In an effort to make sure its brightly colored diamond rings end up in women’s stockings this Christmas, Zales let its fingers do the walking -- strutting down the runway in yellow, blue, red and chocolate diamonds. In a spot that gives a whole new meaning to digital fashion show, fingers fiercely flash the candy-colored gems to the tune of “I want candy.” The video is scheduled to run on TV and online through the end of the year, as well as in print and social media. Themed “All of the carats. None of the calories,” the GSD&M campaign breaks next week. “We’ve taken a big investment in candy-color diamonds,” Scott Davies, Zales’ marketing VP, tells Marketing Daily. “We’ve got black, champagne, blue, bright yellows … following trends in the fashion world. We’re trying to make diamond jewelry relevant as a gift option.” He says the campaign’s inspiration comes from old-fashioned candy stores, and that the in-store component features jewelry merchandised in old gumball machines, bowls and dishes. “Women ages 25 to 49 are really our bull’s eye, and they see jewelry as a kind of self-expression. Many of these are self-purchased, but she is also dropping a lot of hints about what she wants, and walking her significant other into the store. She is mixing and matching these diamonds with other gemstones, such as amethyst and citrine, in pendant and earrings. So we’re positioning these as the ultimate indulgence -- a little treat.” "Ever since Ben Affleck gave Jennifer Lopez a a 6.1-carat pink diamond engagement ring, consumers have opened up to fancy color diamonds and demand has been growing," Edahn Golan, editor in chief and lead analyst of IDEX Online, tells Marketing Daily via email. While true pinks are very rare, "and out of the reach of most people, yellows and champagne are becoming popular among a growing segment of consumers, especially those who want something different. We expect this trend to grow as marketing campaigns successfully promote them and the desire for 'similar but different' continues among consumers in their 30s." The campaign also involves a partnership with Allure, with a sweepstakes prize of six months’ worth of free manicures, and People Style Watch, with the video appearing on 1,000-plus fashion blogs, and a $50 off coupon to each of one of their readers. Separately, he says the Irving, Tex.-based retailer is also running a campaign for the relaunch of its Celebration Diamond collection, with three new cuts. That campaign also includes TV and print through the end of the holiday. With both holiday efforts, Davies says, “we’re continuing to build our credibility as the diamond store.” American jewelers can expect good, but not great, sales during the upcoming all-important 2012 holiday selling season of November and December. Overall, jewelry sales in the U.S.market are expected to rise by just over 4% versus the same period a year ago, based on the latest forecast from IDEX Online Research.
While all savvy brands are working overtime to deepen their relationships with loyal customers through social media, Eight O’Clock Coffee has taken these efforts to unusual levels – most recently extending them to an offline “thank-you” trip for a group of “Superfans.” Eight O’Clock and The S3 Agency, which handles the brand’s social media and public relations, have stayed closely engaged with Facebook and Twitter fans for some four years now, according to S3’s social media strategist Jaime Hamel. In mid-October, the brand extended a special invitation to four “Superfans” -- consumers who grew up drinking the coffee, and have been particularly active and influential in their social media interactions with and about the brand. “They have been highly supportive brand advocates over the years,” notes Hamel. “They interact frequently with us, sending us their thoughts and suggestions -- and we have listened.” These fans were treated to an all-expenses-paid three-day trip to the Washington, D.C. area for a visit to Eight O’Clock’s nearby Landover, Md. facility and other activities. The fans, who stayed at D.C.’s Embassy Row Hotel, spent time touring the facility to see how their favorite coffee is made and meet the people who make it. They also got a basic tutorial on coffee production, and enjoyed an in-depth “cupping” session. On one morning, the brand held a breakfast focus group with the fans, encouraging them to talk about their lives, their experiences with Eight O’Clock, and suggestions for what the brand might do going forward. The fans were also invited to have dinner with the brand team on both nights, and were presented with a variety of Eight O’Clock-branded gift items. “Eight O’Clock appreciates the ability to engage directly with consumers, which is what this Superfan program is all about,” says Hamel. “It brings the digital world of social media to real life, giving the brand and its fans the opportunity to interact face-to-face, share ideas and ultimately, create a team made up of brand and consumer.”
The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation is adding a new social media element to its ongoing campaign to pitch Philly as a hot tourist spot for LGBT consumers. The corporation has marketed to the gay and lesbian community for at least a decade through its LGBT Tourism Campaign, starting with "Philadelphia – Get Your History Straight and Your Nightlife Gay" in 2003. The group says efforts have had a salubrious effect. The organization says that before that campaign, visitation by gays and lesbians was sparse enough to keep the city out of the top 20 LGBT list, in which cities like Las Vegas, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, San Francisco and Provincetown, Mass. are dominant. The $2 million 2003 campaign lifted Philly to the top-ten destination for gay and lesbian tourists, and -- per the organization -- brought in more consumers who spend more and stay longer. Citing data from gay and lesbian market research firm Community Marketing, Inc., the corporation says LGBT consumers spend an average of $1,013 per party, 36% more than the $743 spent by visitors unfamiliar with the campaign. "Aware" visitors stayed an average of 3.5 nights, compared to 3.0 for those who were unfamiliar. The new element is a promotion on the Visit Gay Philly Facebook page (facebook.com/visitgayphilly) around a personality quiz asking participants about their dining, shopping and nightlife preferences. Their answers match them with an ideal Philadelphia neighborhood for their tastes: the Gayborhood (around Broad Street and 12th); Rittenhouse Square near Ben Franklin Parkway; Old City, East Passyunk and New Hope. People who take the quiz are entered into a sweepstakes dangling tickets to the Feb. 19 Lady Gaga concert at the Wells Fargo Center, plus an overnight stay at the new Klimpton property Hotel Monaco near Independence Mall, and a dinner at Valanni in the Gayborhood (around Broad Street and 12th). "This is the first Facebook application we have done," says Caroline Bean, head of social media for Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing. "The point is that everyone knows the Gayborhood, but there are other great neighborhoods in the city that LBGT travelers might want to see, and get to know." She tells Marketing Daily that traditionally, gay tourists would visit the city for Pride events, but that more often they put sites like the Barnes Foundation and National Constitution Center on their lists. The organization is promoting the campaign partly with a buy on Facebook, and via partners mentioned in the program, as well as to tourism organizations in Bucks County -- where New Hope is located. She says the organization is also touting the program on social sites like Twitter, Foursquare, Foodspotting and Pinterest. According to Community Marketing, gay and lesbian hotel visitors spend 57% more per travel party than general market visitors to Philadelphia -- $878 compared to $559. Hotels are the primary beneficiary, with lodging spending up 75%, but gay and lesbian visitors also spend more than average in Philadelphia's restaurants (68% more on food & beverage) and stores (52% more on shopping), per the firm.
