Honda North America might be in the midst of checking out new ad agencies, but that isn't stopping its Acura division from checking into Hotel California, as sponsor of the World Premiere of "History of the Eagles: Part One." The automaker will set up digs in Park City, Utah to sponsor the film at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. The film premieres Jan. 19 at the city's Eccles Theater.The Torrance, Calif. luxury unit of Honda Motor is wrapping the sponsorship around a sweepstakes dangling an "Exclusive Experience at the Sundance Film Festival" and an auction of Eagles autographed memorabilia, according to a release.This is the third time up the mountain for the brand as sponsor of the festival. As in previous years, Acura will have a storefront experience called "Acura Studio," where people can get out of the sun and take a rest after trying to catch their breah in the thin air. The studio will host an appearance by band members Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmit.The release about the movie says it documents the souffle-like rise in the 70s and deflation in 1980. The documentary features previously unreleased home movies and archival footage, including a rare 1977 concert film from the Hotel California tour.Mike Accavitti, former Chrysler marketer who joined Honda last year as VP marketing, said the sweepstakes will be hosted on Acura's Facebook page. The promotion, the "Sundance Film Festival Fly-In" sweepstakes launched on Dec. 20. It offers a winner and guest a chance to see the premiere and Q&A session, luxury ski-in accommodations for three nights and ground transportation.A day before that, Acura launched an online charity "Eagles Guitar Auction" that will feature an acoustic guitar autographed by Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmit. Proceeds go to Swaner Preserve and EcoCenter, a non-profit organization located in Park City.
Customers want more merchandise appeal and variety from most retailers, according to the annual Holiday E-Retail Satisfaction Index released today by customer experience analytics firm ForeSee. Internet-retail giant Amazon remains at the head of the class, according to the 8th annual report, which is based on more than 24,000 customer surveys collected during the prime holiday shopping season between Thanksgiving and Christmas. This year, the study expands from measuring satisfaction with 40 top retailers to 100. Aggregate customer satisfaction has stagnated, scoring 78 on a 100-point scale. Although satisfaction with top retailers remains the same, a few big-name retailers suffered declines. Apple’s online retail store slides 4% to 80, slipping from a tie for second place and out of the top five entirely, registering its lowest score in four years. PC competitor Dell.com also falls 4% to 77 and below the Index average. But the biggest year-over-year decline goes to jcpenney.com, with a 6% decline to 78. “This year, we’re seeing that even some of the largest companies in the country are at risk if they lose sight of customer satisfaction,” said Larry Freed, ForeSee president and CEO, in a release. “Satisfaction with the customer experience, when measured correctly, is the most important predictor of future success, and while Amazon clearly gets it, Apple stumbles from their usual focus on the customer experience. Dell and J.C. Penney seem to be struggling to find their way, which could make them extremely vulnerable to competitors.” Meanwhile, Amazon.com continues to set the standard for customer satisfaction, matching the record high of 88 it set last year in the holiday edition of the Index. Amazon has had the highest scores in the Index for eight years in a row, consistently setting a pace that other retailers don’t seem to be able to touch. Their high score is partially the result of the appeal and variety of merchandise they offer, a priority area for some other retailers. “At this point, Amazon has been dominant for so long and has such a history of focusing on the customer, it’s hard to imagine anyone else coming close,” added Freed. “Companies should emulate Amazon’s focus on the customer, which is clearly linked to superior revenues over the years.” The range of scores among the top 100 retailers spans from Amazon’s high of 88 to a score of 72 shared by Gilt.com and Fingerhut.com. Merchandise is a top priority for two-thirds of retailers. Customer experience analytics can provide retailers with a clear direction on prioritizing improvements that will have the greatest return on investment. While many retailers are focused on price, only seven of the top 100 companies registered price as a high priority for improvement. However, 65 of the measured sites should improve merchandise (the appeal, variety, and availability of products) in order to increase overall satisfaction, and by extension, sales, loyalty and customer recommendations. Customer satisfaction matters. Compared to shoppers who report being dissatisfied with a Web site, highly satisfied shoppers say they are 67% more likely to consider the company the next time they purchase a similar product. Satisfied shoppers also report being far more likely to return to the site, recommend it and remain loyal to the brand. Furthermore, analysis of top e-retailers in the United States has shown that, on average, a one-point change in Web site satisfaction was found to predict a 14% change in the log of revenues generated on the Web.
