Top Firm Leverages Online-Video To Create Series of Corporate MarCom Messages

For you branders and 'marcom gurus' who might have missed the latest memo: corporate deployment of video vignettes to better deliver the 'brand message' is now the top weapon in most 'mindshare' arsenals.

To illustrate, you'll want to read in between the lines re: new strategy from Omnicom subsidiary..(if you keep reading, you'll trip over the link!)

Yes, of course we know that Omnicom is the world's second biggest ad agency, so its only logical that a company in that space would necessarily embrace the latest and greatest tactics.

But, these aren't run-of-the mill mad men who happen to have lots of digital production facilities at their disposal to play with; these are the people that set the tone and tenor for "what's next?" and use themselves as guinea pigs to demonstrate strategies that make sense...and ultimately dollars for brand managers that follow their lead.

 today's profile in the NYT Business section  is a good read for any VP of Marketing trying to impress the boss with what your company is still too slow to do--while competitors start to eat your lunch..

Mad Men and Hedge Fund Marketing: Let The Games Begin

Courtesy of Huffington Post column re Hedge Funds Can Now Engage Mad Men: 
Mad Men, the wildly popular AMC TV show about the fictional 1960s advertising agency Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, is set in a haze of cigarette smoke, alcohol and chronically inappropriate behavior. Hedge funds, dating back to a similar era, have remained equally hazy to most Americans, as well as often being equally off-center in their behavior.

Today, as a result of the JOBS Act (Jump-Start Our Business Start-ups), hedge funds are now allowed to advertise their products through the mass market. And, to further confuse consumers, hedge funds come in all flavors, all shapes and sizes. Speaking of them as a single asset class is akin to going to the zoo and telling the zookeeper, "I'm here to see the animal."

We love creative marketing..and for you hedgies looking to hedge with a boutique outfit that walks, talks and knows Wall Street inside and out, here's a short selection of OUR recent favorite ads 

Marketing to Men?: Read This Memo!

Courtesy of Mark Jaffee, ModernMan.com

Men want to be entertained, no surprise there. So it makes perfect sense that brands would try to weave their message into articles, videos, games, shows, and films that men find entertaining. While the notion of branded content isn’t new, marketers have become increasingly more creative in their tactics. Last month’s Cannes Lions festival even added a “Branded Content & Entertainment” category to reflect the trend.

Engaging content beyond the standard pre-roll or banner ad can help brands move the needle in terms of consumer awareness, image, and sales. Yet many advertisers are hesitant to step outside their comfort zone and take on the role of content producer. For those looking to reach guys, they’re missing a huge opportunity.

No Need To Fool A Fool

These days, men -- as well as women, tweens, and domestic animals for that matter -- are savvy enough to know when we’re on the receiving end of an advertisement. But we don’t necessarily mind. Men are quite happy for marketers to throw their brands in our faces, so long as we’re entertained along the way. 

Old Spice proved that point with its clever “Old Spice Guy” campaign that inspired men (and women) to forward videos, tweet questions to a spokesman draped in a towel, and speak in a deep baritone for no particular reason. The result: Body wash sales went up more than 100%, and Old Spice became hip in a heartbeat. 

Audience First, Product Second

Brands can also get people talking even when the products are presented more subtly. “The Hire,” BMW’s series of eight short films from 2001, is considered a benchmark case study. Starring Clive Owen and directed by heavies such as Ang Lee and Guy Ritchie, the films cost $25 million collectively and stand on their own instead of feeling like an extended commercial. More than 45 million people viewed “The Hire,” which helped bump BMW’s sales by 17% in 2002.

So how does this style of branded content differ from straight-up advertising? As Avi Savar, the category’s jury president at Cannes Lions, explained, the key is to start with a story and then figure out how to connect that story to the product. 

Likewise, Schick’s recent “Clean Break” reality series about three guys escaping their daily rut doesn’t call out the brand within the episodes. Time will tell whether Schick sells more razors as a result, but clearly the company is attempting to create content that engages its target audience. The story comes first.

Knock Knock

I said it up top, but it’s worth repeating. Guys want to be entertained. And we especially want to laugh. When K-Swiss enlisted the HBO character Kenny Powers to be its spokesman (and eventual faux-CEO) in a series of videos, there was nothing subtle about how it promoted its Tubes shoe line in virtually every frame. But the videos were hilarious, and the ensuing buzz recalibrated the company’s image and resulted in a sales uptick in 2011. 

Creating quality content that resonates with consumers is not an easy task. If it were, TV shows would never get canceled and every film would have a $50 million opening weekend. But marketers have as much chance as anyone to produce entertainment that will get guys’ attention, especially since they supposedly know their audience inside and out.  

Hopefully, more brands will put on a content producer’s hat, or work closely with agencies and publishers like ModernMan.com that can provide the creative juices. Marketers are ultimately judged on how well they drive revenue, but making guys laugh, feel, and think will certainly help their cause.

