by Belinda Lui | Dec 6, 2013 | Advertising, Latest
I took a few courses at Seneca @ York University in Creative Advertising before pursuing a degree in Communications, and my favourite project while I was there was to create an ad for Social Responsibility. Without a pre-existing ad, my group designed copy and creative for Miller Genuine Draft. The 6 teams in my class would be able to present their pitches to my professor, and the winning team would be able to present the pitch to the actual company (with a possibility of being chosen). My team won — but it wasn’t the most rewarding part of the project: cause advertising that encourages social responsibility was. The concept was to encourage taking public transit after having a few drinks and the hope was to appeal to the emotions of people who have lost loved ones to drinking and driving.
In every industry, no matter the product or service, we have a part to play in raising awareness for social responsibility.
Here are a few of my favourite campaigns for social responsibility:
1. Coca-cola – Arctic Home
Raising awareness of climate change and how it’s affecting our Polar Bears.
2. Telus – Habitat for Humanity
Encouraging ‘community’ and helping each other build a better world.
3. Dove – Real Beauty
The vast differences between the way we see ourselves and the way others see us.
4. Red Cross – When You Give, We Give
Helping families rebuild their homes and lives after they have been struck with disaster.
5. Levi’s – Go Forth
A Campaign that encourages every individual to be the change they wish to see in the world.
For an ad campaign to be considered socially responsible, the advertising used in the campaign must meet an ethical standard. Corporate social responsibility marketing has been a focus of several major ad campaigns, but if the ads used in the campaign are seen as deceptive by the public, the company is unlikely to be considered socially responsible regardless of the theme of the advertisements.
What are some of your favourite social responsibility campaigns?
by Belinda Lui | Dec 3, 2013 | Advertising, Latest
I was watching a TED talk from Rory Sutherland, the Vice Chairman of Ogilvy Group, and his lesson was on the power of perception as it pertains to real value and perceived value. We’re all probably aware of the fact that Advertising is an influential force behind consumerism, but what I want to explore in this post is the root of that behaviour: perception, and how the real-value of things is less significant than the perceived value of things.
The power of perception can change almost everything; from what we eat to how we drive:
1. The Potato
Frederic the Great was very keen on the potato being adopted into the diets of Germans. He tried to make it compulsory and people were executed for refusing to grow potatoes. So he changed his strategy and made it so that potatoes could only be grown by Royalty (and would be guarded as such). The reaction was that if something was good enough to be guarded, it’s good enough to be stolen. He changed the perception of Potatoes.
2. Shreddies
Canadian intern, Hunter Summerville, thought of a way to re-launch Shreddies: he thought of a way to add intangible value to a product without actually changing the product itself. Changing it from a square to a diamond. It was a refresh in how Shreddies were perceived, even though it was only tilted slightly to become a diamond.
3. Speeding
Instead of showing your speed, the sign would flash either a smiley face or a sad face. These signs cost about 10% of a speeding-camera but prevent twice the amount of speeding collisions. It goes without saying, knowing your speed might deter some people from speeding, but when speeding was associated with a sad face, people were more likely to slow down.
What I’m trying to illustrate here, is that perhaps like most things in life, it is our perception of things that make them valuable – and less about what the actual value is.
What are some of your examples of real-value versus perceived value?
by Belinda Lui | Nov 25, 2013 | Advertising, Latest
Soon after Halloween passes (literally, November 1), the Christmas paraphernalia goes up. I used to be nauseated by how money-driven retailers must be to shove money-spending down our throats. Then, I remember that the Christmas music also starts soon after on the radio, and most importantly, the Christmas-themed commercials.
Seasonal advertising is probably one of my favourite type of advertising – it gives copywriters and art directors an opportunity to encapsulate the emotions felt during every holiday and prompt some sort of response from its viewers/listeners.
Here are a few of my most anticipated Christmas advertising:
1. Coca-Cola
From their seasonal packaging to their feel-good advertisement spots, Coca-Cola is definitely number one on my list of favourite Seasonal Advertising Campaigns.
