BD Australia’s ‘Beanz Meanz’ site goes live
Today, BD’s Beanz Meanz campaign kicked off with the launch of the web site – inviting Australia to submit what Beanz Meanz to them to win a share of $100,000.
http://www.beanzmeanz.com.au/
More to follow…
Archive for the ‘ Marketing ’ Category
More ‘WHISKAS Pledge News….’
Since winning three prestigious awards for our Australian WHISKAS Pledge campaign, BD Network has now been selected as a finalist for two more internationally recognised awards: The New York Festival International Advertising Awards where BD Network is the only finalist entry for Australia and the Festival of Media Awards taking place in Switzerland. All fingers and paws crossed!
The core objective of the WHISKAS Pledge campaign was to reinstate WHISKAS as the choice of Australia’s cats. We established that cats have always been the poor relation to dogs, and that their owners did not share the same social traits as dog owners did (i.e. walking). They were largely anonymous, but hugely active online.
Our campaign idea was simple. Allow owners to ‘Pledge’ their love for WHISKAS on their cat’s behalf. Cat owners were incentivised to join the WHISKAS Pledge website with 2 free ‘Oh So’ pouches and the opportunity for cat fame. If cat owners shared ‘how you know your cat loves WHISKAS’ they had the chance to win $10,000 and get their cat featured on pack.
We created and delivered all aspects of the campaign: TV, radio, press, outdoor, experiential, CRM, website IA/ redesign, online advertising, social media and retail activation.
This isn’t the only example of our award winning work this year. Our ‘Gimme Credit – Every Pack Gets 50p’ campaign won the Global Mobile Marketing ‘Best Use of Mobile Marketing in a promotion Europe, Middle East and Africa’ accolade as well as three ISP awards.
It has to be….BD Network
BD Network is appointed by Heinz
Heinz, has appointed BD Network as the below the line agency for its beans, sauces and soup brands.
BD Network will work closely with Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO and Vizeum to develop integrated marketing campaigns.
The Best Ideas Come in the Shower…
But not strictly true.
Otherwise agencies would substitute creative departments for cubicles. Brainstorms would be held in huge communal showers. War rooms – wet rooms and board rooms huge Roman spas. Planners would be allowed in the showers but only at briefing stage and account handlers would launder the towels and replenish the toiletries. Emerging agencies would hot-shower. Green agencies would use solar to heat their showers. Think Tank’s would record the showers to see what the optimum temperature and force of flow would be to achieve the best ideas. Sharing the brief would involve sharing the Imperial Leather. Digital agencies would spend hours trying to simulate the shower experience using augmented reality. The Networks would fragment their agencies into different offerings under sub – brands like ‘Deep Cleanse’, ‘Scrub’ and ‘Invigorate’. New Advertising agencies would try and reinvent the whole showering process and integrated agencies would connect the pipes from all the showers and believe that using the same water in every department will give their ideas a magical joined up feeling…
In our hunt for a new agency building, one of the nice to haves on the list is a shower.
Another award in Australia
BD picked up Australia’s only award at the 2011 International AME Awards for Advertising & Marketing Effectiveness.
Don’t forget the objective is STILL advertising.
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- Note: This article appeared on B&T online edition yesterday. It’s a great reminder of how immensely lucky we all are in Australia to have Steely among us. Like the famous end line of Honda’s ‘Impossible Dream’ classic TVC: “I couldn’t have put it better myself”.
- Why do dogs lick their balls? Because they can.
- I’ve always liked that joke. And I like it even more now I have discovered its relevance to the future of advertising.
- In 1963, J Walter Thompson’s James Webb Young wrote, “The true advertising man… is he who has the knowledge, skills, experience and insights to advise advertisers how best to use advertising to accomplish their objectives.”
- If we can interpret ‘advertising’ to include all the forms of marketing communication now available to us, this definition of a job well done seems to remain pertinent, almost 50 years on. Good agencies have always worked closely with clients to set the right objectives, and have taken responsibility for navigating the best route to achieving them. This should be blindingly obvious. But having spent a day last month judging the finalists’ presentations in this year’s Australian APG Awards, I find myself wondering whether many of us have lost sight of some of our industry’s basic principles.
