gAdvertising Transformed: The New Rules for the Digital Age. By Fons Van Dyck. 2014.

Chapter 5: USP or ESP?

USP or ESP? Another topic that is still the subject of much current debate is whether or not brands should use a rational
claim (USP) or an emotional claim (ESP) for the marketing and communication of products and services. What are the
advantages and disadvantages of both these advertising strategies and does it make a difference if the brand in question
has a high level of brand equity or is relatively unknown in the market? Which of the two strategies do market leaders
follow? And do brands really need to make a choice at all? What is the purpose of advertising? The late Professor Andrew
Ehrenberg (founder of the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute of Marketing Science in Australia) summarized his views on this
matter in the year 2000: its purpose is to link a certain image or a certain added value to a brand, so that the brand can
distinguish itself from its competitors in the minds of consumers. 1 And, indeed, marketing communication is to a large
extent a question of making the difference. The socio-economic context of brands may change, but the core of the matter
is still the same as it has always been: making clear to consumers precisely what it is that sets a brand apart from its rivals.
communication of a products USP has been regarded as an essential element in any successful advertising campaign.
Initially, it was believed and strongly believed that consumers would be capable of making rational purchasing
decisions if they were offered an easy-to-view range and sufficient time to make the choice. However, as the years passed,
the number of products and services and their copies has grown exponentially. This put the ability of brands to
distinguish themselves under increasing pre- ssure, particularly in mature markets. Moreover, many people in marketing
circles were gradually coming to the conclusion that human beings were perhaps too emotional to make purely rational
choices. They argued that products are often seen as different by the public precisely because they offer a human and
emotional added value. People like to feel that they belong; this is a natural and universal impulse. 2 For this reason, they
like to identify with a brand, to interact with it and perhaps even become an ambassador for it, sometimes without ever
having actually bought the product or service in question (although examples of this kind of brand loyalty tend to be
found at the luxury end of the market, such as Ferrari cars). 3 This phenomenon the power of the consumers emotional
bond with a product is known as the emotional selling proposition (ESP). These are the emotional stimuli that can
persuade a prospect to make a purchase. A 1989 study by Burke and Edell indicated three types of feelings that can be
inspired by advertising: Warm feelings (affection, emotion, sentiment, etc); Upbeat feelings (happiness, action,
energy, etc); Negative feelings (sadness, disgust, loneliness, etc). 4 These types of feelings each translate into a
different kind of marketing strategy or message: informative, positive emotional and negative emotional. And according
to the academic researchers Patrick De Pelsmacker (University of Antwerp and University of Ghent) and Nathalie Dens
(University of Antwerp), it is possible to contend that more rational, informative messages work less well than messages
that play on peoples emotions. Emotions, they argue, make it easier for people to remember things. 5 But is this true for
all types of brands and all types of advertising?
In a recent comparative study De Pelsmacker and Dens (2010) tried to establish whether there was a correlation between
new product strategies (for both new brands and extensions of existing brands) on the one hand and advertising strategies
(informative and emotional) on the other. The aim was to see what effect, if any, this correlation might have on brand
awareness and brand recall. 6 The three types of feelings and their associated strategies were investigated using a
representative sample of Flemish consumers with different levels of involvement (high and low) and two different
products (laptop computers and chocolate bars) in two different categories. The results of the research confirmed that the
extension of an existing, well-known product is better received by the public than the message of an entirely new, still
unknown product. The fame of the mother brand has a positive influence on the extension. Because it is logical that a
known brand name is easier to remember than an unknown one, it is possible to conclude supported in part by the
empirical evidence provided by De Pelsmacker and Dens that consumers will more easily remember the extensions of
existing brands than totally new ones. What is more, an extension of a well-known brand scores well for both awareness
and recall, irrespective of the type of advertising used, whereas with new and unknown brands, the type of advertising and
the message it projects can make a huge difference. In other words, the research conducted by De Pelsmacker and Dens
shows that the choice of advertising message is dependent upon the subject of the communication (a new brand or a brand
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extension) and on the objective, and that this choice will either have a greater or lesser effect depending on the type of
product or brand. Bearing this in mind, one of the biggest challenges for the marketing of extensions is to convince
consumers that the product is a derivative of the existing brand, rather than the brand itself. For unknown brands, the key
test is to fix the brand in the memory of consumers, so that they will become familiar with it and recall it. USPs work for
known brands If consumers are familiar with a brand and have a reasonable level of knowledge about it, the researchers
claim that they will use its advertising to seek confirmation of what they already know rather than seeking for new
information. This means that when a consumer is extremely knowledgeable
about a brand, it is only necessary to communicate minimal (or no) product information. Using this same reasoning,
unknown brands need to provide consumers with more details about the characteristics of their products and services,
since only then will they be able to evaluate these products and services properly. Or is it actually the other way around?
De Pelsmacker and Dens have investigated and tested the different hypotheses. As previously mentioned, advertising
strategies can be divided into two broad categories. On the one hand there is informational advertising, which informs
consumers about one or more benefits of the brand. It is self-evident that USPs are ideal for use in this kind of advertising.
Logically, informative messages also require the consumers to process more information than emotional messages. The
risk with these kinds of informational messages is that the consumers are not willing or able to process all this new
information. And it is equally logical that the more information that is packed into an advertisement, the less likely it is
that the consumer will be able to remember all of it. For this reason, a tendency has developed to try to reach the
consumer with different (but complementary) messages via different channels (unity in diversity). Naturally enough,
emotional messages seek to arouse the emotions of consumers. In the past, various research studies have shown that the
levels of brand recall are much higher with emotional advertising messages than informative ones. 7 Moreover, positive
emotions act as an aid to memory, so that brand names stick more easily in the consumers mind. 8 On the basis of this
reasoning, new brands can gain maximum benefit by seeking to communicate positive emotional messages. And the
reverse is also true: in the case of negative emotional messages, the consumer is more likely to focus on the content and
delivery of the message than on the brand itself: the brain needs to process more impulses, so that there is less room for
processing and remembering the brand. This means that new brands in particular will suffer from negative emotional
messages, since the processing of the new name alone already requires more mental effort than the names of known
brands. So the moral is clear: new brands need to work with positive emotional messages.
Known brands reap the biggest rewards from informative messages The research carried out by De Pelsmacker and
Dens concludes perhaps surprisingly but nonetheless logically that known brands reap the biggest rewards from
informative messages with USPs. Informative messages that contain new product information are therefore the best
strategy for existing brands, because the consumer is already familiar with the brand and con- sequently has more room
for the processing of other information about the new product. This is even more true for the extensions of existing
brands. The only condition is that the new characteristics (USPs) of the extension are explained clearly and in detail in the
informative message. Only then will the consumer be able to register the novelty of the extension in relation to what he or
she already knows about the brand. In view of the fact that emotional messages are better suited to creating or
strengthening brand image, the researchers assume that this type of message stimulates very little processing of product
information. Just as USPs are more appropriate for informative messages, so ESPs work better for emotional messages.
Likewise, just as USPs work better for the extensions of known brands, so ESPs are more appropriate for new (and as yet)
unknown brands. The re-launching of the Apple brand around the turn of the century is a good example of this
phenomenon. By the middle of the 1990s Apple had almost reached the end of the road. To re-focus the attention of
consumers on the Apple brand, in 1997 CEO Steve Jobs commissioned the highly emotional Think Different campaign.
This campaign succeeded brilliantly in making the brand known - and loved again. But for the more recent iPhone and
iPad campaigns the company opted for a highly informational approach, with an emphasis on the USPs of the new
products. Having said all this, there is an increasing tendency for advertisers to try to get the best of both worlds. For
example, the clothing retailer H&M repeatedly makes advertisements that combine a mix of emotional messages
(glamorous models in hip clothes) and informative details (prices are always mentioned).
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Emotions sell If emotions determine our behaviour, how do they influence that behaviour when it comes to brands and the
purchase of products? It was Gordon in 2006 who first argued that people do not receive information about brands
passively, but transform that information into something that is personally relevant to them. 9 Until recently, however,
there was no real research to tell us about the effectiveness of this type of emotional branding and its effect on consumer
behaviour. This gap in our knowledge has now been filled by a large-scale study carried out by John Rossiter (University
of Wollongong) and Steve Bellman (Interactive Television Research Institute and Murdoch University). In an online
survey they investigated the emotions of a representative sample of consumers in the United States. These were all
purchasers of everyday products (petrol, washing powder, instant coffee and beer). The purpose was to establish how
effective the use of emotions could be both in terms of influencing behaviour and increasing sales. 10 The researchers
concluded that for products of this kind it was only possible to establish an emotional bond with the brand in roughly 25
per cent of cases, but that this 25 per cent was strongly attached to that brand and consequently rewarded the marketer
with much higher sales and use of their products. In other words, emotionally attached consumers are the most profitable
consumers, particularly if one bears in mind that the research also showed that these customers require no price incentives
to remain loyal to the brand. Moreover, this type of emotional branding seems to work just as effectively with men as with
women. The perception that women are more open and react better to emotional messages is therefore not true at least
as far as this study is concerned. It is possible that emotional branding is even more effective in cases of high
involvement, but this was not examined by Rossiter and Bellman. It was, however, something that De Pelsmacker and
Dens looked at. They concluded that the extent to which a person is committed during the processing of a message is a
key determining factor. Committed or involved consumers will better remember the brand and the USP in an informative
message than in an emotional message. Why? Because infor- mative messages require more cognitive processing and
highly committed consumers are more prepared to make the necessary effort which has a beneficial effect in terms of
recall. In short, informational messages are
very useful and very effective when the consumer is closely involved and (as mentioned earlier) familiar with the brand.
The opposite can be assumed for consumers with a low level of involvement, although this was not confirmed by the
Flemish study. It is likely that the novelty of the new product is not sufficient to persuade them to undertake the necessary
cognitive processing. Non-involved consumers lose attention more quickly, which means that the brand and/or its USP
fail to stick in their memory for any length of time. They will be better able to remember the brand if they are targeted
with an emotional message (see Chapter 3). The research carried out by the British IPA database into the most effective
advertising campaigns also concluded that campaigns with an emotional message are generally the most successful,
followed by combined USP/ESP campaigns. Campaigns with a rational message were clearly the least effective of the
three.
Advertisings New Medium: Human Experience. By Jeffrey Rayport.
No chance

A New Brand of Marketing: read only sections 1 (traditional to digital) through section 4 (communications to
experiences) By Scott Brinker
#1 - From Traditional to Digital
What turns me on about the digital age, what excited me personally,
is that you have closed the gap between dreaming and doing.
Bono
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The mother of all marketing meta-trends, the genesis of marketings 21st

century metamorphosis, is the digitalization of the world.
Its easy to take this for granted. So many things in our lives are digital at
this point that it seems about as worthy of remark as electricity. But like
electricity, we must recognize that this is the engine of an era. Digital has
fundamentally changed the world.
Those who underestimate the magnitude of this change or assume
that weve already seen the full extent of the upheaval it will bring are
vulnerable to serious disruption. Let that be your competitors, not you.
There are five properties of being digital that feed its disruptive power.
Digital content and experiences can be:
1. Delivered globally in a fraction of a second, making them
available to anyone, anywhere, anytime.9
2. Scaled to millions of people quickly and cheaply incremental
costs for storage, bandwidth, and computing are relatively tiny.
3. Released from production to distribution instantaneously.
4. Easily altered you can manipulate bits in the digital world far
more fluidly than atoms in the physical world.
5. Easily measured you can accurately track how people interact
with them.
Pause for a moment to reflect on the significance of each of these.
These five properties are why digital was more than just new media. Its
enabled entirely new ways of business and life. And all of this immense
power is available to essentially everyone. One digital innovator can take
down empires, as with Craig Newmarks near single-handed destruction
of newspaper classified advertising with craigslist.
Mary Meeker, the rock star analyst of the Internet, has catalogued many
of the industries and professions that have been disrupted by the digital
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revolution1
: music, magazines, books, TV, videos, photos, retailing, news,
education, recruiting, fundraising, business meetings, etc.
Just consider the disruption of music. From CDs, we left behind physical
music distribution. First, file sharing on Napster, which wasnt actually
legal. Then purchasing tracks from online stores such as iTunes and
Amazon. Then subscribing to streaming services such as Spotify and
Pandora. The business models, customer experiences, and dominant
players all changed along the way. And new start-ups are on the way.
The list of digital disruptions is long and growing.
But digital takes us far beyond the reimagining of existing businesses.
Digitally native companies such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter have
no traditional analogs. Phenomena such as social media have no real
world precedents. Were sailing into uncharted space.
Its incredibly exciting. But to live long and prosper on that journey, we
must be willing to slip the moorings of pre-digital thinking.
Software is eating the world
Fact: everything digital is powered by software.
Its taken a while for the implications of that fact on marketing to sink in.
As marketers, were inclined to think of digital content and experiences
as creative productions. Thats the art of marketing. The software that
we use to create and deliver such creations is often considered merely a
tool or infrastructure. It doesnt get much credit. And like an iceberg, the
vast majority of it lies below the surface, invisible to our eyes.
Yes, software should be a means to an end in marketing. But its not
merely a tool like a pencil or infrastructure like the telephone network.

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1 http://www.kpcb.com/insights/2012internet-trends10
Like a mind-bending Escher drawing, software is itself a digital creation.
In a digital environment, software is nearly unbounded in what it can do
rearranging bits of the digital landscape as a child moves sand in a
sandbox. It is limited really only by the imagination of the developers
who create it.
This means software is not simply digital plumbing. It is the source of all
capabilities in a digital world. If a marketer is like Superman, performing
heroic feats of creative wonder in that world, then software is the yellow
sun that imbues him with his amazing superpowers.
This has made marketers extremely dependent on software although
not all of them recognize just how great their dependency is yet.
Of course, this isnt just true for marketers. As nearly everything in our
lives becomes digital or at least digitally influenced software grows
as the source of power in almost every field. As Marc Andreessen wrote
in The Wall Street Journal, In short, software is eating the world.2
The great migration from traditional to digital
For years, the money story of digital has been the steady migration of ad
spending from traditional channels to digital ones. Approximately $500
billion was spent globally on advertising of all kinds in 2013, with $100
billion going to digital advertising3 more to Google than anyone else.
Now, $100 billion in digital spend is a gigantic pile of money. And for the
foreseeable future, digitals share of the pie is only expected to grow
at the expense of traditional media. This will be the bane of old media
companies and a boon to many new players.
But in the scheme of digitals impact on marketing, this is only a blip.
The real migration has been with how customers find and evaluate what
they will buy and from whom. For many markets, the first touchpoints of
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discovery are now digital via search, social media, mobile apps, and
an ever growing array of new digitally-powered devices. And for nearly
every market where buyers make a considered purchase, their decision
process relies heavily on digital content and experiences.
In B2B, research shows that on average 57% of the buyers journey now
happens online before prospects even talk to a salesperson.4
This represents a tectonic shift in influence and responsibility from the
sales department to the marketing department. If marketing doesnt
impress prospects with compelling digital content and experiences
including positive support from other digitally-accessible influencers in
that market sales wont even get a shot at winning their business.

2 Why Software is Eating the World,

The Wall Street Journal, August 20, 2011 3 ZenithOptimedias Advertising Expenditures Forecasts, September 2013
4 The Digital Evolution in B2B Marketing research report by the Corporate Executive Board11
As a result, digital has galloped from the periphery of marketings efforts
to the vanguard.
Only a fraction of that is digital ad spend. The real investment in digital is
marketings allocation of time and talent to it. Its the growing budget for
marketing software and technology services. And its the attention that
senior executives are now paying to digital strategy and execution.
Through this lens, its not billions of marketing dollars that now go into
digital. Its more than a trillion.
The great assimilation from digital to post-digital
But the distinction between traditional and digital media and marketing
is quickly becoming moot.
For instance, TV ads now point people to web sites. They may actually
be watched via a streaming service. Theyre shared on YouTube. Their
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creative assets are reused across web, mobile, and email campaigns.
Their effects on buyer behavior are correlated with analytics from web
visits and social media interactions.
Is that traditional or digital marketing? The labels get fuzzy.
Digital has become so interwoven in everything we do, that it no longer
makes sense to think of digital marketing as a stand-alone discipline.
Some call it integrated marketing. Some call it omnichannel marketing.
But really, its just marketing. The new, modern marketing.
As Clive Sirkin, the CMO of Kimberly-Clark eloquently said, We dont
believe in digital marketing. We believe in marketing in a digital world,
and theres a huge difference.5
David Cooperstein of Forrester Research calls it the beginning of the
post-digital marketing era.6
We are entering a world where digital innovation is merging with
traditional marketing fundamentals to create new approaches, new
brand leaders, and new models for success.
The emphasis on new in Davids statement is not hyperbole. The five
properties of being digital that we listed at the beginning of this chapter
have changed whats possible. Many of these possibilities run counter to
conventional wisdom from the pre-digital era yet those old models
and approaches still act as an anchor on many businesses. To triumph
in the post-digital age, you have to be willing to break with tradition.
Its more than the remaking of marketing. Its the remaking of business

#2 - From Media Silos to Converged Media

This fragmentation of media types complicated marketing significantly.
Suddenly, instead of a handful of channels, we were wrangling dozens.
The natural solution was to subdivide marketing into separate teams for
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these different kinds of media. There was a website team, a social media
team, a search team, an email marketing team, and so on. These teams
might be in-house or outsourced to an agency or some combination
of the two.
Which channels were clustered together on a particular team, and the
boundaries between teams, varied from one organization to the next.
Maybe blogging and social media were on the same team; maybe not.
One broad way of clustering them was into these three buckets:
Paid media advertising and sponsorships
Earned media commentary, reviews, and endorsements that
other people say about us in social media
Owned media content and experiences that we produce, such
as our website, our own contributions to social media, blogs,
landing pages, email, mobile apps, etc.
This kind of divide-and-conquer-by-media approach was widespread.
And from an inward-looking perspective, it worked: specialists could
keep up with the innovation in their subdiscipline.
However, it had a fundamental flaw.
It was disconnected from the way customers looked at companies. To
most people outside of marketing, the bright lines between different
media were nearly invisible. What we saw internally as specialization,
they could end up seeing externally as incoherence.
Connecting the moments of truth across media
A.G. Lafley, the CEO of Procter & Gamble, said there were two moments
of truth businesses face with their customers.1
The First Moment of Truth is the moment of purchase. A consumer is
looking at a number of brand choices imagine the shelves of different
laundry detergents at the supermarket and they either choose your
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brand or a competitors. All your marketing up to that point, from TV ads

to in-store displays, comes down to that moment. Do you win the sale?
The Second Moment of Truth is the moment of experience. When the
consumer gets your product home and tries it for the first time, do they
like it? That is the key to winning brand loyalty and repeat purchases.
This model was presented in the context of consumer packaged goods.
But those two moments of truth purchase point and first experience
are applicable to almost every kind of product and service.

1 Foreword to Lovemarks by Kevin

Roberts14
Part of Lafleys mission was to emphasize how these moments of truth
are connected. Advertising, in-store marketing, and the experience of
the product itself should be coordinated with each other to maximize
success.2
This hinted at convergence. But a bigger converging force emerged.
The folks at Google recognized that the digital world had created a new
moment truth one that preceded the other two the moment of
research online. They called it the Zero Moment of Truth.3
Now, when a prospective buyer is interested in something whether
that interest was stimulated by an ad, a suggestion from someone else,
or their own idea they go online and check it out. They search. They
visit your website. They visit competitors sites. They find reviews from
other customers and third-party influencers. They ask for opinions of
friends and colleagues in their social networks. They comparison shop.
Rarely is this actually a single moment. Its more accurate to think of the
Zero Moment of Truth as a series of touchpoints. They might occur over
a matter of minutes or months. Each of them either builds momentum
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towards winning at a purchase point or detracts from it.

There are two killer features of the Zero Moment of Truth that are very
important to recognize.
First, the different touchpoints that a buyer encounters in their research
can span many different media in a short period of time. Someone may
start with a Google search, click on a paid ad, download a paper from a
landing page, search on concepts mentioned in that paper, read a blog
post from an industry influencer, go ask for input on Twitter, click on an
ad in Twitter, which leads to a different landing page, and so on.
Buyers seamlessly hop between paid, earned, and owned media without
even thinking about it. Increasingly, they hop with multiple devices, what
is known as multi-screening. I might do a search on my smartphone at
lunch, visit a couple of websites on my computer back at work, and then
explore further on my tablet that night.
To buyers, this is simply their natural flow in their moment of research.
Any discontinuities between the different touchpoints on their journey
can cause confusion, suspicion, or even anger. (Youre not giving me the
offer on your website that you promised in your ad on my phone!)
Second, much of the content in the Zero Moment of Truth is what other
people have to say about you. You cant directly control that content. At
best, you can influence it mostly through the quality of the content
and experiences that you deliver. Thats mostly what people either share
or dont share, in flattering or unflattering ways.

2 In a Shift, Marketers Beef Up Ad

Spending Inside Stores, Wall Street Journal, Sep 21, 2005 3 The Zero Moment of Truth by Jim Lecinski,
http://www.zeromomentoftruth.com15
Thats why they call it earned media. You have to earn it.
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And it forms the basis for the great circle of life for brands in the digital
world. One buyers moment of experience, when shared, becomes part
of another buyers moment of research.
If theres discontinuity between what you say (paid and owned media)
and what others say about you (earned media), it shows up in the Zero
Moment of Truth. Who do you think a wary prospect will believe?
Reconfiguring marketing around converged media
The Zero Moment of Truth is like a black hole that gravitationally pulls all
marketing into its center. Once something is indexed by a search engine
or shared in social media, it crosses the event horizon and cant escape.
It may have been born in a silo before, but through a customers eyes,
its now a part of your organizations converged public persona.
In the customers eyes, you really want that persona to be coherent.
Jeremiah Owyang, an Altimeter Group analyst, calls this collision of paid,
owned, and earned media converged media. He believes that brands
who fail to recognize this convergence and reorganize their marketing
around it will suffer from inconsistent branding, fragmented messaging,
redundant efforts, and low customer engagement and advocacy.4
To embrace converged media, marketing teams must break down the
silos created for the first generation of scalable digital marketing. Thats
not to say that there arent still specialists for different media such
expert knowledge remains important. But theyre no longer isolated in
their own fiefdoms.
Instead, campaigns are designed by cross-functional teams. They jointly
analyze market and customer data, develop a strategy, implement it in
synchrony across multiple channels, and react to market response in a
coordinated fashion.
How does that scale? Instead of divvying up teams by media, converged
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teams can be created around different customer segments or different

stages of the buyers journey. These customer-centric teams can also be
supported by centralized services, such as for marketing operations and
marketing technology which behave more like open hubs than closed
silos.
The organizing principle of marketing in a world of converged media has
become the customer.
#3 - From Outbound to Inbound
At the crossroads of converged media, another significant meta-trend
has blossomed. Marketings polarity has shifted from predominantly
push to pull.
Push marketing imposes itself on people without an invitation. Most
advertising is push although there are some gray areas, such as with
paid search ads. Telemarketing is push. Email that you didnt expressly
sign up to receive i.e., spam is push.
When people say they hate marketing, theyre usually referring to some
kind of push marketing that annoyed them.
Pull marketing, on the other hand, is initiated by its recipients. They look
for something that interests them, and a marketer delivers relevant and
useful information or services. This begins a relationship between the
buyer and the seller that, while tenuous at first, has the potential to be
nurtured over subsequent buyer-invited interactions.
Before the web, buyers were severely constrained by what economists
call search costs. To find information about a category of products, to
decide which one suited best, could take considerable time and effort.
Think back to the days before you could just Google something. Sure,
there were publications like Consumer Reports. But you had to wait for
the issue that researched what you wanted to buy. And many types of
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products werent covered. The more complex or specialized a particular

product or service was, the harder it was to find information about it.
The best source of information? Salespeople.
Salespeople knew more about their products and their competition
than almost anyone. If you wanted to learn about building a pool,
buying a refrigerator, or choosing an accounting software package for
your business, you would talk to a salesperson.
From the buyers perspective, this had a number of downsides though.
Salespeople were incentivized to maximize the value captured by their
firms which wasnt always the best value for the buyers. They could
dole out information when and how they chose, often in exchange for
information from buyers, which let them tailor their sales pitch to each.
They controlled the flow of the sales process.
Information asymmetry powered the Golden Age of Sales. Buyers relied
on salespeople. And so salespeople who were adept at leveraging that
information advantage wielded a lot of power, both inside and outside
the firm.

1 Permission Marketing by Seth Godin,

published in 1999. 2 Inbound Marketing by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah, published in 2009.18
But then along came the web. Search engines shattered the economics
of search costs. Type the right query into Google, and you could find just
about anything that anyone anywhere had ever written about a product
category, a specific product, or the company behind it.
Like the raising of a floodgate, information surged out into the world
and began to drain sales of the advantage of information asymmetry.
Yet the real inflection point for inbound marketing was what happened
next. In most markets, it was still the companies themselves that had
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the greatest knowledge and expertise about their field and products.
Many continued to use this as a remnant of information advantage in
the sales process. But a few did exactly the opposite: they started to
publish what they knew on the web.
When done well, this expert content became an authoritative reference
for buyers appearing in the top results for relevant search queries.
The company didnt have to inefficiently ferret out those buyers using
outbound marketing and sales. Instead, the buyers found them.
Freely giving information, instead of bargaining with it, won customers.
In fact, it often won not just business, but fierce brand loyalty. Buyers
loved brands who were doing less selling and more sincere helping.
When one firm in an industry embraced this inbound strategy, it gained
a significant edge over its competitors in the digital sphere. Eventually,
others followed. It created a virtuous circle, with companies vying with
each other to provider better, richer information to the market.
The information asymmetry of sales evaporated.
Once prospects started to do their own research across the content
provided by multiple sellers in the market, they were less dependent on
information from sales. Often, enthusiastic buyers ended up knowing
more about their options than the salespeople who serviced them.
Instead, it was the marketing department producing most of a firms
web content who became the primary interface to buyers. Content
marketing programs thrived, fueling the engine of inbound marketing.
To be sure, salespeople still play a crucial role in the critical last mile of
customer relationships at many companies. But the Golden Age of Sales
has been dimming. The Golden Age of Marketing is on the rise.
Marketing as a meritocracy through the customers eyes
Inbound marketing pushes marketers to learn more about their market,
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their products, and their customers acquiring the expertise to create

compelling content. Fluff doesnt cut it. Inbound buyers seek substance.
It raises the bar on the quality and depth of what marketing produces.
By tracking how many people engage with a piece of content, how many
go on to become qualified leads or customers, and how many choose to 19
share or like it on social media, marketers also receive fast feedback
on what resonates. They can gauge, with reasonable accuracy, its impact
on the business.
This makes it hard to fake content marketing success. If your content is
great in the eyes of your audience your inbound metrics will reflect
that. In this way, inbound marketing is a meritocracy. As Guy Kawasaki,
best-selling author, venture capitalist, and the former chief evangelist of
Apple eloquently said, If you have more money than brains, you should
focus on outbound marketing. If you have more brains than money, you
should focus on inbound marketing.
The combination of market demand for great content and the ability for
marketers to measure the response to the content they produce set in
motion a wave of changes to marketings culture.
By far, the biggest cultural shift was with the relationship between the
marketer and the customer. Marketers used to view customers through
abstract models, demographic profiles, and paper personas. But in the
mission to attract inbound buyers, marketers have more direct contact
with their audience. Its more like trench warfare than being insulated in
a planning room far from the battlefield.
Interacting with buyers through the pursuit of their content desires not
only teaches marketers more about their customers it makes those
customers more real to them. Its not unusual for marketers to develop
relationships with individual prospects through social feedback around
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their authored pieces of content.

Inbound marketing engenders a culture of real customer centricity.
And there are other cultural ripples. Inbound marketers try more ideas
with greater frequency its fairly easy and low-risk to test new pieces
of content. They dig into analytics, to discover which content influences
which customers. They study search engine optimization techniques to
improve their contents distribution.
Or, put another way, inbound marketing inspires marketers to embrace
experimentation, data-driven analysis, and hands-on technical skills. Its
an accessible gateway drug that lets even risk averse, mathphobic, and
non-technical marketers experience the rush of the digital midway.
It paves the way for a more technically savvy marketing team.
Outbound marketing will remain important for many companies. But it
is increasingly executed to prime the pump, helping to seed and assist
a principally inbound orientation
#4 - From Communications to Experiences
In 1960, marketing professor E. Jerome McCarthy suggested that the
marketing mix consisted of four primary elements: product, price, place,
and promotion.1 This became the famous 4 Ps model of marketing.
Over half a century later, the 4 Ps model endures. In practice though,
one P in particular had come to dominate marketing: promotion.
Advertising. Branding. Sponsorships. Direct. PR. Sales promotions. All of
these promotional activities became the center of marketings universe.
It was the sexy side of marketing, which attracted money and talent. You
could call Madison Avenue a veritable temple to such promotion.
Ask most laypeople, and theyll say marketing is nothing but promotion.
For the most part, promotion is marketing communications. Its mission
is to communicate messages to the market, through words and visuals,
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Manage Your Message. Marketing News. By Molly Soat.

No chance
Converged Media Is Imperative To Your Content Strategy. By Michael Brito

Before getting into the specifics of a converged media content strategy, its important to first get a better understanding of
the meaning of paid, earned and owned media. Paid media is often considered to be traditional advertising and includes
banner ads, paid search marketing, sponsorships and content syndication. Paid media initiatives usually target prospects in
an effort to create brand awareness or new customer acquisition.
The great thing about paid media is that scales really fast. If you have a message that you want to be seen by the mass
market, paid media is the right channel to do that. While it can certainly be expensive, you have complete control over the
creative, content and marketing spend. The disadvantages with using paid media alone are that consumers often ignore
pure brand messages since they are already inundated daily with advertising messages; and not just from your
competitors either. Every other large brand with a marketing message and a significant budget is fighting for their
attention.
Difference Between Owned/Earned Media
Owned media is the content that your brand has complete control over such as the corporate website, blogs, communities,
email newsletters as well social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram. Owned media initiatives
typically target to your brands existing community and/or current customers Many believe that owned media is free,
specifically managing social media accounts.. And while there is a sliver of truth to that, the time and labor investment is
worth noting it takes a lot of time to create content, build a thriving community and value to the customer conversation.
You also have to consider working with customer support teams, building escalation models, and preparing for crisis
communications as well. This takes a lot of time planning and collaborating with other team members; and time is money.
Earned media is the natural result of public/media relations efforts, ad campaigns, events and the content that you create
within your owned media channels. It is not really a revolutionary concept either. For the last several decades, brands
have been hiring PR firms to reach out to the media in order to get them to write stories about the brand. Today, that has
expanded to influencers who have popular blogs as well. When someone not associated with your brand mentions you on
Twitter, Facebook or any other social media channel, its earned media. Other types of earned media include consumers
social media posts, tweets, product reviews, videos, photos, and open dialogue within online communities.
Integration of Channels

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While each of these channels will play a critical role in your content
strategy, the real power is when you can integrate two or more of the channels into one campaign or initiative. This is
referred to as converged media. The same thinking has led to the recent surge in native advertising. Sites such as
Buzzfeed, Crave and Forbes are capitalizing on the opportunity to mobilize their lean but hungry editorial teams to create
paid content for brands that lives alongside the sites original content.
According to the Altimeter Group, Converged Media utilizes two or more channels of paid, earned, and owned media. It
is characterized by a consistent storyline, look, and feel. All channels work in concert, enabling brands to reach customers
exactly where, how, and when they want, regardless of channel, medium, or device, online or offline. With the customer
journey between devices, channels, and media becoming increasingly complex, and new forms of technology only making
it more so, this strategy of paid/owned/earned confluence makes marketers impervious to the disruption caused by
emerging technologies.
The Rationale of Converged Media
Customers are unpredictable and their daily lives are dynamic. And when you combine that with the fact that there is a
content surplus in the market place and that consumers have an attention deficit, it makes it that much harder for you to
reach them with your message. This is why converged media is important to your brands content strategy. What you do
on your owned media channels alone cannot scale or allow you to grow your online following effectively. Of course, its
good to optimize your corporate website, blog and online community for search, and provide compelling content to your
existing communities. Thats a given. But without integrating your owned media initiatives with paid media, for example,
you cannot reach the mass market with game-changing content.
And the same thing can be said with paid media. Traditionally, and before social media was even invented, paid media
was pretty much the only channel for brands to communicate with customers outside of public relations. With the rise of
social networking and increase in general content proliferation, its difficult to reach your customer with just paid media.
Plus, they normally reject, filter out or flat out ignore traditional advertising alone.
While earned media, assuming its positive, is always good for your brand, you cannot ignore this content and hope that it
continues day in and day out. In addition to general community engagement and building customer advocacy, a much
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larger opportunity exists when you can integrate earned media conversations into both paid and owned media. Imagine a
situation where you are using the power and reach of paid media to highlight customers that are saying great things about
your brand. It can be done with converged media; and that content is trusted.
There are many reasons why building converged media into your marketing strategy is a smart thing to do:

Consumers need to see, hear and/or interact with your message 3-5 times before they will start to believe. The only
way to do this is to use various forms of converged media.

Paid media has reach. In minutes, you can get your content in front of millions of people. And, when you can push
content that adds value like highlighting user stories (earned media) your traffic numbers can potentially explode
and consumers may start to trust your messages.

Whenever you post a status update on your Facebook page, you only reach between 8 10% of your current fan
base. So, by your organic updates into promoted posts, you can reach a higher percentage of your community.

By leveraging your earned media, and displaying it within your owned channels, you are essentially building brand
advocacy and also allowing those consumers who love you to help tell your brand story.