#NYSE EURONEXT TO SPONSOR #SPACEX

  

Corporate Sponsorship Idea of the Week: NYSE Euronext, the global icon for the free enterprise system should become the exclusive corporate sponsor for SpaceX Inc., the Southern California company that changed the course of history last week after successfully completing the first mission for a commercial spacecraft enterprise.

Its almost poetic when considering the synergy between these two brands; both share a vision that extends across a broad spectrum of space and time, and both have in-common branding focus whereby each company  is dedicated to being known as a vehicle that powers innovation and commerce well into the future.

Westport, CT's JLC Group created this idea, along with a series of brand message campaigns.

A Great Name To Make a Great Brand

A good name and brand design can go a long way in selling a successful company. Some teams have developed winning products, but under less memorable names, which is why rebranding is sometimes a good idea.

#Bespoke Latest Buzzword-Best Practices?? Bore Me Some More!

Slick salespeople and marcom gurus seem to spend more time figuring out which of the  latest buzzwords to put into their narratives, and the phrase "bespoke", long-associated with up-scale haberdashers, has officially become ubiquitous for those trying to frame their brand message in a distinctive manner.

Not only can't I pronounce the phrase properly (and apparently, neither can half of those using it), and aside from the fact that whenever I see the term, I think of the Schwinn bicycle that I had when I was 12 years old, I respectfully suggest that any professional marketer who insists on repeatedly using the phrase "bespoke" is sending a counter-intuitive message. The more its used, the more the definition becomes diluted.

Unlike other terms that have been become disturbingly de rigueur e.g. "best practices", "headwind", "tailwind" "alignment of interests", "visibility", "transparency" within every other value proposition utterance, "bespoke" is not only commonplace in a broad assortment of service provider and consultant-industry jibber jabber, its now being used within the actual names of products!

Shira Ovide writes about this in today's WSJ; a nice read, even if I'll keep thinking of bicycles.

 

Investor Offer: Innovative Concept, Marked-to-Mystery, No Revenue; $100mil Valuation- JOB OFFER: Social Media Whiz For GoldmanSachs

Per prior posting re: JOBS Act--coupled with yesterday's NYT column from Nick Bilton,  "With No Revenue, An Illusion of Value"..headline to this post might become standard fare.

Gotta love the term 'mark-to-mystery' (technique for establishing an enterprise value for a company that has no enterprise value insofar as revenue)...sounds like a phrase that someone will align with GoldmanSachs...
Yes..I should have held off making this post until after Jake Siewert reviews my application to become GS's new head of social media...oh well..

#JOBS Act: Boon for MarCom Pros Serving HedgeFunds & Start-Ups

As noted in today's NY Times, professional marketers who service hedge funds, as well as start-up enterprises soliciting investors should be sharpening their pitch books; as currently written, new federal legislation will provide greater flexibility for the marketing and advertising to prospective institutional investors.

We've been following this story for several months, and [necessarily] have a full arsenal of branding, PR and marcom strategies specifically designed for compliance-centric financial industry clients seeking to extend their reach.

#MadMen Return Inspires Nostalgia-Style Ad campaigns

"..Nostalgic cues in advertising do indeed influence the type of thoughts consumers have during ad exposure, and that these thought processes appear to have an influence on attitudes toward the advertisement and advertised brand.."

The above excerpt is courtesy of a 2004 white paper appearing in the Journal of Advertising, and is presumably  one of many cues that the creators of the hit AMC show "Mad Men" sought to exploit when writing their first outlines for that show.  We know for a fact that the producers were particularly mindful when digesting the 1991 Miami University white paper "Use of Nostalgia in Television Advertising" with the abstract:  

Nostalgia was used by means of theme, copy, or music about 10% of the time according to a content analysis of more than a thousand commercials sampled from ABC, CBS, and NBC. Nostalgic references were to family activities or to the “olden days,” among other themes, and were most likely to be used with food and beverage commercials. The study suggests nostalgia may be especially important in a changing world because it connects us with our past.

This 'theme' in advertising is as ageless as the Coca-Cola logo, if not always used as propitiously as planned (e.g. Honda's 2012 SuperBowl ad featuring Matthew Broderick aka Ferris Bueller).

And, as TV watchers, advertising industry fans, and brand marketers are all aware, "They're baaackkk..", and the new season of Mad Men is accompanied by among other initiatives, a special edition of Newsweek Magazine populated with art-deco style ads and throw-back images and slogans, to an assortment of ad campaigns in a host of mediums courtesy of a broad spectrum of brands that seek to exploit/leverage/capitalize on an approach that touches the individual yearning for an idealized past.

The buzz words spewing from the mouths of your favorite ad strategists are flying faster than a buzz saw right now; "nostalgia", "vintage", "brand heritage" are just a few, but let's be as clear as the black and white films of yesteryear; this blogger LOVES leveraging nostalgia within brand marketing, advertising or any other tactic that captures mind share.

