Author: Drew Neisser

No Escaping Nomadic Media

Posted on by Drew Neisser

Great article in the June issue of Media Magazine called “Unglued from the Tube” by Liz Tascio and not just because she had the fortitude to quote yours truly. The article explores all the changes in media availability from taxis to interactive billboards to elevators and how this “nomadic media” avalanche has transformed the way marketers can and need to engage with their audiences. Since I had a rather lengthy conversation with Liz on this subject, I thought I’d share my notes, the sentences in bold made into the publication…

Liz: What do you think of the idea that media is becoming less defined as simply “online” and “offline” and now exists in consumers’ lives in a myriad of flexible formats?

There are a couple of things at play – media is becoming less defined as simply online and offline because of the changing way in which consumers/users are choosing to interact with brands/media. The “myriad of flexible formats” are in essence a result of this paradigm shift from passive to active interaction and consumption. Recognizing that these flexible channels exist, marketers need to listen and be smart about how and where they insert their messages.

Leveraging flexible formats has become a necessity in order to engage consumers in a relevant manner. As consumers have embraced the era of web 2.0 as a platform for interaction, expression, sharing, and connection, brands have to work harder to penetrate the surface and affect users in a meaningful way. To get past the “tune-out” effect, embracing flexible forms of media will facilitate the dissemination of branded content, and ultimately push the limits of the once traditional approach to marketing.

Media is increasingly becoming less defined by location as consumers demand content where and when they need it. Technology and human creativity are enabling “media” in almost everything from coffee tables to cell phones, themed restaurants (Spotlight, Times Square’s answer to American Idol, complete with major label record contracts for 3 lucky winners) and digital interactive billboards indoors and outdoors. What is exciting about this evolution is that, in order to succeed and cut through in these “flexible formats”, the onus is on marketers to really provide “marketing as service,” rather than just pushing a message at consumers in the latest vehicle du jour.

This means understanding the medium and mindset of consumers when you are reaching out to them. I have rarely been in a cab with a video screen where I or my fellow passenger didn’t switch it off as soon as we got in — moving video in a moving taxi makes just about everyone carsick. Locamoda’s digital billboard for CNN in Times Square, on the other hand, actually provides people with entertainment that engages them — a scramble of letters (each with a point value) is posted on the billboard, along with a countdown clock. People (in Times Square or on the website) are invited to SMS words made up of the letters. The highest scorer in the timeframe wins and their name is announced on the billboard. The service? Entertainment, engagement, and two seconds of fame — if you win.

All media could become social media. If a consumer can’t tie a brand back to an interactive experience then the message can die where it was delivered. A consumer can graze the Internet and pick and chose the media he or she wants to embed, view, email, link to, IM, text, etc. A static image or page will simply not suffice for a consumer who needs dynamic mediums to nibble on throughout their day.

While reaching ever-higher levels of creativity (and intrusiveness) omnipresence of media vehicles occasionally begs the question: is nothing sacred? It started when we lowered our in-flight tray tables on planes to discover (sometimes outdated) marketing messages, and continues with the latest foray into school buses (advertisers hope to sponsor the inside of buses above the windows) — and even experiments in sponsoring cell phone time, in return for listening to a 15 second ad. As an industry we better choose our intrusions wisely, otherwise the backlash could be significant (witness the banning of outdoor in São Paulo last year).

Liz: What are some examples of campaigns you’ve observed or worked on that have used what this story calls nomadic media or distributed media, media that proliferates in many channels?

One great example of the power of user proliferation is the Obama brand and the campaign’s ability to harness many forms of media both online and offline. Obama’s “social strategy” has allowed him to tap into youth markets, spreading his message across a variety touch points, specifically print, TV, radio, youtube, Obama on Facebook, Obama on MySpace, Obama on Twitter, Obama’s social networking site, and the Obama Primary blog (e.g. downloadable Obama content, wallpaper, icons, and speeches). These efforts have corralled voters, enthusiasts, and prospective supporters into an Obama branded community. The call to action has been so strong, that the experiences online have translated into the offline realm, encouraging people to register to vote and to “believe” in change with him.

The campaign for the movie “Be Kind Rewind” is another great example. Especially their “pop up” experience in the Dietch Project space. It presents a branded concept yet allows the consumer to create, modify and explore their own representation of that concept. It is collaborative, creative, fun and provocative.

The campaign for the movie “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” is another fun example. Combining out of home, faux blogs, unbranded advertising, online advertising, and broadcast, the messages across all these mediums were consistent and all drove to a singular destination.

Liz: How does this affect how brands are shaped? Consumers are exercising more and more freedom in influencing brands’ identities and making them their own. By creating a wider variety of ways to reach consumers — ways that feel more individualized — are brands giving consumers more real ownership over identity? What are the risks and benefits to be aware of here?

