"Summer of Temptation" is here, or at least it is starting on Wednesday. It is male personal-care brand Axe's campaign meant to support the company's new "Gold Temptation" fragrance, and address the fact that, per the Unilever brand, three-quarters of men, and 60% of women say they don't understand what tempts the opposite sex. The social effort at #TemptationTuesday, is designed to get online conversation going around how the human species dates and what attracts one specimen to another. The effort, at Axetemptation.tumblr.com, is consequent to a survey of 2,000 people that Axe did with GQ and Lucky. The company said that 81% of women are more tempted to go out with a guy if he asks her out with a personal phone call vs. a text or email; more than 90% of guys say they would love it if girls made the first move and initiated conversation. As part of the campaign, actor Michael B. Jordan, who will star in the superhero flick "The Fantastic Four" next year, will conduct and direct a video social program. According to a company rep, that “experiment” will involve Jordan co-creating video content “That will uncover the truth behind temptation in different areas of life, including dating, food, money, and more.” The video will debut in September, per the rep. The company says GoldTemptation, a fragrance with just a hint of chocolate essence, is the first extension of the brand in its 30-year history. Market research firm Mintel, in its most recent report on the category, says price and scent are important to younger men as part of their consideration process around toiletry and grooming products. The research firm says that as the lines between personal care categories are continuing to blur, fragrance is a product attribute that consumers expect to have in a number of personal care products. The Chicago-based company finds that some 30% of men are, in fact, interested in seeing more personal care products that come in a greater variety of masculine fragrances. "This further emphasizes that fragrance is a very important product attribute across segments and that brands need to offer a variety of fragrance profiles across product portfolios," says the report. However, while younger men seem more interested in trying new grooming and toiletry products, overall, interest in new products for the total male population is not very strong. "Expanding the current product repertoire of the men’s personal care market could prove challenging," the report says.
It isn’t every day that a CEO has to take to social media to defend his personal hygiene habits. But in a bid to explain Levi’s connection to complex sustainability issues, Levi Strauss & Co. chief Chip Bergh has posted a Dirty Jeans Manifesto on Linked In, elaborating about how often he launders his britches. Back in May, Bergh told the crowd at Fortune’s Brainstorm Green conference that the year-old pants he was wearing that day “hadn’t seen the inside of a washing machine.” Most coverage of his speech, though, said he “doesn’t wash his pants.” So Bergh, who says he hopes to elevate the conversation about how to care for denim to address water issues around the globe, sets the record straight: He does wash his blue jeans, both spot cleaning and by hand-washing them in cold water. “Ask my wife – I really do!” “My point at the conference … was to challenge the mindset that we need to throw everything into the washing machine after one or two wearings. I made this provocative statement because I believe strongly in what our brands stand for: quality, durability and lasting products made sustainably. I also said it because I believe we don’t need to wash jeans as often as most people think we do.” Bergh, who concedes that most CEOs wouldn’t speak at a conference in jeans at all, let alone dirty ones, also points out that these were his best pair, not the ones he wears for soccer in the park. He goes on to explain the company’s lifecycle assessment of a pair of jeans, and the 2007 discovery that an average pair of jeans consumes roughly 3,500 liters of water in the first two years, with 1,600 liters coming from laundry. (Back in 2011, it created the Water<Less line, which reduces the amount of water used in manufacturing by up to 96%.) Growing cotton accounts for 48% of water consumption, leading Levi Strauss & Co. to partner with the Better Cotton Initiative, along with such brands as Ikea, Marks & Spencer, and the World Wildlife Fund. Bergh’s comments were directed at the consumers whose habits account for 46% of what dungarees drink. (Each pair of Levi’s comes with a Care Tag for the Planet, which urges them to be more thoughtful about how often they wash clothes.) With Americans owning an average of seven denim items, and wearing blue jeans four days a week, according to Cotton Inc., an industry trade group, sustainability is increasingly becoming a selling point for brands. H&M, for example, which has long made sustainability a key part of its brand platform, even launched a line of denim made from recycled donated items. And some of the jeans sold by the Gap carry tags with instructions like, “Do more, wash less.” Most jeans brands, though, are struggling at the moment. Last week, Levi Strauss announced that its second-quarter results continued to feel the pressure of American shoppers looking for bargains, with net income tumbling 76% to $11 million, from $48 million in the prior year, and revenues falling 2% to $1.08 billion, from $1.09 billion in the same period last year. “While we are encouraged by business improvements in Europe and Asia, ongoing traffic declines and an increasingly promotional environment continue to pressure our Americas region,” Bergh says in its earnings release. “We will continue to focus on what’s within our control. We have a strong second half plan in place, including the launch of the new Levi’s advertising campaign that brings to life the consumer insight that ‘you wear jeans, you “Live in Levi’s.”’