2. M&Ms
Who wouldn’t love the two M&M characters? Seeing these animated chocolates, with whom a lot of us have grown a kinship with over the years, live out the innocence of preparing for Santa Clause’s arrival – brings back the memories in 30 seconds (or less).
3. Tim Hortons
Tim Hortons definitely gets the “feel-good”, “patriotism”, and “family” notions spot-on. Who doesn’t like a bit of those things during the holidays?
4. Old Navy
If you’re the type of person (and who isn’t?) that appreciates an upbeat, jolly, dance number – then you would look forward to these commercials too.
5. Target
Still considered to be fairly new to the Canadian market, Target has the ability to capture feel-good and “hip and trendy” in the same ad spot.
While the underlying goal in every advertisement is to push sales, it is no wonder why marketers spend most of their ad money in the fourth quarter: people are more willing to spend during the holiday season and are vulnerable to the emotions that come along with Christmas. Still, if only for the appreciation of great creative work: I thoroughly look forward to Seasonal Advertising Campaigns.
What are some of your favourite Seasonal Advertising Campaigns?
by Lisa Wedmann | Nov 10, 2013 | Advertising, Latest
In my opinion cause marketing is the most satisfying type of marketing for any business, large or small. It’s a chance to help their favourite charity and enables businesses, ultimately, to make money.
What is cause marketing? At its simplest form it’s the request for a charity donation at a grocery checkout. You may have participated in a food drive at a local store. This is cause marketing.
When a store links their business to a charity, they raise awareness, involve the community and make money for the cause. The good news is that through their cause marketing support, their company that is associating itself to that cause, aldo benefits in the same ways as the said charity.
Cause Marketing: A win-win
Through cause marketing businesses inadvertently (or not), create awareness towards their brand or business by increasing social engagement all the while MAKE MONEY for the chosen charity. The increased awareness and social engagement bodes well for business and business persona. It shows commitment and develops ties within the community. The bonus: business can help with a cause in which they believe in. Talk about a winning situation.
Some of the largest and most successful companies devote a lot of time and money to supporting and highlighting their cause marketing efforts. TD Canada Trust has their “Friends of the Environment”, Tim Hortons has their “Send a Kid to Camp” and McDonalds has their “Ronald McDonald House”.
Ultimately the cynics out there will look at the obvious… afterall there has to be a financially sound reason for these companies to invest in cause marketing. If these companies didn’t make money, they wouldn’t be able to show this type of support. Well yes in no.
The truth of the matter is that it’s pretty hard to fake cause marketing.
Although some cynics may find it mercenary that companies make money on the coattails of the charities. But on the other hand, it’s pretty hard to fake this type of relationship. Charities believe in what they do. They have a message for the world and they want to get their message out as much as the businesses that support the cause.
When people are giving to charity they are also recognizing your business as trustworthy and committed to the community. As marketer we all know what happens when people recognize and have faith in your business, don’t we?
Cause Marketing is a unique opportunity for businesses to gain awareness and build top of mind recognition with the ultimate goal of promotion sales and hence make money . But those businesses are also good because they do good.
Now that just has to feel good doesn’t it?
by Lisa Wedmann | Oct 31, 2013 | Advertising, Latest
Advertising frequency is a huge component in the success of any campaign. Think about it: How many times do you need to hear a phone number in order to remember? Don’t answer… it’s a trick question. I have most of my numbers stored in my phone. Not sure about you but I don’t need to repeat phone numbers in order to remember. When I lose my phone or lose my contacts I am in big trouble.
In terms of new advertising and increasing awareness, most people need to repeat or hear an ad or communication three times before it registers. You can test it yourself. Take a name for example. A name that is not a person you know. Like Ryan Clarke. Repeat that name out loud three times. Chances are you will remember…at least in the short term.
