Some classic viral marketing from Innocent. Love it.
Category Archives: Marketing
Catvertising: why more ad agencies need to learn to laugh at themselves
Catvertising is the latest YouTube sensation to ‘go viral’, with creators, Canadian advertising agency John St., undoubtedly now reaping the rewards of global awareness.
How did this little 150 second clip gain nearly 1 million views? And what other agency can claim that from what is essentially a promotional video?
Quite simply because there is something for everyone: People love the cats, brand-side marketers enjoy the mockery of typical agency showreel videos and every other marketing consultancy around the world is wishing they thought of the idea themselves.
In terms of a strategy for new business, this ticks every box:
- At the centre of their pipeline ‘bulls eye’ will be the brands – potential clients – to whom they need to prove their creativity and ability to deliver against a brief.
- In order to attract the best people to work in their team, they need to make sure everyone in the industry knows who they are so that if you don’t currently work there you kind of wish you did – or at least that your team was more like them.
- And finally non-industry folk - who, directly, are of little benefit to John St. in terms of revenue, but they will be the ones their clients look to reach, so proving they can market themselves to this audience is a pretty convincing way to show they can market their clients with the same creative success. Not everyone will get the knowing references to AdLand’s bullsh*t bingo, but that doesn’t matter, because what everyone does know is that cat videos rock.
Having worked in a marketing consultancy for five years (and loved it), creative and innovative though it was, the trappings of the agency showreel are fairly universal. Catvertising is full of these and I love John St. for being so openly willing to poke fun, laughing at themselves and their industry nuances in the process. As cutting-edge as they may be, too many agencies can take themselves so seriously, that by blinding prospective clients with zingy quotes, mind-boggling stats and mind map flowcharts, they alienate more than they do attract.
What John St. seem to be saying is ‘we know our stuff, but we’re not afraid to have fun. We don’t need whizz-bang strategy documents, Venn diagrams uncovering the ‘sweet spot’ or graphical displays of consumer behaviour to get our message across. We create content that sticks, and by doing so attract the very audience we set out to reach. We entertain, and we deliver. And we love cats.’
Who wouldn’t hire them?
Filed under Advertising, Communications, Digital, Marketing, Social Media
Glee does Fashion’s Night Out
Some inspired promotion from FOX in the US emerged this week. Our favourite Gleeksters are getting their fashion on for a promotional video ahead of the 8th September – the official date for the global Fashion’s Night Out extravaganza. And just 12 days later, the new season of Glee happens to air on the American network.
The skit (above) is too short for my liking (please let there be a full-length music video aired at some point, or at least additional break bumpers with out-takes), but some of the production stills give you an idea of the fun had on set.
Lea Michele looks a-mazing (in Balmain, natch), Heather Morris rocks the currently ubiquitous star print trend and David Bowie‘s Fashion is obviously right on the money.
Glee meets Vogue. Awesome. Inspired.
Filed under Advertising, Celebrity, Fashion & Style, Marketing, Television
The Brand Popularity Contest: who won in 2010?
Bloomberg’s Businessweek announced the findings this week of their giant annual survey into brand popularity. Now presented online at Businessweek.com and in the current double issue on news-stands, is the a-z of brand categories and who won Miss/Mr Popularity in 2010.
To explain their rationale behind this, a quote from their front page:
“Even in our present era of 10,000 niches, mass customization, and the “long tail”—of companies selling fewer items from a far vaster inventory—we are, arguably, governed more than ever by what’s popular. Thanks to the Internet’s ability to rank everything, one can dwell almost exclusively in the world of trending Twitter topics, of top-reviewed restaurants, of Amazon.com bestselling books, of the cutest cute-cat YouTube videos. News sites all feature tallies of the Most Read, Most E-mailed, and Most Commented On articles—creating a self- reinforcing conversation.
Is all this popularity data enriching us, or does it obscure new paths of discovery? Are crowds wise, or do they follow the pack and middle-of-the-road? A deep dive into what’s totally beast, right now—not just the bestselling, but the fastest-selling; not merely the market leaders, but the ones gaining the most market share—proves that while there’s no accounting for taste, the data can be helpful and even inspiring. It highlights huge, wealth-creating opportunities as well as under-appreciated ways that cash flows to the sublime.”