- The first problem is that too often the objectives that are being pursued are the wrong ones. With the accountability mindset that inevitably accompanies any economic downturn, too many senior clients and agencies seem to be more concerned with survival than achievement, and decisions tend to be made in the pursuit of efficiency rather than effectiveness.
- I recently heard a senior British police officer defending the reduced numbers of officers on the streets in the UK, on the basis that in the days when there were more officers on the street, there were fewer arrests. Against an objective of making more arrests, the statistics proved that his officers today were doing a very fine job. But with more officers on the street in the past, there were fewer arrests because they acted as a deterrent to crime. Which is the better objective? I’d say less crime, but it’s harder to measure crimes that might have been committed than it is to measure arrests.
- Last week, far too many of the APG papers set up objectives that had less to do with clients’ business objectives than they did with their ability to measure something. Hits, views and visits are all very fine, but only as a means to an end, not as ends in themselves.
- The second problem is that, regardless of the validity of the objectives, agencies today seem obsessed with recommending the newest, coolest, forms of communication, no matter how useful they might be in building a client’s business. If it’s digital, if it gives us presence on Facebook, if there’s an iPhone App and user-generated content, we recommend it.
- Hands up if you thought Tourism Queensland’s ‘Best Job in the World’ was a great campaign. Sure, it got a lot of hits, views and visits. A lot of job applications too. But I have yet to see any evidence that it did anything for Queensland tourism, especially after the poor bugger who won got stung and nearly killed by an Irukandji jellyfish.
- My old friend Ivan Pollard, a partner with Naked Communications, wrote recently in a UK industry publication, “I suspect that the past ten years of brilliantly seductive possibilities in the digital, data-driven, device-happy world have conspired to make us a little less focused on the science than we should be. We are quick to sell the fantastic possibility rather than research the rational suitability of our ideas.”
- For while the means of engaging with people might have changed, their basic instincts have not. As Bill Bernbach once said, “It took millions of years for man’s instincts to develop, and it will take millions more for them to even vary.” It’s still our job to start conversations, to involve people in our communication, and to influence their attitudes and behaviour in a way that benefits our clients’ business.
- Howard Gossage had an agency in San Francisco that pre-dated even television advertising, but he understood interactive advertising and brand advocacy decades before they became fashionable. “Nobody reads ads,” he said. “They read what interests them. And sometimes it’s an ad.”
- Some would say that Bernbach, Gossage and their contemporaries are irrelevant today. But at a time when marketers and consumers alike are faced with an increasingly complex array of choices, the ability of men like these to simplify, to personalise, to humanise a brand relationship is arguably more necessary than ever.
- Many of the old rules still apply. And even in this world of fantastic possibilities, it might be new, it might be cool, it might be more measurable than other techniques, but just because you can, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you should.
- John Steel. Planning God. (I added that myself).
‘Hats’
The old saying goes ‘if you want to get ahead and get noticed, then get a hat’.
Sounds absurd, but the hat is one of the greatest marketing inventions of all time. The hat has always been a statement of personality, status and individuality. Is it mere coincidence that the tallest of hats are worn by very different people than the smallest of hats? My favourite, the flat cap is surely the most unassuming and apologetic hat of all.
Hats give us that ‘added extra’.
That’s why actors love them. Would Day-Lewis look as menacing without the stovepipe? Pacino as spaced-out without the Beanie in Serpico or indeed Clouseau as foolish without the trilby. In fact the hat can only be topped for opulence by one other garment, the cape. More on the cape coming soon.
In fact some hats go beyond branding. The semiotics behind the pirate hat, the witch or the crown could probably be understood in most countries around the world. Sometime hats are terrifying. Hugo Boss designed one of the most stylish uniforms/hats of all time for the SS. James Brown the editor of GQ (not the Godfather of Soul) lost his job over it, by putting Rommel into the top 200 stylish people of all time. Not the most intelligent of actions but the hat without the horrific connotations is pretty stylish, especially the lofty heights of the erect peak.