MasterCard is partnering with Stand Up To Cancer and inviting cardholders to get together and give back through the simple act of dining out.When cardholders spend $10 or more when dining out, or ordering in, and choose to pay with their MasterCard, the company will make a donation to the charity, up to a total of $4 million. The program runs through Sept. 15. This is the fourth year the financial services company has supported the charity. Since the partnership began, MasterCard has donated a total of more than $20 million to the group help further cancer research initiatives, says Raja Rajamannar, chief marketing officer, MasterCard. “The theme of this year’s program leverages our recently introduced Priceless Causes platform which is focused on uniting people around social initiatives to drive an impact,” Rajamannar said is a release. New this year is an opportunity for cardholders to enjoy a celebrity chef prepared meal on a table 25 feet above Times Square. During “Priceless Table” in Times Square, diners can enjoy a world class prix fixe dining menu prepared by celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson while looking out over the neon lights of Broadway. MasterCard cardholders canbook a reservation for between July 16 and Aug. 2 through OpenTable at OpenTable.com/PricelessTable. Cardholders will have the opportunity to attend an exclusive pop-up dinner in Los Angeles. MasterCard and Stand Up to Cancer, together with Chef Ludo Lefebvre, will host a 450 person Stand Up Dinner Party at The Grove in Los Angeles on Aug. 7. Stand Up To Cancer ambassador, two-time Emmy-winning actor Eric Stonestreet is helping drive awareness for the initiative.
Mercedes-Benz has been involved in pro and amateur golf for a quarter century, including a deal with the Masters in Augusta for the past seven years; and a relationship with the PGA for the past four years including "Official Vehicle" with the PGA Championship, the Senior PGA Championship and the Ryder Cup in the U.S. In 2011, Mercedes-Benz inked a partnership with The Open Championship in the U.K., where the MercedesTrophy tournament for amateurs will also be played this year. The MercedesTrophy World Final happens in September in Stuttgart, per the company. Mercedes-Benz, which has a presence around the world at a variety of golf events, will roll its S-Class flagship onto the green as official car and "patron" of the Open Championship golf tournament, which happens July 17 through 20 at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England. Among other things, the company will provide a phalanx of S-Class saloons as shuttle vehicles for guests. The automaker sponsors several players, who will be competing in the championship, and making appearances at Mercedes-Benz events at the course as brand ambassadors, per the company. Adam Scott, Martin Kaymer, Louis Oosthuizen, and Rickie Fowler will be competing, and the latter three players will also meet Mercedes owners and will drive M and E-Class models during the tournament week. Mercedes says it will also have a vehicle exhibition at the tournament, showing the C-Class; the S-Class coupe, which goes on sale in September; and the new GLA crossover. The company has tied its MercedesTrophy global amateur tournament (open only to owners of Mercedes-Benz vehicles) to the Open Championship as well. Qualifying golfers from around the world compete for a spot in the "Monday After Event", which takes place immediately after The Open Championship.
