RE: Awareness vs Preference

I exchanged the following email with a former colleague....agree ? Let me know..

Colleague:
Awareness vs preference campaign - "Do you have a good definition? I am confused, in need of some good advice"

Me:
Hi, it could be semantics [of the client] or a true ask so I suggest to use a tried and tested model of advertising.

Awareness will drive recognition/attention - if you are a brand that wants to get people to know you or what you do that's fine but it doesn't pay the bills.

Preference would be an activity that gets people to choose your brand, or at least have the brand  amongst a considered set of competitors.

Hence in the AIDA model (Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action) - Awareness is the first step, with preference between Desire and Action.

So in summary, I don't think anybody really wants a brand preference campaign,  they want a Brand Action campaign with metrics that clearly deliver against the need of the client.

I would align a definition of what success looks like before doing anything - that way you will know if   million facebook fans is success or increasing sales by $10,000 per quarter... Hope this helps..

You're in Luck

If you want to gain attention for your message, compel the receiver to act now. Make it is simple, relevant and impactful on both the right and left parts of the brain. I hope you will also get someone on your Black Friday and holiday shopping lists something at Kiva.org/gifts today.

Commercial Break. We'll be right back

Watching ESPN on my iPad has led to extreme agitation and frustration, because I can't see the commercials. Yes, you heard correctly - ads are a key role in my experience.  With my changed viewing context, broadcasters, advertisers and brands need to tackle new insights in order to meet my needs.

Self  Determination

Context:  I've chosen to watch ESPN Football via my iPad app

Insight: I'm enjoying the novelty and the complete control to watch it on my terms

Need: Acknowledge me 

Hyper-Attention

Context: The screen is c. 12 inches from my face, I'm not doing anything else

Insight:  I want to be entertained, I'm open to a message  

Need: Stimulate me, entertain me

Inertia and Anticipation

Context: Exiting the app is a hassle, and I don't know when the game will will restart

Insight: I feel a bit stuck, I don't want to miss the next play, I guess i will just wait for you

Need: Entertain me, reassure me

Okay so on ocassions  you get a ticker..........or a static graphic....

 Stop Press: Read more here where it was reported in April that ESPN would have the technology in August ready to serve ads ....on the iPad

its the tingle of the bubbles...

..."on my tongue and the cool blast of refreshment....Ahhh, my thirst quenched". A story that  delights me, and I want to hear when I buy a Sprite at Mcdonalds!

....By pushing the envelope beyond the norm McDonalds gained a little more attention and a hint of brand love by doing this.....

...."Its those moments I crave. My Time to indulge...." amazing how you can improve the consumer experience by using the space on the disposable cup just that little bit more creatively.... If on the other hand your focus is for that caffiene hit, well, this all might pass you by as marketing blah blah....

Re: HxHxH = #Lovemark - an apology

I put this idea out without a good explanation...Better now ?

• H1 = Head: its what you THINK about a brand or collection of brands, perhaps interested and aware of some more than others. This is dangerous territory for a brand - as on the journey to a choice the consumer can easily be swayed by logic, price, time, convenience, competition,out of stocks, bad service..... and all other sorts of everyday distraction. 

• H2  = Heart: its how you FEEL  about a brand...a huge step forward, because this is where you find the brands you love, those you simply cant live without...and lead you to.....

• H3 = Hands: its what you DO with your... money/wallet/purse/credit card/time/attention... And because your so loyal you cant really explain why you do what you do, you can't justify why you upgraded to the new IPhone model, why you have the ltd edition version of the coffee maker, why you payed $150 to see Sade. 3 nights in a row !....Well not in a rational way........Those, unfortunately are symptoms of a #Lovemark as defined by Kevin Roberts work at Lovemarkscampus.com

H x H x H = #Lovemark

Did you win $1,000,000?

On the off chance that this #brandcurious blog post passes your spam filter..

Then you're able to see the beautiful art direction in this Lotto advertising creative.

........Stopped me in my tracks at Citgo. Bravo to the agency/Marketing folks.

My Reckless Experience

No, not a story of remorse and regret, but instead the story of my discovery of Reckless Records in Chicago.

How does Reckless Records remain relevant In an era of instant downloads ? 

How does it compete with virtual access to the worlds largest music libraries ?

Why is it still here when technology from brands such as Itunes, Spotify, Pandora, Amazon render this place obsolete?

I believe it's because I can:

1. Discover and explore music with (almost) all of my senses.
2. Be certain that popularity is not the only arbiter of taste.
3. Buy VHS and cassette tapes. (I didn't as I don't have anything to play them on - but was honestly surprised, that people still do !)
4. Ask the staff questions about music and musicians - which they are more than keen to answer.
5. Immerse in the feeling that I can't get this anywhere else
6. Leave with the belief that whatever I buy here is more valuable, meaningful and important than getting it from somewhere else.
7. Be certain that I will tell people about it
8. Be certain that I will go back.

This brand is not in the business of selling music. Its value comes from facilitating community via music, and an experience beyond the function of selling things.

Breaking News - Landscape is the new Portrait

In search of marketing innovation for your brand ? 

This Kia car ad has an authentic picture of....well a Kia car (no-less), with a disruptive landscape placement that compelled me to rotate the page to look at it and share it (remarkable).