If it's easy to create videos for YouTube, it's hard to accomplish the viral part -- especially when there's a major brand attached. Nissan has a shot at beating the odds with a humorous set of metaphoric videos that somehow managed to apply dating advice for a clueless man to vehicle attributes of the new Nissan Sentra sedan. The six online videos, "Date Better with Sentra," follow the courtship and romance of a fictive couple named Jeff and Felicia. The series starts with Felicia smiling at Jeff, who for fairly obvious reasons is not used to being flirted with. In successive videos, he screws up one after another element of the dating, courtship, and relationship building, and each time a suave Hispanic character shows up as the bartender, waiter or lifeguard and sets the guy straight, using Sentra vehicle attributes and technology as examples of good etiquette. The effort, which includes a video featuring Olympic gold medalist swimmer Ryan Lochte, touts the vehicle's Easy Fill Tire Alert system, LED accent headlights, RearView monitor and its Xtronic continuously variable transmission. In the latter example, the guy stumbles and bumbles his way over the girl, spilling his drink on her dress, and in an effort to start a conversation promises to pay the dry cleaning bill. The bartender steps in to explain that if he wants an example of smooth action, he should look to the Xtronic CVT. Erich Marx, director of social media and interactive marketing at the Franklin. Tenn.-based Nissan North America, tells Marketing Daily that the campaign, executed by AOR TBWA\Chiat\Day, came from an insight that the car can be seen as a representation of a person’s well-executed social trajectory. One of the Sentra TV spots has a guy with a Sentra getting more and more respect from executives at his company merely because he owns the car. “One of the key strategies behind the Sentra is that it makes a good first impression. So we thought, ‘What’s the equivalent in life?’” Chad Jacoby, Nissan senior manager of social media marketing at the automaker, says the videos -- which launched four days ago -- have garnered views exceeding the company’s expectations. The effort includes a consumer engagement element wherein people can submit their most creative ending to the budding relationship story through a contest tab on the Sentra Facebook page. The most imaginative entry will win round-trip airfare for two to Los Angeles, two nights at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, where the videos were filmed, spa services for two, a $500 gift card, and a vehicle to drive around L.A. The new Sentra, starting at just shy of $16,000, is the third of five vehicles that Nissan is launching over a 15-month period. The automaker, which had a 6% decline in sales last month to 70,928 units, has seen stronger sales of the new vehicles. The company had a 12.8% increase in sales of the redesigned Altima, which started selling this summer. Year-to-date sales of vehicle are up 16.3%. The Leaf all-electric car saw an 86% increase from the prior year. The new Pathfinder has just gone on sale in tight proximity to the Sentra launch. The automaker says Hurricane Sandy put the lid on sales of Nissan vehicles since, per the company's VP of Nissan division Al Castignetti, the Eastern seaboard is the automaker’s strongest U.S. sales region, with over 225 dealers. The automaker is offering both employee discounts and employee financing to eligible residents in FEMA disaster areas.
Instagram is following the example of another mobile app -- Foursquare -- in building out its Web presence in contrast to the broader shift underway of Web properties extending to mobile. The popular photo-sharing app today announced the launch of profile pages for the Web, rolling out in the next few days. The profiles are photocentric and position Instagram to take on Pinterest more directly as an image-based social network appealing to brands. "Your Web profile features a selection of your recently shared photographs just above your profile photo and bio, giving others a snapshot of the photos you share on Instagram. In addition, you can follow users, comment & like photos and edit your profile easily and directly from the Web," the company stated in a blog post. Previously, only individual photos could be seen on Instagram.com. Now people and brands can link to their Instagram accounts, but users still cannot upload photos or search Instagram from the Web. An account set to public will allow anyone to see the profile by visiting Instagram.com/username, for example: instagram.com/nike. Photos set to private will only be seen by logged-in Instagram followers of that account. Instagram has more than 100 million registered users worldwide.