Every entry in the list represents either a market leader or “the person, product, or trend that experienced the greatest commercial growth or surge in popularity during 2010.” Some figures are literal (e.g. Nordstrom’s revenue, $9.7 billion), and others symbolic (the rpms of the top-selling turntable, 33⅓).
Anyhoo, for me it made for fascinating reading. Some not wholly surprising – those we could have predicted include Kate Middleton as top choice for magazine front covers and Harry Potter for top move franchise. And I was particularly amused by the inclusion of ‘Car (stolen)’ as a category (the Honda Accord, if you were wondering). Remember this is only representative of the US market, but still a curious list.
So for your delight (and with thanks to Brand Channel this morning), a selection of the list:
• Actress: Sandra Bullock
• Athlete (Female): Serena Williams
• Athlete (Male): Peyton Manning
• Beverage (Beer): Bud Light
• Beverage (Soda): Coca-Cola
• Beverage (Sports): Gatorade
• Cable TV Show: MTV’s Jersey Shore
• Car (Electric): Nissan Leaf
• Car (Stolen): Honda Accord
• Cereal: Honey Nut Cheerios
• Chocolate: M&Ms
• Cigarette: Marlboro
• Coffee: Nescafe
• Credit Card: Visa
• Department Store: Nordstrom
• Diet: Gluten-Free
• E-Reader: Kindle
• Game System: Microsoft’s Xbox Kinect
• Gum: Orbit
• Jeans: Levi’s 501
• Magazine Cover Subject: Kate Middleton
• Model (highest paid): Giselle
• Movie Franchise: Universal’s Harry Potter
• Museum Exhibit: Alexander McQueen at the Met
• Music (album sales): Adele
• Newspaper: The Wall Street Journal
• Philanthropists: Bill & Melinda Gates
• Razor (Female): Gillette Venus
• Snack (Cookie): Oreo
• Sport: NBA
Filed under Brands & Branding, Economy, Marketing
Oh Oh Oh by The Golf Boys – Farmers Insurance go viral
As far as sponsorship goes, Golf is a pretty cluttered marketplace and one dominated by Financial Services brands and sports apparel. It is rare to see a fairly straight, corporate brand letting go a little bit and doing something fun.
So hats (or visors) off to Farmers Insurance, sponsors of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in California, who have done something a little different and all in the name of charidee.
PGA Tour players Ben Crane, Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson, and Hunter Mahan, with just a little help from musician Con Bro Chilli, have created a music video. Yes, a music video. With a real track. On iTunes and everything.
Posted just at the start of this week, at the time of writing Oh Oh Oh by The Golf Boys had already garnered over a million views.
As Brand Channel reported earlier this week, the video is rapidly going viral, with a feature on PGATOUR.COM as well as its Facebook and Twitter pages. The video can also be seen on Ben Crane’s YouTube channel, and website.
The Sponsorship Story (via BrandChannel): “The fact that State Farm is sponsoring Ben Crane’s group and video shows the expanding relationship between the two. That relationship dates back to Crane’ victory at last year’s Farmers Insurance Open. Since then, Crane has partnered with Farmers and Farmers’ parent company, Zurich Financial Services, and he also sports the Zurich or Farmers logo on his golf cap, depending on the tournament.”
But for me, what takes this from being a ‘plum stoopid’ stunt (in the words of @One_Off_Olly) to a cute piece of marketing is the charity/viral element. The video is positioned as ‘presented by’ Farmers Insurance but what I love is that for every 100,000 views Farmers will donate $1,000 to charitable proceeds that will support both Farmers and Ben Crane charitable initiatives.
Why is this so neat? The charity element, built on the basis of viral value (each view on YouTube equates to 1c from Famers to charity) gives users a tangible role in helping the cause. And even better, its not from their own pocket, but from the ‘big bad’ corporate entity. Some will be inclined to re-watch numerous times just to stick one up at the Man – and it’s win win for Farmers because the more people that view and click, the more promotion they get as a genuine supporting partner. But most will be watching for pure comedy value because, frankly, it’s hilarious.
Enjoy.
