Five Big Marketing Risks That Paid Off for Brands

"Marketers consistently push the envelope, hoping that novel ideas will yield stellar results for their brands. Companies attempt to break through boundaries previously set by competitors or, sometimes, themselves. Risk-taking, of course, is both exciting and scary. Deciding which lines to cross is never an exact science. Every decision demands that marketers weigh risks and rewards, but ultimately, without the risks, brands never achieve the best rewards. Below are 5 brands that took risks in their marketing practices and campaigns and proudly lived to tell about them.

EVEREADY POWERS PROGRAMMING HOURS

Ads and brand mentions during radio programming appeared in the very early stages of the medium. Programs were often interrupted to allow for station identification and to give proper billing to advertisers. New ways for companies to advertise on the radio appeared in the mid-1920s when the National Carbon Company's "The Eveready Hour" became the first broadcast series to be entirely sponsored. The idea came when George Furness heard a book being read on-air and imagined the possibilities of continuous radio programming, and how advertising could fit into that vision. He went on to become the producer and supervisor of "The Eveready Hour," a show created to showcase American culture.

AMERICAN TOBACCO SPENDS MILLIONS TO ADVERTISE LUCKY STRIKE

Lucky Strike sought a motive for the female market to smoke. In doing so, the American Tobacco Co. took on an unlikely competitor: candy. The brand's campaign encouraged women to "Reach for a Lucky instead of a sweet." The National Confectioners Association launched anti-smoking literature in response. The industry rivalries led the FTC to investigate. To fight back, American Tobacco allocated $12.3 million for advertising, an unprecedented amount in 1929, equal to more than $155 million today. Despite great effort, the FTC banned the idea of marketing cigarettes as a weight-loss aid and Lucky Strike amended its campaign to the more innocuous, "Reach for a Lucky instead."

ANHEUSER-BUSCH KICKS OFF STADIUM SPONSORSHIPS

In 1953, the famous brewery attempted to buy the naming rights to Sportsman's Park, occupied by the St. Louis Cardinals, and to identify it as "Budweiser Stadium." Commissioner of Baseball Ford Frick rejected this first suggestion but eventually accepted the second proposed title, "Busch Stadium." Named for one of Anheuser-Busch's founders, Adolphus Busch, this was the origin of stadium sponsorships in the United States. After the name was approved, Anheuser-Busch released a product called Busch Bavarian Beer, now Busch beer, to complement the stadium's moniker. Its success paved the way for the stadium sponsorships we know today.

THE VW BEETLE BEGINS THE CREATIVE REVOLUTION

The Volkswagen Beetle was a small, economic vehicle, with comfort and power. While most advertisers in the 1960s used information-heavy text or fantastical ads to sell products, DDB went against the norm to advertise this unique car. VW appealed to consumers' sensibilities, using emotion and product benefits in clear, concise ways that had never been attempted before. Single words and short phrases such as "Think small" accompanied simple product imagery. The distinctive format of the advertisements and DDB's new agency model, where creative departments and copywriters worked side by side, were the start of what is now known as the creative revolution.

THE PEPSI GENERATION JUMP-STARTS THE COLA WARS

According to the Los Angeles Times, "the groundbreaking 'Pepsi Generation' advertisements launched in 1963 profoundly changed the direction of marketing. It focused on the attributes of people who buy Pepsi, rather than attributes of the product." The brand targeted baby boomers, showcasing energetic, young consumers enjoying Pepsi as they went about their athletic, fun-filled lifestyles. Coca-Cola and Pepsi had already been competitors, and for the next 30 years the two would fiercely battle on the advertising stage. The "Cola Wars" defined the soft-drink category for decades."

~ Source: AdAge.com

To learn how to re-brand your business, contact The Allied Group, one of America's top direct marketing agencies.

Promotional Products…not just tchochke’s anymore!

The fact is that everybody loves free stuff. They tend to love it even more if it’s useful, unique and has value. If managed properly, promotional items are a great way to keep your name, message and look in front of your best customers and prospects. It’s critical to be “top of mind” when those interested buyers are ready to buy. Here are a few things to think about when assessing the validity, approach and best practices of including promotional products in your marketing mix:

1. Once you’ve got them…don’t hoard them! They don’t do anyone any good when they are securely locked in the hallway closet.

2. On average, promotional items are viewed by a lot more people than just the recipient. Make sure appropriate contact information is on them.

3. Just like any other marketing tactic, understand how and why these items fit into your overall strategy. What are your expectations? What is your goal?

One of the most common objections to promotional products has been the thought that they are just an expense and it’s very hard to establish a concrete ROI to using them. And while it’s true that there are probably other more measurable tactics, recent research results begin to refute this notion. The following are some interesting findings from a survey conducted by The Advertising Specialty Institute:

• 84% of end-users can name the advertisers on the items they receive

• 62% have done business with the advertiser AFTER receiving the item

• 42% of respondents had a MORE favorable impression of an advertiser after receiving the item

• 24% said they are MORE LIKELY to do business with the advertiser on the items they receive

• 81% of the items were kept because they were considered useful

• On average, end-users keep products for 7 months

• The average cost-per-impression (CPI) of a promotional product is $0.004

The last point is potentially the most significant. The CPI for advertising specialties beats all forms of media (except billboards). Recent studies have shown that using custom printed promotional items have the lowest CPI over television, radio, newspaper, and sometimes even billboard ads. (see above graphic)

Compare and contrast CPI’s of other major media*:

• Prime time TV = $0.019 • Sports radio= $0.005

• Syndicated TV = $0.006 • Newspaper ad (1/2 page B&W) = $0.019

• Cable TV = $0.007 • Billboard (city/national) = $0.003

• National magazine = $0.033

The bottom line is that promotional products can be one of the most effective forms of marketing. They are a tangible, useful and cost-effective way to touch your most valuable prospects, and, now, are proven to get results. As with any other marketing tactic, they aren’t a magic solution, but used in conjunction with other tactics, they can play a critical role in the success of any campaign.