Coca-Cola launched its largest digital effort ever this year with its “Move to the Beat” campaign for the Summer Olympics across 100 countries. Mobile played a key part in the award-winning effort, with SMS activations, integrated apps and promotional QR codes. MediaPost talked to Kim Siler, mobile brand strategist, global connections at Coca-Cola, about the Olympics campaign and the company’s broader mobile strategy. MP: Can you give a brief description of your job? Siler: I sit in the global connections group, within corporate, of the Coca-Cola Company. We set the strategy and the direction of mobile. So it’s about making sure we’re looking at how things can scale and getting the best partnerships from that perspective with vendors and agencies. I’m currently working a little bit more closely with our brands, helping them with their mobile strategies, and we have a few mobile platforms that we focus on -- SMS, mobile Web and apps -- and right now, I’m going to be focusing on our location platform. That doesn’t mean we’re going to have a platform that manages location, but building out what the strategy is for location -- what vendors and partners make the most sense for Coca-Cola and our consumers. MP: The "Move to the Beat" campaign tied to the Summer Olympics was a major focus of the company’s marketing efforts in 2012. Did the mobile results meet expectations? Siler: The “Move to the Beat” campaign was sort of a benchmark for Coca-Cola. It was the first time mobile was an integral part of an integrated marketing campaign. It far exceeded expectations in that we were able to successfully show mobile could part of the overarching story. We rolled out the campaign to over 100 markets, with mobile portions in all of them. We launched the SMS portion of the campaign in nine markets. That may sound small, but these were really key markets -- we’re talking about China, Russia, South Africa, U.S., Canada, Mexico. That was our biggest success. MP: What about response rates across markets? Siler: I will say there were some markets that did it very well. One in particular was Canada, which took the SMS program and ran with it. The engagement rates averaged about 45%. We set the global, overarching story line of “Move to the Beat,” and say [to local Coca-Cola teams] here’s the focus, here’s the recommendations, now take it and localize it. They insert local calls to action or a local story line to it. MP: Is SMS, because of its universality, still the core of Coca-Cola’s approach to mobile marketing? Siler: It is one that our team pushes throughout Coca-Cola. It’s a ubiquitous format you can use to reach 98% of consumers and…it’s much more personal and much more integrated into what a consumer is already doing in their daily lives. So it is a very big part of the mobile marketing mix. We look at a wide range of platforms and outlets in mobile, so it’s not just SMS. MP: A lot of brands are in the process of optimizing their sites for mobile devices. Where is Coca-Cola on that front? Siler: We’re getting there. I wouldn’t say they’re all mobile-optimized yet. It takes time when you have over 208 countries, the number of brands we have, the number of languages. MP: What does Coca-Cola’s location platform entail? Siler: Right now, we’re just looking at what really is Coca-Cola’s role in location. Ultimately, we believe that when coupled with mobile payments, the location capabilities of a mobile device/network can enable our vision of a world where people can walk in holding their phone and walk out with their phone and a Coca-Cola. MP: Without Olympics or World Cup in 2013 is it going to be a quieter year for Coca-Cola in terms of mobile projects? Siler: I wish it was quieter, but for the 2012 Olympics I was working on that mobile strategy in 2011. So it will be a busy year, especially considering we have the Sochi [Winter Olympics] in 2014 and the World Cup in Rio (in 2014).