Cheerwine -- the bubbly, wild cherry-flavored soft drink that's an institution in the South -- calls itself a brand on the move, with a plan for 100% national distribution by its 100th anniversary in 2017. Based in Salisbury, N.C., Cheerwine parent Carolina Beverage Corp. is the oldest continuing soft-drink company still owned by the same family (the Ritchie family). The soda is sold in North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, Tennessee, Kentucky, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Florida and California. Outside of the Carolinas, it is distributed primarily by Pepsi, a partnership that is enabling its geographic expansion, reports Tom Barbitta, SVP marketing and sales for the brand. In addition, Cheerwine’s original formula (sweetened with cane sugar and sold in glass bottles) can be found in specialty stores in all 50 states, and both formulas are sold online. Since early 2011, Cheerwine has been running a multimillion-dollar campaign, from New York-based agency Woods Witt Dealy & Sons, touting the brand’s having been a soft-drink “Legend” since 1917. (Tagline: “Born in the South. Raised in a glass.”) In the Southeast, radio ads featuring true “tales” from Cheerwine fans -- for instance, a serviceman who carried a glass bottle of Cheerwine in his backpack throughout his tour in Afghanistan, drinking it only as he was boarding a plane for home -- are one key component. As part of a partnership with best-selling indie rocker group The Avett Brothers (North Carolina natives and big Cheerwine fans), Scott Avett has also voiced a series of radio spots. Other traditional media used by the brand include out-of-home and 15-second TV spots. Social media and word of mouth are particularly critical in driving awareness and trial for Cheerwine’s expansion, as well as relationship-building with existing fans, says Barbitta. Cheerwine’s “authenticity, passion and purpose,” in addition to its unique flavor, are its core differentiators from the giant soft drink companies with which it competes, so it’s all about “getting people to discover us,” he says. Staying “real” is the guiding principle behind all of the brand team’s engagements through Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, according to Barbitta. “We don’t want to sound corporate, because we’re not corporate, in that we’re not driven by EPS and traditional Wall Street financial measures,” he says. “At the same time, there’s no reason that a brand like ours can’t play on a larger, national stage.” “Legendary Giveback” Concert Giving back to the community has always been central to the brand’s values, and this year, those efforts have focused on a new initiative called the “Legendary Giveback.” The centerpiece of the initiative was an Oct. 19 charity concert by The Avett Brothers, held in Charlottesville, Va. All proceeds from the event went to Big Brothers Big Sisters, Operation Homefront and the University of Virginia Children’s Hospital. Fans who couldn’t attend the event were encouraged, through the brand’s site, Facebook page and other social channels, to pledge some hours of volunteer time to one of those charities (or a charity of their choice) – with pledges rewarded with exclusive Livestream access to the live concert. As an added incentive, Cheerwine promised to reward the U.S. town that pledged the most hours by hosting concert viewing parties in that town. It also threw viewing parties at college campuses around the South, organized by its standing army of college-student brand ambassadors (called “Cheerwine Czars”). Livestream access to the concert was also made available (no volunteer pledges necessary) to U.S. military bases around the world, and the UVA Children’s Hospital. Additionally, Cheerwine has been using social/online to promote sales of “Legendary Giveback” T-shirts, and a Deering Banjo signed by The Avett Brothers was put up for bid, with proceeds from the sales/auction also going to the charities. Post-concert, the buzz has continued through a montage video documenting the event, including backstage footage of the band, as well as thank-you’s/shout-outs about the event from The Avett Brothers to their fans on their official site and Cheerwine’s Facebook page. Among the event’s results: 4,700 people attended the sold-out concert; more than 12,000 in 17 countries Livestreamed it; and more than 2,000 pledged over 30,000 volunteer hours to charities. Plus, nearly 28,000 entered a sweepstakes tied into the event, which offered a grand prize of a VIP trip to the concert and a meet-and-greet with the Avett Brothers, as well as other prizes including pairs of tickets, Giveback T-shirts, posters and Cheerwine coupons. In addition, Cheerwine attracted more than 18,000 new Facebook “likes” and Twitter followers. (It currently has nearly 103,000 “likes” -- versus about 67,000 as of the start of its Legend campaign in April 2011 – as well as some 2,400 Twitter followers.) Also speaking to the initiative’s success in generating national (and global) exposure: Residents of Portland, Ore. – not currently one of Cheerwine’s mainstream distribution markets – pledged the second-largest number of volunteer hours. (Bristol, Tenn., came in first.) Not surprisingly, Barbitta says that Cheerwine’s hope and “vision” is to continue the “Legendary Giveback” concept next year and beyond (specifics are still being worked out). Meanwhile, the campaign and Cheerwine’s social and live outreach efforts will keep rolling. Barbitta says he spends a lot of time at colleges, both because he’s asked to speak on marketing and because the interaction opportunities help keep the brand’s social media and other initiatives fresh. Cheerwine sponsors events like an annual “Miss Cheerwine” contest (the winner travels around the Southeast as a brand and media-relations ambassador). Barbitta notes that makers of several movies and TV shows have recently opted to include the soft drink to heighten the authentic ambiance of the productions’ Southern settings. One example: ABC’s hit show “Nashville” will feature the soda in select episodes, simply in exchange for Cheerwine’s donating product. With the holidays coming up, Cheerwine’s latest moves include establishing a Cheerwine Club that lets fans gift friends and family with home deliveries of the soft drink over three months; and a Cheerwine Christmas card designed by a third grader at a local North Carolina school. Proceeds from sales of the cards will go to the school and other charities. Cheerwine also sends out uncounted numbers of gratis bottles of the soda, branded T-shirts and other items on an ongoing basis, especially in response to “constant” requests from military men and women, says Barbitta. “Cheerwine is a small piece of home for them, and we’re honored to be able to provide that,” he says.
With consumers wanting (or saying they want) more fruits and vegetables in their diets, Del Monte Foods is launching a new advertising campaign emphasizing that their canned vegetables are just as nutritious (and easier) as fresh produce. “Del Monte as a brand has been around for 100 plus years,” Brian Ng, director of marketing/consumer products for Del Monte, tells Marketing Daily. “What’s interesting is we have a lot of strong attributes in our product lines that consumers seem to have forgotten over time.” Among those attributes: nearly 90% of the fruits and vegetables Del Monte uses are produced in the United States; that they’re canned on the same day as they’re picked, and that they hold the same nutritional value as fresh produce, Ng says. “The whole industry of canning started with grandmas canning [fruits and vegetables],” Ng says. “It’s a really simple process. You put them in a can with some water, and you heat them. The other thing we want to remind consumers is that at the end of the day, our products are as nutritious as fresh vegetables when you cook them.” The ads, which use the tagline “Bursting With Life,” emphasize the freshness of the ingredients with images of green beans dropping directly into a Del Monte can from the plant. A video ad asks the question, “What’s in a can of Del Monte green beans?” before showing the can being opened, poured into a pot and heated to a jaunty, folksy soundtrack. The campaign was created by Juniper Park in Toronto, a division of BBDO Canada. In addition to the print and television campaign, Del Monte is running a Facebook competition, “Add Some Garden,” which will ask consumers to share their tips about how they make meals more nutritious by adding Del Monte vegetables. Spending was not disclosed, although the company said the effort is its largest in the past decade. The effort is intended to reach consumers right around the “key consumption” time of Thanksgiving (thus the heavy focus on green beans), Ng says. “It’s the perfect time from a consumption perspective,” Ng says. “We think [consumers] are open to the communication and it would be helpful for them during this time of year.”