The truth is, if you fail to integrate and align paid, earned, and owned media; you will now be at a disadvantage. You
should be less concerned about what your competitors are doing and the space and more concerned with the billions of
Tweets, Status Updates, text messages; as well as the 3,000 or so marketing messages that interrupt consumers lives
every day. According to the Altimeter Group, Marketers who fail to learn to reconcile paid, owned, and earned media
today will be at a distinct disadvantage and may find themselves scrambling to try and catch up.
Embracing Change: How Creative Professionals Use Interactive Media in Advertising Campaigns. By Adam
Wagler. Journal of Interactive Advertising
Advertising agencies are incorporating new forms of interactive media into campaigns as media continues to rapidly
change. The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study is to explore how five creative professionals at leading
advertising agencies in the Midwest are integrating interactive media into campaigns. Through a series of interviews this
project helps solidify what it means to integrate interactive media. The findings illustrate a fundamental shift in an
industry that is moving away from advertising. An industry built around traditional media now requires creatives to
incorporate dynamic, mobile, and social media into the marketing mix. Advertising agencies must engage audiences while
embracing change by building interactivity into their DNA. Professionals and educators will benefit from these findings
that identify traits, skills, and strategies to stay current with a media environment that changes daily.
Keywords

interactive media
technology
creative process
digital, future directions

LITERATURE REVIEW
METHODOLOGY
FINDINGS
Interactive Advertising Does Not Like Advertising
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Interactive Media Used to Engage Audiences

Interactive Media Used to Develop the Big Ideas
Using Interactive Media Requires Embracing Change
Interactive Media Must Be Part of Your Core DNA

DISCUSSION
APPENDIX 1: PARTICIPANT OVERVIEW
Overview of Participant Agencies

APPENDIX 2: INTERVIEW PROTOCOL

Interview Protocol Project: Interactive Media in Advertising

APPENDIX 3: TRANSCRIPTION SAMPLES

Sarah
Matt

APPENDIX 4: SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

In 2010, more than $US119 billion was spent on digital advertising (Smillie 2010 ). It is projected that by 2016 interactive
advertising spending will near $77 billion and represent 35% of all advertising in the United States (VanBoskirk 2011 ).
Interactive media is rapidly changing the media landscape, challenging the advertising industry to develop effective
means of communication in a fragmented media environment. Advertising has a long history of working with traditional
print, radio, and television. Agencies must continually define and explore approaches for creative applications with the
endless number of interactive media channels now available.
Previous research on interactive media in advertising has focused on three primary topics. First is the industry as a whole.
Several studies and trade publications focus on new forms of measurement, new revenues streams, and the changing
structures of the entire media industry. As Mallia and Windels (2011 ) note, Most agencies are not set up to build digital
experiences. Traditional agencies appear to be losing ground to upstarts. Perhaps because of their size and culture, they
cannot remain creative and respond as quickly as modern timelines require (p. 34). The second area centers on the rapid
development of technologies that make up interactive media. Many studies cite usage statistics or list examples of
applications using technology. Facebook has more than 500 million active users (Hubspot.com 2011 ), and as of 2007,
there were more than 3 billion mobile phone consumers worldwide. This number is three times the number of personal
computers in the world, which makes effective communication via mobile devices vital to communicators everywhere
(Sharma, Herzog, and Melfi 2008 ). Third is the discussion about audience engagement strategies using interactive media.
Interactive advertising is not simply the use of the latest technology, nor a display advertisement; rather it is built around
engagement, and it recognizes that people are inherently social and look to create and maintain relations not only with
other people, but also with brands (Sheehan and Morrison 2009 , p. 2).
These statements leave little room for debate of the importance of interactive media in the advertising industry and
continued research on the topic. Minimal research is directed at a collective understanding of how agencies strategically
approach interactive media. Industry trade publications only scratch the surface through interviews with professionals.
Traditional media and creative processes with mass media have been well established for decades. The ultimate outcome
of this study is to develop a better understanding of how creative professionals are integrating interactive media into
campaigns. This project provides insight into how future creative professionals of all ages prepare for a career in
advertising. It also benefits academic and professional communities by providing insight into strategies, approaches, and
future disciplines that do not yet exist as interactive media evolves. Exploring the lived experiences of a variety of
creative professionals will help generate a common language and understanding of interactive media in advertising that
now uses digital, mobile, and social means to engage audiences.
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An examination of multiple agency contexts, using a phenomenological qualitative approach, provides an in-depth
understanding of the strategies used to tackle interactive media challenges through the lived experiences of creative
professionals. This discussion looks at the current understanding of interactive media in advertising campaigns, its
integration into the creative process, and the changes happening in the advertising industry. For this project, interactive
media is generally defined as online tools used to communicate with audiences. The purpose of this phenomenological
qualitative study is to explore how five creative professionals at leading advertising agencies in the Midwest are
integrating interactive media into advertising campaigns.
This project asks creative professionals how interactive media is currently being used in advertising. What approaches are
used to address day-to-day changes in media? How do they engage audiences on an individual basis using interactive
media? What are examples of creative uses with interactive media? How are these interactive ideas developed and
designed to integrate with advertising campaigns?
LITERATURE REVIEW
The literature on interactive media in advertising frames the challenges facing the industry during a time of constant
development of new technology. An analysis of previous research must begin with a definition of interactive media. This
is followed by a review of the research exploring audience engagement and the social aspects created by these new
interactive channels. Last is a look at the challenges facing advertising agency cultures: how they address issues, develop
ideas, and attempt to keep up with the rapid changes occurring with interactive media.
Interactive media from an advertising perspective can be defined as the degree to which a person actively engages in
advertising processing by interacting with advertising messages and advertisers (Roberts and Ko 2001 , p. 21). This type
of media usually refers to digital or online forms of communication where the audience members are in control of the
messages they receive. Interactive advertising assumes that communication is no longer a top-down mass medium like
traditional media (Griffin, Morrison, and Sheehan 2009 ). Advertisers are adopting less disruptive forms of
communication by providing a utility based on a perceived need. A combination of technology and new strategies
provides connection points for brands to continually tell their story (Martin and Todorov 2010 ). In addition, advertising
agencies must use technology creatively across platforms in an effort to create a rich experience that engages audiences
(Mallia and Windels 2011 ). Creativity is not using the latest and greatest new technology; rather, it is about engagement,
and people's need to be social. Ad agencies want to create and build relationships with not only people but also
organizations and brands (Sheehan and Morrison 2009 ).
Audience engagement is a complex issue involving the best ways to communicate with audiences while addressing
privacy issues. Marketers must be sensitive to the privacy of the audience and provide relevant messages to build and
maintain trust (Taylor 2009 ). If done well, these brand utilities have the opportunity to connect with audiences much
better than any 30-second commercial (Bernardin et al. 2008 ). Many studies have found interactive media provides a
platform for online and offline brand advocacy through word of mouth (Li 2011 ). Conversely, if misused, a by-product of
word of mouth is negative views, which are detrimental to campaign strategies (Robinson and Halle 2002 ).
Interactive media is inherently a social medium. A webinar by eMarketer.com states, Any mobile marketing strategy
must be social and any social marketing strategy must have a mobile component in order to effectively reach consumers
(Elkin 2010 ). Mobile, blogs, forums, and social networks all create space for audience members to share views, opinions,
and experiences at any time and from any location. This fundamentally makes interactive media a space for building
relationships through community (Mallia and Windels 2011 ). Push-based advertising is dying, the core model of paid
advertising may also be disappearing, and in five or so years there may not be any one dominant model (Mallia and
Windels 2011 ). Pull strategies are seen as less intrusive and allow for consumers to control the messages they would like
to receive (Sheehan and Morrison 2009 ; Xue and Li 2008 ). It may even provide tools for consumers to create messages
themselves, where audiences are actively involved in campaigns (Sheehan and Morrison 2009 ; Sasser, Koslow, and
Riordan 2007 ). Integrated media approaches can build brands through online connections and strengthen relationships
between consumers and a brand (Taylor 2009 ; Martin and Todorov 2010 ). Taken further, the consumers even become
the brand and advocate for its existence through what Muniz and Schau ( 2007 ) call vigilante marketing.
All of these issues have created rapid change in the advertising industry, because many agencies are not set up to build
digital experiences for consumers who are spending increased time online (Mallia and Windels 2011 ). New skills and
strategies are required to address these issues (Vega 2011 ; Bernardin et al. 2008 ). Large, traditional agencies are either
competing with smaller boutique shops or acquiring them to address these new challenges (Sheehan and Morrison 2009 ).
These agencies have generations of established cultures and routines, and they are slow to react to the rapidly changing
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media environment (Mallia and Windels 2011 ). Stuhlfaut ( 2011 ) describes the entrenched agency traditions and cultures
as the creative code. The creative code is a combination of a variety of internal and external variables that influences the
creative work produced by advertising agencies. Furthermore, confluence theory discusses the requirement for new
creative skills throughout the entire advertising agency (Sheehan and Morrison 2009 ). Interactive media combines
multiple media, using numerous connection points to communicate with audiences. Effective advertising demands
multiple disciplines beyond traditional creative departments to effectively reach consumers in a digital age.
Griffin, Morrison, and Sheehan ( 2009 ) stress while the industry grapples with the new forms of media, the focus still
must remain on the big ideas, which drive great advertising. This project extends the research by continuing to explore the
process of creative and effective interactive advertising. Much of the current research looks at definitions, examples, and
changes in the industry at a macro level. However, few research studies provide insights from the professionals who are
addressing these issues as they happen. The rapidly changing media landscape requires continued discussions to drive the
direction, philosophies, and experiences happening in the industry. This project provides a current snapshot of what is
happening in the trenches with interactive media in advertising.
METHODOLOGY
A phenomenological approach to qualitative research is used in this study to develop an understanding of the challenges
produced by interactive media through the lived experiences of participants. Philosophical assumptions provide a
foundation for researchers when they are conceptualizing research designs, choosing qualitative methods, and selecting a
specific approach (Babchuk and Badiee 2010 ). A constructivist worldview is taken in this project to seek an
understanding of the world we live in through multiple perspectives that are inductively understood by gathering and
analyzing data from multiple sources to build a holistic view of the central phenomenon (Creswell 2007 ). These multiple
realties are used to explore emerging themes to gain a better understanding of the impact interactive media is having on
the creative side of the advertising industry. The application of a phenomenological approach aims to take a fresh look at
individual experiences to derive textual descriptions of the meanings and essences of the phenomenon
(Moustakas 1994 , p. 34). Through the perspective of creative professionals, this study explores emerging themes to paint
a picture of how interactive media is used in advertising campaigns.
A series of semistructured interviews used the researcher as a human instrument (Saldana 2011 , p. 30) to address the
complex issues that surface with interactive media in advertising. My experience as an educator and professional
communicator makes it important to explore how interactive media has changed the creative profession in advertising.
These experiences and connections to the industry strongly shape the interpretation of data collected for this study. During
the project the researcher attempted to minimize bias using epoche by allowing the themes to emerge from the
professionals. However, my close relationship to the discipline will influence the interpretation by looking for an
understanding of strategies, directions, and skills now required with the addition of interactive media. It is important to
understand where the profession is heading so educators can tailor curriculum to the industry and professionals can stay
current with trends in media. This rapid change is a challenge to the industry but also how we educate students.
The research design was submitted and approved by the researcher's institutional review board (IRB). Five creative
professionals working at advertising agencies in the Midwest were interviewed for this project. Criterion sampling was
used to select creative professionals currently working at advertising agencies in the same Midwestern city. In addition,
they all had to have experience working on interactive media projects. A maximum variation sampling was also used to
select professionals with various backgrounds, lengths of experience, and work in different agency cultures. The
participants were then approached via e-mail and asked if they would like to participate. If they agreed, a formal invitation
was sent to set up a time and place that was convenient for them.
One woman and four men all under age 50 participated in the study. The job titles of the participants included creative
director, art director, interactive art director, and vice president of business development. Each works at a different
advertising agency. The agencies represent some of the top work produced in the region, with the majority of them located
through Advertising Red Books. Each company creates unique work for a variety of industries that includes youth
marketing, business to business, health care, agribusiness, and software development. The agencies the participants
represent range from a large, traditional, full-service agency to a small digital agency. Appendix 1 provides an overview
comparison and further demographic information about the participants.
The semistructured interviews included open-ended questions that lasted between 20 and 30 minutes. One interview was
conducted in the researcher's office, and the rest were done on-site in conference rooms at the participants agencies. The
interviews asked the participants to describe their background, the agency where they work, and their experience working
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on interactive media projects. The following questions were used to frame the discussion during the interview: What does
the creative process look like with interactive media? Generally speaking, how do you engage with audiences using
interactive media? What types of skills are involved? How do you deal with a medium that changes daily? What does
design mean in interactive media? Appendix 2 provides the complete interview protocol.
In addition, the research analyzed recent campaigns the participants discussed during the interview to support their
statements. All the work was accessed via the agencies public websites for review. Triangulation of the work with the
interviews provides tangible evidence of the perspectives and strategies used to incorporate interactive media into
advertising campaigns.
Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed by the author. Data was then imported and coded using a qualitative
software data analysis program, MAXQDA. The transcripts were in vivo coded and clustered into themes that emerged
from the participant responses. The themes were sorted into three categories: expected, unusual, and surprising. These
findings were written into theme passages and organized to create a flowing narrative that explores the complex nature of
interactive media in advertising. A member check was used for validation, by e-mailing participants a summary of
findings. At the completion of the study, a letter thanking them for their time and a copy of the final report was sent to
those who participated in the study. Appendix 3 show transcribed excerpts from two of the participants.
FINDINGS
The creative professionals who were interviewed provide expected views of interactive media that included focus on the
big idea and audience engagement. The creative process is still about big ideas and reaching target audiences, but media is
changing. Actively engaging audiences with interactive media creates a promise and can solidify perceptions of brands for
consumers to look to for relevant information. In addition, many unique perspectives were given to frame these themes.
As media evolves, the advertising industry is embracing change as it creates interactive experiences to engage audiences
by developing tools, entertainment, and useful content.
New forms of interactive media are creating spaces to connect with audiences that allow brands to be part of or enhance
experiences. Many participants stated they value creative, smart, and clever people who have interactive media built into
their DNA. Younger professionals, who have grown up in the digital age, have the advantage of such media seeming
commonplace, thus they seem to have an innate understanding of these systems and a unique opportunity to integrate
these new forms of communication into engaging experiences. In addition, agencies are attempting to make interactive
media a part of their organizational culture through not labeling it as something separate. The word advertising is even up
for debate in an attempt to create nonintrusive messages that are relevant to viewers. All of these findings begin with a
fundamental shift in the advertising industry that is literally attempting to move away from advertising. Appendix 4
provides a table that summarizes these findings.
Interactive Advertising Does Not Like Advertising
Ironically, there is discussion over the use of the term advertising . Many participants discuss this notion indirectly by
using examples of less intrusive methods used to engage audiences. However, John put his finger on this idea when he
mentions, Advertising is becoming a word we don't like to use anymore and the customer doesn't like to hear anymore.
This notion refers to negative reactions to traditional, interruptive forms of advertisements and the industry as a whole
because of the intrusive strategies used for decades. John asks, Why do you have to stop what they are [audiences] doing
to tell your message? Interruption is regarded as a cheap way to try to build brand loyalty and has problems.
John provides a scenario to elaborate on the annoyances caused by interruptive advertising with interactive media.
Imagine you are sharing a YouTube video of a funny commercial with a friend. You send your friend the link, he or she
opens it, and immediately a 15-second advertisement launches before the commercial that you wanted to share will begin
to play. The 15-second commercial may or may not be relevant to the person and hinders the experience. Audiences may
embrace a 4-minute advertisement if it is relevant to them or is shared with them by friends. By adding on the 15-second
commercial before their content, the experience is interrupted.
Interactive media provides an opportunity to connect with audiences to tell that story in a less interruptive way. This
challenges agencies to pull audiences in and provide tools or services that promote the brand. Furthermore, Bill cautioned
advertisers not to jump the gun using new, interactive environments because audiences will pass it off right away. Once
a new medium is established it is required to responsibly engage audiences so brands can leverage such personal spaces as
social media and mobile, which require people to opt in. All of the participants discussed how engagement with audiences
using interactive media is where all brands are heading.
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Interactive Media Used to Engage Audiences

Engagement is used often to describe interactive media. It is referred to as a meaningful, authentic, and interesting
exchange, conversation, or transaction that creates a dynamic between the consumer and the brand. Matt discusses the
value of engagement with audiences: Brands have different goals, but ultimately the more consumers work with, believe,
trust, and look to that brand, then later down the road, all this leads to sales and all things advertisers hope to accomplish.
Relationships take time to build. Dave mentions the brands that are doing it well become a little bit more human by
listening, adapting, and engaging in the conversation. These methods of engagement are made up a variety of interactive
media, but all give incentive to audiences by offering something of value.
Interactive media provides many ways to offer something of value, whether it be a how-to video, a story, a game, or free
samples. Sarah says, The goal is to be seen as the go-to person. Offering valuable content that consumers can use in
their everyday lives or that can help them with their careers builds trust over time with the intention to influence
purchasing decisions in the future. John gives an example of a car website with videos, animations, facts, and photos. You
can see the entire car without ever having to go to the dealership. The experience itself can be so valuable that consumers
may spend hours on the website learning about the company's products. Furthermore, the website can offer relevant
conversations through customer ratings and reviews to help inform decisions.
Relevant conversations provide a space where the brand and the audience can interact. Social networks are used to
facilitate these conversations, where brands push out interesting content for consumers to react to, learn from, and
converse about with others. Sarah suggests that Facebook gives the opportunity to driver traffic to websites by being able
to talk with the audience and potential clients. The conversations are ongoing and require meaningful responses to
maintain relationships.
All participants discussed how meaningful responses provided by relevant content could entertain, educate, and help
audiences. John elaborates further on this concept of how new technology can help solve problems by understanding
needs. If you need something you can just ask for it, and a meaningful response will aid the decision-making process. For
example, if you ask your smartphone for Chinese restaurant phone numbers, a search is run and your phone displays
results that include nearby locations fitting your query. Bill described interactive cooking videos his company produced
that featured embedded content with tips and tricks for making the featured recipes. Brands providing content that is a
meaningful response to the context of the audience will continue to be important as more focus is put on the semantic
understanding of data and engagement. Interactive media technically makes these strategies possible, but creative
professionals still emphasize the importance of developing the big idea.
Interactive Media Used to Develop the Big Ideas
The big idea is still king. Developing creative ideas has always been the main focus of any creative advertising campaign.
Clients come to advertising agencies to fill a need to promote or communicate a message. The ideas are how they solve
that need. Dave notes that the fundamentals of advertising are similar, and our company looks at all the new tools then
selects the best solution for a particular client. The big idea now includes the integration of interactive media. John says
that creative professionals develop ideas based on two principles that make up a brand: a promise and perception.
A brand promise is a combination of logos, colors, advertising, marketing, customer service, store environment, website,
social media, and so on. Everything used together develops a unified idea presented to the customer to ensure the quality
and message is delivered. The second part of a brand is the perception of the consumer. If consumers do not believe what
the brand is communicating, then the promise is broken. Interactive media allows for brands to communicate one on one
with consumers and presents enormous opportunities. These brands now must capture the essence of their culture in their
campaigns.
Matt offers Red Bull as a product that has effectively captured the essence of its brand. Advertising does not tell audiences
about a product; rather, it lets them experience it firsthand. John refers to Nike as a classic example from the 1980s when
they first asked the audience to Just Do It. They didn't show their product; they presented a lifestyle and personality
behind their brand. Furthermore, Sarah notes, It is not the product per se, but the personality behind it. Bill goes on to
describe the ideas that become possible with the limitless capabilities with interactive media: A lot of our time and
discovery is coming up with the craziest ideas possible, knowing and having full faith in our developers. Capturing the
essence in a campaign involves interactive media, but the creative process remains very similar to traditional advertising.
All participants describe the creative process used to develop interactive media as very similar when compared to
traditional advertising. Matt says, I realized that the creative process is really the same for both [traditional and
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interactive media]. The specific process varies, but John demonstrates this with an example of a wire frame for a website
and sketched mock-up of a magazine advertisement. Both examples outline an idea that quickly conveys it using a rough
sketch. Furthermore, participants discuss design as important to all aspects of the creative process.
When asked if design principles had changed with the addition of interactive media, the overwhelming response is no.
The core design principles have not changed, just the media. John notes:
When youre designing, you have to think of not just the visual aspect of it, but how is it structured? How is it received by
the audience? Is it complicated? Can it be simplified? Is it convoluted? Can the process be shortened? If you need to go
five steps down, can we make it so you can go just one step? Is there a reason why it was five steps to begin with? We
really look at the way it is structured, which is the backbone of everything that were doing.
Design principles include organizing information in a way the viewer can easily access it, in addition to color, form, and
typography. The focus on design throughout the entire creative process is important because all media must connect and
organize content in a memorable way. Sarah mentions design for print was always based on how it looked but now, with
interactive media, the messaging and where the user goes next is the most important. Dave goes on to describe that their
design focus primarily emphasizes user experience and content. Bill describes print design as flat compared to the
layers and frameworks interactive media designers build to hold content and focus on user experience. Each medium has
unique aspects that require different approaches to design to successfully convey a message. Advertising agencies are
embracing change as the media landscape continues to evolve with interactive media.
Using Interactive Media Requires Embracing Change
The advertising industry is built on strategic thinking and now requires agencies to embrace change as they develop
creative ideas that integrate interactive media. Matt mentions that although we know technology is rapidly changing, you
have to embrace the change and the temporary nature of where we are today. Sarah expands on this by remembering,
Years ago, over a long three-day weekend, I taught myself HTML and CSS. Bill discussed how they tackle challenges
as they develop ideas for interactive media: It's exciting because we don't feel like we have limits on anything . There
are conversations with development before we pitch the idea, but most of the time it's going to get pitched anyway, and
well just figure it out, one way or another. As the industry changes to include interactive media, the industry's
professionals are updating their skills to stay current. Not everyone needs to be a programmer, but everyone must
understand the interactive media currently being used to stay relevant to the audience.
As media changes, Matt states, smart, clever, creative people who understand interactive media are in high demand at
advertising agencies. Understanding the space your audience lives in is a requirement to create an authentic experience
that holds true to the brand promise and perception. Participants mention a variety of ways their agencies and they
themselves maintain an understanding of interactive media. Internal communication is important for agencies, because
coworkers can share knowledge and examples they find. Such methods of internal communication might include
participating in seminars, using wikis, and regularly reading blogs to learn about new technologies. Sarah talks about
lunch and learns held in her organization to help employees understand new trends and technologies. Sharing
information and specialties helps her stay up to date with interactive media. In addition, Matt adds that he requires ten to
fifteen percent of everyone's time spent understanding trends. They spend a lot of time on technology blogs and many
forms of social media to understand the latest and most relevant things happening. At Bill's agency, to stay current the
positions of two people are dedicated to following trends in media, technology, and design. As interactive media evolves,
the media is different, but creative thinking remains key.
Different media produces new ways of communicating with audiences, but Matt points out: You still need to be able to
think big, be brilliantly innovative, clever, and relevant to an audience. He says the challenge is, rather than getting their
messages in front of audiences on the television, he wants audiences to interact with brands on their mobile phones. The
interaction could also be with a quick response (QR) code, a social network, a video, or a website. These methods all have
similar goals but use different media. Interactive media is now where every brand is heading as clients continuously adopt
these new technologies.
The participants from traditional agencies mentioned that some clients are slow to adopt new forms of interactive media.
Sarah notes, We are really trying to push clients to think past the desktop and start thinking about the mobile device.
However, every participant mentioned that his or her own firm has developers on staff to code digital products. A decade
ago, programmers were not hired by many agencies; in many cases, building a website was an afterthought, as was
noted by Sarah. Clients have adopted many forms of interactive media as part of their campaigns. Now, many big ideas
are generated from and even driven by the interactive applications. Bill points out that all of his company's work is now
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digital. Matt says that in the past three or four years every campaign his company has done has had a digital component.
He continues by stating, Eighty percent of the stuff we do is digital, social. That's where every brand is headed. As
clients continue to adopt new interactive media as part of their campaign strategies, the industry continues to figure out
the best ways to deliver creative solutions to client needs.
Interactive Media Must Be Part of Your Core DNA
Many agencies have problems keeping up with new interactive media because of the history and culture developed over
decades of working with what is now called traditional media. The advertising industry was built on print, radio, and
television. These channels are still the primary focus of most large advertising agencies. Matt gives the analogy: if you
wanted to sell a widget and went to an advertising agency for help, the ad agency's suggestion to solve your problem
would be to sell you advertising. If you went to a graphic design shop, the employees there would suggest a new look,
colors, logo, signage, and space. If you went to a digital agency, there would be talk about setting up an e-commerce
solution. Matt concludes, The problem here is that everyone is selling whatever it is that they already do. And I challenge
that they are actually solving the problem. Advertising agencies address this issue in many different ways, but he refers
to the issue as a problem with the industry's core DNA.
To address these problems, he hires people directly out of school and tries to keep the average age in his studio around 26
to 27 years old. When asked to elaborate more on the concept of the industry DNA, Matt said:
Younger people already have the skills we are looking for in their DNA. They understand social. I don't have to teach it to
them; it is part of who they are. That is one way of staying relevant. I learn from them, watch them, and observe them. In
some ways, they teach me. That is how I stay relevant and how our agency stays relevant.
His agency is a youth branding agency, so their clients are looking to reach a younger demographic whose media usage
traditionally forecasts trends that are later adopted by wider ranges of audiences. Bill's agency produces digital work only
for clients. His company's culture is very much comparable to a start-up, with this mantra: Make the real world digital
and the digital world real. He goes on to describe late nights at the office as feeling like a slumber party, only they are
developing new ways of interacting with content. However, looking forward to a time where all brands are focusing the
majority of efforts on interactive space is vital. Advertising agencies are tackling the challenges of interactive media in a
variety of different ways.
Many of the participants specifically mentioned that their agencies are in a state of transition as the media industry
evolves. The transition to include more interactive media differs depending on the agency. Many of the participants say
their agency does not have digital departments or interactive specialists because all team members need to be part of
everything they are creating. Instead of thinking about it as something unique, they are attempting to integrate into the
whole picture of media. Conversely, other agencies have interactive media departments with positions that are labeled as
such: interactive art director, interactive designer, and digital producer. Currently, there is not a solidified organizational
structure that all agencies have settled on as they transition into a more interactive media landscape. However, as the
industry transitions to include an increasing amount of interactive media into advertising campaigns, agencies will
continue to address challenges as they develop.
DISCUSSION
If you have recently traveled with a person under age 25, you have experienced this firsthand. Traditionally, you go on
vacation, visit interesting places, take pictures to capture the memory, and share them with family and personal friends
when you return. Now the paradigm has shifted. The vacation experience can be shared online through social networks,
video chats, and mobile apps, enhancing these experiences as they happen. Last summer, I led a study abroad to Russia
with 17 undergraduate students. Even in a foreign country, on a different continent, their photos, videos, thoughts,
memories, and experiences were all shared in real time with larger networks of people who were now part of the trip. This
idea transcends travel and now includes all forms of life. It is not a strategy; it is a reaction built into how young, creative
individuals experience the world.
The literature on interactive media in advertising confirms some of the basic findings of this project. The term interactive
media is used to describe the new forms of media available to advertising agencies. There are many changes occurring in
the industry (Mallia and Windels 2011 ), including the need for new media, new skills, and new organizational structures.
New forms of communicating also demand new skills (Vega 2011 ; Bernardin et al. 2008 ), but the big idea is still a
central focus (Griffin, Morrison, and Sheehan 2009 ). Cultures in agencies are strong and influence how client problems
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are solved (Stuhlfaut2011 ). Last, engagement with audiences is required for advertising agencies to continue to be
successful (Sheehan and Morrison 2009 ).
This study contributes new elements that include discussion about the term advertising in the industry and how younger
generations contribute to the industry during this transitional period. Furthermore, it identifies ways agencies are
embracing change and creatively thinking about the message and the medium. This reflects McLuhan's (1964/1995) idea
that the medium is the message, where the delivery method heavily influences how the message is perceived by the
audience. Developing creative departments with people who have digital media in their DNA will further the discussion,
addressing questions such as these: What is advertising? In addition, will this term be replaced by other terms such
as engagement , promotion , or connection ?
Advertising agencies must explore the themes that emerged from these interviews to address the current and future
challenges that interactive media produces. Much of the literature confirms some of the basic understandings of
interactive media in advertising, but further research must be done to better understand how agencies are tackling these
challenges. One option may be to embed younger professionals into traditional teams to breathe new life into traditional
forms of advertising. This type of collaboration has the opportunity to create a unique environment where everyone is
learning. The challenge moving forward is not only addressing current technologies but also developing sustainable
practices to anticipate new developments in communication, technology, and media.
It is exciting to see how young professionals have a chance to make an impact at the beginnings of their careers. These
findings create unique opportunities for higher education classrooms to develop new strategies and ways to connect with
audiences. In turn, the industry will benefit from these fresh ideas because of the time spent developing big ideas that
integrate interactive media. This also highlights the necessity for closer connections between the industry and higher
education to collaborate in the effort to address challenges. As an instructor and professional, I know the possibilities are
endless and they open doors to create new models for organizations and communications using interactive media.
The limitations of this study include a small geographic location representing a very global shift in media. These findings
cannot be generalized, but an attempt was made to capture a range of agencies to be representative of many cities in the
United States. All of the participants in this study work within the same downtown area, and their agencies would be
considered small to midsize, but they represent different agency cultures and clients. Another limitation was access to
some of the work that was analyzed. Some of the work was still in development, and other work had been changed
already due to the temporary nature of interactive media. Capturing and documenting the work prior to the interviews
would have provided better insights and helped develop specific questions for the interviews.
There are many possibilities for future research on interactive media in advertising. Qualitative research cannot generalize
findings, but future quantitative measurements should be conducted with creative professionals to further explore the
themes developed in this study. This is both an opportunity and a necessity for the future success of the industry and
higher education. An interesting perspective to add to this could be from a student perspective. The termdigital native is a
debatable blanket term for an entire generation, but interviews with high-functioning, young media students would help
agencies gain new perspectives. This would inform them and aid in the development of young professionals. Also, further
exploration of other disciplines within advertising agencies contributing to the creative process with interactive media
would be beneficial. For example, John's office has creative work in progress hung up throughout the entire office for
anyone to comment on during its development. Many agencies have a very collaborative working environment that
includes everyone in the creative process. In addition, it would be interesting to explore how clients view interactive
media. Many of the participants in this study mentioned hesitation on the client side of things when implementing new
forms of interactive media. All of these directions will contribute to the academic, professional, and consumer
understanding of how interactive media is incorporated into advertising campaigns.
APPENDIX 1: PARTICIPANT OVERVIEW
Overview of Participant Agencies
1.
Years founded: 1962 to 2003
2.
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Number of employees: 20 to 115

3.
Location: All in the same Midwest metro area
APPENDIX 2: INTERVIEW PROTOCOL
Interview Protocol Project: Interactive Media in Advertising
1. Time of interview:
2. Date:
3. Place:
4. Interviewer:
5. Interviewee:
6. Position of interviewee:
(Briefly describe the project.)
Ask interviewee to sign consent and image release forms.
Turn on audio and video recorders.
Questions:
1. 1.
Describe your experience developing ideas using interactive media?
2. 2.
What does the creative process look like with interactive media?
3. 3.
Generally speaking, how do you engage with audiences?
4. 4.
What types of skills are involved?
5. 5.
How do you deal with a medium that changes daily?
6. 6.
What does design mean in new media?
7. 7.
What is interactive media for advertising agencies?
8. 8.
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Who should I talk to find out more about this?

(Thank the individual for participating in this interview. Reminder there will be follow-up to verify accuracy of final
report.)
APPENDIX 3: TRANSCRIPTION SAMPLES
Sarah
You know, about five or six years ago when I started full time in the interactive department, it was more of an
afterthought, I think. They would come up with the print campaign, and someone would say, Oh yeah, we need a
website or Oh yeah, we need a landing page or Oh yeah, we need digital ads. So here is our print campaign, so make
it match. Luckily, today we are in the beginnings of all the meetings, and there are many times where print will come out
of an interactive idea.
I think the goal is to blur those lines and try to work more cohesively with traditional print advertising and interactive. I
don't know how relevant QR codes are, but some people think that they are very relevant and will continue to live and
other people dont. I don't really have an opinion, but even having the QR codes on a print ad and have them direct to a
mobile site. We just did a great campaign for Use Chicago where we had all these QR codes in the subway system, the L.
Out there on a 20-minute ride to work we had a mobile site that had 300 videos on it that they could pull up really easily.
So working together with those types of technologies, I think, is a cool thing to think about.
Matt
Well, the problem here is that everyone is selling whatever it is that they already do. And I challenge that they are actually
solving the problem. We are positioned to never be locked into one particular media. So when I go to solve the problem it
might be combination of architecture and digital. It might be part print advertising and it might be partway finding
signage. I don't know, and I don't care until I get into it. I approached that creative process for interactive the same way I
approach it for everything. Although I think our philosophy is very different than the way the creative industry is set up.
I think that somebody that goes through a traditional process, from what I can tell in the industry, would think that there's
a very different process for interactive media. That might be a mindset because they have been in the history longer than I
have, and so by that circumstance they think of interactive as completely different animal. Look at any advertising agency
out there. They either tried to create their own interactive department or they tried to buy an interactive agency. The
problem there isand they do that because they don't understand it. So what that says to me is that it is not part of their
core DNA. When you do that, you treat it separately. The future of advertising is not separate. Interactive is the future of
advertising. Im glad it's part of our core DNA and that it is not something I have to try to figure out or add in. It's already
there.
I think for most agencies that's a real struggle right now.
APPENDIX 4: SUMMARY OF FINDIN
Why Co-Making Is The Future of Branding. By Devin Liddel. FastCompany.
Eleven of the most notable technology brands in the world--Apple,Google, Microsoft, Samsung, Intel, Cisco, HP, Oracle,
SAP, Dell, and Adobe--together filed more then 15,000 patents in 2012 alone. Developing and protecting intellectual
property is important, but all this patent filing reveals an entrenched posture among technology companies that can be
summarized in a word: mine! This is a problem. Because the way were currently thinking about technologies is in direct
conflict with how we think about brands. Technologies might belong to companies (because a team of lawyers says they
do), but brands belong to people. And the people dont want more patents. They want products, services, and experiences
they cant get anywhere else. This is harder and harder to do in our crowded marketplaces, so more and more brands are
collaborating to create real breakthroughs. Co-making is on the rise, and its a very good thing for brands and their
audiences.

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Consider these examples: the Taco Bell Doritos Locos Taco, the most successful product launch in Taco Bell history,
moved 100 million units in its first 10 weeks and has already sold more than a billion units. Even before Taco Bell and the
Doritos folks at Frito Lay teamed up to create a stoners dream, Apple and Nike collaborated to create Nike+, which is
now nothing less than the worlds largest running club. And Fiat and Gucci created a winning combination with their
collaboration, the Fiat 500 by Gucci. Importantly, these examples are not about co-branding, which has traditionally been
about marketing synergies--logo co-placement, sponsorships, and licensing. These are examples of co-making, brands
teaming up to make-versus just market--the actual product, service, or experience. And there are three very good reasons
why well see more of these kinds of product development relationships in the near future.
THE DORITOS LOCOS TACO EARNS A 40% PREMIUM COMPARED TO TACO BELLS REGULAR TACO.
CONSUMER LOVE = HIGH MARGINS
The Doritos Locos Taco earns a 40% premium compared to Taco Bells regular taco. The Fiat 500 by Gucci sells briskly
at a 52% markup over the base price of a standard Fiat 500. Online preorders for the original Nike+ Fuelband sold out in
minutes, and Nikes equipment division reported an 18% increase in profits for the fiscal year following the products
introduction. These are impressive numbers for what are essentially a taco, an iOS-powered pedometer, and a very small
Italian car. Margins like this used to be the exclusive domain of technology companies, so imagine what premiums
technologycompanies will be able to command with even more groundbreaking collaborations.

SNOWFLAKE STATUS
The best brands are always striving for only status--a marketplace position that has no perceived substitute. But such a
position is mostly mythological. Why? Because any category worth being in features capable competitors. Apple,
currently the most powerful brand in the world, is hardly free of rivals. But co-making presents an opportunity to turn the
myth of the only into a reality. Simply put, co-making creates something that otherwise could not exist, something that
would not be possible without the contributions of two different brands. The number of potential brand pairings is
essentially infinite, with the results of each pairing entirely unique. Thats a very real only.
CO-MAKING PRESENTS AN OPPORTUNITY TO TURN THE MYTH OF THE 'ONLY' INTO A REALITY.
OUTSIDE INSPIRATION
The juiciest design and business opportunities in front of us simply cannot be solved with this-technology-is-all-mine
thinking. Brands are often representative of core expertise, and tackling our worlds most formidable innovation
challenges--from sustainability and security to transportation and health care--will obviously require more than a single
expertise. We need our best technology brands to stop fussing about patents and start teaming up to tackle the impossible.
Teaming up also infuses companies with new ideas and worldviews that are too often missing in our insular, us-againstthem corporate cultures. Co-making is a fast way to get inspired, take on bigger stuff, learn new skills, and break new
ground.
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Its time. Its time for Google and American Express to design a smarter credit card, one that syncs with location-based
technologies to score the best deals while also making fraud impossible. Its time for Xbox and Virgin to re-imagine inflight entertainment, and extend that experience across both air travel and hotel stays. Its time for iRobot and Honda to
finally cut to the chase with driverless cars. Its time for HP and The Home Depot to 3-D print any nut, bolt, screw, or
washer we may need. Its time for Cisco and Honeywell and Samsung to visualize data from in-home water, gas,
and electrical systems so we can cut our utility bills right from the couch. Its time for all kinds of breakthroughs. Tacos
with Doritos shells are just the start.
Advertising Transformed: New Rules for the Digital Age. Chapter 2: The Advertising Ecosystem. By Fons Van
Dyck. 2014 (e-reserves)