* Source: The Nielsen Company

Twitter Now Has "Promoted Tweets"

"Twitter launched its Promoted Tweets service, which allows advertisers to buy sponsored links on the social networking site, on April 13. Marketers including Starbucks, Best Buy and Virgin America signed up to use the service at its launch.

Twitter created the technology to display the ads based on consumer acceptance. If a Promoted Tweet "resonates with users," it will appear in a Twitter search, according to the company.

A Twitter blog post explained that the ads will appear at the top of some search results pages.

"We strongly believe that Promoted Tweets should be useful to you," Twitter founder Biz Stone said in a company blog post. "We'll attempt to measure whether the Tweets resonate with users and stop showing Promoted Tweets that don't resonate."

But not everyone is convinced of its significance.

In a post on social media expert Mike Moran's blog, fellow industry observer Frank Reed said, "Twitter assures us that it will be stressing relevance of ads. Well, Google did the same for AdWords and that is still a work in progress. By the way... Twitter is no Google."

Among Virgin America's initial Promoted Tweets is an ad called "Send us your best geek moment," which encourages consumers to share photos of themselves using technology in-flight.

The ad was inspired by a conversation Virgin America customers had about the iPad launch. Porter Gale, VP of marketing at Virgin America, said that his company's goal is to improve customer engagement via Twitter.

"We're trying to use the Promoted Tweets to enhance the conversation with our existing followers, and we are making sure that the conversations are relevant and feel authentic," said Gale.

Another Virgin America Promoted Tweet gave the first 500 consumers who followed @virginamerica a promotion code to book two-for-one flights during a part of April 13.

"The people that are following us want to fly us and want good deals, so we are rewarding our best customers for following us," Gale continued.

Virgin also plans to use Twitter to announce new destination airports. For a week, Virgin will use only Twitter to promote the new destination, before conducting digital and print marketing.

"We want to see how the buzz builds," said Gale." ~ Source: DMnews.com

1-on-1 Marketing Communication

Call it what you will, the idea behind one-to-one marketing or “personalization” is simple: try to make a unique product offering to each individual customer! The idea represents a shift in thinking... you must begin to manage and differentiate your customers and prospects rather than your products and services. To have the best success with a one-to-one marketing program, you must:

- Identify Prospects
- Determine Needs
- Calculate Lifetime Value
- Gather/Interact/Learn
- Customize & Tailor

Personalization with The Allied Group is a method of marketing that leverages both data driven images and text to develop variable print and/or electronic messaging.

Highly effective for attracting, acquiring, or retaining customers, the most significant components are the identification of ideal targets and the electronic knowledge you either have or can find on your ideal targets.

The goal is to ensure that your message lands in the hands of the right person(s) and has a relevant message that speaks to that person specifically.

To learn more marketing tips from our business development consultants, contact us today!

App for That: Magazines Forge New Vision of Digital Future

"Consumers May Not Pay for Content Online, but They're Happy to Purchase for Mobile

Everybody knows digital media's arrival hasn't exactly been easy on magazines. Ad rates on the web couldn't match their levels in print, many magazines struggled to build compelling websites, new competition strove to steal readers' attention, and the web itself engendered an attention-atrophied reading style that undermined readers' very ability to settle down with a good, fat print issue.

But as mobile devices added capabilities, app stores took off and the dawn of e-readers and tablet computers finally arrived, magazines have pushed aggressively to participate, experiment and hopefully make money from the new opportunities presented. And with an emerging economy of app "stores," they may have found a way to get consumers to pay once again.

Despite some stragglers, it seems like nearly everyone has an app out by now, at a minimum reinforcing readers' relationships with their brands. But magazines' push into paid digital content, in the form of apps that carry price tags, is looking even more interesting.

Condé Nast Publications, which has taken heat for focusing too much on traditional ad pages, was the first to deliver issues as apps, starting with GQ's December issue. By mid February, it had sold 6,835 copies of the December app and 15,068 copies of the February issue at $2.99 each. That's small potatoes compared with the magazine's print circulation, which averaged 193,440 single-copy sales per issue over the second half of last year. But Condé calls it a start, a play to get in position for the iPad, and probably a net positive in any case, arguing that many of the app purchases will come from people who don't buy GQ in print already.

"We still be studying carefully both through research and analysis and the data we have, but we suspect it's going to be a mix," said Condé Nast Digital President Sarah Chubb. "Maybe a newsstand buyer who bought it on a newsstand sometimes but maybe someone who'd been interested in the GQ brand but for whatever reason never picked it up." ~ AdAge.com

For more information on small business target marketing, contact The Allied Group.