When it comes to jewelry, women want to share. At least that’s the philosophy driving the success of Pandora, the Danish company that makes those pretty little charms jangling on so many women’s wrists these days. Pandora just shot to No. 2 among jewelry brands on Unity Marketing’s Luxury Tracking survey, second only to Tiffany, and blowing past Cartier, Bulgari and David Yurman. “It’s got very smart marketing,” Pam Danziger, Unity’s president, tells Marketing Daily. “The price points are very attractive, and because women can personalize the pieces, the company has transformed the purchase from just buying jewelry to making a memory.” Beads, charms and baubles can commemorate anything from the birth of a child to a new car to a promotion at work, and range from $25 to $850. The average Pandora household spends about $400 per year adding to each bracelet or necklace, which typically winds up sporting between 15 and 17 charms and beads. Many women rearrange and freshen up the mix on a daily basis, or have one dedicated just to their family, or one for more dressed-up occasions. “Most jewelry is exclusive, and it’s about something I have, that you don’t have,” Angel Ilagan, the brand’s VP of marketing in North America, tells Marketing Daily. “Pandora is much more inclusive, and it’s a conversation starter. It celebrates what a woman has accomplished.” While the brand is facing some struggles globally as it wrestles with inventory issues, North American revenues rose 12.4% last year, in local currency. The product has been available in the U.S. since 2003, and he says the company it’s setting its sight one expanding West Coast sales. The company’s success depends on three core audiences, he explains. The first are women, 18 to 54, “who use our charm bracelets to communicate who they are, and use the charms to share their stories,” he says. “Second, there are the male gift givers in her life, who are likely to give her a new charm several times a year, on any one of the 12 gift occasions we’ve identified. A third audience that’s emerging for us is younger women, say between 13 and 24, who we are targeting via their mom.” To reach all three groups, he says the company spends about $50 million in marketing in North America, ranging from TV, print, online, mobile, and direct mail, including efforts timed to remind customers of upcoming anniversaries and birthdays. “We are in the affordable luxury segment,” Ilagan says. “There’s no guilt associated with it, and it’s longer-lasting than flowers.” Because it gets women talking, he says it makes sense that the brand engages consumers so well, both on Facebook, and among its club members. (A study from L2 last year ranked the brand No. 1 for fan engagement in the jewelry category.) Pandora fans aren’t just highly engaged, though, they’re big recommenders, “with 93% of those who buy the product recommending to a friend, family member or loved one.” The products, crafted in Thailand, are sold in more than 65 countries on six continents through over 10,500 points of sale, including more than 670 concept stores.
As hot for mobile as its publisher clients, PubMatic just announced the acquisition of MobiPrimo. An established mobile development technology firm, MobiPrimo clients include Nokia, Motorola and Microsoft. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Per the deal, PubMatic is planning to integrate the mobile platform with top mobile networks, ad servers and demand-side platforms. “Integrating mobile into our platform simplifies a previously complex effort,” said Josh Wetzel, vice president of mobile at PubMatic. “Now, we’re giving publishers a single platform.” Mobile or otherwise, PubMatic needs every edge it can get. According to 34 distinct criteria, Forrester recently deemed AppNexus and Admeld to be superior sell-side platforms. PubMatic and Rubicon Project were both recognized by Forrester as strong competitors in the sell-side space, and credited search for aggressively ramping up their development efforts, as well as turning once-distinguishing platform features into standard offerings. Boding well for PubMatic, Forrester analyst Michael Greene recently said sell-side platforms represent a key component of the new ad technology ecosystem. “Managing multiple indirect sales channels can be an operational nightmare,” according to Greene. “It’s unlikely that sales teams fill 100% of their site’s inventory every month. To fill the gap, indirect sales channels like ad networks have helped publishers squeeze extra revenues out of their inventory, but put logistical strains on an ad operations team. SSPs help aggregate multiple indirect sales relationships and optimize revenue across them.” Going forward, PubMatic’s mobile platform will support all the features included in the PubDirect suite of management tools. Last year, PubMatic acquired ReviNet for an undisclosed sum. Considered a relatively small ad optimization provider, ReviNet offered partnerships with 57 publishers, including The Christian Science Monitor, Boston Herald, The Sporting News and A.H. Belo. With the deal, PubMatic said its U.S. reach increased to 218 million unique users -- or 95% of the U.S. Internet population.