T he world today, in particular the world of advertising, is becoming increasingly characterized by fragmentation. As time
passes, consumers are becoming more and more empowered and expect to assume a much more central role. At the same
time, the needs of these consumers are growing ever more diverse, so that ever greater market segmentation is necessary.
How are brands reacting to these evolutions? The shift towards segmented marketing is also being accelerated by the
rapid developments in information technology. With current IT applications, marketers are able to follow and meet the
needs of consumers more closely. 1 To deal effectively with this segmentation and to ensure that investments are made
efficiently, the need for a holistic approach to advertising is more urgent than ever before. This must go much further than
the integration of marketing communication. After all, consumers make little or no distinction between the different
sources of advertising. The messages from different media, such as television, magazines and online channels, are simply
merged in the consumers mind. Together with the messages projected by the different sales promotions, they are
compressed into a single total message about the brand or company.
Always in motion Within the framework of the international Advertising Research Foundation (ARF), in the winter of
2010 the so-called 360 Media and Marketing Super Council developed a theoretical model for an integrated media and
marketing approach. There is a consensus amongst the members of the council that there is no such thing as a static model
for integrated marketing communication. Instead, they prefer to speak of an always-in-motion ecosystem. This is a
circular model in which there is no starting point and no finishing point, so that all the different component circles or
spheres are of equal value and relevance. 2 The important thing about this model is that the human and not the
consumer is at its centre. This was a conscious decision by the council, intended as a signal to the industry that
consumption is only a part of peoples lives. According to the council, in modern marketing it is necessary for the industry
to react to the choices that consumers make and not the other way around. Nowadays, people are much more complex
than in the past, often filling a number of different roles in society. The same person might be a consumer, citizen,
employee or even a shareholder. He or she still wishes to satisfy his or her own needs as a consumer, but no longer at the
cost of everything else. Sustainability and social responsibility for people as citizens are becoming increasingly important
and an integrated approach needs to adopt a much more holistic view that takes due account of these matters. 3
Stakeholders and staff are also unquestionably assuming a position of increasing prominence, since both these roles are
crucial for translating the promises made by the brands advertising into hard practice. The ARF 360 model is an
always-in-motion ecosystem. It is a circular model in which all the different component spheres are of equal importance.
This means that there is no single starting point or finishing point: the model could be initiated from any of the spheres.
The human sphere is at the centre of the model. This is intended as a conscious signal to the industry, underlining the
fact that consumption is only a part of peoples lives. All aspects of the model touch this group. People can also set the
process in motion by seeking interaction with a category or brand.
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The central sphere: the human The individual person, the human being at whom the campaign is targeted, stands in a
central position, because all other parts of the model come into contact with this group. The person can also set the
process in motion himor herself, by seeking to interact with a category or brand. There are different elements that need to
be considered with regard to this central human sphere. A first element relates to the so-called descriptive
characteristics including demographic, psychographic and behavioural attributes which indicate who buys or could
buy the brand. Account also needs to be taken of peoples motives and psychological drivers which can be many and
varied and peoples different needs and wants, both within the categories and in relation to brands. There are also
cultural and environmental influences, which can have an impact on peoples values and how they evaluate experiences,
such as their exposure to media and advertising.
Similarly, the manner in which people process advertising is equally crucial, although there are currently several different
theories relating to this element. Moreover, the rapid growth of social and searchable media mean that peoples
engagement and involvement are becoming increasingly important, because in the different steps of the process each
individual decides exactly how much effort he or she wishes to invest. Advertisers can optimize their budgets if they can
gain greater insight into the levels of interaction and involvement that people want. Finally, there is the category context
surrounding the human, or the lens through which the marketers and advertisers need to examine each of the other
spheres, in order to better understand the way people make their decisions. For example, if the category is one where
people seek information, choosing a medium that is regarded as a credible source of accessible information is more
important than it would be for a category where people do not generally require information. The vehicle access and
information acquisition sphere The second sphere of the model vehicle access and information acquisition represents
the media mix that actually brings the campaign to the attention of the consumer; a mix that can include both traditional
and new media. Every combination of vehicles, but also each vehicle in itself, has both advantages and disadvantages.
Moreover, the range of media choices and options open to advertisers is now extremely complex. Within the media
sphere, there are once again several elements that need to be taken into consideration, since they each have the potential to
significantly influence the advertising campaign... First and foremost, the maximum size of the target audience needs to be
established. What is the total number of people that can be reached by each medium? The nature of the target audience
must also be assessed. Who will be using which medium and how can you ensure that every relevant group is covered?
Next, there is the pattern of media consumption, which analyses when, how often and for how long people use various
media. Once again, the involvement of the consumer during his or her exposure to the medium is another important
parameter. Finally, there is the capability and desirability of using certain types of media interactively (the push and pull
of information).
The campaign creative and scheduling sphere This sphere represents how a campaign is created and delivered to an
audience. It consists of two separate elements: the content of the advertising and how it is scheduled. Both elements have
the same impact on the effectiveness of any campaign. The content of the campaign can also be divided into four
dimensions, which will determine whether or not individual members of the public will react positively to the advertising
exposure. The first dimension is creative quality, which captures the essence of the advertising style and relates to the
feelings and evaluations that the advertising can induce in the target public. The second dimension is context, which is a
separate aspect of creative quality, expressing the extent to which the creative element is suitable for the environment in
which it is being used. Next, there is the quality of the branding in the execution. This relates to the ease with which the
audience can identify with the brand being advertised. Last but not least, there is also the quality of the message. Is the
message persuasive and relevant? Does it contain information that is useful to the recipient? It is against this background
that the rise of branded content or brand storytelling needs to be understood. In this way, brands can adjust to the
different contexts of their consumers by offering them tailor-made stories. The scheduling element of the advertising
likewise consists of a number of different variables that can impact the overall effectiveness of the advertising exposure.
The first and most obvious factor is the reach of the campaign. How many people will see or hear it? What will be the
added effect of word-of-mouth opportunities? Frequency is another important consideration. How often will people see or
hear the campaign in each medium and across media? How long will it take before the campaign has outlived its
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usefulness (wearout)? Recent research has also demonstrated the importance of the weight of the campaign and its ability
to capture a sufficiently large share of voice, since this has a key influence on both reach and frequency. Finally, the
dimensions of timing at what times of the day should the campaign be delivered and continuity should the campaign
be ongoing or phased must not be overlooked.
The campaign creative and scheduling sphere This sphere represents how a campaign is created and delivered to an
audience. It consists of two separate elements: the content of the advertising and how it is scheduled. Both elements have
the same impact on the effectiveness of any campaign. The content of the campaign can also be divided into four
dimensions, which will determine whether or not individual members of the public will react positively to the advertising
exposure. The first dimension is creative quality, which captures the essence of the advertising style and relates to the
feelings and evaluations that the advertising can induce in the target public. The second dimension is context, which is a
separate aspect of creative quality, expressing the extent to which the creative element is suitable for the environment in
which it is being used. Next, there is the quality of the branding in the execution. This relates to the ease with which the
audience can identify with the brand being advertised. Last but not least, there is also the quality of the message. Is the
message persuasive and relevant? Does it contain information that is useful to the recipient? It is against this background
that the rise of branded content or brand storytelling needs to be understood. In this way, brands can adjust to the
different contexts of their consumers by offering them tailor-made stories. The scheduling element of the advertising
likewise consists of a number of different variables that can impact the overall effectiveness of the advertising exposure.
The first and most obvious factor is the reach of the campaign. How many people will see or hear it? What will be the
added effect of word-of-mouth opportunities? Frequency is another important consideration. How often will people see or
hear the campaign in each medium and across media? How long will it take before the campaign has outlived its
usefulness (wearout)? Recent research has also demonstrated the importance of the weight of the campaign and its ability
to capture a sufficiently large share of voice, since this has a key influence on both reach and frequency. Finally, the
dimensions of timing at what times of the day should the campaign be delivered and continuity should the campaign
be ongoing or phased must not be overlooked.
it a new or habitual purchase? A familiar process may be more difficult to change than an irregular (or new) purchase. The
consumer reaction sphere The final sphere represents the behavioural response to be evoked. Ideally, this response should
lead to a purchase, at least according to the creators of the ARF model. But they also concede that the purpose of a
campaign might be to simply encourage people to move towards a purchase at some point in the future. In this context,
several different outcomes may be sought: Trial getting new users to buy the brand; Penetration increase
increasing the number of people who buy the brand during any time period; Loyalty persuading existing customers
to buy more, more often, and to remain customers; Accelerated use targeting existing customers to use the brand
more frequently, to reduce inter-purchase times; Word of mouth having people talk about or recommend the brand
to others; Website visitation encouraging people to go to a website for more information or as a step towards a
purchase; Joining an online community this can signal greater brand commitment. As mentioned previously, in a
perfect world every road leads to a purchase by the consumer, but a campaign may just as legitimately seek to persuade
the consumer to take certain measures within a specific sphere of the ecosystem. According to its instigators, the ARF
model can be used to describe the processes involved in developing and evaluating a campaign and can therefore function
as a touchstone for advertisers and agencies. The ARF Council regards its model as being both sufficiently inclusive and
sufficiently flexible, so that it can continue to respond, chameleon-like, to the non-stop evolutions of our ever-changing
world.
AIDA and ADIA: the best of both worlds The purpose of advertising continues to be the influencing of consumer
behaviour in a particular direction. In addition to activating the consumer in this manner, it also seeks to bind him or her
to the advertising brand. Here, too, an evolution towards a more holistic approach is becoming increasingly apparent. As
early as 1898 the famous US advertising pioneer Elias St Elmo Lewis, developed his AIDA model. AIDA is based on a
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hierarchy of effects and describes the processes that a consumer undergoes when he or she is motivated to make a
purchase by external stimuli. 4 This traditional model involves a sequence of four successive steps, whose initial letters
form the AIDA acronym: 1 2 Awareness : the objective is to use advertising to draw the attention of potential customers
to a particular product or service. The more familiar a brand is, the more likely it will feature prominently in the
consumers mental shortlist of options. Interest : once the prospects attention has been attracted to the brand, his or her
interest needs to be stimulated by offering him or her the promise of an added value. In this way, the prospect knows what
he or she has to pay and what he or she will get in return. The aim is to create a positive brand attitude. 3 Desire : now that
the prospect is interested, this next step seeks to cement his or her commitment by answering the inherent questions posed
by all consumers: Is this what I want, is this what I need? If the consumer can answer yes to both these questions, he or
she will be prepared to make a purchase. 4 Action : once the desire for the product or service has been generated, the
prospect is ready to take action. A hard-to-refuse promotional offer can often help to make up the mind of any purchasers
who may still doubt. The aim of the brand is to secure a purchase now not later. This conventional and, according to
some pundits, outdated marketing approach is based on a hierarchy of objectives and effects. The AIDA model focuses
in particular on the large group of light buyers (see Chapter 1) and is intended, as mentioned previously, to persuade the
consumer to make an immediate purchase.
How H&M launched a strong and integrated campaign Advertising time during the US Super Bowl is probably the most
coveted advertising time in the world. Each year the worlds largest brands queue up to invest huge amounts of money
and energy in these highly desirable advertising spots. In 2012 the clothing chain H&M took out one of the spots for the
very first time. Half the viewers of the Super Bowl are women, but very few advertisers target this group during what is
traditionally perceived as a male event. H&M saw things differently they decided to show a 30-second commercial
that consisted of little more than David Beckham wearing a pair of boxer shorts. It was a triumph. H&Ms first Super
Bowl spot resulted in more than 2 million impressions within a month. The sale of the David Beckham line trebled and
the standard H&M mens line also received a healthy boost in the two weeks following the game. So how did H&M
achieve this success? 1 2 By integrating all channels (print, outdoor, online, television, etc) to project the same message
via a phased approach: first teasers in print and posters, then online via YouTube, and finally the spot on television during
the game. 3 By daring to move out of their comfort zone and look beyond classic categories and traditional thinking. For
example, H&M also put adverts for women in well-known sports magazines, such as Sports International. By using the
right people for the right job, even if this meant new and additional recruitment. H&M had the foresight to set up a social
team, which at key moments in the campaign and during the Super Bowl itself monitored all relevant online pages and
interacted with the most important influencers. 4 By ensuring that the entire company was on board and fully committed
to the project. In other words: by achieving integration at an organizational level. H&M is an international brand, which
meant that all its relevant partners and shops around the world needed to be kept informed of what was happening, so that
there would be sufficient stocks available if the advert achieved its desired effect. 5 Sex sometimes sells, especially if it is
linked to celebrities!
In his book Flip the Funnel the influential marketing consultant Joseph Jaffe (2010) put forward an alternative model to
AIDA, a model that is based more fundamentally on the use of existing customers than on traditional advertising. These
customers are rewarded and empowered because of their willingness to talk about brands, which in turn attracts new
customers. 5 According to Jaffe, the move in the direction of an integrated approach is characterized by a shift away from
the classic AIDA model and towards the alternative ADIA model. The hierarchy of objectives and desired effects is no
longer the same as in the past, so that the traditional marketing model now needs to be reversed. The purpose of this
inverted model is no longer to encourage the customers to make a single purchase, but is instead more closely focused on
increasing levels of customer retention. With this aim in mind, the ADIA model seeks to achieve the following effects,
which do not necessarily need to follow each other in a linear manner: Acknowledgement : in this first step existing
customers are acknowledged and thanked for their loyalty. Strong emphasis is placed on their importance for the company
and the brand. This can be achieved with a simple thank-you letter, an e-mail, an informative message accompanying the
dispatch confirmation for a new order, the notification of a price reduction, etc. Alternatively, it is possible to use a polite,
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non-intrusive telephone call, just to check that the customer is still not experiencing problems with the brand. The purpose
of this first step is to build up a strong bond with existing customers. Dialogue : the relationship between the
customer and the company must not become faceless. On the contrary, there must be constant communication in both
directions. Nowadays, it is impossible to confine all conversations about a brand to the company and the customer.
Customers will inevitably talk to each other. This dialogue might not always be complimentary, and will sometimes
include complaints, concerns, challenges, etc. To activate and participate in a positive dialogue, the brand needs to make
the necessary social platforms available to its customers. In short, it needs to create digital communities, where customers
and prospects can come into contact with each other. Once the communities have been set up and
the dialogue has commenced, the brand must also be sufficiently proactive in its approach, participating in conversations
when useful or necessary. It is not enough to encourage existing customers to engage in more conversations; the company
must also listen, answer and offer new stimuli. This requires the striking of the right balance between smart, modern
technology and the human touch. Incentivization : loyal customers must be recognized and rewarded for their
repurchases and their influence on the purchases of others. This is where traditional loyalty programmes show their
limitations. Customers must be segmented on the basis of what they do for the brand, and they must be rewarded both
functionally and emotionally. For this reason, this model requires less investment in traditional mass advertising but
greater investment in the individual people who talk about the brand: the so-called influencers. It is crucial to create a
strong customer experience for these people, since this in turn creates a win-win situation for all concerned: the new
customer receives benefits; the influencer also receives benefits and the marketer receives new business. Activation :
in this last step resources are mobilized to activate the collective potential of the mass of consumers. This involves an
authentic collaboration between the brand and the customers to build and expand a living community. If this is managed
properly, the result will be a customer-centric ecosystem that thrives on loyalty and word-of-mouth advertising. Sales will
automatically follow. In other words at least, according to Joseph Jaffe retention is the new acquisition. In this respect,
he concurs with the believers in the NPS strategy (see Chapter 1). Customers must become fans, ambassadors who share
positive experiences and positive stories about the brand with other consumers. Word-of-mouth advertising is stimulated
by making it as easy as possible for them to talk about the brand. AIDA and ADIA are complementary models In this
sense, the ADIA model concentrates on heavy buyers and is a modern form of loyalty programme, which has been
strengthened in recent times by the growth of social media. These media are the perfect tool for brands to identify and
interact with their most profitable customers.
As has been well documented, the debates about the relative merits (and demerits) of AIDA and ADIA are frequently
fierce and uncompromising. It also needs to be questioned whether or not the processes for influencing consumer
behaviour can be reduced to simple schedules of this kind. Nevertheless, in the final analysis the two models are not
actually contradictory. On the contrary, they are complementary. Nowadays, the classic media brands are also starting to
focus more heavily on the build-up and maintenance of a relationship of trust with their consumers. The rise of social and
other online media make the integration between marketing and communication more necessary than ever before. It is our
conviction that this integration should be strengthened first and foremost in terms of content based on a single strategy and
an acquisitive creative concept. At the level of exploiting channels and resources, advertising still fulfils a central role in
the impactful (large reach) positioning of the brand and guarantees its consistent performance over a longer period. It also
ensures the realization of previously set objectives, particularly as far as the group of light buyers is concerned. Research
carried out by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) in the United Kingdom into the most successful
advertising campaigns has shown that a penetration strategy, aimed at the acquisition of new customers, is significantly
more profitable than a so-called loyalty strategy. A loyalty strategy only becomes more profitable if it succeeds in
acquiring new customers as well; in other words, when loyal customers also recruit new customers. But it then becomes a
penetration strategy by default. Expressed differently, this means that the best loyalty strategy is a penetration strategy
targeted at light buyers (see Chapter 1). 6 Thresholds Today, however, a truly integrated approach is still more the
exception than the rule. The majority of companies, brands and advertising agencies still get no further than the
integration of the different channels. Thinking and acting consistently in terms of an advertising ecosystem is not an easy
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process and there are many obstacles confronting the advertisers and agencies that wish to try. 7 The largest of these
obstacles is found at the organizational level. The different departments in a company sharply define and defend their own
territories, so that cross-disciplinary and cross-functional activities are hampered. Inter-departmental cultural differences
and a lack of flexibility are the main
stumbling blocks. Moreover, in the modern business world, expertise is often spread across several divisions: for instance,
public relations is a very different specialization from advertising, and sales has very little in common with marketing.
There are too few people with experience in all the marketing communication disciplines. On the other side of the coin,
integration can also act as a break on creativity. Ideas and concepts must fit into the broader picture painted by the single
overarching strategy. This requires strong coordination and control. Time can also be a complicating factor, since the
different resources do not always follow the same timeline. Classic media are more suitable for longterm image
campaigns, whereas sales promotions are more focused on the short term. Yet having said all this, the brands that can
successfully achieve an integrated approach within an advertising ecosystem will certainly reap signi- ficant rewards.
Integration does not have to mean stifling uniformity. It is more a matter of creating unity in diversity. This is the only
way for a message to provide the right answers to the questions posed by a fragmented market and volatile consumers.
Thinking and acting within the context of an advertising ecosystem can also yield a number of competitive advantages. It
not only stimulates sales and profits, but also saves time, money and effort. The relevant partners no longer need to
duplicate each others work in isolation, but instead can share their knowledge and resources across the different
disciplines. Integration leads to greater consistency, increased efficiency and bigger impact. However, a recent study
conducted by researchers of the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute, together with researchers of the FMCG global brand Mars,
revealed that the sales effects of mixed media exposure (online and television) might not indicate the presence of a
synergy in sales impact. When an online campaign is added to the typical TV campaign, much of the extra reach is
duplicated and could, according to the researchers, therefore be regarded as frequency across media. Higher frequency
however, typically brings extra sales with diminishing returns. Online exposure often shows a sales response, but not
consistently either. Further research is clearly still needed, though: as crossmedia campaigns are becoming the norm, there
is still a lack of knowledge on the sales impact and with many a marketer waiting for clarification.
From Positioning to Framing. By David Aaker.
P ositioning your brand represents the short-term
communication objectives, what it is you want
to communicate, enhance or reinforce about
your current brand. It is about your brand and how it
diff ers from and is better than other brands. Jaguar is
diff erentiated, in part, around design. dove provides
moisturizing. 3M off ers innovation. Whole Foods
Market has sustainable seafood. Framing has a
bigger agenda.
Framing really does two things. First,
it defi nes a subcategory (or sometimes
a category) and in doing so, it oft en
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suggests why that subcategory should be

preferred over others. So Jaguar defi nes
a subcategory of cars with superior
design, Dove a subcategory of products
that deliver moisturizing and so on. Th e
defi ning characteristic is put forward as
a must have so that to be relevant, a
competitor brand needs to have an answer
to the must have. A brand is selected not
because it is preferred, but because the
subcategory is preferred and it is the most
relevant (or the only relevant) brand in the
subcategory.
Second, framing shapes the choice
discussion, providing a perspective and
vocabulary. A car brand competing with
Jaguar will have to explain that it has
parity or superiority in design, or why
that design should not be a deciding
factor, because the frame has elevated
design to provide the initial perspective
about consumers choices within the
subcategory. It will not be possible to
ignore the framing structure because it is
bigger than the brand. Framing a choice
discussion was most clearly articulated
by George Lakoff , an academic linguist
from UC Berkeley, in the delightful
Page 38 of 133

book Dont Th ink of an Elephant. Lakoff ,

whose primary turf is political thinking,
argues that Republicans are geniuses at
framing and, as a result, win most of the
arguments, while Democrats still think
that rational thinking will carry the day.
Republicans have framed discussions
with terms like death taxes, partial-birth
abortion, mandates and tax relief. When
their frame is acceptedDo you support
death taxes or not?the argument is over.
Th e concept of framing, and of
supporting metaphors and vocabulary, is a
key to branding. Get the framing right and
the brand will thrive. Frames matter, and
theres plenty of research to back that up.
In general, attributes that are portrayed
positively have a greater impact than
the same attributes portrayed negatively.
People prefer 75% lean to 25% fat, as Irwin
P. Levin and Gary J. Gaeth found in How
Consumers Are Aff ected by Framing of
Attribute Information Before and Aft er
Consuming the Product, published in
the Journal of Consumer Research. A fi rm
that is framed as nonprofi t because of
a .org domain name will be perceived
as more caring but less competent than
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a fi rm with a .com suffi x, as Jennifer

Aaker, Kathleen D. Vohs and Cassie
Mogilner found in Non-Profi ts Are Seen
as Warm and For-Profi ts as Competent:
Firm Stereotypes Matter, published in the
Journal of Consumer Research. A premium
beer with some balsamic vinegar added is
preferred unless the product is reframed as
beer with vinegar added, according to Dan
Arielys book Predictably Irrational. A wine
that was purported to be from California
rather than North Dakota not only was
preferred, but also caused users to linger
over a meal, reports Brian Wansick in the
book Mindless Eating. It matters whether
you are buying an energy bar for athletes,
for offi ce workers or for women, or a
nutrition bar, a breakfast bar, a protein bar
or a diet bar.
Kraft s DiGiorno introduced a rising
crust pizza, the fi rst frozen pizza without
a precooked crust, and reframed the frozen
pizza category to include delivered pizza.
With the tagline, Its not delivery. Its
DiGiorno, the brand was a market success.
In the reframed category, instead of being
a premium-priced frozen pizza, DiGiorno
now had a decided price advantage by
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being oft en half the price of delivered pizza.

Further, its quality was now suggested to be
comparable to delivered pizza.
Framing, it turns out, can aff ect how
a person perceives, talks about, develops
attitudes toward, and, ultimately, buys and
uses an offering. Framing matters because it
influences thinking, perceptions, attitudes
and behavior. The same information will be
processed or not processed, be distorted or
not distorted, affect attitudes and behavior
or not affect attitudes and behavior,
depending on the frame.
There is an illusion prevalent in
organizations that customers are rational
and seek out relevant information, establish
clear objectives, weight functional benefits
heavily and make logical decisions. Such
a model of the world matches our instinct
that the winning strategy is to develop and
communicate logical, functional benefits.
But, unfortunately, this model is wrong.
Even if they had the motivation and the
time, customers lack credible information,
memory capacity, computational ability,
and often even sufficient knowledge about a
product area to obtain relevant information
and use it to optimize decision making.
As a result, they rely on information cues
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teed up by the framing strategy. A frame,

by influencing the dialogue surrounding a
product or service, can trump logic, even
for those who are informed.
Which Frame Wins
So which frame will win, will be the
dominant influence of the perspective
of the category or subcategory? The
most appropriate one should win and
sometimes does. However, in many
cases, your frames ability to win will be
governed by three other considerations.
First, find the right label or metaphor
to describe the frame. It needs to be on
target and very descriptive. It helps if it
is a meaningful metaphor that will add
vividness, memorability and texture.
The good hands of Allstate and the
good neighbor of State Farm provide
visual metaphors that serve to frame a
subcategory.
A tagline that gets traction can
define a category or subcategory frame.
Consider some classics like A diamond
is forever that reframes diamonds from
their functional benefits like sparkles to
a symbol of long-term love; or Melts in
your mouth, not in your hand that served
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to define a subcategory for which other

chocolates were not relevant; or We try
harder that frames car rental agencies
in terms of customer service rather than
price and cars.
Second, be persistent and disciplined.
Always use the label of metaphor and
never deviate. Make it so pervasive that
competitors also will use it. That is when
you know you have won.
Third, become the subcategory
exemplar, the brand that represents the
subcategory. With the exemplar status, the
firm can control and evolve the frame, and
competitors will be on the defensive.
When building a brand, instead of
arguing about the superiority of the brand,
consider framing a subcategory based
on one or more must haves and then
shaping the discussion so that competitors
arguments are not even relevant. Framing
can affect perceptions, attitudes and
behavior no matter what the logic and
evidence might say. Strong frames or
perspectives smother and distort rational
information processing.
How To Make Your Brand Iconic. By Dorie Clarke.

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In the early days of mass advertising, companies would exploit customer anxiety: is my breath
fresh? Are my shirts white enough? Will I look unsophisticated if I dont own an X, Y, or Z?
There was a drift toward an inadequacy approach, says Jonah Sachs, co-founder of Free
Range Studios and author of Winning the Story Wars: Why Those Who Tell (and Live) the Best
Stories Will Rule the Future. There was an assumption designed in the 1940s by the titans of
advertising that that fear, greed, lust, and the need to fit in were the only universal values, and
things swung very far in that direction.
But with the rise of media options, from cable TV to the Internet, consumers finally had a
choice and theyve largely given inadequacy marketing the heave-ho. People are more
likely to share stories that make them feel good and motivated. Theres a swing back to a
desire for empowering stories, he says, which echoes many of the principles Joseph Campbell
espoused in his classic The Hero with a Thousand Faces: Campbell said the most dominant
story form in oral tradition was the soaring myths of society that you can contribute
something more.
Why have companies like Apple AAPL +0.28% or Nike broken through to become iconic?
Sachs believes its because their messaging isnt about how great their companies are. Instead,
its about the greatness inside you, the customer. Just as in legendary myths, says Sachs, You
have this person, this outsider, and theyre frustrated because they dont know what to do next.
Then they meet this person who tells them more is possible in their lives. Whether its Luke
Skywalker meeting Obi Wan Kenobi, Moses meeting God, or Neo meeting Morpheus, when a
hero meets a mentor, powerful things happen. The trick, says Sachs, is that many brands
assume theyre the hero of the story. Theyre not. Theyre the mentor, helping the hero
customers become empowered to do something different.
Of course, the more companies adopt empowerment marketing, the less unique and effective
it will become. Thats why Sachs says the next frontier is authenticity: Its a race to see who
lives out their values the best, he says. After all, in the Internet era, the more you become
successful with inauthentic stories, the more likely youll be a target, says Sachs. It doesnt
take everybody recognizing youre not living your truth. It takes 10 people who are
motivated.
But that doesnt mean the future of branding is only about social consciousness. Its not a call
to make all marketing holier-than-thou, he says. We still have to figure out what makes us
creatively exciting and unique, as Apple did with their distinctive design, embodied both in

Page 44 of 133

their products and advertising. Theres room for humor, for aesthetics, for joy. But the key is
not to start with yourself as the hero. Start with the audience as the hero.
What do you think makes a brand iconic? What are your favorite examples?
Dorie Clark is CEO of Clark Strategic Communications and the author of the
forthcoming Reinventing You: Define Your Brand, Imagine Your
Future(Harvard Business Review Press, 2013). She is a strategy consultant who has worked
with clients including Google GOOG -0.02%, Yale University, and the Ford Foundation.
Listen to her podcasts or follow her on Twitter.

Can Consumers Really Have Love Relationships with Brands? Marketing News. By John Dawes. 2013.
No chance
Feeling the Brand Love. By Doug Grisaffe. Marketing News. 2014
In the December 2013 issue of Marketing News,
John Dawes authored a thought-provoking
article titled, Can Consumers Really Have Love
Relationships With Brands? (I Think Not). Dawes
encapsulates his thesis as follows: Everyday
experience tells us that there are too many brands,
and too little time, to develop relationships, brand
love or brand attachment to an extent thats worth
talking aboutor strategizing for. He says that
marketers should stop planning their marketing
efforts around fostering connections with brand
lovers because if they exist at all, [they] are among
a tiny minority.
Id like to offer a respectful counterpoint.
Consumers do have love relationships
with brands, and this is not a rare or
Page 45 of 133

isolated phenomenon. To substantiate

this claim, first lets go right to the
voice of the customer. The following
BMW enthusiast, for example, testifies
to an affective bond deeper than mere
utilitarian, functional satisfaction with
the brand:
BMW motorcycles are a world (and
a brand) apart. And so much more
than a brand. It is a lifestyle, a way of
living, a way of defining myself and
the world around me. When I am on
my R 1150 GS, traveling through the
wild and wonderful corners of Africa,
this incredible machine becomes
my survival kit. And after hundreds
of thousands of kilometers, the kit
becomes comrade, and the bond
becomes emotional. The uniqueness
of the BMW is that it is a motorcycle for the wild. It turns me, an ordinary
man, into an explorer, a pioneer, a
Lone Ranger. It makes me more than
I am.
This quote comes from Lovemarks:
The Future Beyond Brands, by Kevin
Roberts, Worldwide CEO of Saatchi
and Saatchi. Roberts is convinced that
consumers can and do have strong
Page 46 of 133

attachment/love relationships with

brands. Based on his firms work with
more than 60 of the top 100 worldwide
advertisers, and more than half of the top
50 most valuable global brands, Roberts
argues that the only hope for the future
of branding is to build intense, emotional
brand love.
Additional anecdotal evidence can be
found in the research that I conducted
with Hieu Nguyen, assistant professor of
marketing at California State University,
Long Beach. The resulting research
article, Antecedents of Emotional Attachment to Brands, was published
in the Journal of Business Research and
includes the following quotes from
survey respondents:
I am deeply attached to Pillsbury
products. I only use those for baking
products mostly because, as I was
growing up, this is what my mother
used to use. Therefore, I feel safe
with this product and am sure of the
result. I have been using it ever since I
started baking.
Budweiser beer products. I am
emotionally attached, I think, because
I always remember shooting pool with
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my dad and drinking Budweiser when

I was growing up. I have been buying it
for about 20 years.
My favorite brand is Campbells Soup.
I have purchased this brand and used
it my whole life. My Campbells Soup
goes back to early childhood and fond
memories of family, and home ties and
traditions, and my dear old mother. Whatever the particular pathways,
we noted a deep, underlying consumer
psychology that transcends the branded
object, itself. Many brands carry symbolic
and personal meaning that connect with
a persons actual, desired or socially
projected identity. As such, brands
extend the self and become powerfully linked to their users psyches at deeply
emotional levels, as noted in research
such as Possessions and the Extended
Self from the Journal of Consumer
Research. Humans, aft er all, are not merely
rational, functional beings. Emotions
are fundamental to who we are. Objects,
possessions and, yes, brands oft en engage
our emotions in ways that bind us to these
inanimate targets.
Consider heirlooms, souvenirs,
gift s, special locations, celebrities or
sports teams. Th ese can become imbued
Page 48 of 133

with personal meaning, memories and

feelings that transcend the object, itself.
Th ey become vessels of psychological
and emotional content that create strong
emotional ties between a person and the
object. Deep attachment bonds form.
Known psychological processes underlie
this attachment formation, and academic
researchincluding Th e Ties that Bind:
Measuring the Strength of Consumers
Emotional Attachments to Brands from
the Journal of Consumer Psychology
shows that similar phenomena occur
with brands.
Th is leads to my second point:
We should not discount substantial
published research supporting emotional
brand attachments. Extensive theoretical
and empirical works have passed the
peer-review process in top marketing
journals to present hard evidence in
favor of emotional brand connections.
For example, decades of scholarly
works, from Jacob Jacoby and Robert W.
Chestnuts Brand Loyalty: Measurement
and Management to Richard Olivers
Whence Consumer Loyalty in the
Journal of Marketing, hold that strong
Page 49 of 133

underlying aff ective/emotional bonds are

essential to realizing true brand loyalty,
not mere repeat purchase.
If emotional brand bonds dont
really exist, this literature is moot, and
all applied corporate eff orts to garner
true customer loyalty are in vain. More
could be written about the bonded nature
of true loyalty, about companies that
are able to earn this kind of loyalty
with their customers and about the
axiomatically accepted fi nancial benefi ts
of retention resulting from such earned
true loyalty, but space does not permit.
Additionally, marketing scholars at
prestigious business schools have
provided scientifi c evidence for the
reality of concepts such as the brand-self
connection, brand love and emotional
attachment to brands. Th e case for brand
bonding therefore is evidence-based, not
merely opinion.
Perhaps for some people, there is
little in the way of brand attachment,
brand love or brand relationship, but
there certainly is a signifi cant amount
of evidence that, for other consumers,
brand love exists. Dawes thinks that its
Page 50 of 133

necessary to focus on those customers

who dont love brands, but I believe that
its important to acknowledge those who
do. As the companies in question likely
would argue, theres signifi cant marketing
value in establishing and targeting lovers
of Nike, Under Armour, Apple, Trader
Joes, Chik-fi l-A, Coca-Colaor your own
brand. Th e received wisdom of marketing
is defensible: Create customers who
love the brand. Does someone out there
love you?
Fashion Brand Personality and Advertisement Response. By Hye-Shin Kim. Fashion Branding and Consumer
Behaviors.
The way in which brands embody symbolic meaning for consumers, as well as the way it is individually received and
processed, offers a critical point of brand differentiation in todays competitive environment. One such method for
communicating symbolic meaning is through brand personality. A strong recognizable brand personality is critical to
establishing brand equity as personality traits offer assets that consumers value. Effective communication of brand
personality in advertising allows marketers to grab consumers attention, create market differentiation, build consumer
attachment to brands, and foster brand loyalty. This is especially relevant for the fashion industry. In order to capture
consumer attention and secure subsequent adoption, fashion brands use advertising to prompt an emotional response and
garner a personal connection ultimately differentiating a brand from its competitors. This chapter examines fashion brand
personality from a symbolic interactionist perspective. Fashion brand meaning originates from the marketing environment
mainly through the vehicle of advertising. This meaning is then subject to negotiation, as is explained within the context
of the symbolic interaction theory. The chapter begins with an overview of symbolic interaction within the context of
fashion consumption, followed by a discussion of how symbolic meanings have been instilled in products by marketers to
create brand personalities in fashion brands. Consumers choice of brands based on brand personality are explored noting
the importance of the evolving nature of fashion brand meaning. Propositions are offered as they apply to fashion
branding and advertising.
Keywords
Fashion Brand personality Advertisement Symbolic interaction Brand meaning
1 Introduction
Brad Pitt appears in a black and white commercial wearing an untucked casual shirt with the top buttons open. He has an
unrefined look with hair to the shoulders and facial hair. He says quietly, Its not a journey. Every journey ends, but we
go onDreams take over. But wherever I go, there you aremy luck, my fate, my fortuneChanel No. 5 (an image of
the perfume bottle fades in). A full screen shot of the actor flashes back again and he says Inevitable.
Premiering the first male spokesman for the luxury perfume brand, the Chanel No. 5 commercial went viral with millions
of people viewing the commercial on YouTube (There you are, 2012). When aired, it was one of the most talked about
commercials in the media with most people wondering about its ambiguous message and others poking fun at it. Whether
consumers are left pondering about the intent of the commercial or are pleased to see the sex appeal of the popular actor,
the commercial has successfully generated a lot of buzz and captured much media attention.
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Fashion brands are laden with intangible attributes in which consumers use to express preference. Apart from its
functional attributes, advertisements for fashion brands are engineered to trigger a personal response where emotional
appeal and personal connections differentiate brands from competitors. The stylistic design and creative marketing
strategies position each brand to appeal to consumers in specific ways. How each brand embodies symbolic meanings to
consumers and the way it is received and processed by consumers offer a point of brand differentiation in todays
competitive environment . Symbolic products differ in brand personality meaning over utilitarian products, in part due to
the affective versus cognitive needs fulfilled by consumption (Ang and Lim 2006) . Consumers are influenced not only by
the function or quality of the product or brand, but more importantly by the symbolic meanings associated with the brands
(Veryzer 1995) . In particular, fashion products are commonly highlighted as symbolic products (e.g., Aaker 1997; Ang
and Lim 2006) .
Through the years, brand personality has been noted as an important variable in building strong brands (e.g., Aaker 1997;
Keller 2013) . Brand personality is defined as the set of human characteristics associated with a brand (Aaker 1997,
p. 347) . Aaker (1997) notes that the dynamics of brand personalities do not necessarily correspond to human personalities
and that different dimensions of brand personality must be examined independently. A widely noted study in the
marketing literature is a study by Aaker (1997) which conceptualized the symbolic uses of brands and developed a
generalizable scale to measure brand personality. Based on human personality research, the five dimensions and
corresponding subdimensions derived by Aaker (1997) are sincerity (down-to-earth, honest, wholesome, and cheerful),
excitement (daring, spirited, imaginative, up-to-date), competence (reliable, intelligent, successful), sophistication (upper
class, charming), and ruggedness (outdoorsy, charming). Using Aakers scale (1997) , Kim (2000) found consumers to
have positive attitudes toward apparel brands high in the competence brand personality dimension . Kim (2000) notes
that in addition to the image promoted for the brand, product attributes such as apparel product category, apparel line style
characteristics, and target market are related to specific brand personality dimensions. For example, when compared to
other brands, Victoria Secret ranked high in brand personality dimension exciting, Nike was ranked high in rugged,
and JC Penney was ranked high in sincere. Although some brand personality dimensions (e.g., sincerity, excitement,
competence) may be universal human traits in which consumers can universally relate, advertisers can focus on other
personality traits (e.g., sophistication, ruggedness) which may tap into the aspirational image of the consumer
(Aaker 1997) . It is fair to note that Aakers (1997) trait-based approach to explaining brand personality has been critiqued
by several scholars. A fundamental limitation to a trait-based approach is that trait-based scales are useful in describing
attributes most commonly seen among people but does not cover unique attributes (Batra et al., n.d.; Lee and Rhee 2008;
Romaniuk and Ebrenberg 2012) .
Through consumer experience or marketing activities, consumers may assign brands personality traits which are reflective
of human values. Consumers use the personalities associated with particular brands for self-expression. The brands may
support various dimensions of the consumers self, ranging from a realistic aspect of oneself to an ideal self (Belk 1988;
Klein et al. 1993; Malhotra 1988) . Consumers imbue brands with human personality traits and consider brands as
celebrities or famous figures (Rook 1985) . Consumers are able to develop preference for the brand based on how they
personally relate to the brand. The greater consumers perceive the similarity of the brand to their selves (actual and ideal),
the greater the preference for the brand (Malhotra 1988; Sirgy 1982) . Brand personality serves as a symbolic or selfexpressive function compared to product-related attributes (Aaker 1997) .
Unlike human personality traits, brand personality traits are formed through various exposures and experiences a
consumer has with the brand (Plummer 1985) . As such, perceptions of brand personality can be influenced by any direct
or indirect contact the consumer has with the brand. For example, brand personality can be formed by personality
impressions created by people who use the brand or the brands endorsers. Also, brand personality can be based on a
variety of factors related to the product, marketing and communications strategy, distribution and pricing, publicity within
the media, etc. In addition to personality traits, demographic traits are commonly associated with brands which can be
associated with consumers who use the brand (Levy 1959) . For example, upscale department stores such as Saks Fifth
Avenue or Bloomingdales can be associated with the upper class whereas mass merchandisers or discounter such as
Kmart or Walmart may be considered as blue collar (Aaker 1997) .
Building brand personality is important in marketing because brand personality can be equated to the public identification
of the brand which can lead to strong brand loyalty by consumers (Marconi 2000) . According to Khan (2010) , brand
personality is a well-recognized contemporary marketing tool because the concept of personality reflects the importance
of relationships in society. Belongingness, love, and esteem are basic consumer needs central to personal relationships
(Khan 2010) . Companies use creative ways to communicate brand personalities as a means to influence consumers
evaluation of the product or brand bringing personal relevance to the consumer. As a communication tool, advertisements
carry an important role in imbuing brands with personality traits. As such, the use of brand personality in product
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advertising allows marketers to create market differentiation, build consumer attachment to brands (Biel 1993) , and foster
brand loyalty (Fournier 1998) .
An interesting aspect of brand personality is that there is a more dynamic and fluid aspect of its image compared to the
relative stability of human personalities. This is a key distinction for the fashion industry, since for most fashion brands,
success is determined by whether the brand can change with the customer and create fresh product offerings, often
resulting in changes in impressions. As even classic brands need to change their strategic direction and modernize their
image, brands cycle through different personas through the years. Consumers have to renegotiate their associative
perceptions of a brand, based on past product experience, in concert with any new marketing or advertising direction
being undertaken.
The symbolic interaction theory can be used to explain this process of negotiating meaning within the social context.
Ligas and Cotte (1999) incorporates this theory through the identification of the three environments marketing
environment, individual environment, and social environmentthat interact in the development of brand meanings (see
Fig. 3.1). The three environment framework offers an explanation of how meanings in one environment influence the
receptivity and negotiation of meanings in another environment with each environment having a potentially impactful role
in the development of brand meaning. Ligas and Cottes (1999) three environment framework holistically brings together
two dominant ways of understanding how brand meaning is understood by consumers. First, marketers are viewed as
creators of symbolic meaning for a product or brand and contextualize it into a culturally constituted world
(McCracken 1986) . The brand acquires a stable meaning and consumers accept the meaning associated with the product
or brand and develops preferences based on how the brand is compatible with their self-identity, personality, or values
(e.g., Aaker 1997; Fournier 1998; Holt 1997; Kleine et al. 1993; Kleine et al. 1995) . Second, consumers are considered to
be more participatory in the brand building process by adapting the meanings based on personal situation and relevance,
resulting in individual consumers possessing varied meanings associated with the brands. Consumers understand and
develop preferences for the brand based on shared meaning that occurs within the context of the individuals social
situation and self (Holt 1997; Scott 1994; Thompson and Haytko 1997) .