As consumer electronics and connectivity continue to spread into other areas and products, the category’s revenues will continue to grow. According to the Consumer Electronics Association’s mid-year sales forecast, revenues for the CE industry will reach $211.3 billion this year (up 2%), driven by the entry of new device categories and overall connectivity. “The overarching trend is [the growth] of connectivity and the Internet of Things. More and more devices are becoming connected, and that’s helping the industry,” Steve Koenig, director of industry analysis for the CEA, tells Marketing Daily. “New categories are also pouring billions and billions of new revenues into the industry.” The 2% overall growth from 2013’s $207 billion is in line with projections the CEA made in January. Steady growth is expected to continue into 2015, which will see another 1.2% growth to $214 billion in overall industry revenues. Though the overall growth rate has slowed from 2011’s 7.7%, the CEA says it sees no indications the category will drop below $200 billion in annual revenues in the future. The biggest bright spot are emerging technology categories, such as 3D printers, wearable technologies (like health and fitness devices and smart watches), ultra HD television displays and smart thermostats. These emerging categories are expected to see 242% year-over-year growth in 2014 and 108% growth in 2015 as more consumers become more familiar with the categories and more companies enter them. While emerging categories only represent less than 3% of the entire CE industry revenue, their $5 billion contribution is huge, considering that two years ago, these categories were too small to track. Other categories, such as audio (which includes headphones, bluetooth and television sound bars), automotive electronics and gaming consoles will also see double-digit growth rates, according to the forecast. “We’re also seeing what we once thought of as discreetly differentiated categories [becoming connected],” Koenig says. “These are more and more overlapping with consumer electronics, looking like a Venn diagram.” The growth of new products is balanced by a leveling out of some older, more mature categories. Total television sales, for instance, will decline 5% in 2014 (though as a subset, Ultra HD TV is performing better than projected). While still accounting for 35% of overall industry revenues, smartphones and tablets, will see mixed growth (smartphone revenues are expected to be up 7% from 2014, while tablet revenues will be down 3% this year) as the categories mature. “These top revenue-driving products, namely LCD flat panel TVs and mobile connected devices, can now be found in millions of households in a remarkably short amount of time,” Koenig says. “Tablets have only been around since 2010, and we’re now close to 50% in household penetration. That underscores the importance of consumer electronics in our daily lives, whether it’s for work or for play.”
Consumers switch platforms up to 27 times an hour, yet they demand relevance and coherence in every interaction with brands. Now, in order to develop real customer engagement, brands must deliver great seamless experiences across channels using intelligence, technology and data to build relationships that grow stronger over time, according to research conducted by Publicis Groupe's Rosetta Consulting. If brands are not combining all of these elements to form a single cohesive strategy that delivers mutual value, they are likely to lose consumers entirely. "The customer relationship is no longer driven by brands," says Nicholas Hahn, managing partner, Rosetta Consulting. "The power has shifted to the consumer. It used to be when you bought a car, you haggled with the dealer who knew more about the price than you did. Now, you go to the lot knowing exactly how much that car is worth and how much someone paid for that car down the street. It has made the job of marketers more difficult.” Fully engaged customers are worth more to the brand—they generate 23% more in revenue and profit than an average customer, reports Rosetta. Yet, today’s business leaders struggle to clearly define customer engagement, how to achieve it, or how to measure its value. To that end, 78% of marketers list "customer satisfaction” as one of the top two terms they would use to describe the goal of their company’s customer strategy; only 33% cite “customer engagement." Nearly half of marketers (47%) emphasize the importance of marketing tactics or business processes from the brand perspective, and an additional 40% focus only on the customer experience. Only 13% recognize the importance of combining both the brand and consumer perspective in terms of engagement. The lack of cohesive engagement hurts the bottom line. Some 86% of brands that have strong customer engagement practices saw an increase in the previous year's revenue, compared to only half of brands with average consumer engagement outreach. In fact, strong performers were 2.2 times more likely than others to have experienced an increase in market share in the past year. Brands must constantly reevaluate their interactions with consumers. What matters to shoppers today may be different tomorrow. Two in three marketers that have developed strong customer engagement practices (68%) report continual refinement of their communications plan based on customer data and marketing results. Plus, strong performers are 3.8 times more likely than others to say that they are able to identify where each customer is on the customer journey and are six times more likely than others to leverage real-time data to customize marketing efforts. Ultimately, brands need to recognize that it is not enough to simply collect information about consumers or mass advertise their value, the study asserts. Rather everything filters into an integrated ecosystem that interprets shoppers' spending and behaviors in real-time in ways that truly benefit consumers, not just drive profitability for the brand. "We have to act in real time and operate nimbly across a complex, hyper-connected landscape using targeted and personalized offerings based on customer attitudes, buying habits, life stages and specific moments on customer journeys,” said Hahn. "Pampers’ value proposition is no longer about diapers keeping baby's butts dry, but about helping mom with the development of her kid. That’s a much more meaningful relationship." Rosetta's research, which can be downloaded here, examined 87 marketers’ approaches to creating engaging experiences for their customers, as well as the increased value engagement delivered to the bottom line. Each company was assessed on a broad range of best practice areas, including culture, capabilities, data and insights, measurement, strategy and technology. Companies scoring in the top third of the sample were designated “strong performers.” Industries included healthcare, financial services, consumer goods, technology, retail, food and beverage, and hospitality. Next, Rosetta Consulting will release a report about customers about their experiences and what they value when interacting with a brand, and later this year, the agency will introduce a third paper that combines the perspectives of both marketers and consumers to quantify the value of delivering customer engagement.
