge networking platform that dynamically merges demand-side data optimization with FGB inputs for maximum transparency and scalability. In beta, the FGB matrix outperformed equivalent low-threshold file-conversion metrics both on demand-side and third-party acquisition. Real-time data disintermediation enhanced transactional “feed stimulation” and reduced signal bias by almost 30%. We are very excited about the prospects for full integration of our proprietary network-delimiting trading applications by Q3 2013. Our CEO, Sree Gustaffson, will be in New York next week and would love a chance to introduce you to the team. Joining Sree will be CMO Garry Dunleavy, who recently came to Tooboozoob from SKUlootions and before that DataDoo Digital and before the Dunleavy Group and before that, from November 2011 to February 2012, MicroVroom. Also eager to meet you is McKenzie Feldman-Graff, our sales lead, who has years of experience in the space, lifetime Advantage Platinum and legs up to here. The team would be happy to visit you at the Adweek offices or at Sree's hotel or in your colon. There is not a single thing we would not do for a little buzz, considering we are getting the daylights beaten out of us in this space by AppSeeDaisy and ScrooGeezix every single day. If you can fit us into your busy schedule, Sree will firmly shake your hand and show you our deck, which is filled with slides. His eyes will be slightly glazed and he will sometimes call you “Mike.” We are also offering a bylined article titled “Predicting the Presidential Election with Low-threshold File Conversion Metrics Both on Demand-side and Third-party Acquisition.” Or, after Tuesday, you may be interested in another article: “Predicting the Super Bowl with Low-threshold File Conversion Metrics Both on Demand-side and Third-party Acquisition.” We don’t care which you use. Mike, we are desperate. Tooboozoob has been funded for only 30 days and already the VCs are up Sree’s ass like suppositories in khakis. They are looking for a quick exit at terms that would make your eyeballs bleed. Tooboozoob needs publicity by any and all means. I beg you: Write about them, or if not, please call the police. Sree is beside himself. He dropped out of college to write code and, being candid, even he doesn’t understand what the hell Tooboozoob does. His burn rate is like phosphorous and he has zero social skills to fall back on. Thank God the Prius and foosball table are leased, but the company’s PR bills are 120 days past due. Looking forward to meeting you. Once again, we are extremely excited about Tooboozoob. Kindest regards, Selena K. DiPietro RightUp! Public Relations
In this time of rapid change and reassessment when many of society’s institutions have been turned upside down, it is only appropriate that the age-old concept of consumerism is also shifting. Consumer behaviors are demonstrating that there is less of a desire to actually own material goods and a greater desire to experience possession without the limiting nature of ownership and the burdens that come with it. Meanwhile, businesses are responding by providing consumers with solutions to satisfy temporary needs for everything from cars to digital music. While this era of anti-ownership was initially driven by small businesses and start-ups, global brands are starting to take notice and providing consumers with alternative options to ownership. In a prime demonstration of how society’s approach to ownership has been shifting, car-sharing has become popular over the last several years, given traffic in the world’s busiest cities and the rising costs of owning an automobile. This is especially true among the influential Millennial generation, which has shown a lack of desire to own cars -- they make up only 27 percent of all new vehicle sales, a decrease of over 10 percent versus 1985. It wasn’t until this year, however, that larger, established global brands joined the car-sharing market. Volkswagen's Quicar project put 200 cars on the streets of Hanover, available for hourly rentals, while this past September BMW announced that its DriveNow electric vehicle car-sharing program would continue its international expansion with the introduction of 70 ActiveE cars to the streets of San Francisco for those looking to access a bit of luxury. Quickly becoming as ubiquitous as car-sharing, bike-sharing is another viable alternative for consumers who can rent bikes to cover shorter distances on a daily basis. The model helps to address traffic congestion and the need for more eco-friendly methods of transportation. Joining other similar metropolitan programs, Australia’s Melbourne BikeShare is just beginning to institute the model in the Land Down Under. While its average of 519 daily rentals are a far reach from Paris’ Vélib's 68,477 daily ridership, the program is steadily gaining traction. Meanwhile, in New York, Citibank-sponsored Citi Bike will soon introduce 7,000 bikes at 420 stations across Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens in March of 2013. Beyond alternatives to car ownership, some music services have made owning music less of a necessity. Competition has taken off in the streaming music industry, with Spotify and Pandora vying for a portion of Apple's iTunes success by offering access to extensive music libraries without the need for users to personally own music. Unlike the iTunes model, Pandora's 125 million users can listen to custom radio stations generated through their own preferences without needing to pay a single cent. Eliminating the ownership requirement means listeners are now able to access a larger variety of music that keeps up with their current preferences without fearing that their money will go to waste on records they quickly grow bored with. According to The Wall Street Journal, following its update of the iTunes service this past September, Apple will soon be incorporating its own Pandora-like custom-radio feature in order to provide a more complete music platform. Beyond these examples, ownership models now exist for everything from tool-sharing to luxury handbag rentals. What may ultimately be the driving factor behind anti-ownership is economics. It simply makes sense for consumers to access exactly what they need for the exact time period they desire and do so without a weighty financial commitment. From a functional standpoint, it is an attractive proposition for consumers who are given more options and only need to pay for what they need at the time. From an emotional standpoint, they are freed from burdens of ownership -- needing to pay for ongoing maintenance on their cars or guilt from items becoming obsolete, for example. What does this era of anti-ownership mean for marketers? There's an opportunity for brands to provide solutions that better fit consumers' on-demand, per-usage needs. As Volkswagen and BMW have shown, the introduction of an anti-ownership model in your industry doesn't mean you automatically stand to lose. Consider how your business model can be reinvented to address this shift in mindset and behavior. Or, if the shift has not yet occurred in your industry, anticipate it and decide how you will profit from it. Lastly, understand that consumers will be selective in what they choose to own and not own. If your business model still involves ownership, what will you do to make your product worth owning?