Fig. 3.1
Ligas and Cottes (1999) framework for brand negotiation (p. 611)
Based on Ligas and Cottes (1999) framework for understanding how brand meaning is generated, this chapter examines
how fashion brand personality can be created by marketers, but only accepted and adapted by consumers based on a
combination of strategic creative advertising and consumers acceptance of brand meaning. The chapter is organized in
the following way: first, the chapter presents an overview of symbolic interaction within the context of fashion
consumption. Second, the chapter discusses how symbolic meanings have been instilled in products by marketers to create
brand personalities in fashion brands. Third, how consumers choose brands based on brand personality and symbolic
meanings incorporated in the brands are discussed. Fourth, based on symbolic interactionism, our discussion focuses on
how consumers negotiate and change brand meaning (and brand personality). Throughout the section, propositions are
presented that apply to fashion brands. Development of these propositions is supported by academic literature that has
strongly influenced the advancement of knowledge in the related areas of brand personality and advertisement . A
summary and directions for future research are offered.
2 Symbolic Interaction, Fashion, and Brand Meanings
The symbolic interaction theory originates in sociology and is found on the understanding that people interact with one
another based on shared meanings. These meanings take the form of physical objects that symbolize sociological,
psychological, and cultural constructs. Clothing behavior has long been linked to expressions of self and interpretation
based on shared meanings (e.g., Kaiser 1997) . As Eicher and Roach-Higgins (1992) define dress as an assemblage of
body modifications and/or supplements displayed by a person in communicating with other human beings (p. 5), fashion
products and brands serve as a vehicle or tool for communication and shared meanings within the social environment .
Fashion brands, as symbolic media of expression for consumers, can be used to explain the underlying principle of the
symbolic interaction theory: that fashion and its brands are a mode of communication grounded in social context and
informed meaning.
Along with fulfilling the utilitarian and aesthetic needs of the individual wearer, fashion brands express the social
psychology of the individual, and thus communicate individual identity, values, personality, and normative influence
(Orth and Kahle 2008) . Individuals express aspects of the self through brand decisions which is a part of how consumers
manage their appearance. Self-concept can be conceptualized as an organization (structure) of various identities and
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attributes, and their evaluations, developed out of the individuals reflexive, social and symbolic activities (Lee 1990,
p. 389). In addition to communicating aspects of the self, individuals can manipulate brands (and styles) in creative ways
to present the self. Fashion brands as inherent tools in appearance management and self-expression offer ways for
consumers to communicate information salient to his/her identity, or to assert a constructed self.
Although brand meanings may originate creatively from the marketer, a social process must exist where the meanings
conveyed through consumer usage are socially constructed and mutually defined. According to Ligas and Cotte (1999) ,
The way in which the marketer constructs a brand and presents it to a specific consuming segment will be less effective
if various perspectives exist for what the brand stands for or means (p. 609). Within a fashion context, brand cues are not
only used to express ones identity and preferences but also to interpret characteristics and qualities about others. Social
interaction can be stimulated by appearance perception laden with brand cues invested with brand symbolisms. But note
that the visual communication intended by the individual can either be in alignment or conflict with the meaning
communicated to the perceiver and thus a socially constructed meaning (also referred to as negotiated meaning) is
required.
In contemporary society, what you wear is not a simple communication tool between the wearer and the perceiver. In
the form of fashion, dress is rife with culturally defined meanings. These meanings are partially informed by the
marketing environment , subject to the capitalist motivations of consumer adoption. Marketers use advertising to engage
consumers, both as individuals and as a social group. In this way, consumers are in an active relationship with brands to
communicate information salient to the individual identity. Advertising media can directly or indirectly impact the
ascribed meaning of fashion styles. Thus, marketers can cause flux in the social environment as to the latent appearance
cues of fashion. These changes are inherent to the fashion system; a system based on evolving aesthetics and ultimately
evolving shared meanings. This cycle defines the ongoing reinterpretation of brand meanings and the multiple influences
for informing negotiated meanings.
3 Building Fashion Brand Personality via Advertisements
An aged English country estate fades in with classical music followed by glamorous female models dressed in
contemporary vintage inspired designs from the early 1900s. American designer Ralph Lauren speaks, I create a world
beyond fashionI want to conjure a feeling of romance and vintage glamourThis is how fashion becomes timeless and
tradition becomes forever.
The Ralph Lauren Corporation has signed on as a national sponsor of PBS Masterpieces series, which airs popular period
dramas such as Downton Abbey and Upstairs Downstairs. As reported in the PBS press release, David Lauren, Executive
Vice President of Advertising, Marketing, and Corporate Communication(Ralph Lauren Corporation) says of designer
Ralph Lauren, He has always had a true appreciation for the heritage and romance of England and reflects this through
his fall 2012 collection which is about modern glamour inspired by timeless character and refined elegance (Ralph
Lauren to Sponsor 2012). As a globally recognized American luxury brand and leader of lifestyle merchandising, Ralph
Lauren draws consumers into the world of American aristocracy and sophistication. Over four decades, the Ralph Lauren
brand has been built into a classically iconic brand with a distinct identity.
Brand personality is one of the most challenging product attributes to foster, thus enabling brand differentiation in the
marketplace and supporting brand loyalty (Ang and Lim 2006) . Brand personality is developed through implementation
of various marketing programs and activities such as the Ralph Lauren brands recent marketing program. Through an
integrated communications program, companies are able to create a focused brand persona through advertising,
promotions, and public relations and publicity.Advertisements carry an important role in imbuing brands with personality
traits as advertising allows marketers to creatively deliver messages and position their products in a way that is appealing
to certain market segments through marketing imagery, advertising copy, product mix, and product symbolism. It is
considered an important source of brand-related information where consumers are more readily able to form new
personality trait inferences or modify initial trait inferences (Hayes et al. 2008; Johar et al. 2005) . Through
advertisements, consumers are able to understand the brand meanings and symbols that define the brand personality and
creatively relate the brand symbolism to particular social situations (Scott 1994; Shepard 1997) . Hayes et al. (2008) notes
that various brand associations for different kinds of products and brands vary in how they influence consumer
perceptions . The following propositions reflect the role of advertisements in the introduction and formation of brand
personality .
Proposition 1
Fashion advertisements play an important role in presenting consumers with brand meanings and symbols that can be used
to form impressions of brand personality.
Hayes et al. (2008) explain consumers may make brand associations based on how brand meanings in the culturally
constituted world (McCracken 1986, p. 313) are transferred to consumer goods. Advertisers will identify cultural
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symbols that connote meanings they wish to associate with their brands and employ those symbols in their advertisements
to create the desired linkage in the minds of consumers (Hayes et al. 2008, p. 97) . Symbolic products differ in brand
personality meaning over utilitarian products, in part due to the affective versus cognitive needs fulfilled by consumption
(Ang and Lim 2006) . Cultural messaging using symbolic products is based on a shared code. In a study of Nike
advertisements, Armstrong (1999) observed Nikes ads to be positivistic cultural depictions which aligned with the selfconcept and personalities of the intended target market. Positive consumer response within the African American
community toward brand personality is reliant on precise and accurate cultural depictions. The second proposition reflects
the importance of employing relevant cultural meanings that are shared by consumers.
Proposition 2
Brand personality is most effectively communicated when advertisements communicate the salient cultural meanings
associated with the product category (i.e., fashion) and brands.
Many fashion brands have changed creative direction as a necessary means to reposition a mature brand in a competitive
market. For example, in order to escape its traditional image as old-fashioned, Burberry transformed its product look,
reflected in the brands advertisements , to being contemporary, rebellious, and streetwise (Keller 2013) . Target has
successfully raised its image from a typical discount retailer such asWal-Mart and K-Mart by offering exclusive designer
apparel and merchandise through co-branding with well-known fashion designer brands such as Issac Mizrahi, Missoni,
Fiorucci, Jason Wu, and Prabal Gurung to name a few. With change in style and marketing, fashion brands can take on
personas that make its former image barely recognizable. As fashions innate nature is change, few fashion brands are
able to enjoy long-term success without adjusting and reinventing their personality over time. Consumers evolving tastes
in fashion as well as the competitiveness of the industry require fashion brands to constantly differentiate themselves in a
unique way. Thus, the following proposition was developed to reflect the moving dynamics of fashion brands.
Proposition 3
Fashion brand personalities evolve and change over time. Fashion brands strategically make deliberate actions to change
the brand meanings and symbols associated with their brand personality in advertisements.
Consumers are able to imbue human personalities to brands from the symbolic representation of brands created by
advertisers. Consumers are able to give a human face to brands or relate brands to their own selves (Fournier 1998). For
example, the application of anthropomorphization or animism is used to describe how consumers are readily inclined to
prescribe human characteristics to nonhuman objects (Aaker 1997; Puzakova et al. 2009) . Ang and Lim (2006) found the
use of metaphors in ad copy and imagery to help facilitate brand personality messaging. In a comparison study of
symbolic versus utilitarian products, Ang and Lim (2006) found symbolic products (cologne and designer watch) to be
more sophisticated and exciting compared to utilitarian products (mineral water and toothpaste). Interestingly, however, in
their study comparing the two product types (symbolic versus utilitarian), the metaphors enhanced perceptions of
sophistication and excitement, particularly for utilitarian (versus symbolic) products, and reduced perceptions of sincerity
and competence for symbolic (versus utilitarian) products (Ang and Lim 2006, p. 50) . Based on the fashion products
used in this particular study, metaphors add more value to utilitarian products but do not appear to enhance the positive
personality traits of symbolic products.
Other studies examining perceptions of brand personality and advertising within the context of fashion products offer
insight into how brand symbolism influence consumer perceptions of brand personality within a specific product category.
User imagery, which refers to the type of person who is portrayed as using the brand (Keller 2000) , can be used to imbue
brands with human personality traits. Consumers draw a strong connection between the personality of the user in
advertisements and brand personality (Kressman et al.2006) . In particular, information about the brands demographic
characteristics such as gender, age, social class, etc. can be directly inferred from user imagery (Aaker 1997) . Hayes et al.
(2008) found in a study of student perceptions of sunglasses user imagery to be the most powerful influencer of brand
perceptions. User imagery is considered to be an easier way consumers can transfer personality traits from the user to the
brand whereas other types of brand associations (e.g., manufacturer, product attribute) require consumers to make
inferences about the brand personalitys traits. Also, user imagery associated with the brand allows consumers to easily
identify how they can use the brand to communicate themselves to others. In fact, in fashion products where the function
is less of an issue, user imagery may be the most effective advertising type to generate the desired personality (Hayes et
al. 2008) . The relationship between the visual appeal of the user presented in the advertisement and perceived brand
personality is noted in Aagerups (2011) study of mass-market fashion brand for jeans and shirts. Aagerup (2011) found
consumers perceptions of fashion brands, when measured by Aakers (1997) five-brand personality dimensions, to be
more negative with an overweight model (compared to a thin or obese model). In a related way, using celebrities or
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attractive models within fashion advertisements can draw positive attention to the brands and help build brand personality
(e.g., Rook 1985; Keel 2012) .
Proposition 4
User imagery which depicts prototypical users of brands is an effective way to imbue human personality traits in fashion
brands.
4 Fashion Brand Personality and the Consumer
For many years, the Gap suffered from a personality disorder and their identity problems as the namesake Gap brand have
been widely covered in the business literature. The Gap had lost its edge as the leader in the fashion industry as the casual
hip cool brand with great TV advertisements such as Khakis Rock featuring the music of Crystal Method. It fell short of
offering a clear merchandise direction and was described as a tired clich and listless (Walters 2007) . In addition,
although their advertisements have created buzz within the fashion media, it had less to do with showing the relevance of
its styles to real consumers. Fast forward to 2012, the brand is receiving positive reviews and signs of a turnaround for
their Be Bright global marketing platform highlighting their skinny jeans. Their TV ads with Indie singers and dancers,
lively technology infused in their stores, and digital catalog (Styld.by) with noted fashion bloggers are targeting the
millennial consumers (Zmuda 2012) .
The consumer can be viewed as a creative participant in the brand personality building process. This understanding
parallels Ligas and Cottes (1999) discussion of how brand meanings can be developed based on an individuals
interpretation. Consumers can hold varying impressions of brand personalities for a particular brand depending on their
own personal life situation (Holt 1997; Scott 1994; Thompson and Haytko1997) . The meanings depicted for the brands
may be adapted or adjusted based on the consumers individual situation such as personal goals, life history, contextspecific interests, and a multitude of countervailing cultural meanings (Thompson and Haytko 1997, p. 6) . Individuals
may consider certain aspects of a brands personality to be of personal relevance and create individualized impressions of
brand personalities. Here, the individual environment in reference to the self is emphasized, although it is recognized that
both the marketing environment and social environment influences a consumers self (Ligas and Cotte 1999) . In addition,
the way consumers are able to discern what aspects of brand personality they like will allow consumers to make choices
based on their consumption motivation.
Proposition 5
Consumers can form varying impressions of brand personality from advertisements based on their own individual
situation.
The relationship between self-concept and brand image has been of interest in the marketing literature for many decades
(e.g., Aaker 1999; Grubb and Grathwohl 1967; Hong and Zinkhan 1995; Kleine et al. 1993; Sirgy 1982) . Self-concept is
defined as the totality of the individuals thoughts and feelings having reference to him as an object (Rosenberg 1979,
p. 7) . In this way, the individual contextualizes his or her self within the social environment (Onkvisit and Shaw 1987) .
Within consumer behavior scholarship, the domain self-concept comprises four interrelated aspects: the actual self (the
individuals real perception of self), the social self (the individuals self as perceived by others), the ideal self (the
individuals desired perception of self), and the ideal social self (the individuals desired self as perceived by others)
(Sirgy 1982) . Self-congruity is the degree of similarity between consumers self-image or self-concept and that of a
brand (Khan 2010, p. 9) . When consumers perceive a match between their self-image and brand image, they are more
likely to form favorable impressions of the brand and feel a higher level of satisfaction with their brand/product choices
(Aaker 1999; Malr et al. 2011; Sirgy 1982; Johar and Sirgy 1991) . Although it is noted that self-image and brand
personality are not always in agreement in purchase situations, brand personality and consumers self-image are more
likely to be stronger in consumption situations in which the product category is more involved in constructing the
consumers self-image (Keller 2013) .
Fashion (or apparel) products are well-known vehicles of nonverbal communication for individuals about oneself (e.g.,
Kaiser 1997) and thus, identifying congruity relationships between a fashion brands image and consumers self-image is
important for marketers to better position their brands with their target market (Khan2010) . In advertising and various
communication efforts, it is important to project symbolic meanings associated with brand personality that corresponds to
the specific personality traits of consumers including self-concept. In a study of 15 fashion and lifestyle brands, Khan
(2010) found consumer personality to predict brand preferences. Also, Khan (2010) found the brand with the highest
rating in all brand personality dimensions had high aspirational appeal as depicted in the brand and advertisement . This
supports self-congruence as being the main strategy behind transformational advertising, compared to informational
advertising where the functional utilities of a product are emphasized (Rossiter and Percey 1987) .
Proposition 6
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Due to the role of fashion products in communicating the consumers image, it is important in advertising to communicate
the symbolic meanings of brand personality that corresponds to consumers own personality to garner consumer support
for the brand.
5 Interpretation and Negotiation of Brand Personality
Megan is a graduate student attending a fashion program in the northeast region of the USA. She shares her story of the
Coach brand: I have always thought of Coach products to signal financial success and fashionability. Advertising had
featured prototypical users and celebrity endorsers which aligned with my sense of ideal self. Recently, I purchased my
first Coach bag, thinking I had something special. However, during a class discussion, a fellow graduate student said that
Coach bags reminded her of an older target market with conservative tastes. That comment made me re-think my image of
Coach bags. (December 15, 2012, personal communication)
For the most part, in fashion products, brand ownership and brand usage occurs in a very visual and public way.
Consumers use the visibility of fashion products to communicate symbolically something about themselves to others, but
consumers also receive feedback about their impressions and ideas from others. According to Lee (1990), product
conspicuousness can be conceptualized in light of interpersonal relationships in social process and also links the product
to the concept of self (p. 387). As such, social influence is an important aspect of building brand image where shared
understanding of symbolic meanings and experiences develop.
A traditional view of advertising is the promotion of brand personality based on a marketer driven image that is
holistically accepted by the consumer. Ligas and Cotte (1999) state consumers are inundated with both visual and verbal
communication campaigns that appeal to this notion of the brand as a meaningful entity. In this way, marketing plays a
major role in the creation of brand meaning , because advertisements and promotions tend to inject certain beliefs about
the brand into the marketplace. However, a brands meaning is considered to be effective when it is capable of provoking
personally relevant components within the individual (Ligas and Cotte 1999, p. 609) . In a content analysis of Nike
advertisements, Armstrong (1999) found the advertisements to be presented in a way which allowed for optimal
communication with Black consumers (p. 283). The Nike advertisement is able to tap into the self-concept of African
American consumers by using symbols and images that the consumer base can relate to which in turn can reinforce
positive attitudes about the brand. Hence, advertisements must be able to connect the consumers and brand through
communication with symbolically shared meanings.
Negotiated meaning originating from the individual environment includes the adoption or creative adaption and
manipulation of shared brand meanings through appearance management. In this way, appearance management includes
holistic adoption of a single brand identity or the use of visual bricolage. By choosing to wear a particular brand,
individuals are using the brand identity to communicate personal identity. Consumers are adopting the brand personality ,
and using the marketing instilled meaning to communicate personal identity, essentially becoming a communication tool
for the marketing environment and thus transferring the marketing prescribed meaning to the social environment .
Alternatively, individuals can manipulate dress and the marketing prescribed meaning of brands via visual bricolage.
Visual bricolage of dress is the mixing of aesthetic elements to assert a unique personal style. The mix can include various
products and brands each laden with symbolic meaning. The subsequent juxtaposition of brand personalities, via the
combination of worn dress, illustrates distinctive personal and cultural expression. Fashion advertising can inform
individuals as to both the intended brand meaning originating in the marketing environment as well as stimulate creative
interpretation. As noted by Kaiser (1997) , fashion designers and advertisers can purposefully step out of the existing
ideological framework (p. 51) and co-create new cultural codes for clothing and appearance-related objects. As
advertising imagery illustrates brand personality , this information can facilitate the brands adoption or adaption as a tool
for personal self-expression.
Proposition 7
In terms of fashion products, consumers are able to creatively adapt various brands (and associated personalities) in a
symbolic way to create and communicate their own personal identities and new social interpretations.
In the social environment , appearance perception is meditated by the symbolism of brands. As a shared medium, fashion
advertising enables socially constructed meanings in fashion. Moreover, the negotiated meaning of fashion is further
subject to the multiple individuals comprising the social environment, as weall as the social context and reference group
of said context. Advertising can have a multitude of meanings governing appearance perception in the social environment,
and is dependent on each individual perceiver. In addition, the wearers reference group further influences shared
meaning, as the individual is motivated to align with the referent group meaning and conform. From this point of view,
consumers can choose to adopt, adapt or reject brand personalities interpreted through fashion advertising based on the
anticipated social response. The symbolic interactionist perspective can in this way predict or explain purchase decisions
(Lee1990).
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An interaction of all components of the self (actual, ideal, social, and ideal social) can be evidenced in the social
environment . The individual adopts dress (fashion) based on congruence with the actual and/or ideal self. When in the
social environment, the identities of the social self and ideal social self are added. These identities thus combine to inform
the negotiated meaning of fashion. However, the individual only has control over the actual, ideal, and ideal social. In the
social environment, the individual may assert brand congruence with the ideal social self to confirm or deny reference
group membership. Hence, from the symbolic interactionist perspective, brands will be chosen based on the ability to
reflect the desired aspect of self.
Proposition 8
Social influence is important in consumers acceptance of brand personality of fashion products.
Finally, we note the ambiguous relationship that can form between brand personality and consumer behavior , especially
in cases where brands are advertised with extreme messaging and provocative visuals. As marketers use advertisements to
bring brand personality to consumers, consumers add their own personal interpretation to how they view the brand
generating possible variations in how a particular brand is perceived. For example, Malr et al. (2012) found the
singularity of the brands personality profile and consumers prior brand attitude, among other things, influenced the
match between consumers realized brand personality and intended brand personality. As such, perceived brand
personality and user imagery may not always agree (Keller 2013, p. 305) . Further, brand personality and user imagery
may not necessarily correspond to consumer attitude toward the brand or purchase intentions . For example, in the fashion
industry, it is not uncommon to see advertisements with provocative or sexually suggestive visual and verbal
communication. One can assume that such strategies would work toward developing brand meanings contributing to a
certain image as part of brand personality . Scholars report conflicting evidence of the effectiveness of such brand
building strategies. In a study of provocative fashion advertising , Vzina and Paul (1997) note provocation is a strategy to
attract attention but does not necessarily lead to negative consequences in terms of brand attitude or purchase intentions.
On the other hand, in a study of American Apparel advertisements , Hyllegard et al. (2009) found sexual intensity in
apparel advertisements to negatively influence brand attitude and purchase intentions. They also note that US consumers
are more likely to be independent in their feelings and less likely to be influenced by others when evaluating such
advertisements. In addition, in our own observations, we find that some female college students are able to separate their
positive experiences with American Apparel products while acknowledging the offensive nature of the brands advertising
past and personae. Although the social environment offers a place for individuals to negotiate meanings associated with
visual and verbal symbols from advertisements, we see that consumers feelings about a particular brands personality
may not fully explain brand attitude or purchase intentions in an intuitive way. Also, the social environment does not
necessarily serve as compass for guiding consumer attitude and behavior.
Proposition 9
The relationship of consumers evaluation of advertisements, brand personality, and consumer behavior (brand attitude
and purchase intentions) can be conflicting.
6 Summary and Conclusion
A strong recognizable brand personality is critical to establishing brand equity as personality traits offer assets that
consumers value. Both Biel (1993) and An and Lim (2006) note brand personality is unlike singular product attributes and
can be less constrained by the products physical attributes. Thus, brand personality can be personally more meaningful to
consumers, difficult to imitate, and holds a sustainable advantage over its competitors (An and Lim 2006; Biel 1993) .
Effective communication of brand personality in product advertising allows marketers to grab consumers attention, create
market differentiation, build consumer affective attachment to brands, and foster brand loyalty.
Advertisements have a strong role in building brands due to its ability to convey brand meanings with symbolic value,
creative leverage, or realistic appeal. As brand personality allows consumers to form relationships and bond with brands
similar to that would occur in human relationships, advertisements not only offer the first impression, but can also help
sustain and reinforce the relationship between the brand and consumer. We find that not all aspects of a brands
personality are stable and continuous through time, but somewhat similar to humans, brands evolve through time in a
more dynamic way. However, the pace of change in brand personality may be more deliberate and swift with the goal of
appealing to their target market base (i.e., human friends). Advertisements offer colorful and effective ways of
strategically instilling new meanings in brands and a fresh look. Consumers are constantly interpreting brand meanings
as depicted in advertising. These interpretations may be commonly understood within society or be subject to
interpretation holding subjective appeal to individuals.
The social environment validates the brand personality as communicated by advertising and understood by the individual.
It is acknowledged that the shared meaning that is derived from negotiation among the marketer, individual, and society
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can be seen as the brands social self. However, we do see brand events such as unique marketing programs
implemented by the marketer, consumers personal experiences with brands that are embraced as defining moments for
individuals, or changes in a relevant reference groups attitudes on a brand due to negative media coverage may all
influence perceptions of brand personality.
The symbolic interaction perspective on how impressions of brand personality are formed is based on a process that
involves negotiated and commonly shared meanings among the marketer, consumer, and social groups. The propositions
presented outline this process relative to fashion brands, highlighting the importance of self-brand congruity with brand
personality as it is transmitted from the marketing environment to the individual/social environments. A strong brand
personality allows consumers to use brands to effectively communicate with others and consumers are able to form unique
relationships with the brand (Ligas and Cotte 1999) . Advertisements have a persuasive role in the negotiating
process. Advertisements can reinforce the glamorous and sophisticated personae of brands appealing to the current status
quo of classical loyalists or introduce a brand makeover in order to develop new social ties with consumers. On the
other hand, brands can confuse consumers about who they are. As such, negotiation of brand meaning leading to defining
who the brand is can be a continuous process for consumers where they can stay loyal, abandon, or develop new
relationships depending on how they relate to the brands personality.
The propositions presented in this chapter offer ideas for future empirical studies . Future studies may address the
dynamic nature of brand personality of fashion brands. As a fundamental trait of fashion concerns the continuous cycle of
refreshing brand image, studies may address how fashion brand personalities evolve and the role of advertisements as well
as other marketing programs in defining, refining, and recreating the images of fashion brands. In relation, also of interest
would be how companies engage in brand personality building that resonate to consumers and how various brand
strategies may be prompted based on market conditions and consumer environments . A deeper analysis on how branding
strategies affect consumer welfare can also be explored. Finally, social and individual environments are influential in how
consumers interpret brand meaning and perceive brand image. As noted in the study by Malr et al. (2012) , consumers do
not perceive the brands personality in the same way as it is intended by managers. Future research may tackle this gap
in brand perception and identify various factors that moderate or support brand personality building and management
strategies.

Dressing the Man of Means: Designers Are Waking Up To a Mens Luxury Fashion Market. By Matthew
Schneider. The New York Times.
The lexicon describing male shopping has been lately enriched with newly minted acronyms and
portmanteaux, following in the vaunted (and derided) footsteps of metrosexual. Bain &
Company calls this spender-to-be Henry (High Earner, Not Rich Yet); the bank HSBC, more
cringe-worthily, calls him a Yummy (Young Urban Male). But if you christen him, will he come?
The largest players in the industry are hoping yes.
Finally the mens business is waking up, said Gildo Zegna, the chief executive of the
Ermenegildo Zegna Group, one Saturday afternoon in his sunny office in Milan. Were taking it
more seriously. Were trying to make it more fun.

In 2012, Mr. Zegna tapped Stefano Pilati, the respected but embattled former designer of Yves
Saint Laurent, as head of design. His appointment capped a year and a half of designer moves. The
year before, Kering, whose stable includes Gucci, Bottega Veneta and Alexander McQueen, had
acquired Brioni, a Roman label known for its suiting, and hired Brendan Mullane away from
Givenchy to design it.

The companys head of design, Stefano Pilati and a look from the Ermenegildo Zegna Couture fall collection,
right. CreditGiuseppe Cacace/Getty Images, Luca Bruno/Associated Press
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Before that, LVMH, home of Marc Jacobs, Christian Dior and Louis Vuitton, hired Alessandro
Sartori, then designing Zegnas younger-skewing Z Zegna, to create a full ready-to-wear collection
for Berluti, its tony but dusty custom footwear label, and named Antoine Arnault, widely seen as a
possible heir apparent to his father, Bernard Arnault, as the LVMH chairman and chief executive,
to run it.
All three labels were previously known as bastions of traditional tailoring or shoes, classic but far
removed from high-end fashion lines like Lanvin or Dior. Their recent changes effectively blur the
once-clear line between luxury and designer mens wear. The appointment of marquee
designers poached from the world of runway fashion and the expansion of their once-narrow
offerings to include everything from denim to bicycles signal the companies desire to build these
labels into full-fledged fashion brands and to do so at an unapologetically luxurious price point.
Now, the early fruits of that labor are entering the market, at newly built or newly refurbished
stores.
With the growth in mens wear now outpacing that of womens according to many in the industry,
LVMH, Kering and the Zegna Group are hardly alone in taking notice. Prada, for example,
revealed to its investors in April a plan to open 50 more mens wear boutiques in the next three
years. (In 2013, it opened four.)
We see clearly a big potential for men, said Jean-Marc Bellaiche, a senior partner at the Boston
Consulting Group, where he leads the firms luxury, fashion and beauty sectors. This segment of
what we call metrosexuals those men, living in cities, making a lot of money, taking care of
themselves, buying cosmetic products, buying the best brands for apparel, even wearing luxury
bags this is a growing segment.
He added, with a chuckle: Im not the only one in meetings now with a luxury branded bag.
Continue reading the main story
The tier that is attracting much of the attention is at the very top of the market, in luxury. That tier
is absolutely growing, said Bill Cournoyer, a vice president at the Bergdorf Goodman mens
store. Theres room for these luxury brands to exist because theres more interest in the
demographic for these brands.
In December, Bergdorf opened a dedicated boutique for the Berluti collection, the only retailer to
sell the collection outside of the brands own stores (which, not incidentally, are multiplying as if
by spore). The style favored by Mr. Sartori is young, trim and sleek, and the prices are, to put it
politely, astronomical. A three-piece suit starts at more than $5,000.
Mr. Pilatis purview, as well, is at the very top of the market. He was given charge of the
Ermenegildo Zegna Couture collection, previously a small, super-premium line that was sold in a
handful of Zegna stores but never made a point of focus. Now it is shown on the runway, enlarged
in price and in scale. Prices average 50 percent higher than the main collection, with suits
beginning at $4,895.
Photo

The Berluti artistic director Alessandro Sartori.CreditIsak Tiner for The New York Times
I saw the market opportunity at the top, Mr. Zegna said. We picked the top price because I think
this is the market niche that is growing. More and more of the luxury brands are going to that
niche.
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So many companies are moving so enthusiastically into that niche that its tempting to see a
sartorial arms race. There are more brands that try to play in the high-end market, said Francesco
Pesci, the chief executive of Brioni, where a suit can cost up to $17,000. Of course this is a
challenge. We like challenges. Its good to have competition in life, eh?
Beyond price, what unites the companies contesting this territory is a willingness to introduce a
more fashion-friendly sensibility.
I think we needed a kind of fresh look, a fresh fashion look, Mr. Zegna said. Mr. Pilatis debut
collection, in stores now, delivered. He showed suits mismatched, silken coats that resembled
bathrobes, and seemingly yard-long shirt-sleeves scrunched up even under tailored clothing.
Those collections have evolved, said Tom Kalenderian, executive vice president for mens wear
at Barneys New York. The product is younger. Its definitely in line with the type of product that
formerly only a designer guy might have bought.
Over the course of 17 years at Brioni, whose storied past stretches back to 1945, Mr. Pesci has seen
this shift in the landscape firsthand. When I started out my career in Brioni back in 1994, the
market was a very different place, he said, divided between fashionable brands, the work of
individual designers emphasizing trends, and classic brands. Brioni was very much in the latter
camp.
In 2012, Kering installed Mr. Mullane as its first creative director and tasked him with taking the
line in a more contemporary direction. In recent collections, Mr. Mullane has experimented with
silk and hand-painted fabrics, not to mention kimono-belted suits.
Continue reading the main story
Men have really realized that there is an art of dressing, he said. Now its very accepted. There
is a male consumer who knows I want this, and I want that. They know what theyre looking
for.
Photo

Brendan Mullane, the creative director for Brioni.CreditAntonio Calanni/Associated Press; Catwalking/Getty Images
Mr. Pesci, while acknowledging that the most fashion-forward pieces do not always translate
directly into the highest sales figures, said that in one year, Brioni was able to shift most of its retail
sales from a safe, conservative fitting block (that is, suit pattern) to a more progressive one.
As you can imagine, we do have quite a few more mature customers, but they understood what we
were trying to do, he said. They like the new model, which is closer-fitting, shorter, with a higher
button stance. Its not only marketing talk. Its very practical experience.
Mr. Sartori, too, sought to give a shot in the arm to the conservative style associated with luxury
tailoring.
We wanted to build the right mix between extremely high quality and modern design, he said.
There is nothing of that level, like a tailor-made garment but with a modern style. We wanted to
go there.

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Eager for Berluti to offer bespoke service, LVMH bought the Paris ateliers of Arnys, an 81-yearold suiting line, complete with its staff of tailors. With it came a challenge for Mr. Sartori: to
modernize the clothes produced there from traditional to the ultra-trim silhouette he prefers.
It was a long path, he said over tea at the second-floor bespoke salon of the Berluti Madison
Avenue store. It was an Italian drama. Or melodrama.
Naturally, a new, more fashionable collection requires a new, more fashionable home. All of these
labels, as well as key retailers who cater to that customer, have spent the last year in a flurry of
ribbon-cuttings and renovations.
Berluti shuttered its quiet shoe store on the Upper East Side to open a two-story, art-filled manse
(the company calls it a maison) on Madison Avenue in February. (It follows similar maisons that
opened in Tokyo and Paris last year.) Zegna commissioned Peter Marino to design special sections
of the new Zegna global stores to house the Ermenegildo Zegna Couture collection, like the
Beverly Hills store, which opened last July. Brioni opened four new United States stores in 2013,
in Costa Mesa, Calif.; Chicago; and Palm Beach and Bal Harbour, Fla. This June, it will open a
new Milan store and reopen its hometown flagship in Rome.
Photo

A coat from the Berluti fall runway show.CreditCatwalking/Getty Images

At Barneys and Bergdorf, too, the last year has seen a spate of change. The creation of the Berluti
space at Bergdorf crowned a full renovation of its second-floor tailoring section. In August,
Barneys unveiled the lighter, more modern look of its own luxury-tailoring floor at its Madison
Avenue store. Sales were strong enough that it is now undertaking a renovation of its Beverly Hills
store along the same lines.
Were meeting new clients, Mr. Kalenderian said. You wonder how many people wandered into
the old cherrywood-paneled room of yesteryear and said, My fathers clothes.
Continue reading the main storyContinue reading the main story
He made clear that he doesnt view the changes in the market as mere trend. I dont think itll be
short-lived, he said. I dont think this is the way we went from two-button clothing to threebutton and back to two-button. Its not so much about the width of a trouser as the way a narrow
trouser makes you feel.
The sensibility of this new younger client, as well as an older one gravitating toward more
contemporary styles, is top of mind for the designers.
I am very intrigued by the new young men power generation, Mr. Pilati wrote in an email. I
asked myself how I could make Zegna distinctive, so I emphasized a studied nonchalance in
dressing up for men to make their personality much more visible and contemporary.
What remains is to change entrenched perceptions of that next generation of buyers. Guy
Endzweig, 35, a real estate investor, spent his 20s in conservative labels before discovering Tom
Ford and Brunello Cucinelli. He is emblematic of the customer these companies would be happy to
court: fashion-forward, ready to spend. There are definitely times when I walk into the office and
the guys are like, Look, youve got a new jacket or shoes, he said.

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While he did notice that Berluti had opened on Madison Avenue, and has occasionally shopped
at Brioni, he was skeptical that they have fully emerged from their stodgy pasts.
I have a friend who shops at Zegna, he said. Hes a more conservative, in-the-box kind of guy.
He wears a navy suit with a very-fine-check blue shirt. Thats not me.
Mr. Zegna, who was wearing Ermenegildo Zegna Couture during an interview (albeit with suit
jacket and trousers correctly matched), is confident that Mr. Pilatis collections will change minds.
You walk by the shop and you see the Couture window, Mr. Zegna said, miming an imagined
customers reaction. Is this is Zegna? Of course its Zegna. Its the new Zegna.
Luxury Brands Are Targeting Global Yummies: Young Urban Males. By Kyle Stock. Bloomberg Businessweek.
2014. (online)
Luxury fashion may be switching gender and age roles. In much of the world now, the most attractive demographic for
such companies as Burberry (BRBY)and Coach (COH) isnt middle-aged women with sky-high credit limits; its
twentysomething men with smartphones and self-esteem issues.
At least thats the theory put forth recently by a three researchers at HSBC. The future of retail is in young, urban males
or as HSBC dubs them, Yummies (a handy verbal shortcut if one can say it without gagging).
The metro-sexual, that clich from 20 years ago, is now becoming a commercial reality, the HSBC team writes.
STORY: High Stakes in Africa: Can the U.S. Catch China?
Young dandies want to flash blue-chip brands as soon as they can afford them, while older consumers closer to the top of
the socioeconomic pyramid dont have as much to prove. The silver-backed master of the universe is secure in his Speedo
swimsuit and skin-tight driving gloves; he doesnt need a camouflage backpack from Prada (1913:HK) ($980) to make his
mark on the world.
But hasnt it always been thus? Apparently not. HSBC notes that a lot of men aremarrying later in life these days, freeing
up income in their twenties that would otherwise have gone to supporting a family. The college fund can go to Coach
totes, and the diaper budget is diverted to baby-soft driving moccasins.
In trying to impress, HSBC says many young men are also looking past cars for the first time. After all, anyone with a few
hundred dollars a month to spare can lease aLexus (TM), but a traveling martini satchel from Tumi (TUMI) takes $5,000.
STORY: The Downside of Low-End Luxury Cars
Not only are these gents making generous incomes, but thanks to increasingly global marketing and media, they dont
have to be anywhere near the epicenters of luxury to know whats on-trend. These days, a brand with a solid smartphone
store can capture opulent returns around the world. Burberry, for example, is now streaming its runway shows online and
working on a plan called Customer 360 to track an individuals buying habits worldwide.
The report points to a handful of luxury companies making significant investments in luring male shoppers. Michael
Kors (KORS), for example, is hoping to grow its annual menswear revenue to $1 billion, which would amount to almost a
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sevenfold increase. Coach, meanwhile, is close to that goal, having expanded its sales to men from $100 million in 2010
to about $700 million today.
The story is similar at Burberry, a company that simply licensed its menswear to third parties until three years ago. We
see significant growth opportunity in mens, especially in these high-growth underdeveloped markets, Chief Executive
Officer Angela Ahrendts told analysts in November.
STORY: Can Startups Help Fashion Brands Battle Amazon?
The sole exception to the trend is the market in China, where HSBC says women will fuel the future of luxury fashion. Up
until the mid-1990s, almost all of the plush purchases in that country were made by menoften as gifts for other men.
Half of senior managers in China are now female, and women account for about half of luxury spending. Chinese retailers
are playing catch-up on that front.
Luxury Brands in the Digital Age: Exclusivity vs. Ubiquity. By Nadine Hennigs. Marketing Review. 2012. (ereserves)
Given that luxury goods are primarily bought for what they symbolize and in light of the rise of experiential and
multi-sensory marketing approaches it is crucial for luxury managers to create a prestigious atmosphere offline
and online. However, in the ubiquity of the virtual environment where counterfeit luxury goods are only one click
away, the question is: what is the best approach in the balance between mass class and high class?
Due to the growing global appetite for luxury goods within the era of the democratization of luxury or the
luxurification of society (Atwal/Williams 2009; Tsai 2005; Yeoman/McMahon-Beattie 2005), luxury brands are facing
the challenge of using mass marketing strategies and simultaneously accentuating the exclusivity dimension of their
products (Okonkwo 2010). This leads to the necessity of a better understanding of the rules and behavior in the digital
marketplace. However, while being leaders on fashion trends and catwalks, luxury managers are still hesitant when it
comes to innovative online strategies.
The internet is by nature the most democratic medium that allows access to anybody from anywhere. As the virtual
environment is a place where images, videos and opinions circulate regardless of brand ownership, is it possible to keep a
sense of exclusivity around a luxury brand? Against this backdrop, the present paper focuses on the question of how
luxury brands, defined as the highest level of prestigious brands encompassing several physical and psychological values
(Vigneron/Johnson 1999), can be managed in the digital age maintaining a balance between exclusivity and ubiquity, high
class and mass class.
Luxury E-tailing: Blessing or Curse?
From the consumers side, the main concerns associated with buying luxury goods online are the financial risk involved in
online payment by credit card and the product risk dealing with the problem of counterfeiting. Risk-averse luxury
consumers prefer the touch and feel experience in luxury stores while being afraid of the product deception risk
associated with an online shopping environment. The counterfeit market is one of the biggest concerns for luxury retailers
as the internet is traditionally associated with cheap imitations and heavy discounting. By presenting their products online
in combination with 360-degree product presentations they provide detailed views of the luxury product not only to
actual and potential customers but also to counterfeit suppliers. This may help the latter to create cheap knockoffs that
look like the originals. Consequently, if consumers search for a certain luxury product online, hundreds of fakes are
presented to them as authentic. Thus, due to the internet image as a discount channel where counterfeits are abundant,
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luxury brand owners are afraid that e-tailing will damage their brand. However, as the internet has become the primary
search and purchase environment for many consumers including the wealthy and super-rich, the presentation and
availability of the products in an online environment guarantee access to consumers who shop online because of time
restrictions and personal shopping preferences. Due to both the internets increased ubiquity and print advertisings
decreased returns, shopping convenience and product accessibility are the key decision factors forcing luxury brands to
develop innovative strategies for the transition to online advertising and e-commerce (Okonkwo 2009, 2010).
The counterfeit market is one of the biggest concerns for luxury retailers as the internet is traditionally associated with
cheap imitations.
What is Exclusivity if it is Accessible to Everyone?
The aspect of exclusivity is widely understood as a key characteristic of luxury products (Kapferer/Bastien2009;
Okonkwo 2009). In this context, limited accessibility and rarity are cornerstones of luxury and justify their price premium.
A sense of exclusivity should be maintained at all customer contact points, which demands specific locations, excellent
product presentation and skilled sales personnel (Kapferer/Bastien2009). Given the fact that the internet is founded on
principles of democracy and accessibility, this raises the question of how luxury brands can combine a sense of
exclusivity with the potential of the internet. As true luxury is only available to a few but desired by many, all market
communications of luxury brands are by definition located in the spectrum between accessibility and exclusivity. The
internet is the perfect environment for luxury brands to create both a sense of desirability with the distribution of content
that appeals to existing and potential customers and to remain exclusive in terms of the selective distribution of the actual
product. Thus, luxury brands can use the internet to spread the brands dream and attract new consumers but still keep a
sense of exclusivity by offering selective online content and services to the brands traditional customers.
The Art of Creating Multi-Sensory Luxury Experiences Online
Because the experience of luxury must be multi-sensory and experiential (Kapferer/Bastien 2009;
Atwal/Williams 2009), many luxury managers who have accepted the necessity of being online as essential to their brand
are faced with the question of how to create a multi-sensory experience of luxury on the internet. In a physical store, the
high aesthetics of luxury products can be presented in an exclusive shopping atmosphere full of multi-sensory experiences
(Caru/Cova 2007) that appeal to peoples emotions. The internet, however, as Karl Lagerfeld said, does not convey the
unique feel and sophistication of luxury materials, refined tailoring and extraordinary attention to detail found in luxury
fashion. Indeed, it is a key challenge to combine the traditional luxury brand image with the usage of innovative
technologies.
Nevertheless, in contrast to traditional one-way marketing communication, it is possible to create the magic and myth of a
luxury brand following an understanding of the internet as a 360-degree experience. In the digital age, the heritage and
key values of a luxury brand can be communicated by using visual tools like pictures, videos or 3D product presentations,
music that evokes certain emotions, and interactive media that promote the dialogue with brand advocates and evangelists.
The Value of Luxury Online
Given that luxury goods are primarily bought for what they symbolize, it is crucial for luxury brand managers to know
what kind of values their brand promotes in the eyes of actual and potential customers.
Referring to the predominant management orientation of luxury brand research, the key values luxury brands address are
dependent on the consumers personal perceptions regarding financial, functional, individual, and social aspects. These
key dimensions of luxury value perception encompassing the financial, functional, individual, and social aspects are
strongly correlated but not identical with each other, as illustrated in figure1 (for a detailed description cf. Wiedmann et
al. 2007, 2009).
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Fig. 1
Consumers Luxury Value Perception
These value dimensions form the basis of a framework of luxury brand management online as described in the following
paragraphs.