Like it or not, the consumer is already in control and will let their feelings be known about your brand to all who will listen. Brands that engage in the dialog have a fighting chance of influencing perception. Those that dictate their message will be avoided or worse, simply ignored. And that is the ultimate risk here—being ignored. Better to have the consumer say bad things about you than have them say nothing at all. Dell learned the hard way that they needed to offer consumers a forum for interacting, to vent their frustration. Ultimately they were able to turn things around by inviting the consumer into their product development process. Enlightened etailers have learned that sales go up when they allow critical comments about their products on their sites. Honesty builds credibility. Engagement builds loyalty.

The cat is out of the bag. Consumers are exercising more and more freedom in influencing brands’ identities and making them their own. Marketers need to engage their audiences wherever that audience happens to be. The consumer doesn’t distinguish between the contact points, why should marketers? Personalized touch points empower the consumer and promotes participation, community and conversation around your brand.

The benefits to the brands that “listen” before they leap and engage with their consumers (particularly the influencers) are tremendous on almost every front — user input has been shown to build brands’ positive perception (Panasonic “Share the Air” program), products (Dell IdeaStorm, Threadless) buzz (Coke / Mentos) and sales — through user reviews (Petco, Wal-mart). Another risk is in leaping without listening, or just not listening at all (AOL- Vincent Ferrari, Comcast – the sleeping installation guy) consumers are more vocal and less forgiving than ever about programs that miss the mark.

One post script–since I had this interview, I have found myself watching the TV in those taxis a bit more. That peripatetic Rachel Ray really hooked me with her insti-meals! Have yet to cook one up but love the service these snippets provide.

Dude, Where’s My Suzuki?

Posted on by Drew Neisser

It’s June and if I still lived in my home town of Newport Beach, I’d be waxing up my surfboard (if I had one) and heading for “the wedge” (if I actually knew how to surf).

Okay, I admit it, I’m a wannabe surfer and still intend to learn before I die. As part of this aspiration, I dragged my wife to see “Surfwise,” a fascinating documentary about the “first family of surfing.” Here’s a bit on them from the New York Times movie review:

You meet Mr. Paskowitz, or Doc, straight away in the documentary “Surfwise,” Doug Pray’s wonderfully engaging look at love and family and the relentless pursuit of happiness, personal meaning and perfect waves… “Surfwise” has a bohemian vibe and a cool sheen, but it’s an eager-to-please, pleasing commercial enterprise with a reassuring narrative arc (happy, sad, happy). Once Doc’s origin story has been told (the movie says he introduced surfing to Israel), the story moves into its most fascinating phase, namely that stretch in the 1960s and ’70s when he and his wife, Juliette, a Mexican-American looker with an apparently sturdy constitution, raised, with next to no money, eight boys and one girl — David, Jonathan, Abraham, Israel, Moses, Adam, Salvador Daniel, Navah and Joshua — in a 24-foot camper. A few family members repeat the number 24 as if they still can’t believe it; I’m more wowed by the number 9.

Thats right, 11 people living in a 24″ camper, wandering around the world looking for the perfect wave with almost no material possessions. And my son thought it was a little crowded around our apartment when a couple of cousins came to visit! Anyway, it was a fascinating movie and it attracted an eclectic mix of young surfers, older bohemians and all types in between. It also made me hungry for other surfing related movies, which is why a recent article in MediaPost caught my attention:

The 3D movie, “The Ultimate Wave,” a cross between “Endless Summer” (for those of us old enough to remember it) and “Mr. Science,” is a joint venture of the Stephen Low Company, Havoc Films, and Suzuki. Suzuki is backing vehicles like the Grand Vitara SUV, SX4, and its motorcycles, outboards, ATVs–you name it–with a film for IMAX-type giant screen theatres.

The film, co-sponsored by surfer-fashion brand Quiksilver, explores wave formation and wave forecasting technology, and mixes that with music-video-style footage of surfers, waves, spliced with interviews with famous surfers talking about the ultimate wave. The film, to be released in the fall of 2009, stars surfing champ Kelly Slater, who serves as narrator. Suzuki’s cars, SUVs, motorcycles, ATVs and outboard motors are featured. The brand integration also supports Suzuki’s “Way of Life” brand campaign.

Dude, I think Suzuki is on to something here. I’m like totally convinced there’s a marketing as service idea waiting like an outside wave (aka outsider) ready for this client to ride. If Suzuki truly embraces the surfing lifestyle, the services they could provide would be wicked cool. Like picking up kids who are too young to drive and shuttling them to the beach before school and then getting them to school on time. Like helping old dudes like me learn to surf without putting me in the same class with 9 year olds. And like, if they came up with a bunch more services that are more relevant than these, a whole new generation would be saying, “Dude, where’s my Suzuki?”