Hats are cult too, Doyles Deerstalker, the Easy Rider crash helmet, Alex’s Bowler from A Clockwork Orange, Cat in the Hat, all of YMCA, Odd Job and Ned Kelly…
America loves hats. They created a nation of the faceless with the baseball cap. First introduced in 1860 by the Brooklyn Excelsiors, it now remains a convenient place to hide behind or simply a substitute for hair. In fact the baseball hat that became the truckers hat (mini billboard on foam) is the slut of all hats and can be pimped by any brand, logo or emblem. The NYC baseballs hat has to be one the most recognized brands in the world today. Up there with the usual suspects, fast food brands, Coca-Cola, Ferrari and the Swoosh.
The hipsters and dandies are keeping the creativity of the hat alive today. The straw Panama, the Trilby, the Pork Pie placed on the back of the head, Flat Caps, and the Bowler are still seen sported with needle partings, oversized glasses and mo combos. A hat in this instance is pure flamboyance. Just as the Topper in its day and surely the Porsche/codpiece of all hats, the Stetson.
I love hats, but it’s no secret that some people are ‘hat people’. Usually, beautiful people. Gangsters looked great in hats. It made them bigger and more peacock-like. Like the forces, hats implied status and showed progression. A commis chef hats mirrors that of the army cadet. A General the pomp of the Head Chef. Have you noticed that the only people who wear beanies are good looking? Depp, Brand, Cobain… Surely the best thing finally about hats is that they are occasional by nature. We can blame wearing them on the sun, the rain, the snow, fashion, festivals, Halloween, parties, weddings, the races, Xmas or the odd mid life crisis… And when we don’t quite pull them off we can do precisely that. Back into the dressing up box until we find a new reason, new season, new set of friends or newfound confidence to don it once again.
‘Gimme Credit’ wins MMA Best Use of mobile marketing
The Global MMA (Mobile Marketing Association) Awards recognize companies and their campaigns for spearheading the adoption of the mobile channel for marketing purposes, receiving hundreds of entries from all over the globe. This year Coca-Cola took the ‘Best Use of mobile marketing in a promotion Europe, Middle East and Africa’ award with their ‘Gimme Credit – Every Pack Gets 50p Mobile Credit’ campaign.
The ‘Every Pack Gets 50p Mobile Credit’ campaign was the first of its kind, bringing all major GB network operators together, providing a compelling offer for teens in Great Britain whilst understanding the commercial contexts for operators.
Aimed at the core 16 plus teen market in Great Britain, the campaign ran for three months in 2009 in which time consumers received 50p credit on every 330ml can and 500ml bottle of Fanta, Sprite and Dr Pepper. Each can and bottle had a unique code which could be redeemed online at gimmecredit.co.uk. All subsequent codes could be redeemed by returning to the website or via SMS to 85888, with credit being added to the consumers account with 48 hours. The offer could be redeemed against all major GB network providers on PAYG and contract phones, with each consumer eligible for a maximum of eight credits.
To create standout, disruptive graphics were used on-pack and on nationwide POS in on-the-go retail channels. To achieve maximum reach, the campaign was supported through the line with a peer to peer word-of-mouth campaign, promotional activity taking place within cinemas and ATL in teen-centric environments.
This promotion achieved and exceeded all objectives set, receiving the highest redemption rate of all on-pack promotions run by Coca-Cola in 2009. Additionally, the innovative nature of the reward and mobile technology generated significant interest from Coca-Cola Global and as such the activity was rolled out again in 2010 within Great Britain and several European markets ran promotions offering mobile rewards.
What’s the real value of social media & online consumer approval?
Does tweeting and ‘liking’ their favourite brands mean more for users than the added Kudos of associating with that brand, is there a two – way transaction?