Ask.com launched a free mobile app that allows anyone to create a poll, representing a change of culture at the question-and-answer search engine. Pictures can accompany each poll, whether snapped from the smartphone's camera or chosen from a library of images. Friends can share the polls on Facebook or Twitter. Location-based services allow the user to see what others nearby think about any question, such as a favorite restaurant or clothing store. The PollRoll app provides a place for comments. While the app provides a bit of entertainment for those willing to download it on their iPhone, it really represents Ask.com's move toward creativity, similar to the culture found at Google, Facebook and Twitter. The PollRoll app emerged from a hackathon, one of several mobile applications the company is pursuing. A second screen app to support television will likely emerge as the next series of mobile applications. Ask.com CEO Doug Leeds said the entertainment focus surfaced from feedback on the Q&A site, along with the need to help employees become less afraid of innovation and sharing their ideas. Leeds set out to change the culture of the company. "I needed to find a way to plant seeds and challenge employees to come up with new ideas," he said. "Ideas were stagnant. People were afraid to speak up." Since October, company employees, nearly 300, meet each Friday afternoon in groups for business-related improvisation classes to stir their creative side. The PollRoll application is the first born from one of those sessions. That change in culture may have prompted both analysts and users to jump-start the search engine. Core searches and revenue for Ask continues to climb. Ask Network accounted for 3.0% of explicit core searches in January 2012, up from 2.9% in December and November 2011, according to comScore. More than 17.8 billion explicit core searches were conducted in January, up from 18.2 billion in December. Citi Group analyst Mark Mahaney published a report in January explaining how the company's revenue grew 22% in Q4 compared with the prior year's quarter -- slightly less than the 23% it grew sequentially. He put a "buy rating" for Ask's parent company, IACI, based on its search business.
On the heels of Apple unveiling a new 4G-capable iPad model, media and technology executives are looking forward to high-speed wireless networks powering growing mobile media consumption in 2012. But they acknowledge that a lack of cross-media measurement tools will continue to hamper efforts to monetize audiences across different devices. Those views emerged during a panel discussion among executives from companies including Disney, the Associated Press, Verizon Wireless and Turner Sports at the Digital Hollywood Summit in New York on Thursday. The talk highlighted some of the issues that content providers are grappling with as they try to adapt existing business models to a multiplatform world. Being able to deliver programming with consistent quality across different screens is a key underlying goal. Panelists voiced hopes that the rollout of 4G LTE networks by Verizon and AT&T paired with the spread of tablets and smartphones will lead more people to watch video, download apps or play games via devices. “The increasing pervasiveness of high-speed networks is incredibly interesting to me,” said Michael Kestenbaum, CEO of Crowded Room, a unit of IAC that has created a social app of the same name for meeting people with similar interests. “Apps that are now difficult to use will get easier.” Others expressed similar sentiments. In particular, Tim Connolly, VP Mobile, Disney/ESPN/ABC, said he expected to see a “big step forward” this year with wider adoption of TV Everywhere, the model backed by cable companies and networks for distributing TV programming across devices for authenticated viewers. A new cable deal that Disney struck with Comcast in late 2011 opened the door for ABC to be streamed live on the Web, but only accessible to cable subscribers. Because Comcast is the largest cable operator, Connolly said it’s a bellwether for the industry. But along with the proliferation of programming comes a need for better analytics and reporting on audience behavior across the increasingly fragmented media landscape. “The one area none of us have figured out is measuring across all devices,” said Steve Lanzano, president and CEO, TVB, the trade association for the broadcast TV industry. “If we can measure it, then we can monetize it.” Both Nielsen and comScore have introduced services for audience tracking across platforms, but no industrywide standard means has yet emerged. Still, the panelists said advertising will be the dominant business model for apps and other content on devices for the foreseeable future. Lanzano cited research indicating that 85% of consumers don’t want to pay separate subscriptions for mobile media. That doesn’t mean existing TV or online ad formats can simply be ported to mobile. Connolly noted that Disney decided to “rip and replace” ad units when it began shifting video from TV to digital, working with ad technology companies like Freewheel and Auditude. That effort has translated into higher CPMs for the same video in digital than on TV because of the higher engagement levels. John de Guzman, global director, new products at The Associated Press, said the news organization is also trying to create new ad opportunities in its apps that go beyond the banner. Part of that effort is getting better insight into usage patterns, so ads can be more precisely targeted and lead to greater engagement. Earlier this year, Verizon announced its video-on-demand Unicast service and ad platform for mobile devices. It will use a variety of content suppliers to pair video streams with advertising via the Internet. Louisa Shipnuck, director of marketing for Verizon Digital Media Services, suggested the system would provide a more economical way for media companies to provide programming and advertising across devices in a seamless fashion. But the test will come when Unicast rolls out in the third quarter.