 

A Rose By Any Other Name

Posted on by Drew Neisser

Oh those crafty agency types, saying the same thing but calling it by a different name so that each can “own” it. And yes, we’re just as guilty as everybody else with both the carefully crafted Marketing for Good and Marketing as Service concept descriptors. That said, here’s a little index of who is calling what what so we can keep it all straight:

Ironically, both Marketing as Service and Marketing with Meaning were featured in AdAge this week. Since I’ve already covered the former, I’ll give you a taste of the latter:

Young marketers or agency executives don’t take long to learn they’ve dedicated their lives to creating stuff people seek to avoid, and with increasing success. But Bridge, a digital unit of WPP Group’s Wunderman in, of all places, Cincinnati, ancestral homeland of Procter & Gamble Co. and interruptive advertising as we know it, thinks it has a disarmingly simple answer: “Marketing with Meaning.”

Bridge’s alternative, according to Mr. Woffington: “How do you make sure your marketing is held up to the same standard the product is? … P&G says their products improve people’s lives. But how about the marketing? Does the marketing itself improve consumers’ lives? … That’s a much higher standard than just selling more product.”

The article goes to site some specific examples including one I really like a lot:

Kimberly-Clark Corp. this year rolled out a $2 million, three-year “Not on My Watch” program for a bus tour to teach nurses and others to combat hospital-associated infections that kill an estimated 100,000 people annually in the U.S. Not only could the program save lives, said John Amat, VP-global sales and marketing for K-C Health Care, it could help save some of the $4.5 billion spent annually to treat such infections, much of which soon will no longer be reimbursed by Medicaid.

I suppose I could try to explain the differences between their hifalutin marketing principle and ours, but I’m afraid I’d ultimately have to admit that Shakespeare had it right as usual:

  • What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
  • By any other name would smell as sweet.

4 Ways To Get The Most Out of Your Brand Experiences

Posted on by Drew Neisser

as appeared on TheCMOclub.com 5/28/08:

#1. EMBRACE MARKETING AS SERVICE
Because “marketing as service” provides a real value, magical things happen, prospects turn into customers and customers turn into brand evangelists. When HSBC wanted to bring their position “The World’s Local Bank” to life in New York City, Renegade developed the HSBC BankCab. The iconic Checker Cab, wrapped in HSBC red and white, drives the streets of New York five days a week, offering free rides to existing customers. Research has shown that customers exposed to the BankCab recommend HSBC to at least 5 of their friends and are twice as likely to stay loyal to HSBC for years to come. For more examples, see Marketing as Service.com.

#2. EXECUTE STRATEGY, NOT TACTICS
In order to cut through, effective brand experiences must be borne of relevant strategic insights. Handing out free stuff might drive booth traffic but the end result is rarely lasting. Since the goal is engagement, the marketer must truly understand their prospects. At the AST Dew Tour, Panasonic understood the target’s desire to get closer to the athletes. So, Panasonic set up a free camera loaner program that let fans zoom in and record the cool tricks that they saw during the day’s competition. At days end, they got to take home a Panasonic SD card saving all their memories that they could then enter into a photo contest at the complementary online experience–ShareTheAir.net.

#3. SEAMLESSLY INTEGRATE YOUR EVENT AND ONLINE EXPERIENCE
One essential function of an event is to start a conversation that can be continued online long after the event. Not only will this defer the high cost-per-touch of the event, but also, it will extend the brand experience leading to a long-term customer relationship. For the most impact, the event and the online experiences should be planned at the same time supporting each other (event drives to online, online drives to event) and complementing each other. Consider hiring one agency that is equally adept at creating both event and online experiences. This approach is more cost effective and assures consistency across all channels of communication.

#4. MEASURE TWICE, CUT ONCE
The goal must be to cut through the first time. To do this, metrics for success must be established upfront. Marketers need to set benchmarks via pre-event research to compare with post-event data. In addition to tracking event attendance, time with brand and perceptual changes, sell-in and sell-through, consider adding Net Promoter Score to your measurement arsenal. NPS is a simple and reliable way word of mouth. Offline line metrics should be compared and tracked to online data including unique visitors, time on site, pre/post NPS and online commerce data (if relevant.)

I Heart NY, Then and Now

Posted on by Drew Neisser

Before I moved to New York over two decades ago, I was a mere tourist enticed by slickly produced video vignettes showcasing the best of New York. The ads, created by the then hot Wells Rich Greene were as jazzy as Broadway, as dynamic as Niagara Falls and as proud as the Bronx Bombers. I even remember Frank Langella, then a lead on Broadway, purring in his best Transylvanian accent, “I love New York, especially in the evening.”

