Post #12: The Gift That Keeps On Giving

For my last post, I thought it would be appropriate to discuss an advertising medium which is rich, robust, and instantly adaptive to change. This medium is a lot like you. In fact, it IS you.

Companies such as Under Armour, Adidas, Puma and others have ingeniously persuaded their consumers to wear shirts, shorts, hats, socks, bags and other apparel that spreads brand awareness. In postmodern society, many people define themselves and those around them by the images the consume. Wearing a Puma bag, for example, may be an attempt to tell the world "I play soccer. It's a part of who I am". 

By convincing their consumers to express themselves in this way, firms can actually make money on their advertising. This strategy also allows the firms' message to penetrate areas where traditional advertising could never go. A woman in a shirt or a man wearing a hat can go into places where TV, radio, and the internet cannot reach. 

Labeling their products in this way allows firms to double down on their apparel sales. They earn both the sales revenue from the initial purchase and the additional brand awareness achieved by widespread visibility of their logo and brand name. 

Post #11: Do Ticker Tape Ads Register?

Register tape advertising, such as the type featured in the image above, may be the most under-appreciated medium in all of marketing communications.

Firms such as Register Tape Unlimited, Inc. pull together advertisements from a variety of companies, bundle them, and pay grocery stores, pharmacies, and other retailers for space on their register tape. The idea is simple: "Everyone buys groceries. Advertising on register tape guarantees that your message will be seen by a steady stream of eyes every day."

This sentiment sounds good on paper, but the reality of the matter is that consumers rarely notice such advertisements. I will be honest, I only looked at the ads on my receipt from Pick 'N Save today because I thought it would be a good topic to cover for this blog.

So do these ads work? With no empirical evidence to reference, it is hard for me to make a convincing case that they do not. However, intuitively, the ads do not seem like they would  work in the Information Age. Many consumers now pay with debit cards, eliminating the need for paper receipts to track expenses. Many shoppers throw their crumple up their receipts and throw them away without even glancing twice at them.

As I said, I have very little empirical evidence to support my claims. I'd love to hear your comments, using the discussion posts as a small focus group. Do you ever look at register tape ads? 

Post #10: Can't We All Just Get Along?

In a capitalist society, all industries contain several competitors who, in theory, fight for consumers' dollars, thereby driving down the market price. This is the essence of perfect competition, and it explains the success of low-price leaders such as Wal-Mart, Payless, McDonald's, and many others.

In several industries, smart firms with large market share have realized the mutually damaging effects of the price wars that are characteristic of the retail and fast food industries. This is especially true of the mid-quality beer industry.

As recently as five years ago, Budweiser and Miller combined to hold a majority share of the light beer market in the United States. They aired ads such as this one which directly compared their products to their competitors'. 

However, both firms soon changed their advertising philosophies. They learned that directly competing only allowed smaller competitors such as Keystone and Natty Light to eat up market share. By using ads which promote their own brands without hurting their competitors', Budweiser and Miller hope to grow the beer category while still maintaining their strong market positions.

Over the last several years, Miller and Bud ads have moved away from direct comparison. Instead, they attempt to create memorable scenarios which will prompt water-cooler conversations, and eventually sales. A few of the best new Bud ads are shown below. Note the conspicuous lack of direct comparison in the ads.

A Few Recent Bud Commercials

A Miller Commercial, for Good Measure

Post #9: Are Big Names Worth the Big Bucks?

Celebrity endorsements are as American as Apple Pie, Chevrolet, and credit card debt.

But are they effective? In recent posts, I've discussed firms' desire to humanize their brands in the hopes of forging an emotional bond with consumers. The message for the brands mentioned in my earlier post about anonymous spokespeople is something like "If our brand was a person, this is what he/she would be like."


For firms that use celebrity endorsers, however, the message is a little different. It reads more like "If Dwayne Wade were a drink, he would be Gatorade". 

This is a potent message, but also a dangerous one. Firms which lean too heavily on their celebrity spokespeople expose themselves to factors beyond the firm's control, such as criminal activity, immoral conduct, poor performance and other events which damage the celebrity's, and therefore the brand's, public image . While paid actors can be controlled, the firm has very little power over its celebrity endorsers.