A great example of users getting something back for their efforts, and one has been doing the rounds on the blogosphere is the UNIQLO UK website campaign -
“The idea is simple; whilst the Uniqlo site is down, site visitors see a holding page where they can set the price for 10 Uniqlo items that will go on sale on the new website. Users get to set the price by simply tweeting their favorite item – the more people who tweet, the lower the price (more than halving the initial price).” 1
An added layer of smart thinking to this idea is that it relies on the participation of multiple users, allowing individuals to be part of a like minded group via the perfect setting of social media, and benefiting those participating with kudos, peer group approval & real world value. This social form of e-commerce is the model of Groupon – where group activity results in discount offers.
More exciting for users is when ‘Likes’ and “Tweets’ become a form of social currency exchangeable for real world items. This is important as liking a brand on Facebook provides that brand -
“… with demographic information about the individual, it also provides them with access to that individual’s social graph, including the ability to present ads that may include a reference that the friend who clicked “Like” endorses the product.”2
Users are providing brands with a valuable commodity in the form of useful data. As such they are in the position to demand more from brands before showering them with Tweets and Likes.
A good example of real world value is that of Burger King Norway, which turned Facebook approval into credit redeemable instore.
“… inviting burger lovers to pay for its new Hot Salsa burger the old-fashioned way (18 Kroner, or about $2.94) or with the new currency of the Digital Age: 10 Facebook “likes.” ” 3
These examples demonstrate that creative ideas can make the big brand quest for garnering ‘likes’ & ‘Tweets’, a reactive proposition rather than the passive act of simply bagging more brand ‘followers’ and feeding them a few news or video snippets. This mass approval can instead be used to drive a distinct & interesting campaign thought.
However promotions aren’t the only valuable currency, content is still king, if that content is of a quality that users will actively seek to repost. A recent report indicated that by using the Facebook ‘Like’ API within blogs, referral Traffic back to these same Blogs was up by 50% 4
To give an example of a poor exchange it’s worth looking at the Red Bull Facebook page.
Red Bull is a successful brand and as such has its own social gravitas, maybe a reason in itself for users to interact … however the current ‘like’ promotion though employing playful visuals with a clear directive … is not obvious in terms of what the user may get in exchange, i.e. why should I click “like”?
As far as I can tell upon clicking ‘like’ there is no obvious change in the content provided within the Red Bull Facebook channel.
In summary the impetus to advocate a brand must be generated with not only clear visual messaging but also with a real value exchange in the form of promotions or top class content. To simply ask a user to like or tweet for a brand for its own sake, is biased in favour of the brand and a poor deal for the user, which at the end of the day isn’t what social media is about.
1 http://socialcommercetoday.com/uniqlos-under-construction-social-commerce-campaignscreenshots/
2 http://www.rockcheetah.com/blog/polls/facebook-like-button-click-website-access-evil/
3 http://www.burgerbusiness.com/?p=4739 VIA http://makethelogobigger.blogspot.com/2010/05/burger-kings-facebook-now-takes-cash.html
4 http://mashable.com/2010/06/13/facebook-like-increases-blog-referral-traffic/
BD Australia scoops top ADMA awards for Whiskas campaign
Earlier this year, BD Network opened in Melbourne and last week walked away with two awards in the Australian Direct Marketing Association 2010 awards (ADMA) for their Mars Petcare ‘Whiskas Pledge’ campaign. BD Network won Gold in the ‘Effectiveness: Retail & Packaged Goods’ category and then scooped the Lester Wunderman Effectiveness Pinnacle Award for ‘Best in Show for Effectiveness.’
The ‘Whiskas Pledge’ campaign centred around a core message affirming ‘Given the Choice cat’s Prefer Whiskas’ which was executed by cat owners pledging their love for Whiskas on their cats behalf on a dedicated website www.whiskas.com.au. Cat owners were rewarded for their pledge with two ‘Oh So….’ pouches and could create a profile for their cat to share why their cat loved Whiskas for a chance of Cat Fame and a lifetime supply of Whiskas. BD Network created and delivered all aspects of this integrated campaign including: TV, radio, press, outdoor, sampling, CRM, DM communications, digital, design, advertising and retail activation. This campaign has received over 330,000 pledges, 50,000 cat profiles have been created and the average site visit time is 5 minutes 35s. To date, this campaign has recorded the highest level of traffic to any Mars website.