These ads put forth a number of compelling reasons to come to New York in an era when advertising could still cut through. There were fewer TV stations so chances were you would see the same ad with great frequency. In the case of the “I love New York” campaign, the ads became part of the American consciousness and were a feather in the chapeau of the “Scheherazade of Advertising” Mary Wells Lawrence. (I started my career at an outpost of Wells in Newport Beach, California and the pride in this campaign stretched all the way across the country.)

So it is with some interest that I read about New York’s latest effort to attract tourists to the Empire State in Media Post’s Marketing Daily. A lot has changed in the 31 years since this campaign went off the air. For example, the old campaign ran almost exclusively on TV. Here’s the media mix for the new campaign:

Launched this month, the campaign via Saatchi & Saatchi comprises ads in newspapers, billboards, direct response, magazines, guerilla marketing, viral and digital marketing, and partnerships with JetBlue, Virgin Atlantic, Travelocity and Orbitz, as well as an updated ILoveNY.com Web site, custom brochures and a getaway guide.

$17 million stretched across every media imaginable. Hmmm. Seems like a lot of ground to cover with a modest budget. According to the article, the effort has a reasonably narrow target:

The campaign is not aimed at bringing global citizens to the Big Apple, but at getting those who live within a three- to-five-hour drive to put New York State on the vacation consideration list.

Putting on my Marketing as Service hat, this campaign might rate 2.5 hearts out of 4. On the positive side, the ads are somewhat informative, promoting lesser known gems like the State’s wine region and the Albright Knox museum in Buffalo. And the ILoveNY.com website is reasonably robust providing a number of ways to help potential tourists plan their vacations. I particularly like the “configurators” that help you determine where you might want to go and identify “GetAway Packages” for the budget conscious.I Love NY.com

All that said, I feel like this campaign is missing something important. First off, with only $17 million to spend versus larger competitive budgets (PA spends $30 million and Ontario spends $60 million), they simply don’t have enough to have a meaningful impact on television. I would redirect the ad part of this campaign into areas of travel utility that could make a NY travel experience worth talking about. For example, work with Charmin to make sure there are nice public restrooms at the larger tourist destinations. Or subsidize modest amenities at each New York motel like “I Love NY” mints that can sweeten the dreams of weary budget travelers and encourage them to tell friends about their experience.

Or why not create an Empire State Travelers Club that challenges visitors to see the top 100 destinations in a 5-year period. These destinations could be voted upon online by the tourist themselves and could encourage each destination to address any shortcomings to improve their rankings. Frequent travelers would earn points that could be used for all sorts of NY-related goodies. The club could be administered by New York-based American Express and could be self-funded via a membership fee.The point is that there is a service opportunity here that is as vast as our great state and I’m quite certain the folks behind this campaign recognize that:

“This is big business,” says Thomas Ranese, CMO for ESD. “And research shows we have an opportunity for it to be much larger.”

So Mr. Ranese, feel free to give me a call. I love New York, especially when there is a hole in your marketing campaign.

The Bloom is on the Rose of Marketing as Service

Posted on by Drew Neisser

Jonah Bloom (editor-in-chief of AdAge) scribes a savvy look at Marketing as Service in his editorial called “Make Your Marketing Useful, Like Samsung and Charmin” in this week’s AdAge. Not one to mince words, Jonah goes so far as to suggest that large advertisers “take a small chunk out of those billion-dollar budgets and help provide a free, helpful service.”

In addition to detailing Samsung’s Airport Charging Stations, Jonah offers up this example from the UK:

One of my favorite examples came from Metro newspapers in the U.K., which spent some of its launch marketing budget repairing and improving inner-city sports facilities. It was a good way to get the Metro name emblazoned into the very fabric of the cities in question and a clever way to give the brand a bit of “history” within the city.

After mentioning yours truly, this blog and the HSBC BankCab, Jonah goes on challenge Citi and AT&T directly with these suggestions:

AT&T, for example, how about you spare a few million from the billion you spend shoving your bars in my face, and help the MTA fix its Subway intercoms? Or Citi, how about you take some of the hundred million a year you spend telling us how friendly you are to construct a wireless network for New York?

Go Jonah. Delighted to have you on board the good ship Marketing as Service. And while I agree that it would be great to have subway intercoms that work and a wireless network for Gotham, I’m not certain I would have recommended to either of these clients that they take on these particular challenges. I won’t go into my reservations here but rather offer up a challenge to you all to come up some other ideas for these two clients. Winner gets a free ride in the BankCab and of course, adulation in this here blog. As my son would say, “bring it.”