Filed under Finance, Golf, Marketing, Sponsorship, Sport
The Greatest Movie Ever Sold: Movie Trailer
The Greatest Movie Ever Sold. There are so many reasons why I love the look of this movie, not least:
- Super Size Me legend, Morgan Spurlock is fronting it. Guaranteed, good honest humour whilst proving a salient, sobering point along the way
- It is completely self-referential – a film proving its own point that we are over-advertised to through the medium of film and television, whilst acknowledging it wouldn’t exist without that very industry. I just love a good old paradox
- By the look of the movie posters, he actually manages to convince Californian-based pomegranate juice-makers POM Wonderful to take the $1m title sponsorship. I cannot wait to see that boardroom table discussion
- The issue of our contemporary over-dosing on product placement is placed front and centre (anyone who doubts the presence of brands in movies needs to check out Brand Channel‘s great database, Brand Cameo)
- Great title (though he will need to be forgiven for borrowing from Frank Rich’s book of the same name)
The premise is a simple one – can you make a movie using only budget acquired from sponsors and advertisers? If you’re wondering how Spurlock came up with the idea in the first place, his director’s statement in the movie’s press pack is worth a read.
(and no fewer than 12 pages of the 23-page press pack are dedicated to ‘A word from our sponsors’. So it’s a fair that bet he accomplished what he set out to…)
I think my favourite exchange in the trailer below, is from Spurlock’s conversation with politician Ralph Nader:
Spurlock: Where should I be able to go where I don’t see one bit of advertising?
[beat]
Nader: To sleep.
Not currently slated for a UK theatrical release this year, this might be one for festival screenings and a smaller-scale art-house release. But for the time being watch the trailer and enjoy:
Filed under Advertising, Brands & Branding, Film, Marketing, product placement, Sponsorship
Jack Willy, Jack Wills and what to do when passing off is all in the name of charity
It is no secret to this blog – and to pretty much anyone that knows me – that I am a long-time, ardent fan of Jack Wills.
So this evening, when I started to pick up tweets about Jack Willy for the first time – a brand new charity initiative in support of prostate cancer awareness – I initially thought, bravo JW for having enough gumption and banter around their own brand values to create a tongue-in-cheek charity campaign.
Or so I thought.
After a bit of digging on the site it became apparent that they are ‘BTW, NOT Jack Wills‘ and are instead playing on the renowned middle class clothing brand’s wide appeal. And, in for a penny, in for a pound, the site invokes JW’s look, feel, font, tag-line (‘outfitters for the general’ – rather than gentry), image/model look style and web design.
They’re hot on Twitter, they engage with their posse of fans on Facebook – they even run an ‘Ambassador‘ program whereby enthusiastic consumers of their clothing can earn themselves free stash by being photographed in the gear and posting their shots back to the brand. Any of this sounding familiar?
Now whether you’re a fan of the original brand or not, this led me to thinking: as a brand manager or owner, what would I do? I’m in charge of a hugely successful, internationally expanding, young, influential fashion label and a charity initiative sets up for a very worthy cause, riding on the coat tails of my brand’s image (and poking a little fun in its ribs at the same time). How do I feel about this? What are my options?
I figure they are, namely, these:
1) Do nothing
2) Do nothing – yet. Ride it out. It’s a start-up so wait and see what kind of following it gets (and what comments you get as a result) before making any move. (It’s got them this blog post for a start…)
3) Be reactively supportive. When fans, consumers or press ask the question, ‘So whad’ya make of all this Jack Willy stuff then?’, respond with a reasonably non-committal ‘We think their cause is an incredibly worthy one and we wish them all the best.’ Or even something a tad more engaged such as ‘and we’re honoured they saw the value in the Jack Wills brand to help promote awareness for their campaign’. But kept fairly at arm’s length and not promoting an association
4) Be proactively supportive. Seek out the organisers and reach out to them. Discover more about the set-up and explore the option of an official partnership. In an if-you-can’t-beat-em-join-em kinda way. Cross-promotion could work in your favour (though on first impression from the site, significantly TBC whether the Jack Willy gang would want an official JW stamp or seal of approval.)
