Drew Neisser, Author at The Drew Blog

Viral Videos at Your Service

Posted on September 9, 2008 by Drew Neisser

It might be a stretch to call blatantly un-PC videos Marketing as Service but considering the target, I’m prepared to do just that. The videos, which can be completely customized at Enlist4hell.com, are meant to provide entertainment for grown-up gamers, particularly the ones that feast upon WW11 action video games. The service, if you will, is the ability to “ream out your buddy” in an anything but subtle manner.

It’s all in good fun unless you don’t think this kind of thing is fun in which case you’re definitely not in the target. If you are game and over 18, have some fun and make your own or at least watch the relatively tame video I created that stars Pinky (the French bulldog) by clicking here.

The marketer behind this service is Ubisoft, whose Brother in Arms: Hell’s Highway video game is one of the most anticipated games in its genre this year. Here’s what they say about it on Wikipedia:

Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway is the third entry in the Brothers in Arms series of video games which follow a squad of men, of the 101st Airborne Division (502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment) led by the player-character Matt Baker. This game once again puts players in the role of Staff-Sergeant Matt Baker during Operation Market Garden in the later stages of WWII.

The game will be released on Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 3 on September 23, 2008.

Becky Ebenkamp has a nice write-up on the whole guerrilla/viral program on BRANDWEEK’s EX Files blog.

Generating Buzz with Buzz Cuts

Posted on September 5, 2008 by Drew Neisser

This must be self-serving week since I’m about to share another example of Marketing as Service as executed by Renegade. I’d be embarrassed except for the fact that this is a highly effective program and the services provided are outrageously target-appropriate. The client in this case is Ubisoft, who asked us to generate excitement about the upcoming release of their WWII action video game, Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway.

We kicked things off last weekend at a video gaming convention in Seattle called PAX where we set up a WWII vintage “recruiting station.” Volunteers could get their choice of a HELL CUT, a military style buzz-cut with the word HELL emblazoned on the back of their head, or a stylish air-brushed tattoo (about 550 opted for the tats).

In exchange for a free copy of the game, over 150 ‘recruits’ volunteered for a HELL CUT including several members of the media. One reporter from Game Spot, a leading industry site, featured his HELL CUT experience as the lead story in this video:

Happily for our client, the Recruiting Station was the hit of the show. The line for HELL CUTS extended outside the convention hall and was at times three hours long. Another 450 recruits received their vintage Hells Highway tattoos (see photo below.)

The services provided, buzz cuts and tattoos, may seem unappealing to you, but our gamer target though it was “the most unusual booth at PAX this year” covering the Hell’s Highway Recruiting Station extensivly on blog after blog: GameVortex, PSXGames, Kotaku, The Exploding Barrel, ThePlatformnation, GameSpot, N4G, Boards.1up, Sarcastic Gamer, Gamertell, NerdFellowship, GameTrailer, YouTube, ArsTechnica and more.

Bottom line–want some buzz, try giving away a buzz cut. Its a service that cuts through putting in this case, Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway at the head of the class.

There’s a second act to this guerrilla/viral program but I’ll write about that separately. If you want to discover it for yourself, visit: enlist4hell.com.

A Tale of Marketing as Service

Posted on September 2, 2008 by Drew Neisser

Since so many of my Marketing as Service examples are big budgeted mass market affairs, I thought I’d call your attention to a highly targeted B2B effort Renegade developed recently for Bowne. As a leader in the compliance services market, Bowne wanted to make sure prospects and customers knew that they offered a full range of compliance solutions. Renegade responded with a program built around a simple new service we helped create–an online configurator that allows compliance managers to figure out which service or combination of services best matched their needs.

This campaign includes a number of components to drive traffic to the configurator including the trade ad below. All of the elements are held together with a fairy tale metaphor, asking such questions as “What does Goldilocks have to do with compliance?” and “What does Cinderella have to do with XBRL?” This campaign encourages the target to find the compliance solution that is “just right” for them with a few clicks of their mouse.

Lo and behold–the target is responding, leads are appearing and sales are in the making. Another happy ending for Marketing as Service.