Financial value. Even if a high price is widely accepted as a necessary element of luxury products (Fionda/Moore 2009),
it is important to point out that luxury is qualitative not quantitative (Kapferer/Bastien2009). The consumption of luxury
products needs to provide social and psychological enhancements (Okonkwo 2009); thus, the pricevalue relationship is
crucial. As the internet is a public place of immediate buying and selling, and often related to price discounts, the price
premium associated with unique and exclusive products, superb quality, hand-made craftsmanship, and impeccable
service needs to be ensured in the virtual environment via limited distribution.
Functional value. Besides product-related functions, the functional value of luxury in an online environment refers to the
usability, quality and uniqueness of the online appearance when using the website and further applications. Even though
the senses of touch and smell are lacking, the internet can leverage movement, music, texture, space and community to
successfully recreate a brands character online. As affluent consumers are particularly heavy users of the internet (Unity
Marketing 2011), luxury brand managers need to go beyond aesthetics and create marketing products that add value for
the consumer whether it is entertainment, education, or utility to engage users with the brand.
Individual value. As the use of luxuries can ultimately support individuals in their individual identity projects (Bauer et
al. 2011), consumers emotional needs are the key elements in defining the concept of luxury. Consumers experience
luxuries as symbolic resources constituting important tangible cues that allow them to define themselves and to transfer
the brands social symbolism, such as exclusivity, authenticity, quality, uniqueness and culture, into their own aspired
identities. Therefore, with regard to the individual value of luxury, brand managers should transfer the offline appearance
into the online environment and, in order to get the consumers involved with the brand at a deeper level, the opportunity
should be taken to ask them for their opinion and make adjustments accordingly.
Social value. The social dimension of luxury addresses the cognition of the individuals social group(s) and focuses on
online social networks. A high amount of wealthy internet users regularly utilizes social media applications (Unity
Marketing 2011) and even though not all digital natives are potential customers of luxury brands, they may be potential
brand advocates. Consumers use luxury brands as status symbols, and while broadcasting their association within their
social circles for personal brand building efforts, they simultaneously promote the brand. By using the appropriate
strategy, brands can become a part of the consumers online identity and vice versa.
Leaders in Online Luxury
While many luxury managers are still hesitant about going online, the success of the luxury brands described in the
following paragraphs proves the power of the internet as an instrument to reach a global audience while still maintaining a
sense of exclusivity and sensory experience. With reference to the above-mentioned value dimensions, leaders in online
luxury incorporate the aspects that have to be addressed in an e-luxe-approach as illustrated in figure 2.

Fig. 2
Values of e-Luxe
The four companies described below apply these four value dimensions with differing priorities. The companies have
been selected based on their differences in interacting with the online audience and their leading position in adopting new
technologies for communicating their luxury message online.
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Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton is one of the first luxury brands with a comprehensive online strategy. Regarding the four luxury values as
perceived by the consumer, Louis Vuitton incorporates all of them in the online environment.
As the web has meanwhile developed into a social platform, social communities such as Facebook and Twitter have
become platforms which are visited on a daily basis by millions of people around the world. The Facebook page of Louis
Vuitton has about three million fans and offers its users the latest news on the brand, information about products and the
company and also allows them to comment on these contributions. Members of the Facebook fan page are offered videos
of fashion shows and background information, photos, and stories about the brands history such as The Art of Travel by
Louis Vuitton. Facebook as well as Twitter make it easy for people to socialize in connection with the brand which allows
them to distinguish or separate themselves from others. Historically oriented storytelling can also be found on the website
of Louis Vuitton. It offers internet users and consumers as well as interested people extensive information which serves
the individual value of consumers since the focus is not just on the products but also on the meaning of the brand.
Besides, Louis Vuitton provides the opportunity to personalize products.
With regard to the functional value, the atmosphere of brand websites is often related to the consumers functional brand
perception, and therefore the websites usability, in terms of navigability, functionality and interactivity, gains importance.
Brands that are new to social media often make the mistake of being too innovative and trying too much, which may
damage the brands image; instead, interactive tools ought to be used prudently and should be related to the brands
personality and equity. The website of Louis Vuitton emphasizes the core values of the brand through intuitive
navigability, compelling visuals, and a focus on brand heritage. As the internet is often used for information seeking, the
prices are presented directly but not overwhelmingly and never reduced which corresponds to the offline price strategy of
Louis Vuitton, thus addressing the financial value.
Gucci
With regard to the online shopping experience Gucci has to be mentioned as one of the forerunners. The brand is very
innovative in their product presentation as the website offers a video clip where products are presented with a focus on
experience orientation and also can be bought directly. With more than five million followers on Facebook, Gucci is well
positioned in the social web. Heritage as well as personalization plays a significant role on the brands website. Easy
navigation and extensive product information in a brand-adjusted atmosphere take the consumers functional and financial
values into account.
Burberry
The innovative platform The Art of Trench made Burberry one of the most successful luxury brands regarding usergenerated content. It addresses individual value through direct connection to the brand as well as social value needs as
users can interact with others. Regarding functionality, the atmosphere and usability of the webpage mirror the offline
brand presence. Product information as well as prices can be found easily, while the focus is on non-monetary values.
Viktor & Rolf
Welcome to the house of Viktor & Rolf this claim exactly represents the concept of the brands online presence. After
a virtual casket has opened, an impressive hall appears representing the entry of the virtual house. The user can navigate
through the house and, on opening various doors, enters the world of Viktor & Rolf, e.g. by watching the latest show or
getting information about fragrances. Taking the elevator leads the internet user into an area where special and
personalized information is offered after signing up.

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The online presence of Viktor & Rolf is not only innovative; it integrates the users, lets them experience the brand and
creates a comprehensive world of the brand. Yet there is no possibility to buy the products online, price information
cannot be found and the overall technical infrastructure could be optimized.
Conclusion
The decision to participate in the digital environment is crucial for luxury brands as online strategies are not weakening,
but strengthening the brand. The refusal to accept the internet as a complement to offline retailing and the inability to
innovate may become the biggest threats for luxury brands in todays business world. The digital environment offers the
opportunity to reach billions of people internationally brands that want to be relevant and desirable for current and
future customers have to build their image and mythology online. Especially in the context of luxury brands, numerous
third party information sources are to be found online, from customer reviews and blogs to auction sites and counterfeit
online stores. In light of all the messages circulating around luxury brands, it is necessary for them to be an official part of
the online landscape and to allow the interested community to become a part of the dream. Therefore, it is necessary to
acknowledge the fact that a well-managed internet presence is the only way to guarantee that a brand has an adequate
representation on the web and to ensure a well-orchestrated effort of different channels of digital communication.
Best practices give evidence that the key value dimensions of a luxury brand are a useful basis for the development of
complementary offline and online strategies that create a true luxury experience.
Advertising Transformed Chapter 4: Consumers as Advertising Creatives
T he new spirit of the age, which favours the empowerment of both citizens and consumers, combined with the rapid rise
of social media, has resulted in a world where individual consumers can give free rein to the development and sharing of
their creative talents. They can even become a brand in their own right and can certainly help to make or break other
commercial brands. Media attention is what they are seeking. But what is the real brand value of user-generated
advertising in todays modern market and how can marketing and communications professionals succeed in transforming
the consumers creative inspiration and energy into a positive pro- cess? And are user-generated campaigns really more
credible than classic campaigns? What exactly is user-generated content (UGC)? The name says it all. It is content created
by members of the public about the brands they use. In other words, it is free and not created by professionals. Moreover,
it is content that is made available to a wider public by media such as the internet. Or up to a point because not all UGC
is freely available and accessible to everyone, since sometimes it will be reserved for the eyes and ears of a closed
community. 1 Originally, UGC was a true niche activity. Today, however, it is increasingly possible to talk according to
some of a communication democracy, in
which the internet is giving ever-larger amounts of power to users. Nowadays, everyone is free to throw their opinion
about almost anything onto the net. UGC is the natural consequence of the growth of online communities and social
networks. One of the earliest forms of content generated by and for the public was the numerous blogs that appeared just
after the turn of the millennium. Podcasts and forums have also now been with us for a number of years. You can read this
in Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, which is yet another form of content generated by non-professionals. But for many
people YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are now the most popular platforms for the publication, sharing and
spreading of online content. It was expected that by 2013 the number of people creating online content would have grown
to 114.5 million. 2 Amateurs will make 70 per cent of all content about brands on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Just
30 per cent will comprise output from marketing professionals. 3 On the other side of the coin however, the most shared
films on the internet continue to be made by professional companies working for commercial advertisers of one kind or
another (see Chapter 3). In other words, nowadays the ball is well and truly in the court of the consumers. This finds its
expression in the information and experiences they share and in the brand-related content they create. The classic example
of brand-related content that was not generated by professionals (and one which set many of these professionals thinking!)
dates back to 2006. This was the now-legendary Mentos/Diet Coke film, in which two amateurs in doctors coats dropped
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a couple of Mentos mints into a bottle of Diet Coke, which resulted in a spectacular fountain of foam. This ad was viewed
millions of times on YouTube and the sale of Mentos in the United States increased by 15 per cent. In addition, the
amount of free PR was huge and the total value of the media attention was estimated at $100 million. 4 Since then, almost
every marketer had been asking the same question: are consumers perhaps better creators of advertising than the
professionals? And if so, how on earth can they create a Mentos effect for their brand?
which the internet is giving ever-larger amounts of power to users. Nowadays, everyone is free to throw their opinion
about almost anything onto the net. UGC is the natural consequence of the growth of online communities and social
networks. One of the earliest forms of content generated by and for the public was the numerous blogs that appeared just
after the turn of the millennium. Podcasts and forums have also now been with us for a number of years. You can read this
in Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, which is yet another form of content generated by non-professionals. But for many
people YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are now the most popular platforms for the publication, sharing and
spreading of online content. It was expected that by 2013 the number of people creating online content would have grown
to 114.5 million. 2 Amateurs will make 70 per cent of all content about brands on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Just
30 per cent will comprise output from marketing professionals. 3 On the other side of the coin however, the most shared
films on the internet continue to be made by professional companies working for commercial advertisers of one kind or
another (see Chapter 3). In other words, nowadays the ball is well and truly in the court of the consumers. This finds its
expression in the information and experiences they share and in the brand-related content they create. The classic example
of brand-related content that was not generated by professionals (and one which set many of these professionals thinking!)
dates back to 2006. This was the now-legendary Mentos/Diet Coke film, in which two amateurs in doctors coats dropped
a couple of Mentos mints into a bottle of Diet Coke, which resulted in a spectacular fountain of foam. This ad was viewed
millions of times on YouTube and the sale of Mentos in the United States increased by 15 per cent. In addition, the
amount of free PR was huge and the total value of the media attention was estimated at $100 million. 4 Since then, almost
every marketer had been asking the same question: are consumers perhaps better creators of advertising than the
professionals? And if so, how on earth can they create a Mentos effect for their brand?
The researchers have identified four drivers that can act as motivation for the generation of UGC: co-creation,
empowerment, community and self-concept. Their hypothesis contends that the more strongly these four drivers are
present, the more strongly the consumer will feel involved with a brand: Co-creation relates to all situations where
consumers collaborate with a company or with other consumers to make something, such as online content or even a
product. The growing number of online conversations about brands and products shows that the consumer is certainly
interested in this kind of collaboration and dialogue. Through this process of co-creation consumers regard themselves as
a valuable and integral part of the company or brand. No longer satisfied with the range of experiences provided for them
by this company or brand, they now want to create their own experiences. Empowerment is connected to the fact
that many consumers no longer want to be influenced by marketing and advertising, preferring instead to take control of
the decision-making process. In a reversal of roles, they use the internet and their own content as weapons to put pressure
on the marketers and advertisers to take account of their wishes. As a result of the development of social media, numerous
digital communities have come into being. Communities are groups of people linked together by a common activity or a
common characteristic. Today, the members of many communities are connected by their interest in a particular brand,
using the internet as their central medium. The majority of the members of these communities is no longer prepared to
consume in a passive manner, but want to interact, share experiences and co-create. People who are closely involved in
this type of brand community are usually more emotionally committed to the brand in question. They identify more
closely than others with this brand and are loyal to it. Community is the third driver for brand-related UGC. UGC
offers consumers the possibility to express themselves through sharing ideas and experiences with the other community
members. Self-concept As long ago as 1955, a study demonstrated that brands can be vehicles for self-expression. 6
Consumers try to express themselves and distinguish themselves from others by

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the choice of brands they make. Social psychologists describe self-concept as the perception of the own self. It is a
collection of a persons self-evaluations about who they are and how they function. Self-concept seeks to build a bridge
between the imperfect me of the present and the perfect me of the future. This is achieved through a process of selfappreciation, self-development, self-identification and peer recognition. 7 The social dimension of UGC offers a platform
for this process. What conclusions can be drawn from this quantitative research? Three of the four drivers co-creation,
community and self-concept have a positive impact on the involvement of the consumer with the brand. Moreover, this
involvement in turn has a positive impact on brand perception and brand equity. However, the contention that there is also
a correlation between the empowerment driver and involvement is not proven by the data. Empowerment has no
significant impact on brand involvement. In fact, it is often claimed (as already mentioned above) that empowerment is
based on the dislike that many consumers feel for what they regard as marketing manipulation and their desire to no
longer be influenced. Or could it be that consumers who participate in UGC which was everyone in the case of this
study are already more empowered of their own accord? An opposing hypothesis was also investigated; namely, the
existence or non-existence of the so-called feedback loop. Can the value of a brand alone influence the consumers
perception of co-creation, empowerment, community and self-concept? Or to express it differently: is it possible that the
more value a consumer attaches to a brand, the more likely he or she will be to think that the brand is based on cocreation, empowerment, community and self-concept? This reverse hypothesis that value of brand can have a positive
impact on the four UGC drivers was partly confirmed. Brand value does indeed have an impact on three of the four
drivers: co-creation, empowerment and community. But the concept that more brand value leads to more self-concept
(self-expression, self-cultivation, self-development, identification) was not proven. The authors have an explanation (so
far unsupported) for this apparent anomaly: consumers who are driven by self-concept, they argue, will be more likely to
create UGC for less well-known brands, because these will allow them to be freer and more creative, thereby allowing
them in turn to exercise more influence on the perceptions of other consumers.
Be that as it may, it is certainly the case that a brand with strong brand equity has a better chance of developing a
successful UGC campaign, thanks to the strong influence of the co-creation, empowerment and community drivers.
Personality makes the difference The research by Christodoulides, Jevons and Bonhomme (2012) was in the first instance
focused on active UGC participants. It showed how involvement in brand-related UGC can help to change the perception
and value of the brand in question in a positive manner. However, another study carried out by Forrester Research,
covering no fewer than 57,924 North American (Canada and the United States) and 16,473 European UGC users, shows
that only a quarter of consumers are seriously active on social media platforms. These active users the people who
actually create content and place it online amount to just 24 per cent of the US respondents and 23 per cent of their
European counterparts. The users who assess and comment on website content represented 36 per cent and 33 per cent of
their respective survey populations. 8 In this context, the Nielsen Research Bureau applies the rough 1/10/90 rule. One per
cent of social media users make content, 10 per cent share and give comment on content, but the largest group the
remaining 90 per cent simply consumes that content passively. In this respect, the 1/10/90 rule endorses the 2-stepflow model of advertising (as discussed in Chapter 1). For this reason, it is vital for the success of digital participative
campaigns to identify the right target group. Almost intuitively, many marketers think that this means the early adopters.
However, there is no evidence to show that early adopters will take on the role of pioneers, actively stimulating the larger,
passive group of users to participation. 9 It requires more than straightforward demographic segmentation to determine the
profile of the active UGC consumer. Criteria such as age and gender alone are insufficient. For example, psychological
differences between consumers also help to influence whether or not someone will actively create UGC. In September
2012, the Singaporean researcher Dominic Yeo (Hong Kong Baptist University) published the results of his research into
the psychological
profiles of digital consumers, with the aim of identifying the best target groups for interactive campaigns. 10 Combining
an extensive literature study with a survey of 656 YouTube users, Yeo concluded that participation in social media was
determined either by the own self (individualistic) or by the others (relational). The starting point for the research was
the so-called Big Five: the five universal personality traits possessed by people. These traits offer a framework in which
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the individual characteristics of consumers can be bundled. The five traits in question are: 1 2 3 Extraversion : the
tendency to be social, communicative and self-confident; someone who enjoys change and excitement; Agreeableness :
the tendency to trust others; someone who empathizes and cooperates; 4 Conscientiousness : the tendency to behave in a
socially responsible manner; someone who is dedicated, with a feeling for organization and an ability to adjust; 5
Neuroticism : the tendency to display chronically negative emotions; someone who expresses these emotions in their
behaviour; Openness to experience : the tendency to be intellectually curious and artistically inclined; someone who is
prepared to consider alternatives. According to Yeo, the extent to which these different personality traits are present in a
person will determine the type of media they prefer and their manner of using it. The research shows clearly that there is a
correlation between the personal characteristics of a consumer and his or her preference for a particular media. For
example, Yeos survey of YouTube users revealed that the extraversion trait is frequently to be found in people who
have a preference for humoristic films; the more neurotic users are generally more inclined to opt for drama and
informative films. On the basis of the Big Five and the insights into media use that they reveal, Yeo distinguishes
between two basic types of consumer. On the one hand, there are the utilitarian, instrumental consumers, who are rational
and practical by nature. On the other hand, there are the hedonic, emotional consumers, who are more focused on
experiences and pleasure. In terms of media use, the instrumental consumers have a preference for platforms that they find
useful or informative, while their emotional counterparts like platforms that give them enjoyment. Naturally, the level of
involvement with media the extent to which a medium is regarded by the consumer as being more or less relevant is
also a key determining factor in media use. Involvement influences the cognitive aspect of consumer behaviour, such as
actively searching for information, giving and seeking attention, being convinced, etc. But involvement does not
necessarily need to be cognitive. For example, it has been shown that involvement in the internet has both cognitive and
affective dimensions. Consumers are typified on the basis of two dynamics that determine the extent and the nature of
their online participation. The two consumer profiles the instrumental and the emotional correlate with these two
forms of participation: Individualist participation is determined by the own self, is more hedonic and situationdependent. Individualist users are emotional consumers who are looking first and foremost for pleasure, who are
emotionally involved to a certain degree, who prefer light-hearted videos and who participate in a passive way. They
search for films and watch them, but do little more than that. Relational participation is more dependent upon the
personality of the consumer himor herself. The relational user is more taskoriented, is cognitively involved with the film
and is motivated to learn more by engaging with other users. For this reason, relational users tend to opt for more
informative films and their response to these films is much more participative. For example, they will give ratings to the
videos and write comments. What do all these conclusions mean for an online campaign in concrete terms? The first wave
of the campaign should be targeted at the interactive, relational users (also known as the instrumental consumers), since
this is the group who can be most easily motivated to participate and whose participation will be most active. These
relational users are also easier to identify than the individualists. Relational users are characterized above all by the
personality traits of extraversion and neuroticism.
The compulsive behaviour of online consumers was also the subject of an internal paper by BBDO (2011): Seducing the
Social Super Ego. This paper argued that digital natives regard social media as an extension of real life. For them, it is
the most natural way to express themselves and to give themselves a place in society. This has a strong narcissistic
element: their online profile reflects their ideal image; every aspect of their life must be shared and completely up-todate; their popularity is measured on the basis of likes and online comments, etc. 11 A recent study that appeared in the
Journal of Brand Management examined the relationship between so-called self-expressive brands that are Liked on
Facebook, and consumers brand advocacy in online and offline settings. A survey of 265 Facebook users revealed as well
that consumers Like brands that express their inner and social selves. Self-expressive brands reflecting their inner or
social self encourage consumers to offer positive word of mouth on social networks. Further, self-expressive brands on
Facebook positively influence consumers brand acceptance, and their willingness to forgive their Liked brands for
wrongdoing. 12 In relation to UGC, yet another study confirmed that ego-defensive and social functions of attitude are
the most explanatory power for users to want to create content and thus for the success of UGC campaigns. The egoPage 71 of 133

defensive function compels people to protect themselves from personal insecurity and threats coming from others. UGC
campaigns help these people to minimize personal doubts and feel part of a community. The social function, logically, has
to do with peer pressure and interaction with friends. So yet another reason why UGC campaigns are popular: they help
people to connect and make them feel important. 13 So, if the first wave of a campaign is aimed at the relational users, the
second wave should seek to include the less active, individualist users as well. However, the individualists are less easy to
track down and reach on the basis of their Big Five characteristics, although Yeo does show that such users, more than
their relational counterparts, typically opt for lighter content with a higher entertainment level. Similarly, individualist
users will be attracted by the more hedonic aspects of products, rather than by products with a higher instrumental value.
Consequently, the second wave of the campaign should focus more on the emotional stimuli of the brand, so that the
individualist users (the emotional consumers) can also be attracted and motivated to produce UGC. Offering incentives in
exchange for participation can often help to push them in the right direction. However, it is important to note that
individualist and relational participation are not mutually exclusive; one does not necessarily rule out the other. In reality,
communication is a continual dialogue between individualist and relational aspects, between affect and cognition,
between the emotional and the instrumental. Similarly on social media, consumers select products, services or experiences
on the basis of both individual and relational considerations. Finally, another research study that appeared in the Journal
of Advertising Research came to the same conclusions as Yeo when it comes to e-mailings and thus so-called electronic
word of mouth (eWOM). As a first, not quite surprising, conclusion, the researchers stated that recipients who receive emails from close interpersonal sources are more willing to forward them than if they were coming from unfamiliar or
commercial sources. Secondly, and more interestingly, those who receive more utilitarian or hedonic e-mails are more
willing to forward them. And, third, those recipients who score high on the personality traits of extraversion and openness
and low on conscientiousness, are more willing to forward a commercial e-mailing to others.
Co-creation with stakeholders UGC for advertising purposes cannot be viewed in isolation from the fundamental trend
towards brand co-creation. Co-creation not only involves consumers, but can also be extended to other stakeholders. In
this manner, co-creation becomes a process for the collective development of the value of a brand by all the different
parties involved with the brand. This, at least, is the argument put forward by Professor Emerita Mary Jo Hatch
(University of Virginia) and Professor Majken Schultz (Copenhagen Busi- ness School). 15 According to Hatch and
Schultz, various studies have already shown how co-creation is finding resonance with an increasing number of
researchers, who believe that a brand (and its equity) are determined by the engagement of all its stakeholders. In other
words, all the stakeholders are equally important as co-creators. However, until recently, the only stakeholder group to
have been examined in any detail was the consumers. Hatch and Schultz speak of co-creation as a new brand paradigm.
According to them, the value that a brand represents is not simply manufactured in a factory, but is the combined result
of the co-creation of different network relationships and numerous social interactions, which take place within the wider
context of the brand (and not exclusively in the marketing department or amongst the consumers). The greater the number
of different access routes into the company and its resources, the greater the transparency for and the involvement of the
stakeholders becomes. This means that all the relevant departments of a company (marketing, HR, sales and even the
CEO) are effectively partners within the same co-creation process. Of course, there are certain risks attached to this
process. There is a risk that the company will suffer damage to its reputation or lose control over its markets and activities.
There is also a risk that the company will continue to listen too much to its own marketers and not enough to the
consumers and the other stakeholders. But in return for accepting these risks, co-creation offers huge potential rewards,
such as a better understanding of what customers and prospects really want. The importance of involving all stakeholders
has been confirmed by data research into digital communities carried out by Albert Muniz Jr (DePaul University) and
Thomas OGuinn (University of Illinois). They emphasize
the partial view of the world that typifies the members of such communities, but also stress the traditions and rituals they
embody. Likewise, they point to the sense of moral responsibility that the stakeholder groups bring to the dialogue with
the company behind the brand. 16 Another important function of these communities is the spreading of information,
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which enhances the transparency around the company and the brand. The social structure that the communities offer for
the relationship between brand marketing and the consumer can often take the form of a network or even a central hub. In
this manner, the brands relation with the communities becomes a strategic responsibility; a responsibility that not only
rests on the marketing function, but affects every member of the company. And because every function has its own
stakeholders, this will lead to a complete stakeholder programme although it remains open to question who should
coordinate and lead this integrated ---approach and what its effect will be on the internal operations of the company.

Marketing Can No Longer Rely on the Funnel. By Mark Bonchek and Cara France. Harvard Business Review.
2014 (online)
One of the central concepts of marketing and sales is the funnel through which companies are supposed to
systematically move prospects from awareness through consideration to purchase.
But consumers are now more informed, connected, and empowered than ever. Does the funnel still work in a digital,
social, mobile age?
We asked some of the leading marketers in the world from companies like Google, Intuit, Sephora, SAP, Twitter, and
Visa to assess the relevance of the marketing funnel. What we found says as much about the future of business as it
does about the future of marketing.
According to these marketers, the primary problem with the funnel is that the buying process is no longer
linear. Prospects dont just enter at the top of the funnel; instead, they come in at any stage. Furthermore, they often jump
stages, stay in a stage indefinitely, or move back and forth between them.
For example, consider items that come recommended on an e-commerce site. With a click you can add them to your cart,
moving straight from awareness through consideration to purchase in only a few seconds. The same holds true on items
discovered in a Tweet, Facebook post, or Pinterest board.
In both B2B and B2C businesses, customers are doing their own research both online and with their colleagues and
friends. Prospects are walking themselves through the funnel, then walking in the door ready to buy.
As an example, Julie Bornstein, CMO at Sephora, has seen social media change how people buy beauty products.
Recommendations from friends have always been important, but now these recommendations spread quicker, faster, and
further at every stage in the funnel. The decision on what to buy increasingly comes from advocates who share their
experience in a way that pulls in new customers and informs their purchase decision. Sephoras response has been to bring
all the stages of the funnel together into a single place, creating its own online community where people can ask questions
of experts and each other about brands, products, and techniques.
One popular alternative to the funnel is the Customer Decision Journey popularized byMcKinsey. A key advantage
of this model is that its circular, rather than linear. Prospects dont come in the top and out the bottom, but move through
an ongoing set of touchpoints before, during, and after a purchase.

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The Customer Decision Journey is an improvement over the traditional funnel, but some marketers see it as incomplete.
The problem is in the name itself. Brands may put the decision at the center of the journey, but customers dont. Jonathan
Becher, CMO at SAP, believes that for customers, the pivot is the experience, not the purchase. The Customer Decision
Journey might be circular, but if the focus is still on the transaction, it is just a funnel eating its own tail.
One of the most critical weaknesses of the Customer Decision Journey is the connection between purchase and advocacy.
Almost every marketer we spoke to described how social media has disconnected advocacy from purchase. You no
longer have to be a customer to be an advocate. The new social currency is sharing whats cool in the moment, says Joel
Lunenfeld, VP of Global Brand Marketing at Twitter.
In todays marketing landscape, people can experience a brand in many ways other than purchase and usage of a product.
These include live events, content marketing, social media, and word-of-mouth. Consider all the members of the Nike+
running community who dont own Nike products or the half million fans of Teslas Facebook page who dont own a
Tesla. Or consider companies where employees use their own devices or download their own software until IT purchases
the enterprise version for the entire company. In todays digital age, advocates arent necessarily customers. Marketers
who think that advocacy comes after purchase are missing the new world of social influence.
Antonio Lucio, Chief Brand Officer at Visa, believes the solution is to shift the focus from the transaction to the
relationship. After exploring the Customer Decision Journey, his team developed what they call a Customer Engagement
Journey. In this model, transactions occur in the context of the relationship rather relationships in the context of the
transaction.
As an example, consider a real world journey of a familys trip from the U.S. to Mexico. Visa has mapped out the entire
experience, from where the family gets ideas on where to go (TripAdvisor), to how they gather input from friends
(Facebook), to how they pay for their cab (cash from an ATM) or hotel (credit card), to how they share photos of their trip
with friends back home (Instagram). Only a few of these situations are opportunities for transactions, but they are all
opportunities for relationship. When you change from decision to engagement, Antonio says, you change the entire
model.
Market trends suggest the mismatch will only widen between customers actual experiences and the models of the funnel
or Customer Decision Journey. One key trend is the integration of marketing into the product itself. The funnel presumes
that marketing is separate from the product. But for digital products like games, entertainment, and software-as-a-service,
the marketing is built right into the product. Examples include the iTunes store and Salesforces App Exchange.
Caroline Donahue, CMO at Intuit, oversees numerous web-based products for which the product and the marketing
become one thing. The funnel changes because with cross-sell and up-sell, you move from awareness to action
instantaneously. Instead of a Customer Decision Journey, her approach might best be described as a User Experience
Journey into which opportunities for transactions are thoughtfully embedded.
Google shares a similar view, taking the fusion of product and marketing one step further. Arjan Dijk, the companys Vice
President for Global Small Business Marketing, believes products should be designed to market themselves. For Google,
the question is not how can we market this product? but which products deserve marketing? Marketing isnt about
pushing peoples thoughts and actions. Its about amplification, helping whats already happening grow faster.
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So where do we go from here? The funnel and Customer Decision Journey arent going away. They are useful
models, and will continue to be helpful in certain contexts. But marketing today requires a new mental map to navigate a
changing landscape. We need a model that informs marketers how to enable and empower, not just persuade and
promote. There are a variety of alternatives including journey, orbit, relationship, and experience.
Whatever model you choose, whats most important is that it addresses: first, the multi-dimensional nature of social
influence; second, non-linear paths to purchase; third, the role of advocates who arent customers; and fourth, the shift to
ongoing relationships beyond individual transactions
The Secret of Generation C. By Gillian Tett. Financial Times. 2014
High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut &
paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional
rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/14417f3e-f742-11e3-8ed6-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz3AQpVTy4x

Last weekend I was strolling through central Manhattan with my daughters when they spotted a Starbucks. We have to
go there please, please! one declared. I have to tell all my friends at school!
I was shocked. Many years ago, when my children were tiny, I spent a lot of time in Starbucks, meeting up with other
mothers. We fed our toddlers babyccinos, or cups of frothed milk, which Starbucks had cleverly started selling to appeal
to the mother-and-toddler set. But since coffee is not defined as a childhood drink in western culture, I have tended to
steer clear of the chain, as I do not want to inculcate an early love of caffeine in my pre-teen girls.
However, what has suddenly got my daughters so excited has nothing to do with coffee, lattes, cappuccinos or espressos.
In recent months Starbucks has started selling a secret menu of drinks which are not listed in public. Stories about this
have gone viral among American teens and tweenies (or preteens), via posts on Instagram and other social media; there
is even a secret menu Facebook page.
Never mind that canny Starbucks marketing experts have undoubtedly placed those links on social media themselves.
Teens and tweenies think it is cool to drink concoctions such as Cotton Candy Frap(puccino), Grasshopper Frap or Rolo
Frap, or drinks that never appear on any menu that their parents actually know about (unless they end up having to pay).
As a piece of marketing strategy, this is pure genius. It is also a striking symbol of our age. Until the early years of the
20th century, the concept of a teen let alone a tween was unknown; in western society people were classified either as
adults or children. The concept of the teenager sprang to life as consumer companies discovered a new market for their
goods. They realised that the key to selling things in this demographic was to make teen brands different from parental
brands, and a little subversive too.
Until recently, Starbucks did not seem keen or able to tap into the teen demographic. Coffee bars are generally
branded as grown-up places where young professionals hang out; coffee drinkers are, on average, relatively old. But
Howard Schultz, Starbucks CEO, knows that if he wants to keep expanding, he has to get creative. Since the 1970s
coffee consumption has been flat or falling; today Americans only consume 23 gallons of coffee a year, half the level of
50 years ago. But Starbucks is convinced that it can use the 13,000 outlets that dot the US today to sell something else.
Hence the secret menu campaign, which is now cropping up in other places too: Chipotle, Jamba Juice and even
McDonalds are playing with the concept.

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What is perhaps most interesting about this tale is not simply that it shows that secrecy sells, but that the sense of
individual identity is paramount as well. Judging from my daughters, and debates on the blogosphere and social media,
what tweens really love about the secret menu is not just that it feels a little subversive but that it offers customisation.
A psychologist might attribute this simply to a childs desire to exert power but I suspect there is something else going on:
children these days are growing up in a world where personal choice is considered paramount, if not normal. Back when
I was a tween in 1970s Britain, middle-class children did not usually expect customised drinks. We lived in a massmarket world; our parents had seen rationing.
...
But today, adults increasingly assume that everything should be shaped by individual choice be that your flavour of
drink, what media you consume or how you take a holiday. And that idea is being passed down to the next generation via
millions of tiny, subtle cultural signals; such as those Starbucks drinks (which supposedly can be reconfigured into 87,000
different personal combinations). Todays kids, in other words, are not so much Gen X, Y or Z but Gen C, or Generation
Customised.
Is this empowering? Or utterly appalling? I suspect it is both. Either way, after endless entreaties last weekend, I
succumbed and took my daughters to Starbucks, where they ordered their dream (customised) drink a Cotton Candy
Frappuccino. This turned out to be a vile-tasting, shocking-pink concoction. But taste did not seem to be the point. When
the barista produced it, he did so with a knowing wink. It was so darn pink that it made a striking photo which one of
my daughters duly texted to her friends.
By next month, no doubt a different drink will be considered cool, or maybe teens and tweens will be buzzing about
something other than Starbucks. But if nothing else, the phenomenon is a striking sign of how plastic and malleable
cultural symbols can be in our digital world, with marketing dollars at work. Even (or especially) with something as
simple and ubiquitous as having a coffee.
Turning Facebook Fans into Product Endorsers. By Robert Berkman. MIT Sloan Management Review. 2013 (ereserves )
No chance

The Psychology of Belonging: Why People Become Brand Fans. By Peter Herrnreiter. Marketing Profs. 2014
(online)
Too many marketers are not aware that every decision that a customer makes consists of complex emotions.
One such emotion, that of belonging, is the very reason your brand needs to develop its "why statement."
To understand the complex psychology of belonging, or purpose, let's look at a simple example of that idea in practice.
Here's one from the sporting world.
Every four years, the FIFA World Cup is played. Fans from across the globe pack stadiums, pubs, living rooms, and city
streets to watch matches. World Cup fans, like those from other sports, adorn themselves in the colors of their country, a
ritual that has its roots in medieval tradition, in which people's sense of self and loyalty was tightly associated with their
lords' colors and symbols.

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Today's fans, while not dressing for battle, are the samedriven by an emotional connection to their team through deepseated personal motivators. That connection (whether you call it a "desire to belong" or even "purpose") is equal parts a
reflection of self and team. Such connections have even been shown to enhance someone's meaning of life.

So, why do we care about how emotionally connected someone can get to a soccer team?
The Psyche of Fans
Fans, by definition, are fanatics about the team or brand. Those brands have developed a very strong sense of beingthe
why statement. That statement, less of a formal mission statement and more of a sense of purpose, roots the brand into the
psyche of fans and motivates them through emotion to take action.
The why statement is a very simple concept. It's the very driving force behind the brand's reason for existence; it's the
explanation of why you do what you do.
Ask any entrepreneur why he or she is in business and that person should say, "Because I want to change the world." For
example, Google's why statement is paraphrased as "we want to make information universally accessible and useful."
What the company doesn't say is "we're a search engine."
Your why statement is always inspiration and aspiration by nature.
Author Simon Sinek, best known for the concept of the "golden circle," gave a TED talk video about his vision of how
leaders can inspire action through simply asking why.
This idea of a why statement (the simple question of asking, "What is your purpose?") is precisely the motivator behind
those avid soccer fans.
"Why" is not a matter of the end result but what your cause is.
Going Beyond Buying Into Believing
That is the same motivator that pushes people not to buy but to believe.
Soccer fans, just like fans of any brand, don't see themselves so much as buying products but rather belonging to a larger
movement. Such a movement aligns with an individual's sense of self and drives him or her to evangelize the product on
behalf of the company.
"The inspired leaders and the inspired organizations, regardless of size and industry, all think and act from the inside out,"
Sinek says.
However, most people sell, market, and communicate from the outside in. For example, consider the tagline "We make
great cars through great research." It's not terribly inspiring.
The best companies market from deep within their development process using their inner why and speaking directly to the
heart of the foundation.