Next week rolls around and you might not remember the name. But, if you see Ryan Clarke’s name repeated on Facebook, or an email comes around with this name on it , you might remember the name. Then you might forget … then again you might remember. That’s how building brand awareness works.
Effective Advertising Frequency
In marketing and in advertising, the number of times information is repeated before action is taken is called effective frequency.
There are many theories on what is the proper or correct advertising frequency you should aim for. The number of times you should repeat your information to your target audience is an important factor in the success of any advertising campaign.
There are many marketing theories on how and what strategies should be employed. Get to marketers in a room and each will think that their opinion is the best approach. But where they all agree is that advertising frequency is a must, the information or communications message must be repeated.
It’s not enough to run your ad up the flagpole and assume that your target market will drop everything and salute. Your ad isn’t on a flagpole and really, ads aren’t akin to patriotism. Repeat, repeat, repeat and your message will stick.
The first part of the above statement is obvious. Your message must be heard numerous times before your customer takes action. Marketing of any brand to build awareness must be an ongoing continuous effort in order to be successful.
The second part of the statement is not so obvious, unless you are a seasoned marketing professional. The matter of your messaging sticking is about creative approach, brand persona, media placement and creative strategy.
Approach your customer from different angles. Repeat the same message but repeat it on different channels. Think print, packaging, TV, radio, social media, events, pr and…
I can’t repeat that too many times.
Repeat uniquely, repeat creatively, repeat strategically. Then, your message will stick and your brand awareness rise to the top of the flagpole.
by Lisa Wedmann | Oct 25, 2013 | Advertising, Branding, Business Success, Communications, Latest, Marketing, PR, Social Media
As social media continues to change marketing landscape, one change I have seen is the convergence of marketing with PR. In the past, if you wanted an advertising campaign, you produced commercials, print ads and maybe some billboards.
If you wanted a Public Relations campaign, you used some of the more traditional tactics: a press conference, sent out a press release to media, product placement and TV appearances.
But today, marketing and Public Relations are closer than ever. No more can you launch a great product, with a big ad campaign, and talk TO the consumer.
You have to take it one step beyond that and bring the product to the people, get it in their hands, and talk with them – not AT them.
The overarching goals of Marketing and PR are the same: get people’s attention, get people to connect with, to talk about and, ultimately, buy your product. And finally, perhaps most importantly, it’s about building brand awareness and loyalty.
But that is where the similarity ends. Marketing is about speaking to the consumer. PR today is about speaking with the public and creating a two-way dialogue. With the growth of social media, and the changing landscape of traditional media, power has shifted to the consumer. It’s not enough to speak loudly and blanket the airwaves with ads.
And even if you do blanket the airwaves, finding that target market is increasingly difficult as more and more people are turning out traditional channels, and the media landscaped continues to fracture. In 2012, one in 50 Canadian TV subscribers cancelled cable in 2012, and 130,000 are expected to follow suit by the end of 2013. And Netflix subscriptions are growing, as is the use of PVR – meaning no more commercials!
This is just where PR comes in. A good PR campaign can get the word out to increasingly niche target markets using a mix of tactics: events, blogger campaigns, product placement, media appearances and social media campaigns. Done right, the message will get out to just the right markets and people, creating buzz, awareness, a relationship with the customer, and, ultimately, sales.
There are multiple benefits to a public relations campaign, including:
- Relationships – A blogging campaign will create brand ambassadors, consumers who will talk about your product, and share this with their followers. They will blog, and share about your product, with links back to your website. This also fits in nicely with social media.
- Social Media: Obviously, thanks to the blogger campaign, your followers will grow, and you will connect with new fans and followers. Once bloggers post, and share, their blogs, you can repost on your page, and retweet their tweets. This provides a gateway to new followers, and consumers.
- SEO: Do you produce your website to maximize SEO? A PR campaign will improve your online presence, with links back to the site, which will help the site ranking.
How do you think Public Relations has changed? How does it fit within the marketing mix?