Ten years ago, I was a writer at Wieden+Kennedy and got an assignment to highlight Nike athletes through a lost art in advertising that was prevalent in the ’80s: the poster. If you're a sports fan over 30, you know what I'm talking about. The "high concept" posters like George "Iceman" Gervin sitting on a throne of ice with the word ICEMAN below him. Dr. Dunkenstein, Madison Square Guardian, Chocolate Thunder, The Supreme Court; Google those names and you'll get the drift. With the arrival of an 18-year-old phenom named LeBron James, it was time to bring the poster back to life. The first poster was called "Revolution," which had multiple rookies, including LeBron, all positioned together as a living statue. Each posed perfectly on a giant cement base where the word "REVOLUTION" was etched. Underneath was a sentence that my little sister was kind enough to translate into Latin for me. "To create we must first destroy." Little did I know then that, with last week's events, that line would ring more true than ever. LeBron destroyed Cleveland when he left. He didn't mean to. His article in Sports Illustrated on Friday said everything that needed to be said. He always knew in his heart he'd be back. He just had to go to Miami for "college" to grow, learn and win some rings. Sadly, he also had to watch a city he loves burn his jerseys, curse his name and take down the "WE ARE ALL WITNESSES" wall across from the arena. That hurt me, too, as I was the writer of that line and the Witness campaign along with my partner, Jayanta Jenkins. What we saw last week is nothing short of the best redemption story I've ever witnessed. We see a humble legend in the making, coming home to fulfill his legacy. Like every great warrior that goes to fight, all they really want is to come home. The difference with LeBron is that now he will come home to fight on his turf. His court. For his fans, friends and family. I truly believe that mostly this is a selfless move, a move that a young man would never make. When I worked on "The LeBrons" campaign while still at Wieden+Kennedy, we created four personalities for LeBron, because he had four distinct sides to him. Athlete LeBron, Kid LeBron, Business (Badass) LeBron, and Wise LeBron. He's a baller, a jokester, a business magnate and a wise man. It was easy for him to play those roles because they were all him. That was then. Now, Wise LeBron is calling the shots. Oh, he's still at the top of the athlete chain, and I'm sure his sense of humor is intact. Badass LeBron (as we called him) is handling his business just fine. I have no doubt he’ll hit a billion, and he'll probably donate a ton to his foundations and philanthropic interests. But it’s all Wise LeBron, and last week he proved that by making the smartest decision he could ever make. I'm grateful to have worked with LeBron over the past 10 years. I left W+K in 2006 to start an agency with Chris Raih in Venice, Calif., where we have worked with LeBron on several brands and NBA2K. The last spot I directed him in was to reveal he was the new cover star of NBA2K14. LeBron speaks in the dark, with his voice modulated like he’s in the witness protection program and divulging secrets, which he did. At the end, he leans into the light to reveal himself. "That's why I'm joining them," he says with a smile. The irony is thick with his announcement to return home. We didn't talk much over 10 years, but that never bothered me. Going over the script with him for that NBA2K teaser, I found myself alone with him for the first time ever. I looked at the tattoo on his leg, which reads "WITNESS," and said, "Nice tattoo." He said, "Thanks, man, I need to get it redone." I replied with, "I'm thankful I got to write that line." Without a word, he quietly reached out his fist for a bump. I hit it just as quietly, and for that single moment we connected like never before. And I was the only witness.