Boomers Seek Substance

Posted on August 29, 2008 by Drew Neisser

Perhaps my bias towards Marketing as Service is a generational thing. A recently published study from TV Land (okay, I know they aren’t exactly the benchmark of research excellence) noted that baby boomers more than other groups are looking for substance over sizzle in both products and the ads that tout them. Here’s a quick overview of the findings from the Center for Media Research:

Boomers will consider new brands if the product or service is more useful, functional and provide the most benefit/value. Unlike Millennials and Gen Xers they are less likely to be influenced by the notion that the brand is more prestigious or the latest style. They are not afraid to change for something they feel will improve their lives, notes the report.

Ninety-one percent of people in their 40s and 50s want the brand to provide more value versus 83% of Gen X and Millennials. The study found that Boomers are less interested in “teaser” ads that create a mood but do not offer much in terms of substance, though more likely to enjoy ads with humor than their younger cohorts.

Since Adults 40-59 tend to make purchasing decisions informed by what products and/or services will make life easier for them, it follows that the advertising that resonates with them is the kind that explains the products’ capabilities and describes why the product is superior, concludes the report.

Since there are about 78 million boomers hangin’ around (hopefully for many more decades), ensuring that your marketing appeals to them is not a dumb idea. Especially since its not all that complicated. Simply think about how you can make your marketing (and your products) more useful to boomers and they will respond by being useful customers.

Building Buzz with Bees

Posted on August 28, 2008 by Drew Neisser

Love what Häagen-Dazs did to generate a little buzz about their ice cream this summer–it’s a great example of how Marketing for Good and Marketing as Service can overlap. The program which was written up quite succinctly in Brandweek:

The Challenge: Ice cream stalwart Häagen-Dazs was feeling the pinch when honeybees started inexplicably disappearing, since 30 of the brand’s 73 flavors use honey to contribute to their flavor. Strawberry just isn’t strawberry without some honey, really. So the brand decided to adopt the issue of the shrinking bee population by launching a multiplatform campaign, via Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco. The effort is designed to raise public awareness of this honeybee deficit.

The Plan: A two-minute video called “Bee-Boy dance crew drops dead” was introduced in July. It features a dance crew in bee outfits, doing a “bee dance” to an instrumental hip-hop track, complete with DJ, also in a black and yellow bee outfit. It was disseminated to bloggers who tended to embrace social causes and youth efforts and was introduced in chat sites as well. After all of the dancers disappear, the viewer is directed to the helpthehoneybees.com site. The Feed Company, Los Angeles, handled the viral video aspect of the campaign.

The Results: The video generated more than 2 million views in two weeks and drew over 3,500 comments on YouTube. More than 150 blogs featured the video and it was part of over 11,000 Web forum discussion sessions. The video maintains a 4 1/2 star rating on YouTube.

Both the video and the website are nicely done. What I particularly like is The Bee Book which is both entertaining and educational for kids and adults alike. Kudos to Goodby for delivering genuine value to consumers rather than just reminding us how great Häagen-Dazs tastes.

J&J Foils Fungus and Makes Fans in China

Posted on August 23, 2008 by Drew Neisser

Marketing as Service can run rings around traditional approaches especially if you’re trying to expand your business in Asia. J&J provided a great service recently to the Chinese government by ridding their world famous terracotta warriors of a decay-causing fungus. Their reward included the right to display several of the “cured” statues in their Olympic pavilion and dare I say, a foot-hold in the Chinese market.

More importantly, according the great Wall St. Journal article on the topic:

J&J’s help has won the appreciation of Chinese officials, and in an authoritarian state that is no meaningless accomplishment. By nursing one of China’s national symbols back to health, J&J hopes to get “a lot of leverage” in China, says Alex Valcke, a European J&J executive who led much of the conservation effort.

I found this story fascinating from start to finish. J&J happened to put its factory near the home of the terracotta warriors (Emperor Qin Terracotta Army Museum) in the 80’s and ten years later started helping the museum identify the fungus plaguing their statues. Once identified, the J&J team then experimented on treatments and eventually cracked the code.

Wu Yongqi, a curator at the terracotta museum, describes the museum’s relationship with J&J as “Jin Shang Tian Hua,” a Chinese idiom that suggests something perfect benefiting from further perfection. J&J “sped up our work,” he says.

J&J’s Dr. Valcke is ecstatic. “We really believe that if you preserve that which is very close to these Chinese hearts, it helps to build a better relationship,” he says.

Dr. Valcke’s quote above, neatly sums up the essence of Marketing as Service. Solve a meaningful problem by providing a genuine service and you will pave the way for a healthy and long-lasting business relationship.