While the stereotype of the video game player is an 18-year-old(ish) boy holed up in his parents' basement for days at a time, the truth is that most adult gamers are more like everyone else: normal people who have jobs, bills to pay and significant others who want attention. Sennheiser Gaming (which sells headsets for video game players) is giving these people a chance to come clean with their wildest excuses to get out of their everyday responsibilities to play more games. (According to the company’s own research, the majority of adult video gamers live with a partner, have children and have careers. At the same time, they manage to spend 10 hours a week gaming.) “We asked ourselves, how do these players get more gaming time?” Lars Nielsen, Sennheiser Gaming’s marketing and communications manager, tells Marketing Daily. “Naturally, we thought that some of them -- once in a while -- may need to come up with some 'creative excuses' in order to get their 'me-time' in front of their computer.” Through the company’s Facebook page, Sennheiser Gaming has set up an online confession area, where people can admit to their worst sins, with a chance to win a trip for two to the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas next year (along with weekly prizes given away through December). The company has already collected 400 such confessions, including excuses such as pretending the neighbors needed help moving or hiding in a cave of boxes while telling one’s spouse he was cleaning the basement, Nielsen says. The company created the promotion as a way to increase awareness among this subset of gamers that play often, but aren’t what one would consider “hardcore” gamers, Nielsen says. “These guys need headsets for different reasons than to win a game. They need headsets that can effectively block out outside noise, and keep the gaming audio inside the headset, so they don’t disturb their family while gaming,” he says. Sennheiser gaming is promoting the online confessional through a larger campaign it is running in several global markets (including the U.S.), as well as through banner ads, a new Web portal dedicated to its gaming headsets, and social sharing.
EBay Motors is reaching out to the enthusiast crowd with a new Web site devoted to aftermarket customizers and car lovers looking for muscle cars, classics, and automotive odds and ends. The online community and personalization platform is called eBay Garage. The idea is that auto enthusiasts can use the vertical to show off their wheels and get props from other enthusiasts. It is also meant to whet visitors' appetites for such vehicles, not to mention aftermarket parts and accessories. The eBay Garage platform uses the functionality of eBay's My Vehicles platform, which the company says has about two million vehicle profiles. Kind of like a Facebook for cars, the site lets visitors "like" a vehicle, follow a customizing project someone else is doing, follow conversations, etc. The company says people can tag vehicles to create groups. The site also has mobile functionality, per eBay. EBay is also pitching the new auto channel via a promotion with pro golfer Bubba Watson, wherein eBay Garage users will have a chance to win Bubba Watson’s Ford 2012 F-150 SVT Raptor. Users get one entry for every picture added to a public profile, every “favorite” garnered during the promotion period, or for converting a private profile that has pictures to a public profile. Danny Chang, head of marketing and site experience at eBay Motors, says the company is promoting awareness of eBay Garage through the eBay Motors site, where eBay Garage has its own home page driving visitors to engage with the experience. He tells Marketing Daily that the eBay Garage home page also hosts a video that describes the eBay Garage experience, adding that on people who either download the eBay Motors iPhone app for the first time or update their app to the latest version are prompted to create their first vehicle profile for their eBay Garage, and can use eBay Garage. "eBay channels like the eBay Ink blog, the eBay Motors Facebook page and the eBay Motors Twitter handle combined have more than 582,000 fans; they have also been used to promote eBay Garage," he says. Chang says the goal is to deepen engagement with eBay Motors community members "by providing a more personalized, social, visually enhanced experience. We’re helping connect car fans with others. And eBay Garage also helps us better tailor a customer’s shopping experience on eBay Motors. When we know what vehicle a person has saved in their profile, we can target their search results and only include parts that fit their specific vehicle," he says. Down the road the platform’s ability to target aftermarket can be applied to other aspects of a more tailored shopping experience, "such as special promotions on parts specific to the cars you own," he says. Over the past year, more than two million vehicle profiles -- both public and private -- have been created using My Vehicles, the previous iteration of eBay Garage, per Chang. "With the launch of eBay Garage and the more robust, personalized features, we expect to see this community continue to grow, and engagement to deepen, based on the more social, multifaceted experience that eBay Garage now offers to car buffs."
In an effort to make sure its brightly colored diamond rings end up in women’s stockings this Christmas, Zales let its fingers do the walking -- strutting down the runway in yellow, blue, red and chocolate diamonds. In a spot that gives a whole new meaning to digital fashion show, fingers fiercely flash the candy-colored gems to the tune of “I want candy.” The video is scheduled to run on TV and online through the end of the year, as well as in print and social media. Themed “All of the carats. None of the calories,” the GSD&M campaign breaks next week. “We’ve taken a big investment in candy-color diamonds,” Scott Davies, Zales’ marketing VP, tells Marketing Daily. “We’ve got black, champagne, blue, bright yellows … following trends in the fashion world. We’re trying to make diamond jewelry relevant as a gift option.” He says the campaign’s inspiration comes from old-fashioned candy stores, and that the in-store component features jewelry merchandised in old gumball machines, bowls and dishes. “Women ages 25 to 49 are really our bull’s eye, and they see jewelry as a kind of self-expression. Many of these are self-purchased, but she is also dropping a lot of hints about what she wants, and walking her significant other into the store. She is mixing and matching these diamonds with other gemstones, such as amethyst and citrine, in pendant and earrings. So we’re positioning these as the ultimate indulgence -- a little treat.” "Ever since Ben Affleck gave Jennifer Lopez a a 6.1-carat pink diamond engagement ring, consumers have opened up to fancy color diamonds and demand has been growing," Edahn Golan, editor in chief and lead analyst of IDEX Online, tells Marketing Daily via email. While true pinks are very rare, "and out of the reach of most people, yellows and champagne are becoming popular among a growing segment of consumers, especially those who want something different. We expect this trend to grow as marketing campaigns successfully promote them and the desire for 'similar but different' continues among consumers in their 30s." The campaign also involves a partnership with Allure, with a sweepstakes prize of six months’ worth of free manicures, and People Style Watch, with the video appearing on 1,000-plus fashion blogs, and a $50 off coupon to each of one of their readers. Separately, he says the Irving, Tex.-based retailer is also running a campaign for the relaunch of its Celebration Diamond collection, with three new cuts. That campaign also includes TV and print through the end of the holiday. With both holiday efforts, Davies says, “we’re continuing to build our credibility as the diamond store.” American jewelers can expect good, but not great, sales during the upcoming all-important 2012 holiday selling season of November and December. Overall, jewelry sales in the U.S.market are expected to rise by just over 4% versus the same period a year ago, based on the latest forecast from IDEX Online Research.