As the competition in the online streaming space (Amazon, Hulu, etc.) gains steam, Netflix is looking to differentiate itself through exclusive content, according to a Wall Street report. A signal: a new deal with Disney giving it sole rights to a slew of films in a pay-TV window. As Netflix tries to build a moat around its content, a potential long-term implication is the service becoming “somewhat more likely to eventually gain carriage from a traditional cable or satellite distributor,” according to Barclays analyst Anthony DiClemente. The emerging Netflix strategy would have it relying more on a less-extensive portfolio, but one with “scarcity value,” DiClemente writes in a report. A notable example has been a deal with AMC, giving it exclusive rights to prior seasons of “Walking Dead” and “Mad Men.” The approach could pose somewhat of a challenge to large content providers (Disney, News Corp., etc.), which have relished the opportunity to sign nonexclusive deals with Netflix, allowing them to also collect subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) dollars from Amazon and others. SVOD options have brought cash windfalls and a chance to monetize library content. Programmers could now charge Netflix more for exclusivity, making up for any lost revenues from double- or triple-dipping. DiClemente suggests in negotiations between Netflix and digital SVOD providers, programmers will continue to “maintain leverage” as they offer up more recent content Netflix could want. Plus, Amazon has money to spend; it has not shown the same emphasis on exclusivity, while new entrants, such as the Verizon/Redbox venture, could play a role in raising bidding prices. (The Barclays analyst notes that while the largest programming distributors have warmed to Netflix and Amazon, one holdout has been Scripps Networks, which has sought to gain TV Everywhere revenues from distributors. (It has been suggested that digital distribution might offer “cannibalistic threats” to its linear programming in the ratings area.) The overarching conclusion from DiClemente is that content providers have enough to satisfy the multiple digital distributors by artfully dividing content, which as consumer demand increases, “will ultimately translate into more digital dollars, not less.”
As the competition in the online streaming space (Amazon, Hulu, etc.) gains steam, Netflix is looking to differentiate itself through exclusive content, according to a Wall Street report. A signal: a new deal with Disney giving it sole rights to a slew of films in a pay-TV window. As Netflix tries to build a moat around its content, a potential long-term implication is the service becoming “somewhat more likely to eventually gain carriage from a traditional cable or satellite distributor,” according to Barclays analyst Anthony DiClemente. The emerging Netflix strategy would have it relying more on a less-extensive portfolio, but one with “scarcity value,” DiClemente writes in a report. A notable example has been a deal with AMC, giving it exclusive rights to prior seasons of “Walking Dead” and “Mad Men.” The approach could pose somewhat of a challenge to large content providers (Disney, News Corp., etc.), which have relished the opportunity to sign nonexclusive deals with Netflix, allowing them to also collect subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) dollars from Amazon and others. SVOD options have brought cash windfalls and a chance to monetize library content. Programmers could now charge Netflix more for exclusivity, making up for any lost revenues from double- or triple-dipping. DiClemente suggests in negotiations between Netflix and digital SVOD providers, programmers will continue to “maintain leverage” as they offer up more recent content Netflix could want. Plus, Amazon has money to spend; it has not shown the same emphasis on exclusivity, while new entrants, such as the Verizon/Redbox venture, could play a role in raising bidding prices. (The Barclays analyst notes that while the largest programming distributors have warmed to Netflix and Amazon, one holdout has been Scripps Networks, which has sought to gain TV Everywhere revenues from distributors. (It has been suggested that digital distribution might offer “cannibalistic threats” to its linear programming in the ratings area.) The overarching conclusion from DiClemente is that content providers have enough to satisfy the multiple digital distributors by artfully dividing content, which as consumer demand increases, “will ultimately translate into more digital dollars, not less.”
Doctors, it is said, are often the worst patients. Why? Well, not to generalize too much -- but many feel compelled to interfere with their own health management, trampling the jobs of accomplished nurses and other qualified physicians because, after all, they are doctors too. And damn it, they know what’s best for their own bodies! True enough. But doctors aren’t the only professionals blinded at times by their own confidence -- errr… arrogance. Many others are guilty of letting pride block rational thinking, stymieing best courses of corrective action. Countering the signs and symptoms of a communications illness Right up there with our trusty MDs are our very own PR professionals. As we close out 2012 and face a New Year, I fear our industry has developed an infection -- caused in part by an outdated way of measuring our own “health” (or revenue and client success) and the failure to cede some of our communications control to others in our industry who might be able to heal our ailment. Maybe we should call it acute communicative technological undermining and paralysis, or ACTUP for short. Taking your PR patient history The signs of ACTUP include: