Valentine’s Day may be a holiday about love and commitment, but there have to be at least a few people who are questioning their relationships around the holiday. Virgin Mobile is looking to speak to those people. The pre-paid mobile carrier has marked Feb. 13 as “National Break Up Day,” encouraging people who are in unhealthy relationships (particularly if those relationships involve a mobile carrier) to get out of them before spending money on something that won’t last. “There’s so much talk [around Valentine’s Day] about love and relationships, and we think there are a lot of people being left out,” Ron Faris, head of brand marketing for Virgin Mobile USA, tells Marketing Daily. “Not just those who are single, but also those who are looking to get out of a relationship.” To back its cause, Virgin Mobile commissioned a survey that found 59% of the respondents said if they were planning to break up with someone around Valentine’s Day, they would do it before the holiday to save money. Forty-two percent of people surveyed said they have stayed in dead-end relationships because they were afraid to try something new. As part of its promo, Virgin Mobile is offering to pay up to $100 off the purchase of a new Samsung Galaxy SII 4G (with a Beyond Talk no-contract plan) on “National Break-Up Day.” The company is promoting its offer through social media channels (Facebook, Twitter and BuzzFeed), and with a video depicting “30 breakups in 60 seconds” Virgin Mobile is also turning over its Twitter feed on Wednesday night to the folks behind dating site OKCupid, who will help people either just out of a relationship or looking for love punch up their profiles to make them more enticing, Faris says. The one-day promotion is not likely to be the brand’s last around a holiday or other event, Faris says. “One of our big initiatives is for you to get a whole lot more value from us than from the big [postpaid] carriers,” he says. “I think you’ll be seeing some more moments where we’ll be selling [the idea of] ‘break free’ in different ways.”
In recent years, Valentine’s Day has become one of the most important holidays of the year for Dunkin’ Donuts. In 2011, the introduction of heart-shaped donuts was the most successful donut launch in Dunkin’s history, according to the company. Not surprising, then, that the chain is doing it up for V-Day. Menu-wise, it has added another variety of heart-shaped donuts this year (Brownie Batter). It’s also offering a lineup of dark chocolate mocha beverages around the holiday. And the QSR is leveraging social media harder than ever for V-Day, with efforts including a V-Day Twitter sweepstakes being launched today. Fans who tweet about the sweetest things their sweethearts do @DunkinDonuts, using hashtag #DDSweetheart, earn chances to win a grand prize of two JetBlue travel vouchers. Six other winners will receive $50 Valentine’s Day-themed mGifts. Dunkin’ has also created a “DD Love” Pinterest board where fans can share ideas for small ways to surprise and delight the special people in their lives leading up to V-Day. In addition, Dunkin’ Instagram and Pinterest fans are being encouraged to share photos of how they are spreading the love, using the hashtag #DDLove. Finally, Dunkin’ has launched new Valentine’s Day virtual gift cards that can be sent via email, text or Facebook through the mGift feature on the Dunkin’ mobile app.
Purina Pro Plan dog food debuted a consumer-generated TV spot during one of the world’s most famous dog shows. Viewers who tuned in Feb. 11 and 12 to the 137th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show got the chance to see "everyday" dogs prove their greatness alongside the elite "Best in Show" class. Purina Pro Plan, the presenting partner of the prestigious annual dog show, debuted the 60-second spot "How I'm Great," a compilation of consumer-submitted videos celebrating every dog's greatness, during the live broadcast on Feb. 11. The spot ran again on Tuesday’s show. The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is the “perfect” opportunity to debut a new ad, said Heather Gettys, brand director, Purina Pro Plan. “Viewers can celebrate the finest purebred conformation dogs together with the great dogs we have at home,” she said. “We think the public will be inspired by the dogs featured in the ad as much as we were." Purina Pro Plan conducted a video contest during the summer of 2012 on its YouTube page, asking participants, "How is Your Dog Great?" to show their dog's journey to greatness and inspire others to want to discover greatness in their dog. The promotion garnered so many submissions -- more than 500 videos -- that Purina Pro Plan decided to create the entire ad spot using clips collected throughout the contest. Users also voted for their favorite clip out of eight finalists, ultimately choosing the video of a Chicago rescue dog named Noodles, whose family was recognized at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. The ad debut comes on the heels of the brand's January launch of a mobile app, Purina Pro Plan P5. Purina calls the app the “next generation” of dog training technology. Available for free via the Apple App store, it offers owners of all dog breeds and sizes personal plans and video lessons in agility, dock diving, flying disc, obedience, running and strength training. The app is part of the Purina Pro Plan SPORT product portfolio launch, which offers three formulas to fuel athletic dogs based on activity level -- from everyday exercise to competitive performance. The "How I'm Great" spot is a build off of the brand's 2012 debut anthem spot, "Good to Great," which also featured clips of everyday dogs being great in the eyes of their owners. Both spots are set to original song tracks by Chicago-based rock musician, Tony Rogers, and are available for download. Both ads were created by Leo Burnett Chicago. Fans can visit Purina Pro Plan's YouTube page to view both ads, meet the dogs featured in the commercial and watch Noodles' winning video contest submission. During the show fans can also share with other dog lovers via Twitter what makes their dog great, using the hashtag #greatdog.
In many studies based on consumer polling, brands are ranked on consumer perception, awareness, and various kinds of other sentiments about their social impact, moral rectitude and likability. One study, however, ranks brands on how they fulfill the needs delineated in Maslow's famous hierarchy. The study, by the three-year-old Center for Positive Marketing at Fordham University -- a research and pedagogical division of Fordham's business school -- does a quarterly poll of 1,000 representative Americans on how well major brands (all in the top 100 in financial performance) deliver on those seven needs: basic needs; sense of protection; social needs; self esteem; actualization, experiential needs; and happiness. Dawn Lerman, executive director of the center, tells Marketing Daily that the ranking reflects the center’s overall purpose: to focus teaching and research on marketing practice that is transparent, ethical, and empowering to consumers. "We like to cite Amazon as an example of how marketing has a positive impact on American life," she says. "Amazon, for example, does well in delivering frustration-free packaging -- it's packaging reduction, less plastic and cardboard." In the quarterly study’s fourth-quarter 2012 results, Facebook, Walmart, Google, Visa, Amazon, Nike, Coca-Cola, Subway, McDonald's and UPS, in that order, lead overall. Luke Kachersky, assistant professor of marketing at Fordham, says sheer size impacts the leaders in each of the categories. "We measure the societal impact of a brand, so the greater number of consumers the brand benefits, the greater their rating will be." Also, the pervasiveness of these brands within each consumer's life is a driver. "At Walmart, a person can stock up on Campbell's soup (basic needs) while picking up the latest X-Box video games (experiential needs) and anything else in between." Same with Google and Facebook, he notes. Visa is a big performer appearing in the top ten of all seven categories, and therefore a major outlier in the financial sector. “We track over a dozen financial services, and all rank in the bottom half of the brand list, particularly on safety and security needs. Ironically, financial messaging is all about security for your future and retirement, but [in consumer sentiment] we find the opposite.” Walmart leads both in Basic Needs and Protection categories, and then is either second or third place in the rest. Facebook is in the top three in all but the Basic category, where McDonald’s takes the number three spot, and Facebook drops to fifth. Google is first, second or third in all categories. In consumers' need for Protection, Visa and GE take fourth and fifth place. Not surprisingly, Facebook is the top brand in the Social dimension for the sixth straight quarter. Verizon and AT&T are also near the top just below Google in the third-place spot. In Esteem, Amazon is number four. In the Actualization area, GE, Apple and UPS appear in the top ten, while Microsoft, Yahoo and HP fell out of the top ten. In the Experiential dimension, Amazon. Apple, Nike, Verizon and AT&T are new to the top-ten list. The two biggest telecom networks are, in fact, the only telecoms to appear in any of the lists. One or the other is also in the top ten in Actualization, Protection and Social because -- per the study -- telecoms offer a high degree of empowerment, consumers' feeling of safety and obviously, social connection. Finally, in the Happiness area, after the perennial leaders, Amazon, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Visa, Nike, Target and Subway round out the top ten.
Under Armour is creating its own series of holidays this year to promote five major innovations and programs including a new apparel line called Coldgear Infrared, new footwear and a high-tech workout monitor called Armour 39. Also on deck is the company's largest global push ever and its first-ever brand experience. Kevin Plank, founder and CEO, said the idea for the trio of "holidays" -- one just before Valentine's Day, one at back to school, and one at the end of the year -- is also to grab share of voice. "The Under Armour 'holidays' will be when our brand voice is bigger and louder than in any other part of the year," said Plank. Backing it all is a new global marketing campaign called "I Will." Plank said the new campaign focuses on products, both current and those from an imagined future, with the idea that at some point Under Armour will be the company that invents and markets such products. The new ad touts current products by featuring four under-22 athletes sponsored by Under Armour. Each works out using a different one of the Under Armour products. Steve Battista, SVP of creative for the company, which does all advertising in-house, tells Marketing Daily the campaign launches Saturday during the NBA All Star game and that it will also air it during the NFL combine and on cable and network rotation. He says the ad deliberately shows the four athletes in their respective elements. One segment, for example, shows top boxer Canelo Alvarez at his gym in Guadalajara, and jogging on the road through the city's streets. In the spot, he is jogging while wearing the Armour 39 around his torso as his coach sits in a van following him, using his smartphone to grab data from the device, via Bluetooth. The Armour 39 hits retail on Friday. The ad also shows Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals batting in his hometown of Las Vegas with his brother, another pro player, pitching. "Eveything is authentic," says Battista. Then there's the company's first-ever retail experience. The space, opening in Baltimore's Inner Harbor this weekend, is an 8,000-square-foot venue that Plank said explores both current products and the brand's story with interactive screens some 74 mannequins, video and venue design. "It's about telling our story through displays and product in our brand voice." The company will focus on footwear this year too, with new running shoes extending the Spine technology launched last year, a new cleat that updates the kind of high-top cleats, and a new shoe that hasn't been revealed, but which the company promises won't be worn as shoes but that will "clothe your feet."
A new study shows that five years after the “new normal” stormed the family budget, daily trips to the coffee shop, a pricey new handbag and a family dinner out are re-establishing themselves as priorities. STORES Magazine, published by the National Retail Federation, tracked five years of consumer sentiment about which expenses are deemed “untouchable” and those considered “expendable.” While shifts are still occurring, in part due to the continued rise of gas and grocery prices, (magazine subscriptions? Expendable! Hair color? Untouchable!) more consumers are seeing little splurges as a requirement, not a frill. “Traditional discretionary expenditures in recent years have fallen victim to tighter family budgets,” says Pam Goodfellow, consumer insights director for BIGinsights, in the company’s release. “However, there’s no question that there are still quite a few things that are off limits for the chopping block. While we expect consumers to remain cautious with their spending, it appears that shoppers are also allowing some of those 'little luxuries' to creep back into their budgets.” Five categories have emerged as essentially sacrosanct in the five-year period, including cable, Internet, cell phones, haircuts, and shopping for clothing at discount stores. But a handful of categories are creeping up on the “Eh, we can live without ’em” list, including high-end jewelry, maid service, club memberships, magazine subscriptions and high-end cosmetics. Still, Americans are increasingly bored with cutting back. The survey, which was conducted for the magazine by BIGinsight and included about 8,300 adults, reports that 53.9% of adults say that they cut back on some spending in 2012, down from 76.4% who said they’d done so in 2011. And nearly every category saw a year-over-year decrease in the number of people who plan to cut back on items and services. Only 28.8% of consumers say they plan to cut back on that daily cup of gourmet coffee, for example, compared with 40.8% last year. And just 24.6% say they are hoping to cut back on luxury handbag purchases, compared with 39.8%. Less than half -- 49.1% -- are targeting casual dining as a place to trim budget fat this year, compared with 54.5% last year, and 63% back in 2009.
"Made in America." It wasn't merely posturing that made this a hot issue on both sides of the political aisle in last year's election. It's a subject that matters to American consumers. A lot. Or at least enough that 80 percent of us, according to one study, will happily pay a premium for products we know were made here in the U. S. of A. This is not a new trend. It is a resurging one that cycles through periodically as a result of circumstances and conditions. The pro-American consumer movement last arced in the post-9/11 environment on a wave of patriotism sparked by tragedy. More recently, the sentiment has grown in a recession-weary public that wants to feel good again about our country and do what it takes to spur on the recovery. Made in America translates into more jobs, better working conditions, better quality and craftsmanship and more wealth staying here at home. It reflects a backlash against brands that were poorly made, sometimes even dangerous, or manufactured in countries that had inhumane working conditions. Who can forget the product recalls of toys made in China of toxic materials? More recently, Apple has come under fire after a rash of suicides due to working conditions in its contract supplier's plants in China. Made in America represents a better way, a trend that smart businesses should be leveraging. A brand that has developed authentic associations with “Made in America” values will grow a committed and loyal customer base -- one likely to remain strong, whatever the level of patriotic fervor at the time. Think about some of the attributes that “American-made” projects on a brand. All align closely with American values such as freedom, independence, individualism, entrepreneurialism and spirit. And all play up those values, to one degree or another, in their marketing. Some of our most iconic brands proudly continue to be built on U.S. shores. The Louisville Slugger turns out 1 million baseball bats annually from a 100,000-square-foot plant in Louisville, Ky. Every single Slinky has been made in Hollidaysburg, Pa. since 1966; over 300 million have been sold since the first 400 were made and sold in 90 minutes in 1945 with a $500 investment. While many parts are made offshore, Harley-Davidson's bikes are all assembled in plants in the U.S. Big businesses recognize that “Made in America” plays well on Main Street and beyond. Employees, business partners and public policymakers – along with customers – all want to see this commitment. Caterpillar and 3M have committed to sourcing more within the U.S., and Walmart recently committed to source $50 billion of products in America over the next ten years. American Express aligned itself through a “Small Business Saturday” holiday campaign to promote the small businesses that fuel our economy. TIMEX is looking to recapture the power of American values. Companies such as Harley Davidson, J. Crew, Eddie Bauer and many more are starting to see the benefits of building brands around American values. And yesterday, Chrysler's Jeep and Dodge Ram Super Bowl ads were built around the powerful emotion of American pride and captured coveted attention and positive press clips today. It’s all quite admirable, at least on the surface. But there's one catch for those looking to cash in on the trend. For starters, don't look at it as “cashing in.” This is more than just a marketing ploy. It aligns with other corporate social responsibility initiatives, where smart organizations understand how well they can do by doing good. If the business benefits by serving the greater good, that’s acceptable. It's about transparency and authenticity, and not about slick PR campaigns: A dedication to employing Americans. To upholding high standards of quality and workmanship. To standing for values that are uniquely ours. To investing in the long haul. Anything less will prove an exercise in flag-wrapping. And sadly, will fall flat.
Minimalist design is set to become a principal design trend in 2013, catering to consumers’ desire to absorb information quickly and easily given their increasingly impatient nature and growing time constraints. This design movement goes beyond the influence that Apple’s well-known, simple design aesthetic has had around the globe -- now, it’s more the Twitter 140-character restriction translated to design. It’s being reflected in packaging, print media, and products that take up the challenge of concision, leveraging form, iconic visuals, and color to cut to the chase and simplify communication to just the mandatory elements. A good example of this design philosophy is Häfele Home’s, a German brand of homewares products, which are positioned around high utility for everyday use. To enable the product and its functionality to shine through on the shelf, Studio Verse, the Australian design agency, used stark photography to highlight product features and convey a sense of practicality and value. A simple sans serif typeface in black and grey is set against a predominantly white background and describes in plain language the product inside -- “Bamboo Spice Jar Organizer,” and “Bamboo Bowl Carrier with Stainless Steel Handle,” for example. You’d be hard pressed to read more than a word or two or hear much commentary in Microsoft’s latest advertisements for its tablet, Surface. What you will find is telling angles, bold colors, and, frankly, not much else. However, despite the limited communication, through the visual tools consumers are able to gauge a laundry list of product benefits and features. For example, one can visually see its ultra-slim build gleaned from a side-view photo, as often found in Surface's outdoor advertising. The limited color palette used in the ads highlights its selection of strikingly bold color options for its keyboard attachments. The simple phrase, “Click in,” communicates the versatility of the product and its ability to move from a touchscreen tablet to personal laptop in a matter of a “click.” Lastly, in its television commercial, a coordinated performance number uses only song and dance to demonstrate the portability and lightweight nature of the product, while also showing it as fit for anyone from a student to a businessperson. Lastly, NaturePaint, a U.K. company specializing in natural paints in powder packs made completely absent of synthetic and toxic ingredients, uses a simple, symbolic visual -- a line drawing of a tulip -- to hint at its natural characteristics and to indicate its straightforward performance. The black-and-white palette gives way to a single leaf, used as a color swatch. This combination of minimalist design elements creates a strong presence at shelf and aids shopability in an aisle crowded with color. Consumers today need to be able to make purchase decisions more quickly by absorbing less information. In addition to the impact of time constraints and information overload, when consumers are given too much information, they are more likely to over-think their decisions and feel less confident in the choices they make. Marketers will need to restrain themselves and fight the impulse to put everything they think their consumer needs to know on a piece of marketing communication, and instead cater to consumers’ desire for brevity and impact. In this case, less is really more -- while a marketer may be concerned that they won’t get their message across, elements and techniques of minimalist design can help deliver the intuitive responses they seek for their brands at the point-of-decision. Challenge yourself: how can you tell your story in as simple and consumable a way possible, leveraging design cues and copy to drive purchase decisions and build affinity?