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Steve Jobs once commented that his most hated words were branding and marketing. Former Apple vice president of
WorldWide Marketing, Allison Johnson said that in the late Apple CEO's mind "people associated brands with television
advertising and commercials and artificial things. The most important thing was people's relationship to the product. So
any time we said 'brand' it was a dirty word.
"Marketing is when you have to sell to somebody. If you aren't providing value, if you're not educating them about the
product, if you're not helping them get the most out of the product, you're selling. And you shouldn't be in that mode."
So, Apple isn't in the business of selling; it's in the business of educating, of driving, of believing, of evangelizing. When
people believe in your mission, they will want to buy from you. When people want to buy, they not only want to hear from
you, but they expect it and are excited about it.
Examples of Inspiring Belief in Your Brand
So, what brands have started to communicate that way?
One great example is Guitar Center, which released a new video spot featuring Metallica front man James Hetfield. The
tagline is: "All We Sell is the Greatest Feeling on Earth."
Such a bold and direct why statement is exactly why people believe in your brand. It's not the guitar, computer, soft drink,
or software that you make. It's why you want to make their lives better, it's why you put your customer before your
product.
If your brand develops, communicates, and acts upon that statement, then your customers will not only buy from you but
also believe in you.
Secrets To Engaging Aspirational Consumers. By Mitch Baranowski and Raphael Bemporad. Fast Company.
2014. (online)
For decades, the green movement has been chasing the wrong ball. If only we could cultivate so-called advocates
(pejoratively dubbed treehuggers) then we could scale the market for sustainable goods and tip the business paradigm
toward more conscious capitalism.
Wishful thinking. The data couldnt be clearer: Advocates will never be more than 20% of the consuming public. But
thats okay. Theres a new kid in town, one who cares about style and shopping and status and . . . wait for it . . . doing
right by the planet.
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The discovery in 2013 of a high-velocity segment that BBMG and Globescan have named Aspirational consumers is
significant for many reasons, but mainly because they are the largest consumer segment globally (39% of the population
representing nearly 2 billion people) and the first to unite materialism, sustainability, and cultural influence. In short, they
are the most critical audience to reach and engage if we want to drive sustainable behavior change at scale: Aspirationals
love to shop, want to consume less, and have a more holistic view of happiness beyond material possessions.
Winning brands in the 21st century will align sustainable innovation, product development, and marketing.
But this article isnt about the research, which you can find here. Its about what it means for brand marketers looking to
drive greater loyalty and market share through more disruptive business strategies and delightful brand experiences.
How might we make cool stuff better, and better stuff cool (to paraphrase our client Ekocycles founder will.i.am)? We
believe winning brands in the 21st century will align sustainable innovation, product development, and marketing to have
a profound impact on the next generation of shoppers.
So here are five ways to reach, engage and unleash the Aspirationals to drive business growth and positive social impact.
MANIFESTO: GIVE THEM SOMETHING TO BELIEVE IN
Aspirationals want something to believe in and they want brands to stand for something bigger than a product or service.
Give them an inspiring ethos. Bring a strong point of view. Build partnerships that enrich your brand experience and
advance the positive impact you want to cultivate.
This goes beyond traditional brand visioning, if you will. Whats new here is that Aspirationals dont want flat, empty
statements conveyed in slick ad campaigns. They want brands to embody a deeper purpose. They want the cool campaign
and the meaningful experience. Witness the longevity of Product (RED) or the Humanifesto from MethodHome, which
rallies people against dirty, or the fast rise of SoulCycle, whose brand unites body and spirit, using the bike as a
metaphor for living a life full of passion. Take your journey, says the companys credo. Find your soul.
BADGE: GIVE THEM SOMETHING TO BELONG TO
Aspirationals see brands as badges for their own identity and the tribes they want to belong to, often co-opting the vision,
beliefs and values of their favorite brands to define themselves, their behaviors and actions. Indeed, 53% say they
would purchase more products that are socially and environmentally responsible if it connected them to a community of
peers who share their values and priorities, compared to 42% of the general population.
53% say they would purchase more products that are socially and environmentally responsible if it connected them to a
community.
The Toms flag not only stands for a one-for-one business model, it connects a community that shares a sense of style and
a commitment to making the world a better place. Lyft, the San Francisco ride-sharing startup that just raised $83 million
and expanded to 24 new markets, asks riders to pay a suggested donation based on distance traveled. All Lyft cars sport
bright pink mustaches and riders are encouraged to give drivers fist-bumps when they first get in the car.
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MEGAPHONE: AMPLIFY THEIR VOICES

Aspirationals want a voice in the decisions that affect their lives. They are co-creators, eager to share their ideas, opinions
and experiences to help brands design better products and invent solutions to social challenges. Invite them in.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt spearheads hitRECord, an open collaborative production company where thousands of
filmmakers, illustrators, writers, photographers and editors share their content and distribute some of the works through
television, film fests, music tours and publishing deals. Any revenue generated is split 50-50 by the production company
and final content creators.
GEs Garages invites design thinkers in local communities to participate in open innovation. At events across the United
States, participants work in labs outfitted with 3-D printers, injection molders, laser cutters, and more to bring their
wildest ideas to life.
CURRENCY: GIVE THEM SOCIAL STATUS
More than any other segment, Aspirationals are cultural influencers who thrive on social currency and social validation.
More than half say people often turn to me for recommendations about trends, brands and causes, compared to 41% of
the general population. They crave insider-y recognition, wanting to feel not just smart but in the know.
Platforms like Yelp, Foursquare and Upworthy leverage the cool factor of their users to boost overall brand power. And
they bestow social currency in return. Points. Badges. Leaderboards. First-to-know access. Special invites to VIP events.
Winning brands empower Aspirationals to trade in their own cultural knowledge for exclusive perks and privileges; then
they use that cultural currency to enhance the status of the members they seek to engage.
RALLY: GIVE THEM A PLATFORM FOR ACTION
Finally, Aspirationals want to partner with brands that help them make a difference with their actions. The Body Shop
recently mobilized one million customers to sign a petition that helped push the European Union to ban animal testing in
cosmetics. Chipotles platform, Food with Integrity, comes to life through its annual Cultivate Festival, which inspires
consumers to discover family farmers, local products, fresh ingredients and more. Under the banner Your Right to
Know, Whole Foods Market informs consumers how to shop to avoid foods containing genetically modified organisms.
Aspiration is a universal human experience. It transcends age, geography, education, income, and social status.
These kinds of initiatives are expected by the Gen Xers and Millennials that make up the biggest segments of Aspirational
consumers. They want brands to disrupt the status quo, delight their senses and embody their values (see #1 above).
Aspiration is a universal human experience. It transcends age, geography, education, income, and social status. Thats
why so many marketers hew closely to Maslows hierarchy of needs and why so many lifestyle brands struggle with
differentiation. Who doesnt want to help us live our dreams?
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The opportunity here is to stop thinking narrowly about prompting a one-off transaction and start a much deeper, more
creative collaboration by honoring these consumers universal aspirations--purpose, belonging, voice, status, participation
and impact. If we do that--if we align brand purpose with the Aspirationals worldview and need state--then we can drive
significant behavior change, business growth and positive social impact.
How Do You Connect With Your Consumers In The Participation Age? By Giselle Abramovich. CMO. 2014.
(online)
Welcome to a new age: the Participation Age. For marketers that means an entirely new level of how they
engage consumers.
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS:

Nissan is a big believer in leveraging the passion and knowledge and expertise of our social fan base.

Collaboration between brands and consumers is happening across every aspect of business today.

If you want to go fast go alone. If you want to go far go together.

The Participation Age is more fragmented, personal, connected, real-time, and always-on than we could ever imagine,
wrote Daina Middleton, CEO of Performics, in her book Marketing In The Participation Age. It is about participants
who actively manage life by utilizing the many technology tools at their fingertips. Successful marketers in this new age
will not simply focus on customers, but be customer-obsessed with them. . .interaction is key. Competitive companies
understand that they must do more and motivate customers to act on their behalf to be successful and inspire people to
participate and keep them coming back.
Heres what brands are doing to nurture and cultivate loyalists in the Age of Participation:
Erich Marx, director of interactive and social media marketing at Nissan, told
CMO.com:
Nissan is a big believer in leveraging the passion, knowledge, and expertise of our social fan
base. We have had success in partnering with them to do highly engaging and sharable work in
the space, and plan to continue to learn from them and invite them to partner with us in terms
of content for, and insights about, the Nissan brand.
In support of the launch of the all-new 2013 Nissan Versa Note, last summer Nissan invited
our social fans to submit their own six-second Vine or 15-second Instagram video to us for the
chance to win $1,000 Amazon gift cards and possibly even have their InstaVine appear as part of a Nissan TV
commercial. The user-generated video simply needed to include a small cut-out of a 2013 Nissan Versa Note (that we
provided via a link that fans could download, print, and cut out at home).
The contest was promoted throughout our owned digital spaces and received a ton of buzz and earned media/press. But,
frankly, as cool as the contest was--and we did, indeed, have millions of impressions and hundreds of really creative
entries--the feedback from consumers, in general, was that it was too complicated to participate and maybe even a bit
intimidating to those who didnt want their videos judged in such a large, public forum like Vine or Instagram. Lesson
learned--when partnering with consumers and/or inviting them to submit content, make it easy to play. Social media
remains a time-filler (albeit an interesting and engaging one) for many fans, and brands requesting active participation
need to simplify the ask as much as possible.
Here's the video that came out of the contest:
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Playing off the success of our original crowdsourced car build, Project 370Z (in 2011), Nissan will be launching in June
our latest effort to engage with our social fans. Specifically, this time we will invite them to help us build the ultimate
Titan Truck--The Project Titan. The assignment is to take a base Nissan Titan Truck and via a series of surveys on our
Facebook page ask our fans to vote on which parts and accessories we should use to build the ultimate Nissan Titan. The
result will be the Project Titan. We will send two representatives from The Wounded Warrior Project (and an embedded
journalist to capture the adventure for us) to Alaska to truly test the Titan and prove its mettle.
Margaret Czeisler, VP of strategic alliances at Razorfish, told CMO.com:
Collaboration between brands and consumers is happening across every aspect of business
today.
On the product side, you have My Starbucks as perhaps the most revered example in the
industry, but we also have Googles launch of Glass. While the product itself and even the
approach gets flack, this was a pivotal move for an OEM to invite anyone--consumers,
developers, etc.--into defining the product before it was even released, when it was still a very
early beta. Google said, Hey, this is really new territory. We dont know the best application,
the best stories that will come from this, but these explorers will make this better and more useful than we could dream
up.
From a marketing and product development perspective, this is the antithesis of the industry, which is usually veiled in
secrecy. They were transparent; they invited anyone that was interested in submitting their ideas, and they knowingly let
this early, flawed product out into the wild. Despite the inevitable backlash, whether the product will prove to be a success
or a failure is unknown; its a new category and new territory. But I believe this approach of collaboration on products
will be intrinsic to product and marketing.
There are more classic marketing examples today, as well. Weve been collaborating in content creation and distribution
with consumers and brands, such as Delta and Citi, for several years. Much of what we see as the most successful
marketing campaigns in media, social, and creative are a result of this type of collaboration.
For the launch of the new fragrance Axe Anarchy, we took a genre that has fueled fantasies for decades--the graphic
novel--and turned this into a more relevant platform for todays generation raised on real-time, instant gratification by
inviting them to shape the full arch of the story, which was then woven in real time by illustrators. Stories and people
were woven into the novel, voted on, and ultimately written by more that 50 different authors, all of whom were
consumers.
For Mercedes-Benz, we launched Take The Wheel for the launch of the CLA last year. The CLA was an entirely new
product for Mercedes-Benz, designed from the ground up for a younger generation. To reach the generation thats largely
adverse to advertising, Razorfish made it clear we needed an entirely new way to engage this audience, one that was
inherently collaborative, inherently social. It wasnt going to be an easy task. In some ways, they were a challenger brand
with this audience.
We selected five of the most talented Instagrammers to test drive the CLA for seven days, posting their images along the
road. The one that was able to garner the most likes for their images won the car at the end. Consumers determined the
outcome of their favorite Instagrammers. And it drove results. The winning image had 2 million likes. The campaign had
87 million organic impressions; even the trailer that explained the challenge had 11.5 million likes. We created more than
150 marketing assets used to merchandise the car in retail and beyond. And, most importantly,
the car sales broke records.
Karl Isaac, head of brand strategy and innovation at Adobe (CMO.coms parent
company), told CMO.com:
There is an old African proverb that says, If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go
far, go together. This is particularly true within the world of innovation, where it has never
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been easier to quickly frame up concepts in isolation, yet it's when you start collaborating with your customers/audiences
that amazing and unexpected things can happen.
One example near and dear to me at Adobe is our Adobe Remix project, where we've been innovating on the very nature
of branding by inviting our audience in--commissioning world-renowned artists, designers, photographers, advertisers,
architects, hackers, etc.--to reinterpret our [logo]. By opening ourselves up to a new breed of design thinking, which
mashes up both mediums and disciplines alike, we've created an incredible system for our band that truly engages with
and celebrates our creative community. Working together with our audience will indeed take us farther than going at it
alone.
These are some of the reimagined logos thus far.
How Companies Use Selfie Marketing to Reach Customers. By Courtney Buchanan. Marketing Cloud. 2014.
(online)
Crafting a marketing message that ties into trending topics is key to catching the customers eye. Trend of the moment:
the selfie. So trending, in fact, that last year the Oxford Dictionary named selfie the Word of the Year, and Instagram
has more than 88 million photos that don the #selfie hashtag.
Theyre taking over Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and many other social media outlets. From January 2013 to December
2013, the number of brands using these self-portrait photos on Facebook and Twitter increased from 18 to 390, and those
running selfie contests increased from 265 to 988, according toresearch by Unmetric.
Not every selfie posted by a brand successfully improves the customer-brand relationship, however. Among the clutter of
brands trying new strategies unsuccessfully and those mastering innovative ideas, weve sorted the good from the bad to
show what it takes to nail the selfie strategy.
Selfies can combine humor and reality for social media campaigns, in particular when other marketing tools cant;
however they have to be used in the right way to be successful and shouldnt be undertaken without careful
planning, said social business expert Carolyn Blunt.
Here are four examples of how companies are using selfies to engage with customers:

Trade a selfie for a coupon. When customers post a selfie wearing Urban Degree clothing and touting the #urbanselfie
hashtag, the South Africa-based fashion brand offers them a $10 off coupon in return, according to MarketingProfs. As
part of its selfie campaign, the customer with the most retweeted selfie will win $1,000 shopping spree. The selfie
campaign boosted awareness of Urban Degrees social media presence and had a goal of increasing footfalls to its brickand-mortar stores.

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Tie in timely holidays. Around Valentines Day, Axe Deodorant launched its #kissforpeace campaign and asking
customers to submit photos of themselves kissing. The result? More than 34,000 tweets with the hashtag, but the
deodorant company hasnt yet reached its goal of 50,000 tweets, but its certainly on its way. On a weekly and monthly
basis, Axe selects a customer to receive Axe product prizes and will offer its final grand prize winner a trip to Berlin.

Demonstrate the power of the product. GoPro didnt have to try hard to get customers to post photos taken with their
GoPro cameras. Instead of featuring pictures of the product as many companies do, the personal camera company shows
what its products can do by having customers post breathtaking views and thrilling adventures.
Call in the celebrities. Selfies are great for getting customer involvement, but Turkish Airlines took its #SelfieShootout
contest one step further by hiring Kobe Bryant and Lionel Messi to market the campaign via a YouTube video. Customers
then uploaded selfies with a chance to win a free flight. The YouTube video received more than 130 million views within
two weeks of its release, and its huge success encouraged the airline to create a selfie app, according to Sprout Social.
These brands are effective at showing theyre current by playing off the selfie trend and turning customers into word-ofmouth marketers by having them share brand messages socially. Innovative strategies that deliver value and rewards to
the customer are sure to be a success.
What other top-notch selfie campaigns have you seen?
Big Brand Theory: Dunkin Donuts. By Ric Dragon. Social Media Today. 2014. (online)
Right after World War II, William Rosenberg cashed in some war bonds, borrowed some money, and opened a food truck
business. He grew that entrepreneurial endeavor to over 140 catering trucks, and then opened a coffee and doughnut
shop, later renamed "Dunkin' Donuts." That was the start of the franchise that has over 10,000 stores around the world,
and serves about three million customers each day.
Jessica Gioglio, Social Media Manager at Dunkin Donuts, discusses with me some of the energy that emerges around the
brand in social media, "We have this amazing fan community that really views Dunkin Donuts as a daily ritual. As a result
of that, our mantra is that we don't own our social media channels; our fans do."

You might call Dunkin Donuts a love brand - one of those brands like Harley Davidson or Coca-Cola that has earned a
strong loyalty from a larger portion of its customers. As a result, social media engagement around the brand's profiles is
high. Gioglio says that when she started with Dunkin Donuts over three ago, she was amazed at the quantity of
interactions. "People love to talk about how Dunkin coffee keeps them going," she says, "what occasions they drink coffee
to kind of give them a boost; whether its dealing with a case of the Mondays, or taking that great first bite out of a
doughnut, then taking a picture of it to share it to their friend community."
This means that a large part of the job around the brand's social media is about social listening so that content can be
crafted in a way that is inspired by how customers engage with the brand. Gioglio explains, "the magic is in the mix when
it comes to talking about ourselves and our brand. We think of it as we want to be an all day, everyday part of our fans'
lives in a way that makes sense and adds value."

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A lot of that valuable content does point back to the store's products. People really want to know about new menu items.
And as some of those menu items are seasonal, they also want to know when they can get a favorite item. An example
that Gioglio provides refers to October, "you feel like a rock star the day you post the date that pumpkin is returning!"
Content Plans and Real Time
With central brand social media profiles and countless regional variations, it's important to have a well-maintained content
calendar. At the same time, in order for the brand's social posts to be as relevant as possible, it must roll with what
Gioglio calls the serendipity of real time. She explains, "it's not abnormal for us to leave certain blocks in the content
calendar. To make sure we're timely this week, we'll leave a little bit of it open for our agency to come up with ideas that
are more real-time based on what might be trending, or what might be a popular conversation topic."
This might include the weather and sports. And of course, those big variables tend to be very particular to specific regions
or cities. It's a fine line for large brands: to speak from a central brand, and yet be specific to different audiences.
Gioglio says, "As marketers and social marketers, you always want to be the most relevant to your community: the right
message to the right person at the right time. There's a way to do that in a very conversational kind of fun way on social
media that doesn't feel like traditional marketing; and that's the beauty of what we've tried to actually advocate across the
markets that represent Dunkin; is just really show the local flavor of your community and how they run on Dunkin."
Getting Visual
Gioglio, incidentally, co-authored along with Ekaterina Walter the book The Power of Visual Storytelling: How to Use
Visuals, Videos, and Social Media to Market Your Brand. It's no wonder that Gioglio is bullish on the visual, "When you
think about food, people eat with their eyes. A lot of what we do with our visual content strategy on Facebook and other
channels like Instagram, Vine, and Twitter, is to be an all-day, everyday part of people's lives. Visuals are a great way to
tell a story; they're a great way to get people to pause and interact. A great beautiful mouthwatering photo of a doughnut is
going to spark your cravings and keep Dunkin top of mind."
Gioglio says that informal photographs are in line with the experience their customers are having with the brand. "They're
stopping into Dunkins; snapping a picture of their coffee cup as they're getting into their car; tweeting it out; and then
they're going on with their day. If we can replicate that behavior through our social channels I think that's a huge win for
us."
The Twitter Olympics: Inside Oreo's marketing 'War Room'. By Susan Krashinsky. The Globe & Mail. 2014.
(online)
The second goal was in, the fight for gold in womens hockey was tied, and a member of Mondelez Canadas marketing
team was all worked up.
Go, go, go, blurted Stephanie Minna Cass. But she was not talking to the hockey players on the screen at least, not at
that moment. Standing in the war room at one of the packaged goods companys advertising agencies, DraftFCB
Toronto, she was approving a message for Oreo to post on Twitter.

It was just one such room that Mondelezs Canadian agencies have set up to work in real time, responding to the
Olympics.
With a brand-new sponsorship inked this year with the Canadian Olympic Committee, the company has undertaken an
unprecedented effort to win over Canadian viewers tuned in to moments such as this one not just on television, but on
second screens such as mobile phones, tablets and computers, where they are reacting to all the excitement on Twitter
and Facebook.
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After Team Canadas women pulled themselves out of what looked like a losing position with a goal in the third period,
DraftFCB creative group head Jeff Hilts started sketching. The table in front of him in the Oreo war room was littered
with crumpled paper containing discarded ideas. Just moments earlier, the agency had sent out a tweet calling the game a
nail-biter (and encouraging people to bite into a cookie instead).

Now, sensing that a turnaround might be in the works, he wrote up a new post Recipe for gold: 1 part skill, 1 part heart,
1 part awesome comeback and after the second goal went in, a fellow copywriter showed it to the cheering client, Ms.
Cass.

This is the new speed of marketing. Oreo was the brand that proved the power of real-time response during the 2012
Super Bowl, when it won free attention with a quick response to a blackout in the stadium. It received so much coverage,
the company estimates that the tweet generated 280 million impressions (advertising speak for views of an ad) outside
of the digital world.
Since then, Mondelezs brands have been throwing more weight behind real-time marketing, including in Canada. These
Winter Games are the biggest stage yet for the companys brands to become part of the conversation here.
Theres a good reason for that: Mondelez regularly watches its return on investment based on analysis from research firm
Nielsen, which shows the ratio of sales dollars to dollars spent on advertising and promotional activity. When their
traditional advertising (such as TV) is paired with digital and social media efforts, they see a jump: Campaigns are
generally two times as effective for their money.
Consumers spend approximately 58 per cent of their time on digital globally, yet media spend within the [consumer
packaged goods] industry is misaligned with how consumers spend their time, Ms. Cass said.
The effort began in 2012 when the Oreo cookie turned 100. In the U.S., the brand worked with its digital agency 360i to
develop a daily twist campaign that tweeted out a different message every day. The campaign increased the amount of
times that people shared those posts with their own friends on Facebook by 280 per cent. Shares via retweet on Twitter
jumped 510 per cent. And comments on those social media posts were 67 times higher than average.
That kind of organic activity is particularly important for brands because social media has given consumers a platform to
make their voices heard on the kind of mass scale that used to be reserved for media outlets or companies with the budgets
to advertise widely. Now, the goal is to create something for a brand that people will like enough to share themselves; like
word of mouth, but louder. Much louder.
Consider the fact that, as of Thursday, people worldwide had posted 26 million tweets about the Olympics since the
Games began, and the opportunity for marketers is obvious.
Mondelezs day began at 6 a.m. in another war room at PR agency Edelman, preparing for an early-morning call with all
of its agencies to plan out its social content for the day. Along with DraftFCB, executives were speaking with OgilvyOne,
the agency in charge of Ritz crackers and Cadbury, and Tribal Worldwide Toronto, which handles Dentyne.
The Edelman team manages all these moving parts, sending out updates about Canadas wins; suggesting which brands
might be best to comment on which events; and crucially, checking to be sure messages align with COC brand rules and
do not raise any legal concerns.
For example, Mondelezs brands cannot tweet at Olympian athletes by name, or use most images of the athletes
themselves in their posts.

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That is because doing so could imply sponsorship of those individual athletes, which is not part of the companys deal.
(Other brands such as Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd., which does sponsor individual athletes in addition to its COC
partnership, have more freedom to use those athletes in their ads and those rules extend to social media.)
So the team has had to use the power of suggestion. They noticed a tag that had become popular on Twitter to praise the
lush facial hair of the Canadian mens bobsleigh team #beardmode and sent out amessage with a cartoon beard on an
Oreo cookie.

It sounds unappetizing, but it inspired a response from bobsledder James McNaughton himself. That was a win for the
brand and a precious bit of free advertising from one of the people consumers are rooting for right now.
Brands can also skirt the individual sponsorship rules by picking up on the COCs posts. When the committee tweeted a
picture of Olympic couple Charles Hamelin and Marianne St-Gelais celebrating Mr. Hamelins gold with a kiss, Dentyne
Canada retweeted it. It was a fit for the brand, which has focused its marketing on references to romance (and its attendant
activities).

Everything has to be co-ordinated. During the visit to DraftFCB, Mondelez Canadas senior manager of digital design,
Tara Haase, was on her mobile phone with the team at Edelman making sure its messages could be approved so that the
agency could respond quickly to the womens hockey game. And DraftFCBs social media strategist, Helen Androlia, was
preparing to press send.

By the time Canadas overtime goal hit the net, everything was ready to go. As the employees who had left their desks to
watch the game jumped up and down, several voices rang out among the cheers: Helen! Ms. Androlia, manning the
Twitter feed, immediately shouted back.
On it!
"NARROWCASTING"
For a global brand, sponsoring a specific countrys Olympic team and doing so publicly on social media could seem
like a risky proposition.
For Mondelez, this problem is partly solved by the fact that all its brands have Canada-specific Twitter accounts. All of
them, that is, except for one.
Oreo mostly uses just one global account, including when it praises Canadian Olympians. Those messages are not
particularly relevant, or necessarily welcome, among consumers elsewhere. So Mondelez uses what is called
narrowcasting. That allows advertisers to target Twitter messages by geography. Multiple accounts for different
countries are not required; country-specific messages can just be filtered down.
Mondelez was the first company in Canada to use that feature on Twitter, and has made use of it during these Games.
Netflix, McDonalds snap up real-time marketing opportunity after Luis Suarez bite. By Rodrigo Orihuela
Cornelius Rahn. Toronto Star. 2014. (online)
As Adidas AG stopped using Luis Suarez for World Cup marketing after the Uruguay striker received a four-month ban
for biting an opponent, Netflix Inc. and McDonalds Corp. seized the opportunity for free publicity.
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Dont worry #Suarez, four months is plenty of time to devour House of Cards. One bite at a time, Netflix tweeted after
the suspension was announced yesterday, referring to the online video services political thriller. Within an hour after the
controversial June 24 match against Italy, the McDonalds Uruguay unit tweeted: Hello @luis16suarez, if you are hungry
come have a bite of a big Mac.
Barilla Holding SpA, Royal Philips NV and Nandos Group Holdings Ltd. chimed in with tweets and ads that are more
than just schadenfreude. They show how marketers have honed their social-media skills to react immediately to events
that consumers are talking about. The reward is visibility at a low cost the brands dont have to pay the athlete a cent.
Such digital ambush marketing lets companies get a lot of attention in the blink of an eye, said Florian Krumrey, head
of sponsoring and rights at Munich-based marketing company Serviceplan Group.
Puma SE, the sportswear company that supplies jerseys for the Italian soccer team, jumped on the bandwagon by tweeting
an image of the team shirt and the slogan: Players look damn good in those PUMA shirts. Hard to resist taking a bite. A
spokesman for Puma, which also sponsors Uruguay, declined to comment.
Bentornati A Casa!

MATT DUNHAM / AP
As Adidas AG stopped using Luis Suarez for World Cup marketing after the Uruguay striker received a four-month
ban for biting an opponent, Netflix Inc. and McDonalds Corp. seized the opportunity for free publicity. Meanwhile,
fans had some fun with the Adidas ad featuring Suarez near Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro.
Barilla tweeted an image of eleven pieces of pasta, one of them partially bitten off. Printed on top: Bentornati A Casa!
(Welcome home). Suarez was suspended for Uruguays next nine international matches by the sports governing body for
biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini.
Sponsorship campaigns around sports stars often take as much as a year to set up and carry the risk that public perceptions
of athletes change, Krumrey said. A downside for quick digital ads is that they dont increase brand value over the longer
run the same way sponsorship deals and endorsements can, said Krumrey, a former ATP tennis player who recently
retained German soccer team captain Philipp Lahm for a marketing campaign with insurer AOK.
Unlike Adidas, none of the companies piggybacking on the Suarez scandal sponsor the player. Still, the marketers main
goal for using such channels is attention and consumer reaction rather than cost savings, said Stephan Loerke, managing
director at the World Federation of Advertisers, whose members include Diageo Plc, Ikea Group and Microsoft Corp.
Social Ads
Digital marketing is increasingly happening in conversations where the content is relevant to people, Loerke said. The
main reason is to take advantage of new trends and dynamics rather than making marketing cheaper.
Barilla published the Suarez ad as part of a social-media campaign consisting of posts pegged to topical events, said Luca
Di Leo, a spokesman for the pasta maker. Almost 900,000 people have viewed it, the highest number ever for such Barilla
ads, he said. On Facebook, the ad received about 30,000 likes and it was shared about 8,000 times.
The McDonalds tweet was an isolated, one-off thing and was meant to be tongue in cheek, said Sam Fulton, a
London- based spokeswoman for the company. A representatives for Netflix declined to comment.
Super Bowl
Sporting events have provided brands with rapid-fire marketing opportunities before. A 35-minute midgame power failure
during last years Super Bowl prompted marketers to start bidding on power outage as a search term on Twitter minutes
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after the lights went out. Mondelez International Inc.s digital ad agency, 360i, posted a picture of an Oreo cookie on
Twitter with the tag line You can still dunk in the dark, moving from concept to posting in five minutes.
Although quick-reaction campaigns often start on the web, advertisers can still harness traditional media such as print.
Philipss British unit ran an ad in Londons Metro newspaper this week for air-pressured flossing device that read Perfect
if you have a bit of Italian stuck between your teeth.
We wanted to have some fun, without making it personal, said Deneice Harwin, a company spokeswoman. The creative
department was sparked by the fit between the product and the incident, she said.
Eat Italian
Eataly, the Italian company that manages 28 food emporiums from New York to Florence, published a full-page ad in
Italys two main newspapers that read Everyone wants to eat Italian over an image of Chiellini showing the bite marks
on his shoulder. An Eataly representative didnt immediately return a call seeking comment.
In Rio de Janeiro, where the World Cup final will be played on July 13, billboards that show the Uruguayan roaring have
gone viral, with visitors flocking to take pictures of the themselves standing next to the ads.
Suarez was suspended twice before for biting rivals, once in 2010 while playing for Dutch team Ajax, and in 2013 while
playing for Liverpool. He was elected the best player in the English league last season.
It is always really important to make sure you dont offend or upset people, said Guy Carter, marketing director for
Nandos international franchise. The South African fast-food chain posted on Facebook: Suarez, why eat Italian when
you can try something different?
We have also always felt that it is important to be the voice of the people and as long as you are saying what people are
feeling and thinking, you should be OK, he said.

Is Social Media Spoiling the Super Bowl Ad Surprise? By Brian Steinberg. Advertising Age. 2013. (e-reserves)
Byline: Brian Steinberg
Clint Eastwood may be the last thing standing between social media and the Super Bowl.
An ad for Chrysler featuring Mr. Eastwood in Super Bowl XLVI told viewers it was "halftime in America" and urged
Americans hurt by the economy to "make a comeback" because "our second half is about to begin." It was probably the
best-recalled spot from last year's game. Yet Chrysler achieved this status by doing the opposite of what the modern Super
Bowl advertising playbook advises marketers to do.
Rather than blast teasers of the commercial across YouTube, Facebook and umpteen other types of social media, Chrysler
worked it up old-school, waiting until the Super Bowl itself to surprise and excite TV viewers with the actor and his
message.
The automaker, which declined to comment for this article, may be one of the last of a breed. Beginning as early as this
week, many advertisers in the Big Game will tease and reveal details of their Super Bowl creative as a means to generate
response through digital and social media. Think about Honda's ad last year featuring Matthew Broderick reprising his
role as Ferris Bueller, or GM's Chevrolet spot focused on a college grad who goes wild after thinking his parents bought
him a car or Acura's funny spot starring Jerry Seinfeld. They were all over the internet in the days leading up to the game,
and often in longer, funnier versions than those actually appearing on TV.
To be sure, harnessing the power of social media makes perfect business sense. When an advertiser shells out between
$3.5 million and $4.5 million for a Super Bowl ad, using social media to get added exposure isn't just an afterthought. It
helps amortize the cost of the commercial by generating millions of dollars in free publicity.
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WATER COOLER
Audi of America, which is making its sixth-consecutive appearance in the event, believes chatter about Super Bowl ads
begins to fade between 24 and 48 hours after the game is over, said Loren Angelo, general manager-brand marketing for
the automaker. Unveiling the ads in the weeks before kickoff gives an advertiser the abiltity to have "a much longer
conversation" with consumers, he said.
"The value is certainly in the anticipation of the Super Bowl," Mr. Angelo added. "There's only so much that people are
going to talk about at the water cooler on Monday morning."
The technique threatens to put a favorite Super Bowl ad trick on the shelf to collect dust. For decades, Super Bowl ads
hinged on "the reveal" or the delivery of something surprising. While this new era of ads is generating loads of digital and
social response, they are also removing a lot of the shock and wonder that were once a big part of the experience. Would
Apple's famous "1984" ad from Super Bowl XVIII have had as much impact if it were shared endlessly online in the
weeks leading up to its official TV debut?
MAXIMIZE IMPACT
Some critics think the old ideas are more sound. "Last year's Super Bowl really calls the strategy of pre-release into
question," said Charles R. Taylor, a marketing professor at Villanova Business School. With so many companies running
visual teasers of their spots, he said, many advertisers lost "the element of surprise" and its absence "may have dampened
the effectiveness of some pretty good ads that would have made a splash if not previewed."
Mercedes-Benz, which is making its second appearance in the Super Bowl, has held many debates about whether to
unveil its advertising ahead of time or keep everything secret, said Steve Cannon, president-CEO of Mercedes-Benz USA,
and "I sort of skew toward that camp that says maximize impact." Making the ads available online tends to attract a
smaller audience of diehards, he said, while the majority of game-day viewers "are seeing it for the first time and it's a
total surprise."
Though it will run promotions on social media and at retail, Paramount Farms will keep a 30-second ad for Wonderful
Pistachios featuring South Korean rapper Psy a secret, said Marc Seguin, VP-marketing. "It's exciting enough and visually
has so much talk value. We want everyone to see it at once," he said. Likewise, Roy Benin, chief consumer officer for
Mars Chocolate North America is fearful of bursting "the anticipation bubble," so the candy maker won't tip its hand on
its M&M ad. "There's that first-time, premier reveal [in game] that we believe is compelling."
BALANCING ACT
Many sponsors acknowledge they can't show up to the game without something else to say that hasn't already been
digested by hundreds of thousands of video streamers. As Century 21 prepared to roll out ads in the Super Bowl last year,
it released previews internally. "There's a balancing act," said Beverly Thorne, chief marketing officer.
Clint Eastwood isn't one for balance. He has always portrayed characters who definitively choose one side over the other.
And his success in the 2012 Super Bowl tells us it's still possible to spark a national ad phenomenon by using Super Bowl
Sunday and nothing else.
But it's a harder feat to accomplish--and less certain, to boot. Harnessing social media is the easier choice. As marketers
take the path of least resistance, however, they may permanently transform the Super Bowl ad experience, which has
become a cultural institution itself.
We Are What We Sell: Chapter 18: Nike. (e-reserves)
Danielle Sarver Coombs Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney. Abby Wambach and
Hope Solo. Tiger Woods. Lance Armstrong. Rafael Nadal. Roger Federer. Not only are these names among the most
talented, successful, and famous athletes of the early twentyfi rst century, and not only are they sporting icons whose
reputations likely will garner whispers of respect and admiration for long after their playing days are over. These athletes
have achieved an ordination of excellence that is bestowed only upon those at the top of their games, those who set the bar
for all who play with, against, and after them. These men and women represent Nike. Named after the Greek goddess of
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victory, Nike Inc. is one of the biggest and best-known sporting apparel and equipment manufacturers in the world.
Headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, the company had total revenues of approximately $21 billion in fi scal year 2011. 1
Its products are some of the most sought after in the world, with professional teams clamoring for af fi liation and
teenagers hunting down the latest sneaker editions to show off to their friends. While Nike produces quality product, their
pro fi ts and sales cannot and should not be attributed to product alone. Their shoes, uniforms, and outerwear often are not
markedly different from competitive brands such as adidas and Reebok. Why, then, has Nike become the gold standard to
which all others aspire? What sets them apart from their athletic-wear competition? What makes the best athletes in the