While all savvy brands are working overtime to deepen their relationships with loyal customers through social media, Eight O’Clock Coffee has taken these efforts to unusual levels – most recently extending them to an offline “thank-you” trip for a group of “Superfans.” Eight O’Clock and The S3 Agency, which handles the brand’s social media and public relations, have stayed closely engaged with Facebook and Twitter fans for some four years now, according to S3’s social media strategist Jaime Hamel. In mid-October, the brand extended a special invitation to four “Superfans” -- consumers who grew up drinking the coffee, and have been particularly active and influential in their social media interactions with and about the brand. “They have been highly supportive brand advocates over the years,” notes Hamel. “They interact frequently with us, sending us their thoughts and suggestions -- and we have listened.” These fans were treated to an all-expenses-paid three-day trip to the Washington, D.C. area for a visit to Eight O’Clock’s nearby Landover, Md. facility and other activities. The fans, who stayed at D.C.’s Embassy Row Hotel, spent time touring the facility to see how their favorite coffee is made and meet the people who make it. They also got a basic tutorial on coffee production, and enjoyed an in-depth “cupping” session. On one morning, the brand held a breakfast focus group with the fans, encouraging them to talk about their lives, their experiences with Eight O’Clock, and suggestions for what the brand might do going forward. The fans were also invited to have dinner with the brand team on both nights, and were presented with a variety of Eight O’Clock-branded gift items. “Eight O’Clock appreciates the ability to engage directly with consumers, which is what this Superfan program is all about,” says Hamel. “It brings the digital world of social media to real life, giving the brand and its fans the opportunity to interact face-to-face, share ideas and ultimately, create a team made up of brand and consumer.”
The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation is adding a new social media element to its ongoing campaign to pitch Philly as a hot tourist spot for LGBT consumers. The corporation has marketed to the gay and lesbian community for at least a decade through its LGBT Tourism Campaign, starting with "Philadelphia – Get Your History Straight and Your Nightlife Gay" in 2003. The group says efforts have had a salubrious effect. The organization says that before that campaign, visitation by gays and lesbians was sparse enough to keep the city out of the top 20 LGBT list, in which cities like Las Vegas, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, San Francisco and Provincetown, Mass. are dominant. The $2 million 2003 campaign lifted Philly to the top-ten destination for gay and lesbian tourists, and -- per the organization -- brought in more consumers who spend more and stay longer. Citing data from gay and lesbian market research firm Community Marketing, Inc., the corporation says LGBT consumers spend an average of $1,013 per party, 36% more than the $743 spent by visitors unfamiliar with the campaign. "Aware" visitors stayed an average of 3.5 nights, compared to 3.0 for those who were unfamiliar. The new element is a promotion on the Visit Gay Philly Facebook page (facebook.com/visitgayphilly) around a personality quiz asking participants about their dining, shopping and nightlife preferences. Their answers match them with an ideal Philadelphia neighborhood for their tastes: the Gayborhood (around Broad Street and 12th); Rittenhouse Square near Ben Franklin Parkway; Old City, East Passyunk and New Hope. People who take the quiz are entered into a sweepstakes dangling tickets to the Feb. 19 Lady Gaga concert at the Wells Fargo Center, plus an overnight stay at the new Klimpton property Hotel Monaco near Independence Mall, and a dinner at Valanni in the Gayborhood (around Broad Street and 12th). "This is the first Facebook application we have done," says Caroline Bean, head of social media for Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing. "The point is that everyone knows the Gayborhood, but there are other great neighborhoods in the city that LBGT travelers might want to see, and get to know." She tells Marketing Daily that traditionally, gay tourists would visit the city for Pride events, but that more often they put sites like the Barnes Foundation and National Constitution Center on their lists. The organization is promoting the campaign partly with a buy on Facebook, and via partners mentioned in the program, as well as to tourism organizations in Bucks County -- where New Hope is located. She says the organization is also touting the program on social sites like Twitter, Foursquare, Foodspotting and Pinterest. According to Community Marketing, gay and lesbian hotel visitors spend 57% more per travel party than general market visitors to Philadelphia -- $878 compared to $559. Hotels are the primary beneficiary, with lodging spending up 75%, but gay and lesbian visitors also spend more than average in Philadelphia's restaurants (68% more on food & beverage) and stores (52% more on shopping), per the firm.