The stories of Michael Vick, Tiger Woods, and many others should serve as cautionary tales to potential celebrity-seeking brand managers.

Even once brand managers have managed to see past the inherent risks in celebrity endorsement, another hurdle remains: the cost. Some endorsers, such as Tiger Woods, command 7- or 8-figure salaries. This is an enormous sum, even for companies like Nike and Gatorade.

At the end of the day, it is important for brand managers to realize that celebrity endorsers are not a cure-all for stagnant sales. They come with a set of costs and risks which must be carefully weighed against their potential benefits.

Want to see what a bad celebrity spokesman looks like? Please enjoy the example below.

Post #8: Is Intrusive Advertising Worth It?

All music fans have probably watched a music video on YouTube before. In fact, most music fans have seen hundreds or even thousands of them. 

The wide availability of music, video, images and more is one of the most fascinating characteristics of the information age. As YouTube has grown exponentially since its launch in 2005, content providers have struggled to find ways to monetize the service. 

In response to this challenge, Sony Music Group, Universal Music Group and Abu Dhabi Media launched VEVO in 2009. The premise is simple: by pooling together the biggest names in commercial music, and giving VEVO exclusive rights to those artists' videos, they could attract huge advertising dollars to the online music video industry. 

VEVO, whose videos can be viewed both on its own site and through YouTube, uses two advertisements. The majority of its ad revenue comes from 15-30 second gatekeeper ads which a viewer must watch before proceeding to their content. These ads are typically used only for recent or very popular videos. Many consumers have reacted negatively to the ads, and a number of online forums offer quasi-legal methods to circumvent them.

The second type of ads, which are full less obstructive but no less annoying, are the standard pop-up ads. These display at the bottom of the video pane, and disappear after 15 seconds.

The VEVO ad debate goes beyond VEVO or even video content itself. At a time when technology is advanced at a faster rate than any time in human history, how will advertisers handle the trade-off between market coverage and consumer tolerance for messages? I think that ultimately, this battle will be decided in the world of smartphones. Smartphones offer companies unrivaled access to billions of eyeballs, but also bring their messages closer to consumers personal space than ever before.

Post #7: Card Games

Across the country, marketers in firms of all sizes are turning to street art to convey their value proposition to consumers. Last week, I noticed one of the most interesting pieces of street art I had ever seen, right here in Milwaukee!.

The video shown below depicts Janet Zweig's "Pedestrian Drama", which can be found on East Wisconsin Avenue about a block from the lake. The small kiosks, which adorn 5 lightposts, show several short plays on flip-cards.

While not used for commercial purposes in this particular exhibit, I believe that the medium has serious brand-promotion potential. Can you imagine flip-cards of the Geico gecko riding a motorcycle around the pole? Or several scenes of parkour artists doing tricks while wearing Red Bull gear? This medium is a low-cost way to create a lot of buzz about a brand.

Post #6: Street Smart Promotions

This post can be thought of as the climax of my three-part series the humanization of brands. No ad, after all, could be more human than the one above.

The nuanced and entertaining practice of street advertising has been a part of the American business environment for over a century. The concept is simple: advertising that speaks and breathes can reach customers directly and in a manner specifically tailored to them.

While print and digital advertising contains messages designed for broad market segments, human street ads can adjust their message instantly as the target customer changes.

For example, the Little Caesar's brand rep above can say "good afternoon, ma'am" to a passing young lady, give a passing group of a high school kids enthusiastic high-fives, and tell a man carrying a Burger King bag that he could have received a better deal, and a better meal, at Little Caesar's.

While these ads do run the risk of being perceived as gimmicky, they work on a small scale. They show that the sponsoring firm is fun and friendly. Well, ok, except for this one for the Amsterdam Torture Museum.

Overall, live street ads help a business embed itself in the community. Consumers form an emotional bond with the goofy brand rep outside and the gooey pizza inside.

For small-market franchising with a tight budget, that news is cheesy and delicious.