the gods of their sports want to sign on with Nike? In this case, it is not just about the product: it is about the brand.
A Brief History of Nike Founded in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports by University of Oregon track and fi eld coach Bill
Bowerman and one of his runners, Phil Knight, the company originally served as the U.S. distributor for a Japanese brand
of running shoes (Tiger). Bowerman, however, believed that he could design the shoes to be lighter, better, and faster, and
he soon began testing his prototypes with his runners. In 1965, the pair hired Jeff Johnson as their fi rst full-time
employee. Johnson took over the marketing arm of the startup, taking photographs and creating materials that could be
used to better sell their product. He also recognized the need to change the name, coming up with Nike a tribute to
the Greek goddess of victory 2 as the preferred choice. By the 1970s, the men behind the newly monikered Nike was
ready to move on from their relationship with Onitsuka, the company behind Tiger shoes. After already making forays
into shoe design and manufacturing, Bowerman and Knight were ready to shift their focus from serving primarily as a
distributor and to become a shoe design and manufacturing company. With a newfangled outsole based on Bowerman s
wife s waf fl e iron, the new Nike shoes were ready to launch in 1972, just in time for the U.S. Track and Field Trials
held in Eugene, Oregon. The Creation of the Swoosh in the 1970s While Nike had the practical and tactical production
elements ready to go, their new company still needed a logo. Instead of bringing on highpriced design fi rms, in 1971,
Bowerman and Knight turned to Portland State University graphic design student Carolyn Davidson. Charging the heady
sum of $2 per hour for her design work, Davidson presented the owners with a series of options. They selected what is
now known as the swoosh, but Knight reportedly did not fall in love with the basic design at fi rst, allegedly saying: I
don t love it, but it will grow on me. 3 After originally invoicing Bowerman and Knight a total of $35 for her services,
Davidson has since seen her compensation grown through stock options. Despite Knight s initial uncertainty, the Nike
swoosh is now considered one of the world s most instantly recognizable logos. 4 Its iconic status and global
prominence put Nike among the most elite of brands, and it is one of the few companies in the world that does not need to
put its name
alongside the logo. Over 40 years after the brand s and logo s inceptions, the Nike name and swoosh are synonymous
with what is hip in youth culture. At the same time, Nike s products are part of the American mainstream. 5
Recognizable in any color and on any product, the swoosh stands for itself. The introduction of the swoosh, the Nike
brand, and an innovative product in the 1970s marked the beginning of massive growth and success and were considered
an industry leader by the dawn of the next decade. 257 Just Do It : Advertising in the 1980s and Beyond While Nike
swooshed into the 1980s on waves of success, it began to lose market share by the middle of the decade. No longer the
predominant sportswear manufacturer, Nike fought back with a new line of shoes endorsed by basketball superstar
Michael Jordan. Smart endorsement deals and new footwear technologies stabilized the company, and they soon began to
reattract core audiences. It was during this period that Nike s global advertising and marketing really began to take off.
In 1987, the company launched the Air Max, a shoe that was the fi rst to feature visible Nike Air bags. To market this
product, the company created a television sport that used the original recording of the Beatles Revolution. Shot in
what is now a recognizable Nike style, the ad cuts between shots of professional athletes (including John McEnroe) and
amateurs, with quick close-ups of the Nike Air bags in action as a running shoe meets the ground. Building off the success
of the Revolution ad, in 1988, Nike launched what would become one of the longest-running and best-known brand
catchphrases in advertising history: Just Do It. This storied slogan is said to have emerged from an off-the-cuff remark
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by Dan Wieden, one of the founders of advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy, during a meeting with Nike executives.
Looking at the Nike team with admiration, Wieden is reported to have said, You Nike guys, you just do it. 6 The line
was intended to represent the Nike culture, including a willingness to take risks and just a touch of rebellion. It came to
represent not just an athletic brand, but also a lifestyle that meshed easily with the popular culture of the time. 7 This
new approach also allowed Nike to move beyond the somewhat cold and detached approach that de fi ned previous
campaigns. Instead, the Just Do It campaign seemed to capture the corporate philosophy of grit, determination and
passion, but also infused it with something hitherto unknown in Nike ads humor . . . In a word, Nike is cool. 8
This marked a signi fi cant shift. No longer was Nike simply selling athletic shoes that would help you play well; now,
they were selling an attitude.
According to brand architect Scott Bedbury, Knight and his cultlike veneration 9 of the company ethos inspired this
campaign and the brand focus it contained. Bedbury believes that Nike was the fi rst company that looked at the brand
as the organizing principle of the company. Everything had to tie. 10 This was a new religion of brand consciousness.
11 During this period, Nike began to crystallize the key elements that would represent their brand identity to the public:
swoosh, Just Do It, and relationships with high-pro fi le, dominant athletes who embodied physical and competitive
excellence. By the onset of the 1990s, Nike was once again on top of the industry. This position has not changed in the
ensuing decades. The Gods of Sport: Nike and Global Superstars From its earliest days as Nike, Knight and Bowerman
recognized the value of having elite athletes wearing and representing their product. Nike s fi rst recruit, Oregon
running superstar Steve Prefontaine, was a powerful advocate for the upstart company, appearing on their behalf and
promoting the waf fl e shoe to other runners. Although Prefontaine died in a car accident in 1975 at the young age of
24, he remains an inspiration for the company; Knight has often said that Pre[fontaine] is the soul of Nike. 12 The
success of Prefontaine s involvement with a fl edgling Nike pointed toward what would become one of their signature
marketing strategies: signing top athletes to endorse their products. They looked for the best: the fastest, the most
compelling, the ones whom you cannot stop watching simply because they are so very, very much better than the rest of
the fi eld. As mentioned earlier, basketball icon Michael Jordan the player against which all others are compared
and his Air Jordan sneakers stabilized the company during Nike s economic woes of the early 1980s. Jordan and his
shoes, however, also marked Nike s fi rst success in making inroads into professional basketball. When Nike fi rst signed
Jordan, he was a fresh new face 13 in the league. At the time, top National Basketball Association (NBA) players
including legends Magic Johnson and Larry Bird wore Converse. Knowing that those players were committed to
another brand, Nike made the bold choice of placing their bets on a young rookie from the University of North Carolina.
They were not just asking for an endorsement, however Nike was thinking bigger by considering creating and
marketing a signature shoe around the player, and selling not just a piece of footwear, but an entire package of
performance and personality.
The risks were huge. At the time, there were very few mainstream African American stars in the United States, and the
idea of having a young black man sell shoes to white America was absurd. Let alone a young black man no one had ever
met. 15 No one could guarantee Jordan s success in the pros, and no one could guarantee a product based on him
would sell. But sell it did. Constructed in what would become its signature red-and-black color scheme, the Air Jordan
was a massive hit. The brand and its visual Jumpman logo a silhouette of a leaping Jordan, arms and legs spread
wide as he stretches toward the hoop have reached iconic status, even after Jordan s playing days drew closed. Since
Jordan, Nike has continued to draw in some of the biggest names in the NBA, including LeBron James and Kobe Bryant.
No longer is Converse the shoe of choice for professional basketball players; now, the best often are seen lacing up their
Nikes. Basketball is not the only sport in which Nike has made their name through association with the best and the
brightest. The company has actively courted dominant athletes from around the globe, capitalizing on these associations to
maximize the multinational appeal of Nike. Across almost all mainstream sports, Nike has relationships with the top-tier
players. Some of the greatest names in recent tennis history are sponsored by Nike, including Andre Agassi, Rafael Nadal,
Pete Sampras, Lindsey Davenport, Maria Sharapova, and Serena Williams. In golf, Tiger Woods and Michelle Wie wear
the swoosh while playing in major tournaments. Lance Armstrong, one of the most successful bicyclists in the history of
Page 92 of 133

the sport, worked with Nike. In soccer, global superstars like Wayne Rooney (England), Carlos Tevez (Argentina),
Ronaldinho (Brazil), Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast), Franck Ribery (France), Mesut Ozil (Germany), Park JiSung (Korea
Republic), Wilfred Bouma (Netherlands), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Fernando Torres (Spain), Olaf Mellberg
(Sweden), and Landon Donovan (United States) are among the hundreds of men s national team players from around the
world sponsored by Nike. While fewer in number, top female footballers are represented as well, including current
American stars Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, Hope Solo, and Abby Wambach. Nike picks the best of the best, and being
signed by the brand is a mark of success for these athletes. Nike s sponsorship deals often extend beyond individual
athletes. The company has relationships with a number of elite national sports teams and organizations, including soccer
(United States, Brazil, England, Portugal, and France, among many others), ice hockey (including Canada, Russia, and
Ukraine) and India s cricket squad. Not surprisingly, Nike also works with some of the top clubs in the world in a range
of sports, including soccer (Manchester United, Barcelona), baseball (Boston Red Sox, New
York Yankees), and American football (the entire NFL). For fans young and old, getting an of fi cial shirt for your team of
choice often means buying a Nike product, and emulating the athletes on those teams means purchasing more from the
same brand. The Halo Effect? Nike and Athletes in Crisis One of the basic tenets of corporate sponsorships and
endorsements is that companies want to be associated with the positive characteristics of an athlete (or athlete, celebrity,
etc.), but that often leads to a crisis when bad news leaks or as is often the case explodes. Unlike other major
brands, however, Nike has a history of standing by players and organizations as they work through dif fi cult periods.
Tiger Woods, long considered an ideal brand spokesperson, fell hard and fast when revelations about his marital in fi
delity broke worldwide. While other brands with which Woods was associated severed their associations, Nike stood by
their man. Rather than sitting back and waiting for the smoke to clear, Nike created and ran a television spot to address
Woods s situation head on. Using existing audio recordings of Woods s departed father and mentor, Earl, the ad had his
father ask questions that felt relevant to the situation. In the latter part of the spot, Earl s voice-over asks: I want to fi
nd out what your thinking was. I want to fi nd out what your feelings are. And did you learn anything? As his father s
questions are posed, the camera zooms in on a remorseful-looking Tiger. Shot entirely in black and white, the spot was
considered a strategic attempt at brand management for both Nike and Woods. In those 30 seconds, Tiger Woods a
sporting icon who had spectacularly fallen from grace was humbled while being challenged to defend himself by a
father who was no longer here to demand answers. As one commentator noted, Nike has been one of the superstar golfer
s most steadfast supporters in the wake of the image-shattering revelations of Woods habitual in fi delity, and now the
company gets to justify its loyalty by also serving as Tiger s surrogate scold. 16 This loyalty to athletes has been
demonstrated repeatedly, with Nike maintaining relationships during and in the aftermath of athlete scandals and crises
that often sent other brands running. The company publicly announced its continuing support of Lance Armstrong when
he decided to no longer fi ght accusations of doping, English soccer player Wayne Rooney during a marital cheating
scandal, and both Pittsburgh Steeler Ben Roethlisberger and Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant despite accusations of rape.
Much like the characters of Greek mythology from which its name is drawn, Nike seems to recognize that there can be a
dark side to the gods
and that these athletes all too often will be found fallible. Unlike other brands, Nike s relationships with its athletes are
not limited to celebrations and parades; instead, the company often demonstrates loyalty during the darkest hours of a
player s career. This loyalty extends past individuals. In November 2011, Jerry Sandusky, a retired assistant football
coach who had worked under legendary head coach Joe Paterno at Pennsylvania State University for 30 years, was
indicted (and later convicted) for child sex abuse. During the trial and the investigation around it, shocking revelations
about Sandusky s use of Penn State facilities and events to lure and abuse young boys came to light. Questions
immediately arose about what Penn State and, more speci fi cally, Joe Paterno knew about Sandusky and these activities.
Within days of Sandusky s arrest, Paterno s employment was terminated by Penn State. Less than three months later,
Paterno passed away, his legend tainted by Sandusky and questions about what he did or did not know and what he did
not (but should have) done. In the wake of the Sandusky scandal and ensuing fallout for Penn State and its once-storied
football program, Nike opted to maintain ties. This loyalty in part can be attributed to the close relationship between
Page 93 of 133

Paterno and Knight, with the latter referring to Paterno as his hero in the wake of Nike cofounder Bowerman s death
in 1999. During Paterno s memorial service in January 2012, Knight defended the coach and his memory, saying:
Whatever the details of the investigation are, this much is clear to me: There is a villain in this tragedy that lies in that
investigation, not in Joe Paterno s response to it. 17 Although Knight had defended Paterno during the coach s
memorial service, the issuance of the Freeh Report later that year caused a change in tone. The result of an extensive
investigation by former Federal Bureau of Investigation director Louis Freeh, the report indicated Paterno and senior Penn
State administrators knew more, earlier than originally thought. While Nike continues its association with the university,
Nike eventually did opt to remove Paterno s name from the child care center at its headquarters. In July, Knight issued
the following statement: Throughout Joe Paterno s career, he strived to put young athletes in a position to succeed and
win in sport but most importantly in life. Joe in fl uenced thousands of young men to become better leaders, fathers and
husbands. According to the investigation, it appears Joe made missteps that led to heartbreaking consequences. I missed
that Joe missed it, and I am extremely saddened on this day. My love for Joe and his family remains.
Although Nike is remarkably loyal to those with whom it has relationships, clearly some lines still cannot be crossed.
While athletes and teams form the cornerstone of Nike s paid activity, they have developed a tremendous pro fi ciency
for getting visibility at international sporting events even when they are not the of fi cial sponsors. Major Sporting
Events and Ambush Marketing Every four years, people around the globe stop during summer to focus attention on what
arguably is the most high-pro fi le sporting event in the world: the Summer Olympics. This prominence comes with
tremendous value, and thus the sponsoring organization the International Olympics Committee (IOC) goes to great
lengths to protect the associated brand and advertising space on behalf of its corporate partners. A substantial part of this
responsibility is to prevent any unapproved brand activity, commonly referred to as ambush marketing. In ambush
marketing, nonof fi cial partner brands use guerilla approaches to get their brand and their message to audiences without
having to pay the exorbitant sponsorship fees. During the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, for example, 36 beautiful
Dutch women wearing matching orange dresses the color of the Netherlands team were removed from a stadium
and detained by police when it was discovered their dresses were received as promotional gifts from a Dutch beer fi rm,
Bavaria. 19 The problem? Of fi cial sponsor Budweiser had exclusive rights to advertise beer within FIFA venues and, in
order to maintain these lucrative deals, FIFA needed to ensure the paying brand is the only one represented. During the
2012 Summer Olympics in London, the IOC took things even further in order to protect what may be the most protected
brand in the world the fi ve interlocking rings as well as the exclusivity of the of fi - cial sponsors paying massive
amounts of money to use the Games as an advertising platform. In the weeks leading up to the opening ceremony, socalled brand police traveled London to search out potential violations. These were easy to fi nd, however, since
associated words including such common terms as 2012, Games, London, and Summer. While one of these words alone
would not trigger a violation, two of the words would. 20 Small businesses in London were required to take down
signage, and IOC president Jacques Rogge had to issue a public statement saying common sense would prevail after
London head organizer Sebastian Coe indicated that Pepsi T-shirts might lead to fans being barred admission to venues
because Coca-Cola was a main sponsor. 21 While Rogge stepped back from this hardline stance, he fi rmly articulated the
IOC s position: Our position
is very clear. We have to protect the sponsors because otherwise there is no sponsorship and without sponsorship there is
no games . . . (I)f there is a blatant attempt at ambush marketing by another company or by a group of people with
commercial views, then of course we will intervene. 22 The reasoning behind this is clear from a corporate perspective.
Brands of fi cially associated with the Olympics pay top dollar to do so, with companies like McDonald s and Coca-Cola
rumored to have coughed up $100 million each for the honor. With this kind of money at stake, the IOC takes brand
protection very, very seriously. Despite the considerable efforts of organizing committees and paying sponsors, Nike has
managed to thwart all efforts to keep its brand off the global stage. During the Summer 2012 Games, it pushed the legal
envelope further than ever before, creating a highly visible campaign featuring everyday athletes in cities and towns
around the world all named London. As one writer noted, They re not actually saying the 2012 London Olympics,
but subliminally and emotionally you can t avoid linking the brand to the city and, thus, the event. Oh, FYI, adidas paid
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around $60 million for their of fi cial brand status. 23 Further rubbing salt in adidas s wound, London mayor Boris
Johnson read a recently written poem for the IOC that included the Greek word for victory nike. 24 Of fi cially dubbed
Find Your Greatness, Nike s other London campaign relied on viral messaging and social media to connect with
audiences. They created an active hashtag component that linked to its site and its commercials. 25 The tone of this
campaign was clear: greatness is not just for the gods of sport described above. Instead, greatness can be found by any
(and every) one of us. One of the most notable spots featured a 13-year-old boy from London, Ohio, identi fi ed only as
Nathan. Unlike the elite athletes embodying physical prowess and fi tness, Nathan was a heavy young man. The
commercial opens with a fi gure in the distance as the camera keeps pulling away. As Nathan comes into the frame during
his predawn jog, the voiceover begins: Somehow we ve come to believe that greatness is a gift reserved for a chosen
few for prodigies, for superstars and the rest of us can only stand by watching. At the end of the minute-long spot,
Nathan is directly in front of the camera, red-faced and huf fi ng, barely lifting his feet off the ground as he pushes himself
to keep going. The voice-over concludes: Greatness is no more unique to us than breathing. We re all capable of it. All
of us. The swoosh comes up with Nike s new instruction: Find Your Greatness. 26 Linking the campaign back to Nike
s traditional association with elite athletes, this tagline was echoed on the shirts distributed to and worn by the U.S.
women s soccer team after their victory over Japan. Dominant
throughout much of the tournament, the American women faced the team to whom they had lost in a penalty shootout
during the previous summer s World Cup. When the fi nal whistle blew, the U.S. women put on Nike shirts with the
message Greatness Has Been Found. In a rare marketing misstep, the women (and Nike) were criticized for the
smug, tacky 27 slogan by critics from around the world, including the United States. As one writer noted, I m all for
showing off the greatness of the United States and our sporting teams. At an Olympics, there s an easy way to do it:
Stand on top of the podium while The Star Spangled Banner plays. It gets the job done better than any marketing
gimmick could. 28 Nike s efforts during the games went beyond their Find Your Greatness marketing campaign,
using a distinctive product to remind viewers and athletes of what Nike does best: build shoes that will help athletes
perform at the top of their games. During the Olympics themselves, Nike product was everywhere. The Nike Volt shoe
instantly recognizable due to its neon yellow color was visible throughout the track and fi eld competition: Indeed, in
certain track and fi eld events at the Olympic Games . . . it appeared that nearly every runner wore the distinctive-colored
shoes that were so bright, they might even glow in the dark. 29 By the end of the track and fi eld events, over 400
runners wore the spectacularly identi fi able shoes, 30 including British distance running hero Mo Farah. In the wake of
the 2012 Olympics, the August landing page for Nike s U.S. site blares Game On, World in large, bold font, touting
how athletes can get in the game with Nike+. 31 In the bottom left corner, Nikesponsored superstars are presented in a
group, each striking a pose indicating he or she is ready to play and play tough as part of the Nike+ Mission.
LeBron James, Hope Solo, Rafael Nadal, former Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson, Brazilian mixed martial artist
Anderson Silva, and other elite athletes are there to lead you through daily training sessions and challenges. 32 When
you click through to the Mission section, you are invited to join and complete one of the Nike+ Missions across a variety
of sports. As the Olympics campaign introduced, the company is promising that this is a way to fi nd greatness: When the
mission is completed, greatness is found. Conclusion Since the launch of the swoosh in the early 1970s, Nike has
developed into one of the most successful brands in the world across all categories, not just footwear. Instantly
recognizable, the company has married elite athletes gods of sport and a consistent brand voice to build audience
loyalty. One of the most remarkable aspects of its marketing is that
Nike manages to be a brand behemoth without losing credibility among young people, a feat rarely achieved by
mainstream companies. When we consider that Nike s enormous pro fi ts come mostly from sales to young athletes, we
can better appreciate the brilliance of the company s marketing schemes. Nike has learned not only how to discern but
also how to de fi ne the tastes of the aspiring athletes to whom it appeals. 33 Walking the line between marketing genius
and brand credibility can be incredibly dif fi cult, yet Nike manages this with aplomb. As one commenter noted, Nike
managed the deftest of marketing tricks: to be both anti-establishment and mass market. 34 As demonstrated by the
2012 Olympics, Nike dominates global sporting events even when it is not the of fi cial sponsor. The ubiquitous swoosh,
Page 95 of 133

recognizable products, catchy campaign taglines, and relationships with highpro fi le athletes have positioned Nike as the
clear choice for elite athletes, and the brand s multinational appeal continues to make it a branding example that
companies from all industries admire and emulate. Aptly named, Nike s continual dominance is a remarkable brand
victory.
The Art of the Celebrity Endorsement. By Christine Birkner. Marketing News. 2014. (e-reserves)
S
ports equipment brands rely on
the exposure that they get from
professional athletes using their
products in competition. Brands
like Nike or Louisville Slugger get that
kind of organic endorsement regularly
on a national or international stage, but
for brands playing in other arenas, such
exposure occurs less frequently. To develop
year-round awareness and draw traffic to
its newly re-designed e-commerce site,
Speedo USA, a division of New York-based
PVH Corp., had to make some waves.
Most of the time, we only hear about
athletes lives when theyre in the pool
competing. We were looking for new
ways to tell their stories, says Alyssa
Igawa, marketing director at Speedo
USA. They all have charities that theyre
pretty involved with, and we wanted to
push awareness to our dot-com, so we
decided to kill two birds with one stone
and test what the social space would allow
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us to doif we could convert, and what

it would look like on our end if we could
engage new users.
In December 2013, Speedo launched
Art of the Cap, a social media campaign
featuring five Olympic swimmers and
five artists. Olympic gold medalists Ryan
Lochte, Natalie Coughlin, Nathan Adrian,
Dana Vollmer and Cullen Jones, all of
whom are on Speedos endorsement roster,
paired with artists Dave Kinsey, Adhemas
Batista, Gianmarco Magnani, Jessica
Hische and Jolby & Friends, respectively,
to design swim caps that were sold on
SpeedoUSA.com to benefit charities
chosen by the athletes.
A microsite on SpeedoUSA.com and
Speedos YouTube channel include videos
of the athletes talking about their chosen
charities and explaining the design
inspirations for their caps. The videos and
photos of the caps also were posted on
Speedos Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and
Pinterest pages, and social media users
were encouraged to tweet or post photos
of themselves wearing one of the specially
designed Speedo caps using the hashtag
#ArtoftheCap.
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To raise awareness for the effort,

Speedo sent media kits to bloggers in the
swimming community, and the artists,
athletes and charities also promoted it
through their own social media channels.
The brand eschewed traditional media
buys in favor of social media to leverage
socials viral nature and potential staying
power, according to Igawa. You could
buy a commercial, and itll run three times
and it never lives again. We wanted this
campaign to have longer legs, she says.
We wanted to engage everybody in a
conversation, and we wanted to tell more
stories with our athletes. With social, we
could do that much easier. We didnt have
to pay for media like we would have if we
were buying print or TV, and consumers
wouldnt have latched on to it as easily. We
used all of our earned and owned social
channels, and all of our blogger friends, to
have people tell stories on our behalf and
get that buzz out there.
A story about Adrians cap appeared
in his hometown newspaper, the Kitsap
Sun, because the cap had a nautical
theme as a nod to his hometown of
Bremerton, Wash., which is located
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near a Naval base. Nathans charity,

Kids Beating Cancer, posted a picture
of the cap on social media, too, and the
buzz kept going, Igawa says. Then
one of the kids who beat cancer got
Nathans cap and he posted a picture of
it on Instagram and tagged Nathan, and
Nathan retweeted it. Its the best thing
to naturally have something like that
come out of it. The athletes felt proud to
not only do something for their causes,
but to take part in the design and tell a
personal story to make it all that much
more memorable.
Speedo sold out of the caps in five
days, with 100% of the proceeds going
to charity. The first lesson we learned
was that we didnt make enough caps,
Igawa laughs. We sold out of Natalies in
the first 24 hours. People bought them
for different reasons. They liked Natalie.
They liked the charity. They liked the look
of the cap. They liked the artist. We were
right in our assumption that if we told
good stories, people would be interested.
During the first week of the campaign,
Speedo increased its Instagram followers
by 127% and the campaign generated 20
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million total social media impressions,

according to Igawa. We gained more
Instagram users during the week of this
campaign than we did in the entire year,
she says. Speedo fans posted photos of
their new caps on Instagram and Twitter
with captions such as, My dad got me
this cap for Christmas and I cant wait
to wear it! #ArtoftheCap, and, Swim
practice will be so much sweeter with
more heart @SpeedoUSA @danavollmer
@jessicahische #ArtoftheCap.
The campaign also boosted Speedos
mobile traffic and led to more sales on its
e-commerce site, Igawa says. More than
12% of the caps were sold via mobile,
which is a pretty big number for us. It
was the second-best-selling product on
mobile for 2013. That told us that we
are converting on mobile from social
so that we could continue to push more
sales through mobile. Sometimes, when
people came to buy the cap, they grabbed
some goggles while they were there.
Were engaging new consumers and
having some conversation on our website
so theyll hopefully come back to us in
the future.
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Art of the Cap was one of Speedos

first social media campaigns, she says.
We communicate on social with the
athletes, congratulating them on swims
and birthdays, and promote products
along the way, but this was the first
campaign that we did that had this scale.
This allowed us to see what we would be
capable of in social.
Based on the favorable results, the
social effort can be deemed a success,
Igawa says. We really have a very large
swim community and they tend to be
pretty young, and we wanted to grow
that. We wanted to see if we could get
those numbers up. We were extremely
successful, especially with Instagram.
The campaign also helped us target
not just swimmers, but people who
are looking for that coveted item to
represent an athlete or an artist, or a
charity. Over the last month, Ive gotten
e-mails from the charities saying that
their fan base has grown as a result of
Art of the Cap.
Margaret Guedes, CEO and founder
of Orlando, Fla.-based Kids Beating
Cancer, says that the campaigns cause
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marketing element had a real impact on

her organization. Kids Beating Cancer
[is] very grateful to Nathan Adrian for
selecting our charity for the campaign.
Through Nathans cap, kids were
allowed to receive the treatment that is
their best and only hope for a cure, she
said in an e-mail.
The campaign helped foster support
for those charities while also forging
Speedos image as a charitably minded
company, Igawa says. We were able
to show how much we care about the
athletes on our roster and support them
with their causes, that were not just there
to sell swimsuits.
Celebrity Endorsements and Beyond. By Astrid Keel. Psychology & Marketing. 2012. (e-reserves)
No chance
At the Oscars, Bringing Brands to Life. By Stuart Eliott. The New York Times. 2014. (online)
WHEN viewers watch ABC on Sunday for coverage of the 86th annual Academy Awards, they
will see commercials for more than a dozen organizations or companies like AARP, Coldwell
Banker, General Motors, Mars, J. C. Penney and Unilever. Those spots will, however, be only part
of the marketing efforts that seek to walk the red carpet with Oscar.
A lengthy list of advertisers is putting on events in Los Angeles as part of a trend, increasingly
popular on Madison Avenue, known as experiential marketing. The concept is to offer consumers
tangible ways to connect with brands, in a belief that such engagement is more likely to stimulate
positive word of mouth and discussion in social media. That expectation was recently encapsulated
by a headline on an article in the Direct Line blog from Direct Marketing News: Whats better
than an ad? An experience. Those participating in experiential marketing surrounding the
Academy Awards this year include Banana Republic, Chobani, Evite.com, Fiat Chrysler, Grey
Goose, LOral, Stella Artois and two magazines, People and Vanity Fair.
Photo
The Oscar Fan Experience from People magazine last year.
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Events can help bring brands to life, said Carol Hamilton, president of the LOral Luxe division
of LOral USA, a lead sponsor with the Chrysler brand of an elaborate experiential event called
the Vanity Fair Social Club; participating LOral brands include Giorgio Armani Beauty,
Clarisonic and Lancme.
Vanity Fair has invited more than 120 bloggers and online reporters covering the Oscars to use
branded WeWork work spaces on Hollywood Boulevard outfitted with amenities like a media wall,
a faux food truck and a vending machine powered by Twitter i.e., giving away merchandise in
exchange for posts that use sponsor hashtags and handles. The reporters and bloggers planning to
work from and visit the newsroom-cum-lounge are influential, Ms. Hamilton said, reaching an
estimated 20 million consumers who can now be involved in the week leading up to the big
event.
Edward J. Menicheschi, vice president and publisher at Vanity Fair, part of Cond Nast, said:
Oscar night is Vanity Fairs Super Bowl. The idea of setting up a central HQ for bloggers thats a
physical manifestation of our brand will enable them to create good social content. We see the
chance to repeat it at other high-visibility cultural events.
The Vanity Fair Social Club is part of the magazines annual Campaign Hollywood, which also
involves its Oscar night party and special issues. The bloggers and reporters will be encouraged to
include the hashtag #VFSocialClub with their posts and articles.
People is bringing 300 readers and their 300 guests selected through a sweepstakes from among
the magazines so-called V.I.P. subscribers, who pay $200 a year for deluxe subscriptions to
take part in a daylong Oscar Fan Experience that includes seats in the bleachers on the Academy
Awards red carpet and a viewing party at the El Capitan Theater on Hollywood Boulevard. (A
location on that street seems to be de rigueur this year for Oscar experiential marketing.)
Continue reading the main storyContinue reading the main story
This will be the second year that People is sponsoring an Oscar event, said Karen Kovacs,
publisher at People, both times as part of a partnership with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts
and Sciences. Its a huge collaboration between them and our events and marketing team, she
added.
We think in term of value to the subscriber, Ms. Kovacs said. This adds enormous value to their
relationship with the People brand.
Reinforcing the real-world event will be the appearance of Jess Cagle new editorial director of
two Time Inc. magazines, People and Entertainment Weekly as a co-host of the pre-Academy
Awards broadcast on ABC, known as The Oscars Red Carpet Live. Mr. Cagle will also oversee
an issue of People devoted to the Academy Awards, out on March 7.
The Evite experiential marketing effort centered on the Academy Awards is part of a partnership
the company formed last month with ConnecTV, a social video network for television viewers. The
intent is to encourage consumers to host in-home and virtual viewing parties for what are known as
big television events that, in addition to the Oscars, include the Super Bowl, the Grammys and the
Olympics.
Its the physical meets the digital, said Jennifer Dominiquini, chief marketing officer at Evite,
with everyone all joining together in one social moment.
Were asking people to share recipes and party tips, video clips, and encouraging them to dress in
costumes as their favorite movie stars or movie genres, Ms. Dominiquini said, with those using
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the hashtag #AwardsParty2014 when they post comments on Twitter eligible for prizes from Evite
and ConnecTV.
Evite and ConnecTV will also host a live event on Sunday, she added, with two other sponsors,
FilmBreak and IgnitedSpaces. The event is to be held, Ms. Dominiquini said, near the Dolby
Theater on Hollywood Boulevard yes, that street again where the Academy Awards
ceremony will be held.
The Banana Republic experiential marketing initiative, like Evites, is unofficial, as opposed to,
say, the People and Vanity Fair efforts, which have the Academys imprimatur. On the Banana
Republic channel on YouTube, Justine, a YouTube celebrity, will appear live on the red carpet in a
custom version of a dress from the Banana Republic spring collection.
Its a very different way for the brand to engage, said Catherine Sadler, global chief marketing
officer at Banana Republic, part of Gap Inc. Its the first time were doing a digital media
integration inserting ourselves into pop culture to increase our brand voice and relevance.
Fashion, Jewelry Brands Look to Academy Awards as Prime Product Placement. By Sarah Jones. Luxury Daily.
2014. (online)
For apparel, accessories and jewelry brands, the 86th Academy Awards this Sunday allows them a platform for both
product placement and celebrity endorsements.
Dressing stars for red carpet appearances allows brands to spread awareness, as viewers at home hear the actors list what
they are wearing. It is up to the brands to then take the images and publicity and leverage it in the best way.
On the night when all eyes are on the Oscars red carpet, being part of that show carries tremendous marketing value for
brands, said Yuli Ziv, founder/CEO of Style Coalition, New York.
They become part of the prime time show that features some of the biggest Hollywood stars, she said. It is a validation
of their own A-list status, and we can see that in the competitiveness they showcase trying to become part of the awards
red carpet.

Celebrity-centric
Throughout the year, some fashion and jewelry brands keep up a steady stream of social media posts dedicated to who
wore their gown or gem on the red carpet.
Lebanese couture house Elie Saab dresses many starlets for red carpet events, and posts sightings from awards shows and
movie premieres.
Similarly, French fashion brand Givenchy shares its dressed from all manner of events.

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Many brands post the images without too much content. However, French fashion house Lanvin exclaims its adoration for
each star it features wearing the brand, with each post beginning with Lanvin loves.

Facebook post from Lanvin

Dior crafted articles for its online magazine, Dior Mag, around both Lupita Nyongo and Jennifer Lawrence, who wore
gowns by the label to award shows at which their projects won.

Dior mag article

Harry Winston is a red carpet staple, and creates photo sets throughout the awards season highlighting stars that wore its
pieces.
Bulgari also creates one post with a number of stars photographed wearing its pieces.

Facebook post from Bulgari

Right before the Oscars, a number of brands created retrospective social media posts about their red carpet moments of
yore.
Gucci looked back at previous red carpets throughout this season and beyond, picking out what it considered the best of
the best, which included Hilary Swank at the Academy Awards in 2011.
Some brands create a special place online for consumers to look at all of their red carpet appearances.
For instance, Dolce & Gabbana made an album on Facebook called Stars shining in Dolce & Gabbana, which featured
celebrities who wore the brand to the most important red carpet events in 2014.

Facebook album from Dolce & Gabbana

Jimmy Choo has a section of its Web site dedicated to celebrity sightings, which includes images and the name of the item
worn. This page is shoppable, and consumers can click the name of the shoe or handbag to be taken to the product page.

Jimmy Choo Spotted

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Stuart Weitzman also created an awards season-themed ecommerce option on its Web site, allowing consumers to
customize a pair of its Nudist sandals, its most popular red carpet shoe (see story). Its social media posts closer to the
Oscars have been red carpet heavy, including on that asked followers to vote on their favorite star ensemble.

Facebook post from Stuart Weitzman

These brands might think about going beyond the typical photo post.
Giving their followers behind the scenes look or the story of their collaboration with a celebrity might get the followers
more engaged and foster a real connection, Ms. Ziv said. Many fashion obsessed fans would love to know what it takes
to dress a celebrity or why a certain actress chose a certain gown.
In our celebrity obsessed world people love feeling a personal connection with their Hollywood stars. Many of the luxury
brands have that access and can let their fans into their exclusive world.
Traditional vs. social media
Brands can also look to print media to showcase their ties to the biggest awards show.
For instance, Giorgio Armani and Chanel were among the fashion advertisers that sought reader attention in the February
issue of Cond Nast-owned W magazines annual Movie issue to show their connection to Hollywood.
The 174-page issue hit newsstands in the midst of the awards season and featured multiple covers to highlight the actors
profiled within its pages. Brands likely looked to Ws Movie issue as a way to stand out during a time when readers are
more in-tune with the fashions worn by award ceremony attendees (see story).
Brands benefit not just from their own social media postings, but also the conversations generated on social media by
global consumers.
For example, Christian Dior and Prada were the top two brands being discussed on Chinese social media site Sina Weibo
Feb. 24 after the 85th Annual Academy Awards in 2013, according to a new report by the Digital Luxury Group.
The research uncovered that there is growing interest in red carpet ceremonies and luxury products among digitallyconnected consumers in China. The attention of Chinese consumers is something luxury brands are striving for as China
becomes an increasingly important luxury market (see story).
Being a part of the red carpet scene at the Academy Awards allows brands to join in a conversation.
Having an attendee at the Oscars allows brands to join one of the most engaging fashion conversations of the year, Ms.
Ziv said.
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Digitally savvy brands utilize that moment across various social channels, participating in multiple conversations with
their followers, she said. Having a subject like Oscars, which so many people are passionate about, creates very
engaging interactions with the followers.
Weve seen many times less known celebrities stealing the fashion thunder, so its not all about high-profile. This is
especially true in the social media age, when a celebrity that has built a significant social following might be more
valuable by exposing the product or brand to their online followers.
Behind the Preplanned Oscar Selfie: Samsung's Ad Strategy. By Suzanne Vranica. The Wall Street Journal.
2014. (online)
No chance
Pop Culture Stars Join Luxury Design Teams. The New York Times. (online)
PARIS Over a five-day period, in September and October, the Swiss watch brands Hublot and Audemars Piguet
announced the release of two timepieces designed by their brand ambassadors.
What made the announcements remarkable were the names of the designers: Shawn Carter, better known as the rapper
and entrepreneur Jay-Z, for Hublot; and the basketball star LeBron James for Audemars Piguet.
Oddly, each carried strong ties to the other brand.
Mr. Carter represented Audemars Piguet, sometimes dropping the brands name in his songs, before switching to Hublot.
One of his last acts for Audemars Piguet was to introduce the brand to Mr. James, who plays for the Miami Heat a
team sponsored since 2011 by Hublot.
Now the two are squaring off with similar designs and midrange prices the LeBron James Audemars Piguet costs
$51,500 while the Shawn Carter by Hublot costs $33,900 in yellow gold or $17,900 in black ceramic.
During a telephone interview, Jean-Claude Biver, Hublots chairman, defended Mr. Carters history with other watch
brands, arguing that it made him a better ambassador.
When you go with Jay-Z, who loves your watch, who loves watches in general, who already bought one of your watches,
then you have, at least, an authentic ambassador, Mr. Biver said. Otherwise its just another ad campaign.
Mr. Biver added that he recognized himself when he saw Mr. Carters passion for other brands.
I discussed watches with him and I love his collection. Hes a fan of Jaeger-LeCoultre. Hes a fan of Audemars Piguet.
Hes a fan of Rolex. Hes a fan of Hublot. Hes a fan of Richard Mille, and so on. Hes like myself.
I have, probably, one of the hundred biggest Patek Philippe collections and Im running Hublot.
According to Mr. Biver, staying open-minded about other brands is an asset.
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The worst you can do with your business is to believe that there is only your brand, he said. If I only thought, Hublot,
Hublot, I would be a poor guy, and I would never perform like today.
Authentic relationships will be crucial to sustaining brand success in the future, according to Mr. Biver, and that means
asking influential ambassadors to do more than just wearing your watch.
While brands, including Hublot, have designed watches with input from their ambassadors in the past, few have given
them as much creative control as in these two collaborations.
Its true that its quite new that an ambassador is really participating this time in the creation and the design of a watch,
said Hublots chief executive, Ricardo Guadalupe.
Its not just a celebrity-endorsed thing, where you put your name on it, said Mr. Carter, who spent nearly 18 months
with Hublot on the design, speaking with journalists in October in Zurich. We sat in the office, and we really went
through materials, and really went through the design.
Working with ambassadors also meant introducing fresh perspectives, and accepting designs that would not have been
thought of by the brands themselves. Mr. Guadalupe acknowledged that he had been surprised by some of Mr. Carters
choices.
At the beginning I thought he would go, maybe with the Big Bang, or the King Power, something with diamonds, said
Mr. Guadalupe, referring to some of the brands trademark bold and chunky designs .
Instead, Mr. Carter said he wanted to build on the Classic Fusion, a relatively small, understated model by Hublot norms,
though one that comes with the favored alligator strap, or gator band that he raps about in Mr. Nice Watch.
That brought with it a challenge: How to include the Shawn Carter logo, a Maltese cross, that identifies his branded
merchandise. We put the logo in small, at the nine oclock, but that idea was promptly shot down, Mr. Guadalupe said.
After, we put it in the center but it was just printed and he said, Something is wrong there.
After four or five attempts, the decision was made to cut the logo into the dial, to simultaneously reveal the skeletonized
HUB1300 movement.
He cares for details. Thats what makes him successful, said Mr. Guadalupe, who added that it had also been Mr.
Carters idea to use yellow gold for the case, which Hublot hadnt used in decades.
Today the reference is rose gold. I think that there are always cycles and the cycle of yellow gold coming back could be
something that could happen now, Mr. Guadalupe said. I think this could be the first step that yellow gold is back in the
watch industry.