If it's easy to create videos for YouTube, it's hard to accomplish the viral part -- especially when there's a major brand attached. Nissan has a shot at beating the odds with a humorous set of metaphoric videos that somehow managed to apply dating advice for a clueless man to vehicle attributes of the new Nissan Sentra sedan. The six online videos, "Date Better with Sentra," follow the courtship and romance of a fictive couple named Jeff and Felicia. The series starts with Felicia smiling at Jeff, who for fairly obvious reasons is not used to being flirted with. In successive videos, he screws up one after another element of the dating, courtship, and relationship building, and each time a suave Hispanic character shows up as the bartender, waiter or lifeguard and sets the guy straight, using Sentra vehicle attributes and technology as examples of good etiquette. The effort, which includes a video featuring Olympic gold medalist swimmer Ryan Lochte, touts the vehicle's Easy Fill Tire Alert system, LED accent headlights, RearView monitor and its Xtronic continuously variable transmission. In the latter example, the guy stumbles and bumbles his way over the girl, spilling his drink on her dress, and in an effort to start a conversation promises to pay the dry cleaning bill. The bartender steps in to explain that if he wants an example of smooth action, he should look to the Xtronic CVT. Erich Marx, director of social media and interactive marketing at the Franklin. Tenn.-based Nissan North America, tells Marketing Daily that the campaign, executed by AOR TBWA\Chiat\Day, came from an insight that the car can be seen as a representation of a person’s well-executed social trajectory. One of the Sentra TV spots has a guy with a Sentra getting more and more respect from executives at his company merely because he owns the car. “One of the key strategies behind the Sentra is that it makes a good first impression. So we thought, ‘What’s the equivalent in life?’” Chad Jacoby, Nissan senior manager of social media marketing at the automaker, says the videos -- which launched four days ago -- have garnered views exceeding the company’s expectations. The effort includes a consumer engagement element wherein people can submit their most creative ending to the budding relationship story through a contest tab on the Sentra Facebook page. The most imaginative entry will win round-trip airfare for two to Los Angeles, two nights at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, where the videos were filmed, spa services for two, a $500 gift card, and a vehicle to drive around L.A. The new Sentra, starting at just shy of $16,000, is the third of five vehicles that Nissan is launching over a 15-month period. The automaker, which had a 6% decline in sales last month to 70,928 units, has seen stronger sales of the new vehicles. The company had a 12.8% increase in sales of the redesigned Altima, which started selling this summer. Year-to-date sales of vehicle are up 16.3%. The Leaf all-electric car saw an 86% increase from the prior year. The new Pathfinder has just gone on sale in tight proximity to the Sentra launch. The automaker says Hurricane Sandy put the lid on sales of Nissan vehicles since, per the company's VP of Nissan division Al Castignetti, the Eastern seaboard is the automaker’s strongest U.S. sales region, with over 225 dealers. The automaker is offering both employee discounts and employee financing to eligible residents in FEMA disaster areas.
Instagram is following the example of another mobile app -- Foursquare -- in building out its Web presence in contrast to the broader shift underway of Web properties extending to mobile. The popular photo-sharing app today announced the launch of profile pages for the Web, rolling out in the next few days. The profiles are photocentric and position Instagram to take on Pinterest more directly as an image-based social network appealing to brands. "Your Web profile features a selection of your recently shared photographs just above your profile photo and bio, giving others a snapshot of the photos you share on Instagram. In addition, you can follow users, comment & like photos and edit your profile easily and directly from the Web," the company stated in a blog post. Previously, only individual photos could be seen on Instagram.com. Now people and brands can link to their Instagram accounts, but users still cannot upload photos or search Instagram from the Web. An account set to public will allow anyone to see the profile by visiting Instagram.com/username, for example: instagram.com/nike. Photos set to private will only be seen by logged-in Instagram followers of that account. Instagram has more than 100 million registered users worldwide.
Cheerwine -- the bubbly, wild cherry-flavored soft drink that's an institution in the South -- calls itself a brand on the move, with a plan for 100% national distribution by its 100th anniversary in 2017. Based in Salisbury, N.C., Cheerwine parent Carolina Beverage Corp. is the oldest continuing soft-drink company still owned by the same family (the Ritchie family). The soda is sold in North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, Tennessee, Kentucky, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Florida and California. Outside of the Carolinas, it is distributed primarily by Pepsi, a partnership that is enabling its geographic expansion, reports Tom Barbitta, SVP marketing and sales for the brand. In addition, Cheerwine’s original formula (sweetened with cane sugar and sold in glass bottles) can be found in specialty stores in all 50 states, and both formulas are sold online. Since early 2011, Cheerwine has been running a multimillion-dollar campaign, from New York-based agency Woods Witt Dealy & Sons, touting the brand’s having been a soft-drink “Legend” since 1917. (Tagline: “Born in the South. Raised in a glass.”) In the Southeast, radio ads featuring true “tales” from Cheerwine fans -- for instance, a serviceman who carried a glass bottle of Cheerwine in his backpack throughout his tour in Afghanistan, drinking it only as he was boarding a plane for home -- are one key component. As part of a partnership with best-selling indie rocker group The Avett Brothers (North Carolina natives and big Cheerwine fans), Scott Avett has also voiced a series of radio spots. Other traditional media used by the brand include out-of-home and 15-second TV spots. Social media and word of mouth are particularly critical in driving awareness and trial for Cheerwine’s expansion, as well as relationship-building with existing fans, says Barbitta. Cheerwine’s “authenticity, passion and purpose,” in addition to its unique flavor, are its core differentiators from the giant soft drink companies with which it competes, so it’s all about “getting people to discover us,” he says. Staying “real” is the guiding principle behind all of the brand team’s engagements through Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, according to Barbitta. “We don’t want to sound corporate, because we’re not corporate, in that we’re not driven by EPS and traditional Wall Street financial measures,” he says. “At the same time, there’s no reason that a brand like ours can’t play on a larger, national stage.” “Legendary Giveback” Concert Giving back to the community has always been central to the brand’s values, and this year, those efforts have focused on a new initiative called the “Legendary Giveback.” The centerpiece of the initiative was an Oct. 19 charity concert by The Avett Brothers, held in Charlottesville, Va. All proceeds from the event went to Big Brothers Big Sisters, Operation Homefront and the University of Virginia Children’s Hospital. Fans who couldn’t attend the event were encouraged, through the brand’s site, Facebook page and other social channels, to pledge some hours of volunteer time to one of those charities (or a charity of their choice) – with pledges rewarded