5) Be privately opposed. The public voice decries any association with the charity – no negative comments per se, but making it clear there is no connection. Privately, approach with a view to enforcing a stronger message of complete independence from the JW brand in order to put an end to the passing off (which, frankly, it undeniably is as it took me at least 5 minutes to find the ‘NOT Jack Wills’ statement. Granted it was mobile web, but I’m not exactly web illiterate)
6) Be publicly opposed. Dangerous territory, but if a brand feels its values have been compromised, sometimes it should go all out to protect those. Harder if it’s a worthy cause, but if it were an organisation of deplorable or questionable (or competitive) intent, a brand wouldn’t hesitate. Just because it’s for ‘charidee’, should it act differently?
Of course, it might all be a double bluff, and maybe the Northern Irish founders really do have a link to JW. Maybe Pete Williams gave his blessing. But it doesn’t look that way to me. And whatever stance the brand takes, they should decide a position fast because the questions will come – if they haven’t already.
Jack WILLS Spring look (that's WILLS. With an S.)
So what would I do? I’d rule out #6 immediately – the cause is far too worthy and the objective well-meaning to bring in the heavies. For the time being, I’d also avoid #5, but consider a conversation in this territory later down the line if a supportive angle is decided against. Your brand equity is your livelihood – regardless of the well-meaning nature of potential impostors.
It’s probably too early days for #4 and you would need buy-in and weighty consideration from all stake-holders within the organisation before going down this route. But it’s not out of the question. So I think my take would be a combination of #2 and #3 – with a skew towards the latter. As a light-hearted, fun-loving brand, unofficially supporting these guys would be a strong way to demonstrate not taking yourselves too seriously.
Whatever happens, don’t do #1. Even if, at the very least, you prepare an internal reactive brand position to respond to queries in this area. Silence is damaging – especially for a brand whose lifeblood is its highly engaged dialogue with its avid fan base. They will ask, and a brand always needs a (consistent) answer.
And in the meantime, go buy yourself a Jack Willy hoodie. Go on. It’s for a good cause.
Filed under Brand Ambassadors, Brands & Branding, Charity, Fashion & Style, Marketing, Retail, Social Media, Youth Marketing
Innocent Knit Big this winter
In terms of brands, there are a few things for me that mark the onset of Christmas. Pret’s Christmas sandwiches, Starbucks’ red cups, and Hellman’s’ sing-along Christmas TV ad to name a few. But not forgetting Innocent smoothies’ adorable bobble hats.
I first saw these a couple of years ago and thought it was an inspired (if fairly expensive) piece of product marketing. Completely fitting with the brand personality and creating stand-out on the shelf.
This year those happy chaps at Innocent have taken it to a whole new level. Enter, The Big Knit.
Some pretty heavy advertising spend must have been placed behind this (thank you Coca-Cola) due to the double-page skyscraper ads in The Times earlier this week, but it made me take note. It seems that Innocent were made aware of how the public embraced the woolly hat novelty of years gone by and this year have created a whole campaign around it.
Together with Age UK (a charity ethos that tend to tug at the heartstrings at this time of year), Innocent asked the great British public to knit their very own Innocent bobble hats of their own design. Sadly, we’re now too late to offer knitting expertise to the smoothie bottles because, as the site helpfully told me today, all the hats have been dispatched to stores.
However, you can still contribute – by buying Innocent smoothies, natch. In Boots and Sainsbury’s up and down the cournty. 25p from every purchase goes straight to Age UK. And while I seem to remember this little woolly numbers from only a couple of years back, Innocent have been working with these guys for much longer than that:
“We first got our needles out back in 2003 when we knitted 20,000 hats to raise £10,000 money for Age Concern [now Age UK]. Since then The Big Knit has grown every single year – and 2010 will be the year we smash the £1 million mark of total money raised over the campaign’s history as we aim to put 800,000 hats on our bottles.”
Impressive.
So keep a look out for the bottles, and the hats on bikes coming to a town near you. Post a comedy be-hatted picture to the Facebook group, and if you’re quite the knitter, you can still learn how to make your very own Innocent hat with videos on the site. Or perhaps put your needles to better use and create something for your local Age UK outlet.
Happy Christmas Innocent.
(and just for the hell-mans of it, have a sing-along)
Filed under Advertising, Brands & Branding, Food & Drink, Marketing