Innovate, disrupt, and become remarkable, seize the patently  obvious opportunity to be landscape in the portrait world !

An empty box of Roses

 Cadbury's Roses  are a British institution, a delicacy on par with Tea, Worcestershire Sauce and yes Fish and Chips. 

This battered box of chocolates lasted 10 mins in my office before being devoured by my colleagues in Hoffman estates (nr. Chicago, IL). Coincidentally, its near to the US HQ of Kraft  - the new owners of Cadbury.

Dear Kraft US - your market research is complete...launch this brand in the US and I'm sure it will be huge. 

What Marketers can learn from #RoyalWedding, Twitter & #cnntv

Its 4.53 AM CST (10.53 in London) and I've just been woken up by wife's alarm as she dashes to the tv and logs into facebook, while I remain in bed and bleary eyed fumble for my phone and  onto twitter.

The royal wedding proves that when you have a remarkable event and a motivated community people will connect and participate. This ranges from the truly devastating events in Japan, uprisings and political upheavals in the middle east and Africa and well yes who designed Kate Middleton's dress.

Right now the top 10 trending topics (aka brands) are of course all British including #BuckinghamPalace #ClarenceHouse #Royal Wedding and...... #Cnntv !!!???

So, despite the fact it's a (pardon the pun) Royal Flush, CNN have mastered the art and science of motivating their global audience of (consumers) to act, and simply use a hashtag. To be honest, I was expecting to see BBC.

I'm surprised at my own behavior, as well as the masterstroke of CNN. It goes to show that brands which understand their equity and consumer will thrive in this diverse new media web 2.0 age.......

Now ive woken up a bit I'm off to see that dress live...

Stop press.......Its BBC America on the TV....British marketers may once again rejoice.

Marshall Headphones - watch out Bose

In a 'sea of sameness'  - and dominated by plastic see through packaging,  the possession of a distinctive brand equity will help you win.

The genius move by Marshall Headphones is to hide their product in a brown cubed box design.... that provokes instant curiosity. 

My compulsion  to discover - and open the box proved insatiable. Although I like my Bose, I really want these as well! Marshall simply oozes lovemarks status. 

Milwaukee Day

could this go viral ?.... As i write there are 408 facebook fans...and with a population of 600K+  in Milwaukee theres a huge community who have pride in their city and could be part of this movement.... An  example of marketing at its very grass roots. Brand Managers take note

http://milwaukeeday.tumblr.com/

Unusual Suspects

Which brands did you instantly recognize in this Identity Parade? (police lineup to my US readers!)..... proudly on display at one of the worlds busiest airports.

Not being able to control your brand message is a pretty hard concept to accept.  So it must be nauseating for Coca Cola and Volvic to have their brand equity subverted and be cast as prime suspects at airport security checkpoints....Perhaps it pays to be mediocre after all !

The Social Network II

"I was only saying the same things as my friends who work here, I just hit enter and went for lunch. I deleted it straight away, but my boss didn't see that as proper apology". 

It's only a matter of time before Anderson Cooper announces the sad but true 'sign of the times' faux pas....A sorry tale of the poor Gen Z multitasking intern who inadvertently announced on Linked In (while also auto posting on their blog, and twitter feed) their hatred of their employer, boss and leadership  using sms profanity of the most vulgarity ......

No, not a deleted  Facebook movie scene, but an observation of Linked In.  A once simple, uncluttered and intuitive professional networking platform that is transforming into a business social network.  Now filled with a landscape full of dashboards, ads, and tabs, and peppered with likes, comments, pictures (of babies ..perhaps) and youtube videos. 

Is the brand manoeuvring its way into future convergence with the hyper-stimulated, hyper-sticky, informational super-channel-esque - Facebook behemoth ? Fiction ?  Melodrama ?....Partial truth ?  Irrelevant !  As user numbers continue to increase and embrace the new experience, the business led by Jeff Weiner is an indellible disruptive force heading for an IPO. 

As I write this post, ad agency planners the world over are scheming to uncover killer insights,  brand managers vy to launch their first hybrid campaign, and media mavens are seeding content amongst the most coveted 'sociopro' influencers......

I used to love Linked In as I knew exactly why I was there, what I was going to do and how long I was going to spend there.  Yet the online version look and feel changes, added features, and constant refreshes echo the rhythm of Facebook, and I sense its now too late for them to dial back. My only solace is the Iphone version -  (the  app development team are genius architects for mobile).

Failure to understand their brand equity and user base may lead to the creation of a 'Bring back old Linked In' group.  Start to worry if a cut the rope 'corporate ladder edition' replaces the 'People you may know' section......

PS, while the opening quotation is currently fictitious, I sadly predict to see it reported true pretty soon.

Fan us

After 3 months of pondering I decided to post this picture because I still can't fathom why someone would fan a mall ..... Thoughts?

Stopping Power is all you need

A good claim has to stop you and address a purchase barrier or at least make you feel enough to provoke a response.  I found this claim from Bodum to be disturbing, irritating, yet delightfully disruptive to my perception of how I feel about my choice to use the Nespresso brand. 

I'm sure it adds cost so I would love to know if Jimmy John's measure the effectiveness or impact of this simple, playful, genius placement......After all a sandwich, is just a sandwich... right ?