with exclusive Livestream access to the live concert. As an added incentive, Cheerwine promised to reward the U.S. town that pledged the most hours by hosting concert viewing parties in that town. It also threw viewing parties at college campuses around the South, organized by its standing army of college-student brand ambassadors (called “Cheerwine Czars”). Livestream access to the concert was also made available (no volunteer pledges necessary) to U.S. military bases around the world, and the UVA Children’s Hospital. Additionally, Cheerwine has been using social/online to promote sales of “Legendary Giveback” T-shirts, and a Deering Banjo signed by The Avett Brothers was put up for bid, with proceeds from the sales/auction also going to the charities. Post-concert, the buzz has continued through a montage video documenting the event, including backstage footage of the band, as well as thank-you’s/shout-outs about the event from The Avett Brothers to their fans on their official site and Cheerwine’s Facebook page. Among the event’s results: 4,700 people attended the sold-out concert; more than 12,000 in 17 countries Livestreamed it; and more than 2,000 pledged over 30,000 volunteer hours to charities. Plus, nearly 28,000 entered a sweepstakes tied into the event, which offered a grand prize of a VIP trip to the concert and a meet-and-greet with the Avett Brothers, as well as other prizes including pairs of tickets, Giveback T-shirts, posters and Cheerwine coupons. In addition, Cheerwine attracted more than 18,000 new Facebook “likes” and Twitter followers. (It currently has nearly 103,000 “likes” -- versus about 67,000 as of the start of its Legend campaign in April 2011 – as well as some 2,400 Twitter followers.) Also speaking to the initiative’s success in generating national (and global) exposure: Residents of Portland, Ore. – not currently one of Cheerwine’s mainstream distribution markets – pledged the second-largest number of volunteer hours. (Bristol, Tenn., came in first.) Not surprisingly, Barbitta says that Cheerwine’s hope and “vision” is to continue the “Legendary Giveback” concept next year and beyond (specifics are still being worked out). Meanwhile, the campaign and Cheerwine’s social and live outreach efforts will keep rolling. Barbitta says he spends a lot of time at colleges, both because he’s asked to speak on marketing and because the interaction opportunities help keep the brand’s social media and other initiatives fresh. Cheerwine sponsors events like an annual “Miss Cheerwine” contest (the winner travels around the Southeast as a brand and media-relations ambassador). Barbitta notes that makers of several movies and TV shows have recently opted to include the soft drink to heighten the authentic ambiance of the productions’ Southern settings. One example: ABC’s hit show “Nashville” will feature the soda in select episodes, simply in exchange for Cheerwine’s donating product. With the holidays coming up, Cheerwine’s latest moves include establishing a Cheerwine Club that lets fans gift friends and family with home deliveries of the soft drink over three months; and a Cheerwine Christmas card designed by a third grader at a local North Carolina school. Proceeds from sales of the cards will go to the school and other charities. Cheerwine also sends out uncounted numbers of gratis bottles of the soda, branded T-shirts and other items on an ongoing basis, especially in response to “constant” requests from military men and women, says Barbitta. “Cheerwine is a small piece of home for them, and we’re honored to be able to provide that,” he says.
With consumers wanting (or saying they want) more fruits and vegetables in their diets, Del Monte Foods is launching a new advertising campaign emphasizing that their canned vegetables are just as nutritious (and easier) as fresh produce. “Del Monte as a brand has been around for 100 plus years,” Brian Ng, director of marketing/consumer products for Del Monte, tells Marketing Daily. “What’s interesting is we have a lot of strong attributes in our product lines that consumers seem to have forgotten over time.” Among those attributes: nearly 90% of the fruits and vegetables Del Monte uses are produced in the United States; that they’re canned on the same day as they’re picked, and that they hold the same nutritional value as fresh produce, Ng says. “The whole industry of canning started with grandmas canning [fruits and vegetables],” Ng says. “It’s a really simple process. You put them in a can with some water, and you heat them. The other thing we want to remind consumers is that at the end of the day, our products are as nutritious as fresh vegetables when you cook them.” The ads, which use the tagline “Bursting With Life,” emphasize the freshness of the ingredients with images of green beans dropping directly into a Del Monte can from the plant. A video ad asks the question, “What’s in a can of Del Monte green beans?” before showing the can being opened, poured into a pot and heated to a jaunty, folksy soundtrack. The campaign was created by Juniper Park in Toronto, a division of BBDO Canada. In addition to the print and television campaign, Del Monte is running a Facebook competition, “Add Some Garden,” which will ask consumers to share their tips about how they make meals more nutritious by adding Del Monte vegetables. Spending was not disclosed, although the company said the effort is its largest in the past decade. The effort is intended to reach consumers right around the “key consumption” time of Thanksgiving (thus the heavy focus on green beans), Ng says. “It’s the perfect time from a consumption perspective,” Ng says. “We think [consumers] are open to the communication and it would be helpful for them during this time of year.”
While the stereotype of the video game player is an 18-year-old(ish) boy holed up in his parents' basement for days at a time, the truth is that most adult gamers are more like everyone else: normal people who have jobs, bills to pay and significant others who want attention. Sennheiser Gaming (which sells headsets for video game players) is giving these people a chance to come clean with their wildest excuses to get out of their everyday responsibilities to play more games. (According to the company’s own research, the majority of adult video gamers live with a partner, have children and have careers. At the same time, they manage to spend 10 hours a week gaming.) “We asked ourselves, how do these players get more gaming time?” Lars Nielsen, Sennheiser Gaming’s marketing and communications manager, tells Marketing Daily. “Naturally, we thought that some of them -- once in a while -- may need to come up with some 'creative excuses' in order to get their 'me-time' in front of their computer.” Through the company’s Facebook page, Sennheiser Gaming has set up an online confession area, where people can admit to their worst sins, with a chance to win a trip for two to the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas next year (along with weekly prizes given away through December). The company has already collected 400 such confessions, including excuses such as pretending the neighbors needed help moving or hiding in a cave of boxes while telling one’s spouse he was cleaning the basement, Nielsen says. The company created the promotion as a way to increase awareness among this subset of gamers that play often, but aren’t what one would consider “hardcore” gamers, Nielsen says. “These guys need headsets for different reasons than to win a game. They need headsets that can effectively block out outside noise, and keep the gaming audio inside the headset, so they don’t disturb their family while gaming,” he says. Sennheiser gaming is promoting the online confessional through a larger campaign it is running in several global markets (including the U.S.), as well as through banner ads, a new Web portal dedicated to its gaming headsets, and social sharing.