The Marine Corps is launching a new multimedia campaign called "Toward the Sounds of Chaos." The campaign, which highlights the breadth of the Marine Corps mission both in military operations and in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief in places like Haiti and Japan, aims to boost diversity among potential recruits and reacquaint the public with the Marine Corps. The message: Marines are elite warriors, but also smart, courageous and compassionate citizens. The effort, via JWT, the Marines' AOR for the past 65 years, includes a newly designed Web site, www.marines.com, national television, print and online advertising, in addition to in-school, cinema, mobile and social media advertising. The national TV launch is on March 10 during the Big 12 Championship Game on ESPN. The ads have also been online at the Marine Corps’ Facebook tab. The Marines say that the campaign, currently slated to run throughout fiscal 2012 and into fiscal year 2013, reflects its own recent market research suggesting that young Americans respond to the idea and appeal of the warrior. The second trend the service recognizes is the multicultural nature of the young American population. The research suggests that youth have traditionally viewed military service as a route to personal focus and improvement, but that a third of young Americans naturally inclined toward military service are equally likely to value military involvement in humanitarian missions as they are to support a military response to a terrorist attack. The Marines concede that youth view military with high admiration, but not the level of aspiration or prestige they associate with college. The print ads offer dramatic panoramic photos of Marines leaping into action on the ground, with one shot showing gunships and Osprey (tilt rotor tactical aircraft) swooping overhead. Supers say things like: "Anyone can hear chaos. Marines move to silence it" and "Anyone can see tyranny. Marines advance to stop it.” Maj. John Caldwell, assistant chief of staff/national director of public affairs of the Marine Corps Recruiting Command, tells Marketing Daily that the 35th Commandant of the Marine Corps made it explicit in his planning guidance that the corps' rank and file needs to be more diverse. “To that end, Marine Corps Recruiting Command (MCRC) has an integral role at the accession point.” He says the Marine Corps accessed its most diverse group of young officers in a decade during Fiscal Year 2011 and that this year the MCRC will expand its event programs to boost awareness both to potential officers and enlisted candidates and the general public. "These engagement events build lasting relationships among diverse communities, dispel common misconceptions about the Marine Corps, and increase overall diversity accessions," he says. "Our survival, status, and reputation depend on our special relationship with the American people. Diversity broadens the base of support. Additionally, Marines deserve to be led by a diverse and representative officer corps." Caldwell adds that the last big recruiting campaign for the service was in September 2009, with “America’s Few,” which he says will be replaced by the new campaign. "This campaign -- like those that precede it -- represents an evolution to the brand message designed to address the challenges of the era and the unique traits inherent in this generation of potential recruits," he says. "Today’s millennial youth have a different definition of service than previous generations."
Apple announced its newest iPad yesterday, an improved tablet that boasts a slew of enhanced features. Among the heaviest tablet users, moms are already planning to hand down their original iPad or iPad2 to the kids and upgrade to the new model for themselves on March 16. In an online survey we conducted of 1,500 moms, 47% said they'd be in line to pick up the newest tablet for $499 despite tough financial times. Some other findings from our survey: Tablet as her primary screen: like her smartphone, the tablet is emerging as mom's most-used device. She can check email, catch up on news, blog, check-in on social networks, shop, take and edit photos and videos and get almost everything accomplished on her tablet. Thirty-one percent of moms with tablets said they now use their PC fewer than two hours per week, yet log more than 10 hours per week on their tablets. Multiple-tablet household: mom doesn't want to share her tablet with the kids! Rather than selling or trading in her older model, moms prefer to hand down to the kids so there's no more fighting for tablet-time. Shop, shop, shop! A whopping 97% of the moms we surveyed said they have made a purchase using their tablet in the last month. Moms love custom shopping apps, with Gilt and Zappos ranking as their favorites. For marketers, moms on tablets present a huge opportunity. Through a variety of channels – custom apps, social networks, media and more, marketers can see measurable results. A recent eMarketer study found that purchase intent was 59% higher after consumers viewed an interactive ad on a tablet vs. the same print ad in a magazine. Tips for engaging moms on her tablet:
Perhaps it was a late-night re-run of “Gomer Pyle” playing in the background that got me thinking about the wisdom of “shazam.” And just maybe Gomer was onto something with all his shazaming. Over the past several months I’ve noticed several forward-thinking entertainment and CPG brands collaborating with the music discovery app, Shazam. The app plays at the intersection of entertainment and marketing – an intersection that a lot consumer brands have been playing for a long while. In fact, the first soap operas were created for such product placements. Brands have always liked the reach and engagement that early soaps and sitcoms have provided for brands. However, brands have always struggled to determine effectiveness, engagement and, ultimately, purchase behavior. The lay-up for brands incorporating Shazam into their programming is that they can measure engagement and quantify the number of people sampling their audio file through the app. If the brand is able, they can complete the transaction with a trackable click from the app. For many brands, this level of engagement and purchase data is nirvana. How many times have you heard a song on TV, the radio or in a movie and “Shazamed” it? Knowing the song name, and perhaps even downloading it, is the best instant gratification. The utility value of Shazam is unquestionable and plays right to our need for instant gratification. The big actionable insight is additive to what we as marketers have known for years and have continually iterated solutions for: people multitask while watching TV – texting, surfing the web, reading, sending IMs, etc. Shazam enables brands to capture real-time engagement, actions and purchases. The utility and purchase ability is a lay-up for a band and the platform that’s selling the tagged song, but what about brands selling something at shelf? Some forward-thinking brands have engaged with Shazam and some TV programs to integrate “tagable” content that can open access to recipe content, coupons or free products. While those tactics are not new, tagging content collecting the massive data is a great new achievement for marketers. With print circulation rates in drastic decline, CPG brands now have access to this tagged info and a new channel to deliver content in a digital and much more efficient way. With this type of rich engagement available today, marketers that are still running 30-second sponsorships with a URL or call out to a social network should ask themselves, what are we getting from that level of digital integration? Once again, the intersection of marketing and entertainment is rife with opportunity for brands that understand the constantly evolving behaviors of consumers, the ubiquity of smartphones, the power of real-time interaction data and how to deliver meaningful ad-supported experiences in real-time. I can just hear Gomer Pyle saying, “Shazam!”
The Federal Communications Commission appears interested in taking a closer look at Verizon's proposed alliance with cable companies. Today, the agency asked Verizon and cable companies for a host of data relating to the deals, which call for Verizon to pay almost $4 billion to license spectrum from Comcast, Cox, Time Warner and BrightHouse Networks. Verizon and the cable providers also intend to enter into joint marketing agreements. Advocacy group Public Knowledge, which opposes the alliance, cheered news of the FCC's requests. "We are very pleased that the Commission is following an aggressive course in asking for more information for a deal that could create a new communications cartel in this country," Gigi Sohn, president and CEO of the group, said in a statement. "Verizon should be required to show whether it is going to have spectrum shortages. Comcast should be required to provide plans to prove it actually considered entering the wireless business. All of the companies should provide full documents to show the extent of the joint marketing arrangements. Public Knowledge and other advocacy groups have been wary of Verizon's spectrum deal with the cable companies from the get-go. The watchdogs say the deal can harm consumers -- especially if Verizon and cable companies no longer have any incentive to compete with each other to offer faster, cheaper broadband service. That concern has been exacerbated by Verizon's recent decision to stop expanding its FiOS network. "To 'supersize' Verizon Wireless with additional spectrum from Comcast, Time Warner Cable, BrightHouse, and Cox so that the largest wireless operator can better promote the services of the largest incumbent cable operators directly undermines the pro-competitive policies of the 1996 Act and is thus contrary to the public interest," Public Knowledge, New American Foundation Open Technology Initiative and Writers Guild of America, West, and other groups recently argued in a petition asking the Federal Communications Commission to nix the deal. Last Friday, Verizon and the cable networks filed papers contending that the FCC shouldn't review the co-marketing provisions of the deal. The companies said that the marketing components were separate from the licensing arrangements. "Consideration of the commercial agreements is not necessary for -- or even relevant to -- the review of the spectrum license assignments here," the companies argue. "The license assignments and commercial agreements are separate from, and not contingent on, each other." Opponents rightly countered that the spectrum transfer is so interwoven with the marketing provisions that the FCC should scrutinize the deal in its entirety. Hopefully the agency will do just that.