A good update on the state of old images and new ideas courtesy of the New York Times is right here.

"JOBS" Bill= Marcom Bonanza! #Crowd-Sourcing" + Kickstarter-Style "Crowd-Financing"=$$

Some snarly congressman must have been lobbied by the smart marketing guy who has a vision to create a combination of Kickstarter and SecondMarket; after all, the JOBS Act, passed by the House earlier this week, and now waiting for Senate approval, is going to be a bonanza for those who know how to package and promote funding for innovative start-ups. Crowd-sourcing, crowd-funding, micro-financing...all of these new-age concepts are going to benefit.

You're not familiar with the new legislation? This is the one that the current administration insists will stimulate innovation and jobs. Detractors decry the Bill as a roll-back to the days of bucket shops that telemarketed investment in shares of Nigerian gold mines and other such schemes. Suffice to say, its overwhelmingly supported by Democrats and hotly debated by the GOP.

But, I'm getting ahead of myself.  If you don't know what Kickstarter is...the short description is simple: a social network type portal that facilitates [presumably] cash-starved innovators (technology, film, food products, clothing, whatever!) to solicit "micro-funding" for their pending projects.In consideration for donations, the innovator provides a free sample of the soon-to-be-made product, a t-shirt, or some other quid pro quo.

If the [fixed amount] financing objective of the entrepreneur is met, Kickstarter kicks over all of the "donations" that were held in escrow, less a 3% fee. If the financing round falls short before the deadline date, the donations are re-credited to the donators' credit card. If the financing is oversubscribed, the entrepreneur seeking funding can buy himself/herself a Ferrari. That's right, those seeking funding have no obligations and those making the donations have no recourse. It's all done on a trust me basis, and its completely unregulated. (One recent deal from "Double Fine Adventure" soliciting $100k production funding for a new video game delivered $3.4 million to the founder)

Note: This blogger is directly familiar with (2) Kickstarter stories: Chocwasabi, a recently-funded and particularly delicious success story, and an 'in-the-works' "Apple-flavored" device called "JuiceTank", which, after it completes its $125,000 "round",  will be an absolute game changer for anyone that's been frustrated whenever their Apple runs out of juice.  

For those not aware of SecondMarket, this is a securities industry and SEC-regulated firm that's become famous for brokering shares held by employees of private company start-ups and selling those stakes to 'sophisticated investors'--ostensibly looking to own a stake in a company that will soon go public and make everyone a zillionaire. Think "Zuckerberg", and you'll appreciate that SecondMarket has been the vassal serving among others, Facebook insiders and early-stage investors in the course of their cashing out early.

Combine Kickstarter and SecondMarket..and the Occupy WallStreet movement will need to move--because Wall Street, at least as far being a source of venture-round financing, will be be much less occupied.  That's this blogger's opinion, anyway.

There's lots of pages to the pending JOBS legislation, and below is a bullet-point take-away for the operators of Kickstarter and SecondMarkets--or more likely, any smart disruptor who wants to capitalize on the burgeoning boondoggle that's leveraging the combination of social media, the ethos to democratize the capital raising process and the "I-don't-want-to-be-bothered" issues faced by the spectrum of up-and-coming entrepreneurs that don't want to be hamstrung by regulations relating to soliciting and securing funds in consideration for equity shares in their company..

What the final form of the JOBS bill will be remains to be seen, but in its current iteration, this is going to create lots and lots of jobs for smart marketing/communications and PR industry professionals.

First, the bill would allow “crowd-financing” under astonishingly flexible conditions. It would displace current Securities and Exchange Commission disclosure rules for public offerings, allowing a new venture to raise $1 million through widespread Internet solicitations as long as no single investor put in more than $10,000. According to some, the loosened regulations would also make it easier for future Bernie Madoffs to create, say, 50 fake firms, steal $50 million from unsuspecting investors and retire to a tropical island.

The bill would eliminate the existing ban on general advertising, which limits most private-securities offerings to the relatively small number of accredited investors who can be contacted through private channels. This is where the rubber will meet the road for marketing experts that will surely be needed to help package and promote new enterprises and innovative ideas. 

Yes, absent this ban, unscrupulous promoters will, without any SEC oversight, market stock via the Internet and launch mass mailings to millions of unsophisticated investors. [That's where/when the marketers and PR people will be benefiting.]

Third, the bill would raise the threshold requiring companies to issue public financial reports from 500 shareholders to 2,000. This legislative exemption would also exclude from this 2,000 threshold any shareholders employed by the company. These changes would dramatically reduce the number of public companies required to publish annual and quarterly reports for investors

The bill encourages initial public offerings by reducing regulatory requirements. For example, the bill would require only two years of audited financial reports, instead of three years, for offerings by small companies. Once public, these companies could avoid some burdens imposed on large companies, such as auditor attestation of internal controls and shareholder advisory votes on compensation.