EBay Motors is reaching out to the enthusiast crowd with a new Web site devoted to aftermarket customizers and car lovers looking for muscle cars, classics, and automotive odds and ends. The online community and personalization platform is called eBay Garage. The idea is that auto enthusiasts can use the vertical to show off their wheels and get props from other enthusiasts. It is also meant to whet visitors' appetites for such vehicles, not to mention aftermarket parts and accessories. The eBay Garage platform uses the functionality of eBay's My Vehicles platform, which the company says has about two million vehicle profiles. Kind of like a Facebook for cars, the site lets visitors "like" a vehicle, follow a customizing project someone else is doing, follow conversations, etc. The company says people can tag vehicles to create groups. The site also has mobile functionality, per eBay. EBay is also pitching the new auto channel via a promotion with pro golfer Bubba Watson, wherein eBay Garage users will have a chance to win Bubba Watson’s Ford 2012 F-150 SVT Raptor. Users get one entry for every picture added to a public profile, every “favorite” garnered during the promotion period, or for converting a private profile that has pictures to a public profile. Danny Chang, head of marketing and site experience at eBay Motors, says the company is promoting awareness of eBay Garage through the eBay Motors site, where eBay Garage has its own home page driving visitors to engage with the experience. He tells Marketing Daily that the eBay Garage home page also hosts a video that describes the eBay Garage experience, adding that on people who either download the eBay Motors iPhone app for the first time or update their app to the latest version are prompted to create their first vehicle profile for their eBay Garage, and can use eBay Garage. "eBay channels like the eBay Ink blog, the eBay Motors Facebook page and the eBay Motors Twitter handle combined have more than 582,000 fans; they have also been used to promote eBay Garage," he says. Chang says the goal is to deepen engagement with eBay Motors community members "by providing a more personalized, social, visually enhanced experience. We’re helping connect car fans with others. And eBay Garage also helps us better tailor a customer’s shopping experience on eBay Motors. When we know what vehicle a person has saved in their profile, we can target their search results and only include parts that fit their specific vehicle," he says. Down the road the platform’s ability to target aftermarket can be applied to other aspects of a more tailored shopping experience, "such as special promotions on parts specific to the cars you own," he says. Over the past year, more than two million vehicle profiles -- both public and private -- have been created using My Vehicles, the previous iteration of eBay Garage, per Chang. "With the launch of eBay Garage and the more robust, personalized features, we expect to see this community continue to grow, and engagement to deepen, based on the more social, multifaceted experience that eBay Garage now offers to car buffs."
Larry Kim predicts Barack Obama will win the vote for U.S. president "by a landslide" on Nov. 6. The WordStream founder bases his prediction on the amount that Obama and Mitt Romney spent on paid-search advertising for political campaign ads on Google search and the Google Display Network, Web site traffic, and social media presence on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Obama spends between $4,400 and $13,100 daily on Google search ads, compared with Romney's budget of between $3,400 and $6,300, estimates Kim -- not to mention display ads for both candidates. He also estimates that Obama remains much stronger than Romney when it comes to all aspects of social media, from Facebook to YouTube to Twitter. Estimated Web site visitors for Romney reach 2.6 million versus Obama with 8.6 million. Romney racked up 28,579 YouTube subscribers versus Obama's 257,471. And Twitter followers were 1.6 million versus 21.7 million, respectively. While there are factors other than how much time and money went into online campaigns -- along with Fans and Followers -- that determine whether Obama or Romney will become the next U.S. president, search experts cannot deny the numbers supporting intent and correlating the relationship and similarities on how advertisers connect the perfect ad with the keyword or click. It turns out that Obama holds a 48% to 45% lead over Romney among likely voters, according to Pew Research Center's survey of the presidential campaign. Final estimates of the national popular vote gives Obama 50% and Romney 47% when factoring the undecided vote. A week ago each candidate drew support from 47% of the likely electorate. Many positive signs point to Obama, according to the Pew research. For example, 39% of the likely voters support Obama strongly, while 9% back him only moderately. A third of likely voters support Romney strongly, compared with 11% who back him moderately. Kim's and Pew's research are not the only factors. Nate Silver, The Wall Street Journal statistician, describes how it's increasingly difficult to find Romney leading in national surveys, although several suggest a tie with Obama. Overall, Obama remains the favorite in Sunday's national polls, from Google Consumer Surveys to Washington Post and ABC News. Silver suggests that Hurricane Sandy blew Romney off course and allowed Obama to gain a stronger footing. As of Oct. 28, the WSJ counts Obama owning 307.2 of the electoral votes versus 230.8 for Romney, the numbers updates on Nov. 5. The numbers say Obama has an 86.3% chance of winning the U.S. presidential election versus 13.7% for Romney. The popular vote comes a little closer, with 50.6% and 48.5%, respectively. Has your company done analysis -- and who do you think will win?
Billions of dollars, more than a million TV spots, a dozen Red, White & Blogs, and untold MediaPost unsubscribes later and the 2012 political media season will wrap up tomorrow with the big winner most likely being “none of the above” – at least insofar as the sentiment of the American public toward political advertising and media spin goes. Interestingly, in spite of – or maybe because of – all that political media heft, the perception of both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney was largely negative on the eve of Election Day, according to a not-so-shocking study by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism. The study, which examined professional journalism coverage and social media discussions during the eight-weeks of the general election campaign through Oct. 21, found both candidates generated more negative coverage than positive, though Obama had a slight edge over Romney. Nineteen percent of the stories about Obama were “clearly favorable in tone,” while 30% were unfavorable and 51% were mixed – or what pollsters might dub “undecided” – for a net difference of 11 points of negativity, the study found. Fifteen percent of Romney’s coverage, by comparison, was favorable, 38% unfavorable, and 47% mixed, for a net negative rating of 23 points. The study found that almost all of the difference in the tone of coverage was in so-called “horse race” stories, which when removed, there was little distinction in the tone of media coverage between the two candidates. “In stories about the two candidates’ policy ideas, biographies and records for the full eight weeks studied, 15% of Obama’s coverage was positive vs. 32% negative. For Romney it was 14% positive and 32% negative,” the study found. Interestingly, the analysis found less overall horse race coverage than during the same period in 2008, meaning the press must have been focusing more on real issues. In terms of social media, including Twitter, Facebook and blogs, the tone for both candidates was even harsher. “If there is a tendency in press coverage it’s to echo the polls – and this year mostly that has been to the detriment of the candidate losing ground,” PEJ Director Tom Rosenstiel said. “At the same time, the political discussion in social media is less sensitive to campaign events on the ground, and appears to be much more a barometer of the mood of people who use social media.”