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Mr. James and Audemars Piguet will be hoping that trend does not pick up too quickly: Cosigned by Mr. James and
Audemars Piguet, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Chronograph Limited Edition LeBron James mixes rose gold
and titanium as a way to underline the dualism of Mr. James personality.
On court, hes imposing, but off court he likes finer things in life, refined things, Audemars Piguets chief artistic
officer, Octavio Garcia, said.
The watch is a reflection of his personality, the power player with this real aesthetic sensibility.
Mr. Garcia said the case, 44 millimeters, or 1.7 inches, in diameter or 48 millimeters, or 1.9 inches, including the
diamond-set pushers expressed the two sides of Mr. James: The diamonds are a wink of exuberance in a piece that
over all is very controlled, he said.
Because of a heavy preseason schedule, Mr. James could not be reached for comment. But, in a Q. and A. prepared by
Audemars Piguet, he reaffirmed his passion for the Swiss brand.
Ive always loved Audemars Piguet watches, and I love the way they make me feel when I wear them, he said.
For everyday wear, I like the Royal Oak Offshore, and on special occasions, I break out a different version with the
Royal Oak Skeleton, the Millenary Quincy Jones, the Royal Oak Offshore Legacy and many more.
Mr. James can now add to his collection the way few collectors can, with a watch signed by himself.
While both designs offer, in their own ways, new interpretations of what current timepieces should look like, the brands
welcomed their ambassadors fresh ideas. This collaboration that we have with LeBron, the fact that he came to visit,
also shows his commitment to the company and the power of these kinds of collaborations, Mr. Garcia said.
For Hublot, the result was simply incredible, Mr. Guadalupe said.
Mr. Carter seemed to agree, when, bearing his trademark grin, he confidently stated it was the greatest design of any
Hublot.
Its the best one that theyll ever do, because were really good at what we do, Mr. Carter said.
That statement gained greater authenticity later that night, when he took to the stage. During the two hour show he, of
course, mentioned his Audemars, his Rolexes, as well as other watch brands in his vast collection.
But he did so wearing his yellow gold Shawn Carter by Hublot.
Advertising Transformed: Chapter 3: Creativity is King (e-reserves)
A lthough the importance of creativity in advertising is generally recognized, within the advertising industry itself and
within the agencyadvertiser relationship there is still considerable discussion about the degree, if any, to which this
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creativity actually contributes towards the effectiveness of a campaign. What is it that actually makes millions of people
around the world watch and share advertising films, and this at a moment in time when irritation with advertising has
never been greater? As far as this discussion is concerned, the very least that can be said is that there is no agreement
about precisely what constitutes creative advertising. Is creative the same as being original or attracting peoples
attention, or are there other factors at play? Creativity is not a clearly defined concept. The Oxford Dictionary defines it
as the use of imagination or original ideas to create something. 1 Bad advertising can cost lots of money If you look at
the different elements in an advertising campaign, more than three-quarters of that campaigns success is often dependent
upon the style and the content of the advertisement itself. This should not be confused with the importance of the
products performance, which is even more important for the success of sales, but as far as the decisions about advertising
and media planning are concerned, creativity is king. Advertisers need to make powerful adverts, if they want to make
money from their expensive media plans. I cannot emphasize the importance of this strongly enough.
This, at least, is the opinion of the Canadian expert in advertising research, John Hallward, who works for the Ipsos ASI
market research bureau. He has been collecting data about the mechanisms of advertising for 30 years in more than 60
different product categories. 2 In his book Gimme! , (2007) Hallward explores the importance of creativity in advertising
in more depth. In general, the making of advertisements costs about a fifth of the total advertising budget, with the
purchase of media space gobbling up the rest. But ironically, according to Hallward, three-quarters of the success of a
campaign is actually dependent upon the quality of the advertisement itself. Advertising must work well from the very
beginning of the campaign and Hallward argues that creativity is the key. Data from the Ipsos ASI Ad* Graph Tracking
Databank suggests that good advertising makes the breakthrough immediately and remains fixed in the memory of the
target public (good recall). In terms of efficiency, media exposure can never compensate for a badly made and noncreative campaign. Brands that fail to correct or withdraw bad campaigns promptly will find themselves paying a small
fortune for media space that yields them little or no return. Hallward offers figures which show that creativity works best
in advertising when it is used in the context of a uniform creative platform, applied consistently in all the different
channels and resources employed in the campaign (concept transfer). When a campaign makes use of different creative
approaches or messages for each different channel or resource, this fragmentation results in a less effective campaign.
Hence the need for integration, within the framework of unity in diversity (see Chapter 2). Creative advertising enhances
brand recall One of the most common complaints about the effect of creative advertising is that the attention given to the
creative ad actually draws attention away from the merits of the brand being advertised. It is similarly argued that even if
creative advertising does have a positive effect on the consumer, this effect diminishes when the consumer becomes more
familiar with the ad in question. In 2002, researchers Rik Pieters, Luc Warlop and Michel Wedel of the Universities of
Tilburg, Leuven and Groningen investigated whether the originality and
familiarity of advertising has an effect on the attention that consumers give to the advertising brand and their ability to
remember that brand. They used an infrared technique to track the eye fixation of 119 respondents in relation to the brand,
text and images of 58 page-size advertisements. The test was supplemented with a further memory test, which required
the respondents to associate particular brands with particular ads. 3 The researchers took as their starting point the idea
that most consumers experience the originality of an advertisement in a similar way and that this originality is not
determined by a single creative technique. A panel of students made the selection of the original advertisements. These
were everyday ads that had appeared in magazines. The results of the research showed that the originality of an ad
which is how they interpret creativity can have a positive effect on brand recall in two different ways. Firstly, there is a
direct effect: the consumer devotes more attention to the brand in original advertisements, which leads to the better
memorization of information about that brand. This positive effect is even stronger for original ads, which give the
consumer the feeling that he or she has already seen them before. The second effect is more subtle. Originality combined
with familiarity having seen the advertisement before increases the ability of the consumer to call up information
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about the brand from his or her memory. In other words, original ads stick longer in the mind of the viewer. The
researchers concluded from these results that originality in advertising can be useful for campaigns that are aimed in the
first instance at increasing brand awareness. They stressed that their research made no attempt to specifically assess
matters such as brand attitude and brand associations. They further added that in their opinion increased attention is a
necessary condition for an effective advertising campaign, but by no means the only one. The US researchers Brian Till
and Daniel Baack (2005) took things a stage further, not only investigating the effect of creative advertising on brand
recall, but also assessing attitudes and purchase intention with respect to those brands. 4 Creative advertising is more
easily recalled In their first two studies, Till and Baack examined whether the respondents were better able to remember
creative ads and their brands (the sample consisted of commercials that had won prizes) than a selection of more
ordinary ads and their brands. With a first group of respondents, they tested for any possible effect immediately after the
advertisements had been shown. With a second group, the test was carried out a week later, to see if the same effect would
still be active. In both tests spontaneous and assisted recall were assessed, not only for the brand but also for certain
executional characteristics of the TV commercials. The results of both test groups showed that the respondents were
indeed better able to remember the creative advertisements both in terms of the brand shown and the characteristics
displayed than the run-of-the-mill ads. In other words, the research clearly demonstrated the recall effect of creative
advertising and proved that this effect can extend over a longer period of time. It further demonstrated that creativity does
not generate any additional recall effect when the respondents are assisted to remember the brand, in this instance by
means of a list detailing the product categories of the brands they had seen in the commercials. Till and Baacks third
study investigated whether creative advertising can also have a positive influence on the purchasing intentions of
consumers and on their overall attitude towards the advertising brands. Both elements intention and attitude were
measured before and after the commercials were shown. However, the differences in the two sets of results were not
significant. The researchers had two possible explanations. Firstly, they pointed out that in this test their selection of
creative advertisements had been made by a jury of professionals, whereas in the earlier tests the choice had been made
by a group of students or respondents. Secondly, they suggested that it might be difficult to alter previously established
brand attitudes and purchase intentions simply on the basis of a single viewing of an advertisement, no matter how
creative it might be. Nevertheless, their general conclusion was that award-winning, creative advertising is more effective
in terms of brand recall than less creative advertising. Divergent or relevant? Having said all this, the contention that
creative advertising only distinguishes itself from other advertising by its ability to increase recall does not really go far
enough. This, at least, is the opinion of US professors Yang and Smith (2009). They also carried out various research
studies to establish how creative advertising actually works and when. On the basis of their tests with
US consumers the results of which were published in Marketing Science in 2009 they argue that creative advertising
works through processes of divergence and relevance, which can be applied to the brand, the product or even the
advertisement itself. 5 Divergence consists of five different dimensions: 1 2 3 Originality , which involves the
advertisement being made with elements that are rare, surprising or deviate from the ordinary; Flexibility , which means
that the advertisement contains different ideas or changes of perspective; 4 Elaboration , which implies that the
advertisement must contain unexpected details, or else is built up on the basis of simple ideas that can become ever more
complex and sophisticated; 5 Synthesis , which requires the advertisement to bring together ideas and objects that would
not normally be associated with each other; Artistic value , which means that the advertisement must make use of artistic
verbal impressions or attractive colours and shapes. 6 In addition, a German study of 437 TV ad campaigns for 90 FMCG
brands from January 2005 to October 2010 examined the relationships between consumers perceptions of creativity and
the sales figures for the products. They too determined creativity along the five dimensions of originality, flexibility,
elaboration, synthesis and artistic value. The findings were quite impressive. In general, the researchers concluded that a
euro invested in a highly creative ad campaign had nearly double the sales impact of a euro spent on a non-creative
campaign. They also discovered that, when used in combination, the creativity dimensions had widely varying effects.
And that the most-used pairing flexibility plus elaboration as in fact one of the least effective. The most effective
pairing originality plus elaboration had almost double the impact. 7 Relevance finds its expression in elements that can
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be described as meaningful, appropriate and valuable. These elements can be brand-related (for example, new
product information) or related to the advertising campaign itself (for example, meaningful music and images).
Yang and Smith take as their starting point the position that creative advertising is not either divergent or relevant, but that
its success is dependent upon an effective combination of the two: divergence by relevance. The results of their research
show that creative advertising in other words, advertising that is both divergent and relevant has two important effects:
a cognitive effect and an affective (or emotional) effect. The cognitive effect is based on the ability of creative advertising
to ensure that people view the source the advert with an open mind and a less defensive attitude. Creativity therefore
encourages the consumer to offer less resistance to the advertisements attempts to convince him or her, a process that is
known as desire to postpone closure or DPC. This open attitude also means that the consumer will be more inclined to
watch the same advert or commercial again and also more inclined to buy the product or brand being advertised. In
addition to its impact on the cognitive process, creative advertising also stimulates positive feelings in the consumers who
watch, read or hear it. It is well doumented that this type of affective reaction can have a strong influence on the way
people react to advertisements and the information they contain. Here, too, the Yang and Smith research posits a direct
link between purchasing behaviour and the willingness to repeat-view creative ads. Their research also examined the
extent to which creative advertising has the same effects on people who are strongly predisposed towards or against
advertising in general. In this instance, Yang and Smith concluded that in people who have a strong predisposition, both
the cognitive and the affective processes are activated by creative advertising. In people with a weak disposition perhaps
not surprisingly the cognitive effect is scarcely noticeable. Nevertheless, creative advertising is still capable of
generating positive feelings amongst this group. Or to put it another way: creative advertising always results in an
emotional response amongst both committed and non-committed consumers.
What makes an advertisement a viral success? The best viral advertising films on the internet in 2012 were not only for
major brands, like Samsung, Procter & Gamble and M&Ms, but also for non-profit organizations such as Invisible
Children, with its indictment of the massacres carried out by rebel leader Joseph Kony in Central Africa. The top three
films in the following list all exceeded the magic barrier of 100 million views. Top 10 Viral Ad Campaigns in 2012 (based
on number of views) 1 Invisible Children Kony 213,108,436 2 Red Bull Stratos 171,028,643 3 Rovia Angry
Birds Space 109,634,050 4 Samsung Galaxy S III 71,868,864 5 Intel, Toshiba The Beauty Inside 55,171,199 6
M&Ms Just My Shell 48,371,667 7 P&G Proud Sponsor of Moms 2012 46,966,905 8 TNT Your Daily Dose of
Drama 43,780,141 9 Samsung LeBrons Day 42,298,532 10 Rovio Angry Birds Star Wars 41,422,263 These
were all advertising films produced by professional makers on behalf of their advertising clients. The most important
criterion for viral success is a captivating, memorable and creative concept. In most cases, a powerful musical
accompaniment is another key factor. Irrespective of the length of the film, the intention is to first attract and then hold the
attention of the viewer. If it wants to be seen and shared, an advertising film must generate strong emotions (either
positive or negative), must include spectacular effects and above all must be cool. Sources Learmonth, M (2012) and
Unruly (2012) Global Viral Video Ads Figures from advertising expert John Hallward confirm that it is precisely the
combination of divergence and relevance he calls it difference which provides the persuasive power of an
advertisement. When advertising focuses
too heavily on originality and recall, there is a danger that the brand message will be lost. In addition to divergence and
relevance, Hallward also cites the credibility of an ad or TV commercial as being another main contributory factor to its
overall persuasiveness. These findings not only underline the importance of emotions in advertising, but can also help
advertisers and the makers of advertisements to better adjust their campaigns to reflect the expectations of their target
groups. For example, with more committed consumers it may be beneficial to place the emphasis on the stimulation of
their curiosity, using divergent elements that have a stronger effect on the cognitive process, such as the level of
implementation and synthesis. Informative messages will work well in this context. For less committed consumers, it is
probably better to use divergent elements that can activate their emotions, such as originality and artistic value (see
Chapter 5). F i g u r e 3.1 The mechanisms of advertising concepts DIVERGENCE RELEVANCE (1) COGNITIVE
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EFFECT Openness (1) (1) VIEWING INTENTIONS (2) EMOTIONAL RESPONSE Positive feeling (2) (2) PURCHASE
INTENTIONS (1) (2) Pathway is significant in cases of high commitment Pathway is significant in cases of both high and
low commitment Creative advertising is both divergent and relevant. It works in two distinct ways. On the one hand,
creative advertising induces a cognitive effect in the target group, by helping people to adopt a less defensive attitude and
to be more open towards the message and the brand. This openness is beneficial both for the viewing intentions and the
purchase intentions of the target group. However, the cognitive effect is only activated in people who are already welldisposed towards advertising. On the other hand, creative advertising also evokes an emotional response, because it
generates positive feelings, which are again beneficial for both viewing intentions and purchase
Creativity rhymes with effectivity The research carried out by Yang and Smith (2009) contends that, to a large extent, it is
the emotional component in advertisments that is responsible for the success of an advertising campaign. This has been
confirmed by a detailed study by the English advertising association, the IPA (with marketing specialist Peter Field),
which since 2010 has been published together with the famous Gunn Report. Once again, the evidence shows that almost
half (47 per cent) of the award-winning creative campaigns surveyed by the study made use of emotional means of
communication, while this figure drops to just over a third (35 per cent) for non-winning campaigns. 8 Creative
campaigns for dummies Creativity is subjective. For creative teams it will mean one thing, while for marketing scientists
it may mean something completely different. Is there a magic formula for making creative advertisements? Are there
general techniques or patterns that characterize such advertisements? Researchers Goldenberg, Mazursky and Solomon
(1999) 9 from the University of Jerusalem have tried to provide answers to these crucial questions. From the results of
their research they were able to distill 16 possible templates or creative techniques, divided between 6 different categories,
which are frequently to be found in award-winning creative ads: Pictorial analogy : use symbols and metaphors,
sometimes in an exaggerated fashion, to emphasize the value of the product; Extreme situations : use unrealistic
scenarios to highlight the strengths of the product; Consequence : demonstrate in an exaggerated or unexpected
manner the dire consequences that may result if the product is not purchased;
Competition : underline the strengths of the product by allowing it to compete with a product or event from
another category; Interactive experiment : encourage the public to experience the benefits of the product on the basis
of an interactive experiment with the medium itself; Dimensionality alteration : play with the different dimensions of
a product in relationship to its environment, such as time and space. ( Source Goldenberg, J, Mazursky, D and Solomon, S
1999) However, the IPA research is even more significant for the manner in which it establishes the link between
creativity and the effectiveness of advertising. It has done this by analysing the details of 435 campaigns conducted
between 1994 and 2010. The results reveal that award-winning, creative campaigns are much more effective than the
campaigns that miss out on the prizes. This is because of the larger excess share of voice (ESOV) that the award winners
are able to generate. ESOV is equivalent to share of voice minus share of market. When the results are assessed in
relation to ESOV levels, the link between creativity and effectivity becomes even clearer, according to the IPA. During
the 16 years of the study, award-winning campaigns were seven times more efficient in growing the market share of their
brand than the ordinary campaigns. Moreover, there is also a discernable trend that suggests that creative campaigns
become even more effective as time passes. The award-winning creative campaigns that took place during the second half
of the study period were 12 times more effective than their prize-less rivals, whereas during the first half of the study
period they were only three times more effective. Creative campaigns are also more cost-efficient. The data suggests that
with the same ESOV level an award-winning creative campaign will generate twice as much growth in market share as a
non-award winner. It is also worth noting that award-winning creative campaigns offer a better guarantee of effectiveness,
which, according to the researchers, means that they are more reliable investments. For the same level of investment, the
award winners provide a higher level of success, which goes beyond a straightforward increase in market share. In
particular, their impact is greater in terms of both volume and value for the brand concerned. And as if this were not
enough, the research further suggests that a campaign becomes even more effective the more often it is honoured with an
award.
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The same research points to yet another advantage of creative advertising, which can again be linked with effectivity and
which is likely to become increasingly relevant in the digital, connected world in which we live. Moreover, it is an
advantage that can be exploited outside the realms of the paid media. What is it? It is the buzz effect. Buzz or fame
goes far beyond simple brand awareness. It relates to the extent to which people talk (both online and offline) about the
advertising campaign, so that some consumers might even become ambassadors for the advertising brand (see Chapter 1).
The IPA study compared the buzz and fame scores for creative award-winning and non-award-winning campaigns. It
came to the conclusion that the proportion of award-winning campaigns that obtain a high buzz score has increased
dramatically in recent years; from less than a third (28 per cent) in 2004 to an impressive 70 per cent at the time of
writing. During the same period, the number of award-less campaigns with a high buzz score has risen from just 18 per
cent to 29 per cent. This rise in the buzz scores of creative award-winning campaigns is one of the main reasons why the
IPA contends that these campaigns are becoming even more effective as time goes by (see above and also Chapter 1).
Future of Creativity in Advertising. Michael Belch. Journal of Promotion Management 2013. (e-reserves)
INTRODUCTION
Mean Joe Green, 1984, Speedy Alka Seltzer, Got Milk?, Just Do It!, Tastes GreatLess Filling: you may
recognize the products and/or brand names associated with most, if not all, of these slogans. This is a very short list of
some of the most creative commercials and advertising campaigns of our time, dating back over several decades. More
recently, Old Spice, GEICO, Aflac, and Dos Equis have used creative advertising to gain attention, generate interest,
create an image, and/or position their companies and brands successfully. Many of those involved in the advertising
business believe that the most important element of any campaign is the message and can point to numerous examples of
how highly creative commercials have led to success in the market place.
But now the market has changed, and the role of advertising in a company's marketing program is very different than it
has been in the past. In May 2012, General Motors (GM) announced that, after a number of years as a regular advertiser, it
would not run any commercials on the 2013 Super Bowl because of the high cost ($3.5 million for 30 seconds) (GM to
forego pricey, 2012). While cost has certainly become a major factor in the media buying decisions of many companies, it
is not the only reason why companies are shifting advertising dollars from television to other media. What is interesting
about GM's decision is that the Super Bowlbesides being a cost efficient and effective means of reaching mass
audienceshas over the past few decades been a showcase for advertisers and their agencies to display their creative
talents. Ever since the famous 1984 commercial for Apple's Macintosh personal computer, viewers of the Super Bowl
have watched the commercials almost as much as the game itself. Recent years, however, have seemingly shown less of
an effort by advertisers to out create others, and attention to the commercials may have waned.
The purpose of this paper is to examine whether advertising creativity is still important and examine factors that may be
contributing to the decline of focus in this area over recent years. It will also speculate about what the future holds for
advertising creativity.
THE VALUE OF CREATIVE ADVERTISING
As noted by Belch and Belch ( 2012 ), the manner in which an advertising message is planned and executed can often lead
to the ultimate success or failure of a product. Numerous examples of highly creative advertising resulting in product
success exist, as (unfortunately) do examples of creativity which have had little or no sales impact. One of the criticisms
of Super Bowl advertising is that it had become a showplace for creatives but lost its focus regarding the primary purpose
of running the commercials, which is to achieve marketing communications objectives which, in turn, lead to sales of the
product or service.
Numerous studies have shown that creative ads can positively impact products and/or brands. Miller ( 1991 ) provided
evidence that creative ads are liked more, creating positive affect, which in turn impacts brand preference, persuasiveness,
and purchase intentions. Ray ( 1973 ) has shown the impact of creativity on various stages of the consumer response
hierarchy while Aaker and Myers ( 1982 ) found that creative ads draw more attention, higher recall, and more
information processing; and Hartley and Patti ( 1988 ) demonstrate that creative ads lead to more favorable attitudes and
purchase intentions. More recently, Campbell ( 2011 ), citing years of ad tracking, concludes that the world's most
valuable brands receive positive financial impacts due to great advertising creativity. Sheinin, Varki, and Ashley
( 2011 ) found positive effects of creativity on attitude toward the brand as well as on both short and long term recall,
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while studies by Anderson ( 2004 ) and Mucha ( 2005 ) indicate that creative ads for the Apple Ipod broke through the
clutter and generated positive publicity for the product. In a study of the impact of creativity in an entrepreneurship
interface, Fillis ( 2002 ) concluded that Creativity is a driver of competitive advantage (p. 379). These studies, among
others not cited, clearly indicate that creative advertising appeals can result in positive effects for the product and/or
brand.
ARE MARKETERS MOVING AWAY FROM CREATIVITY?
Given the obvious advantage of creative advertising that can strike a responsive chord with consumers, what are the
reasons behind the apparent decline in emphasis on creative advertising appeals? A number of factors appear to be
contributing and will be covered in the following sections.
Changing Media Strategies
Kantar Media (2012) reports on advertising in 2011 indicated that the spending of the top 10 advertisers declined by 2.8%
over the previous year. In addition, these advertisers invested less in traditional media (TV, Magazines, Radio,
Newspapers) while increasing their expenditures on the internet (search and display ads) by 10%. While the transference
of commercials shown on TV to the internet is rapidly increasing, the focus appears to be more on rational versus
emotional appeals, for example, hard sell ads promoting product attributes and benefits, or price, as opposed to creative
appeals. Marketers know that branding through the internet is still a difficult and challenging task, and appear to be
placing less emphasis on emotional bonding and brand building.
Changing Metrics
The digital age has brought with it a whole new set of metrics in an attempt to measure effectiveness of marketing
messages. A focus on clicks, click-throughs, hits, page visits, and other online metrics, has replaced traditional measures
like recall, recognition, and message retention. These new measures are quantitative-centric and focus on what can be
done with new technologies such as Google analytics. Even the definition of engagement with an ad focuses on rational
criteria (time spent on page, dwell, etc.) rather than emotional attachment. As noted by Ariel Geifman, ( 2011 ), this
quantitative focus tends to stifle creativity and can potentially harm one's brand. Many others in the internet industry agree
with Geifman, with numerous articles appearing almost daily discussing the problems and dissatisfaction of managers
with existing measures. Al Ries ( 2009 ), who introduced marketers to the concept of positioning, notes that in the
marketing community of today, the answer to mathematical failure seems to be more math (p. 1). Ries goes on to note
that if you run a company by numbers alone, youll run it into the ground (Ries, 2009 , p. 1). The new communication
environment has little concern for emotions and creativity.
Changing Media Usage
Consider these statistics on the media usage of Gen Y (those between the ages of 1229): 81% use social media every
day; only 44% watch TV every day; 42% watch TV shows online (where the TV commercials are not included). Gen Y
simply does not watch television as much as their predecessors, affording advertisers less opportunity to reach them with
creative ads and/or commercials (Scott, 2011 ). The fastest growing medium among this generation is mobile, and
advertisers are focusing more and more attention on social media like Facebook and Twitterneither of which requires
much creativity.
In addition to the aforementioned, changing lifestyles, new technologies, multi-tasking, and other factors result in a
decrease in use of, or at least attention to, television, which is the home for creativity. While commercials in movie
theaters are picking up some of the slack for those interested in developing creative appeals, those media least conducive
to emotion and creativity are gaining viewers at a more rapid rate.
IS CREATIVITY A THING OF THE PAST?
On the surface, it would appear that creative appeals may have a bleak future, despite the obvious value demonstrated
through previous research. However, nothing could be further from the truth. In an article reported on by WARC titled
TV retains appeal for brands, a two year study revealed that major companies such as Este Lauder, PepsiCo, and Yum
Brands have increased their advertising expenditures on television (WARC, 2012 ). Pepsi even announced a return to
Super Bowl advertising after a brief hiatus. As noted by Vincent Letang, global head of forecasts for Magnaglobal, a
division of IPG Mediabrands, TV is the king of media categories when it comes to branding. It is indispensable
(WARC, 2012 , p. 1). A 2011 study conducted by Yahoo showed that multi-channel campaigns can increase recall of a
commercial by 48% when shown on TV and then other channels including tablets, personal computers and mobile phones
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(Yahoo and Razorfish, 2011 ). Smart phone and tablet owners will use these devices to access more information once a
TV commercial has gained their attention. Numerous other studies have reported similar findings. All of these studies
offer promise for the value of creative advertising.
Given the research that demonstrates the effectiveness of creative advertising appeals, particularly for branding purposes,
it would seem that creativity is alive and well. As noted by Eileen Campbell, to win, a brand must define itself in the mind
of the consumer with a creative essence, and, further in the business of building brand value, the return on creativity
(ROC) is too powerful to ignore (Campbell, 2011 , p. 222). At the same time, advertisers will need to pay increasing
attention to maintaining effectiveness by overcoming both internal and external barriers and continuing to believe in the
power of creative thinking.
By the way, in regard to the brands associated with the slogans at the beginning of the article, they were, respectively,
Coca-Cola, Macintosh, Alka-Seltzer, the California Milk Advisory Board, Nike, and Miller Lite, as if you did not already
know.
Marketers Need to Think More Like Publishers. By Greg Satell Harvard Business Review. 2014 (online)
In 2010, Pepsi pulled its Super Bowl ads and invested $20 million into its Refresh project, which employed
crowdsourcing to support good causes. It was an astounding social media success, with more than 87 million votes cast.
Unfortunately, as this Harvard Business School case study points out, it was an abysmal business failure and Pepsi
eventually fell to third place in the soda category, behind Diet Coke. For all of the hype and hoopla on social media, sales
suffered dearly.
Pepsis ambitions were far from unusual. Research by the Content Marketing Institute estimates that 90% of consumer
marketers are investing in content. Unfortunately, most of those efforts will fail. In order to succeed, marketers will have
to learn to think like publishers. That will mean more than a change in tactics or even strategy, but a starkly different
perspective. Heres what you need to do:
1. Define the mission. All great publications have missions. Helen Gurley Brown sought to make every girl feel that she
can be beautiful and confident. Thats Cosmopolitans mission. Henry Luce sought to create a better-informed public
and Time magazine embodies his vision even today. Vogue is a fashion bible because Anna Wintour believes a stylish
world is a better place.
Marketers need to take the same approach. Nobody is going to believe that the CEO of Pepsi wakes up in the morning
thinking about how she can build better after-school programs and bike trails, which is why Pepsi Refresh didnt resonate.
Others, like American Express Open Forum succeed because they are in line with the brands mission.
Coke has taken an interesting approach with its sustainability initiative. Water quality and energy efficiency are important
to Cokes business and it has built up considerable expertise in that area. People who have an interest in the issue
appreciate the company sharing it and if they can get an occasional coupon in the process, so much the better.
Most content marketers start with implementation ideas, such as social media or a video. That would be like John F.
Kennedy proposing his man-to-the-moon idea by focusing on rocket technology, rather than Americas aspirations for the
space age.
Start by figuring out what you have to offer the world. Most companies usually actually do have quite a bit to offer, but
get bogged down because they havent identified their mission.
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2. Identify analogues. Marketers like to cut through the clutter and get noticed. They focus on unique selling
propositions and want their marketing messages to be distinctive. By looking, sounding, and feeling different, they hope
to grab the consumers attention.
But marketing in the digital age is less about grabbing attention and more about holding attention. That goes double for
publishing. You need to create an easy-to-navigate experience that will make consumers want to come back. The best way
to do that is by adopting familiar conventions.
Thats why content development should always start with between three and five analogue products. You need to ask key
questions like: Whos done this before? How did they do it? What can we add? What can we subtract? For example, if a
cosmetics brand wanted to publish content, would their reference be Cosmo, a Sephora store, or Sex and the City?
Starting with analogues is the best way to get everybody on the same page and define what you want to achieve. From
there, you can find your own voice.
3. Identify your structures. Possibly the most important and certainly the most overlooked aspect of content creation
is structure. Every content discipline has its own rules and every content product is defined by the rules it chooses to
break.
Magazines have clearly defined brand bibles that designate flatplan, voice, and pacing. Radio stations run on clocks. TV
shows have clearly defined story structures and character arcs. The rules not only set audience expectations and make
content easier to take in and enjoy, but form the crucial constraints in which creativity can thrive.
So when marketers approach publishing, they must go beyond the usual advertising conventions of target and
message. Instead, they must think seriously about the format in which information will be presented. You may not need
the detailed brand bible of an established publication which can run up to 100 pages but you have to start
somewhere.
Every great publishing product combines consistency and surprise, so its okay to break some rules now and again, but
you have to first establish what the rules are.
4. Create a true value exchange. It used to be that awareness could drive sales. If you spent lots of money on TV, you
could be sure that consumers would know your brand and be more likely to buy your product. But today, brand awareness
is less likely to result in a trip to the store and more likely to lead to searching behavior online, where your
competitors can retarget your consumers.
Thats why it has become so important to build a relationship with consumers. Publishing can be a great way to build
unique bonds, but there has to be a true value exchange rather than just a promotion. Gimmicks wont work. You need to
build trust and credibility through content that makes an impact because it informs, excites, and inspires. The Michelin
Guides, which started out as basic handbooks for road-weary travelers (presumably traveling on their Michelin tires) are
the classic example. A more modern example is Mailchimp, the email marketing service, which sends tutorials on how to
get the most out of its product after you sign up.

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Most of all, great publishers lead. People like Helen Gurley Brown, Henry Luce, and Anna Wintour created legendary
brands by driving trends, not following them. They do not seek to merely join the conversation, but to lead it. If you
expect people to listen to you, its best to have something meaningful to say.
If marketers are ever going to be successful at content, the first step is to start thinking more like publishers.
Content: marketing's best hope or more hype? By Matthew Creamer. Advertising Age. 2012. (e-reserves)
What does it mean that Indium Corp., which makes soldering supplies, publishes 73 blogs on its website? Or that Red
Bull, producer of late nights, operates a site where you can pay for the rights to its photos and videos? Or that American
Express, L'Oral, General Electric and other blue chips either directly or indirectly employ hundreds of journalists whose
Pulitzer dreams have been transformed into groping for brand engagement and return on investment?
Content marketing, an idea that's been kicking around since companies started firing up Movable Type blogs, is in the full
flush of its industrial revolution.
Corporations are pushing out news stories, infographics and documentary-style videos as if they were run by a
Frankenstein combo of Henrys Ford and Luce. Forget press releases and ads. What matters is straightforward, practical,
even nonpromotional information that plays well on social networks.
Whether content marketing can emerge from the current noise as a central part of the marketing mix is a matter for debate.
By all rights, this should be a breeze. Online advertising isn't exactly winning hearts and minds, even though it might
show up occasionally at the right time with the right offer.
Overall, good, propaganda-free information is too easily available on the internet for controlled messages to triumph. And
the traditional informational middlemen, the news media, are hurting. What's left is a free-for-all where the best (and bestplaced) content will win.
The marketing business is responding to that reality.
Dedicated content roles are popping up at agencies and in marketing organizations. A startup scene is blooming. Spending
has increased, anecdotally. Even if it's hard to tell by how much, survey after survey shows marketers' rising interest in
content programs. But the era of Big Content has yielded big questions--about effectiveness, about clutter and, perhaps
most dreaded, about bubbles.
"I do think we're in the early stages of a 'content bubble,' which is being inflated by the idea that brands should be
publishers," said Kyle Monson, content-strategy director at JWT, New York. "It's a good idea, but now we've got a rush of
people calling themselves 'content strategists,' though they may not have any idea how to create compelling, strategic
content."
Mr. Monson identified two things that almost everyone agrees must be present for content marketing to gain clout: quality
and accountability.
"There are a few really great content campaigns out there, and loads of terrible ones," he said. "The balance is such that,
eventually, CMOs might not want to hear about clever content campaigns anymore, because they've traveled that road
before and didn't see the ROI. That's how bubbles pop."
The other perspective is that this is just the beginning of solid investment that can drive business. As experimentation
gives way to systematization, the metrics--soft now--will firm up.

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Toby Murdock, CEO of Kapost, a startup that supplies a publishing platform for brands including Nokia and Verizon,
calls it the shift to "real content marketing."
It's "a transformation in which brands truly become publishers," Mr. Murdock said. "They produce substantial volumes of
content--a minimum of five pieces a week--that are not about their own products but about the interests of their customers.
Only such substantial operations can produce real results."
The "not about their own products" part is key to content marketing success.
Quality comes from understanding that creating content isn't the same as PR, and it certainly isn't advertising. Seems like
an obvious point, but wade through the deepening thicket of content programs and you get mixed results. For
every American Express Open Forum or Red Bull Art of Flight, there are many more crap ones, graveyards.
In an-almost-too-easy example, try Citigroup's blog, almost wholly self-promotional with lots of blabbing about stuff no
one cares about, like its 200th anniversary. Compare it with Mint.com, which has useful yet entertaining personal finance
advice.
Mint gets posts from Contently, a startup co-founded by Shane Snow as a network of journalists who provide articles for
fledgling brands.
Managing such an undertaking is a messy task that most brands don't want to add to their capacious to-do lists. Contently
does it for them, working with the likes of American Express, Rackspace and Vault.
Explaining content's value has been reliant on "proxy ROI"--"likes," "followers" and whatnot--that may not correlate with
conversions, Mr. Snow said. But that's changing.
"PR agencies are coming to us and saying that the cost per impression of creating content and having people share it is
much lower than buying StumbleUpon or clicks or ads," Mr. Snow said. "They're not closing the loop in terms of sales,
but it's better than what they've seen so far."
Parker Ward, digital content manager at Weber Shandwick, said that while more work is needed to draw a straight line to
sales, content represents better value than ads.
"With an effective content engine, it costs less to bring a visitor to a platform through content than display advertising,"
Mr. Ward said.
In addition, he said, "user behavior of opt-in referrals from 'content' sources--search, return visits, social-channel
promotion, syndication partners--encourages them to stay longer and be more engaged."
As this gets hashed out, content marketers for sexy brands might do well to look to the comparatively unglamorous
business-to-business field for guidance. A whopping 90% of B2B brands play in the content-marketing space, and devote
a bit more than a quarter of their overall budgets to it, according to the Content Marketing Institute. And many of them are
getting real results.
Eloqua, a digital-marketing automation company, publishes guides that are free but require surrendering contact
information that has allowed Chief Content Officer Joe Chernov to link the content to income. In 2010, more than $2
million in revenue could be connected to just four guides, according to a recent report by Altimeter.
In addition, Mr. Chernov has hired a former journalist, Jesse Noyes, as corporate reporter to boost content volume.
And what of Indium's 73 blogs? Though the number may sound outlandish, it came out of a search-based strategy that
found that many keywords were driving people to the site. According to the same Altimeter study, by Rebecca Lieb, (who
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also wrote Content Marketing, on Page 65), the blogs were responsible for a 600% lift in customer contacts in just one
quarter.
Not bad when your topics are tombstoning, phase-change material and pop flux.
Cond Nast dives deep into native ads. By Lucia Moses. Digiday. 2014 (online)
Some would consider Cond Nast, its lifestyle magazines fat with sumptuous fashion and beauty ads, an originator of
native advertising or at least advertising that blends in seamlessly with its editorial content.
But in fact, the publishing house has only just now embraced native ads in earnest. Its first corporate-wide native ad, for
Pantene, is live on four of the companys womens sites (Self, Glamour, Style and Lucky), and a template for its mens
titles is in the works.

In going native, Cond Nast may seem, once again, a little behind the times. Rivals like The New York Times, Time Inc.
and Hearst have been out with native ad offerings for a while. Cond also was slow to create standalone websites for its
titles and embrace other changes that threatened its core business, like the rise of programmatic ad buying.
But Cond has rarely been a company to take a top-down approach, and Lou Cona, president of the Cond Nast Media
Group, pointed out that brands at the company like Vanity Fair andWired have already been creating their own native ads.
The individual [Cond] brands have been doing this for a while this is the first time were doing it at scale, he said.
Its more important to get it right than to be first.
And the key word there is scale. While Cond historically has given its titles free rein, digital scrambles that equation. The
race for scale and its close cousin, efficiency, means publishing companies must increasingly act at a broader level. Its a
similar story in programmatic advertising, where Cond Nast organizes at a corporate level.
The problem for Cond is the market is now chock full of native ad opportunities. Publishers arent ignorant of the
opportunity to wring premium pricing out of brands in return for custom programs that are bestowed with the native
label.
Craig Atkinson, chief digital officer for the Omnicom agency PHD, said that as native ads go, this one is a fairly standard
sponsored content model that could help Cond upsell its existing advertisers. Consumers have come to be able to
identify sponsored content as separate from editorial content, and they interact more with ads that are placed directly in
the editorial stream, if their link to driving purchase is still unproven.
That said, he added that hed hope to see more elaborate treatments from the publisher over time, given its tradition of
editorial excellence. What is the Vogue version of this? Atkinson said. Theyre one of the few purveyors that can do
something really deep.
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The native ads are the latest product to come out of the media groups Cond Nast Studio and Solutions Group, the
companys ad and content development arm. Like other publishers, Cond has had to answer the demand for ads that are
part of the editorial experience rather than interruptive as it tries to make up for declining print advertising and digital
display ad rates.
The challenge for Cond is to ensure that its native ads are as good as the editorial content surrounding it without
tricking readers into thinking theyre looking at actual editorial content. The templates also have to work on an array of
sites, from the staid New Yorker to sassier Glamour, which is why a few different versions are being created. (In reality,
the ads will most likely be used against groups of sites or specific audiences and not all 21 sites.) Equally important will
be getting buy-in from all the company titles, which are used to operating autonomously.
That caution comes across in the somewhat conservative execution of the first ad, which Cond is calling a beta version.
Clicking on the ad takes the viewer to a series of short makeover videos. With input from corporate editorial director Tom
Wallace, the module carries a sponsor content label and background shade to set it off from the editorial content that
surrounds it, although publications may use other labels.
Also notably, Cond hired an editorial vet to take care of the native ads. Nathan Lump, newly named director of branded
content, most recently was brand development director for Cond Nast Traveler. He previously has had stints on the
editorial side of Travel + Leisure and T: The New York Times Style Magazine, as well as in content marketing at JWT
and Hill Holiday.
Native advertising needs to work, and the performance of the content aligns with the quality of the content that you
make, Lump said. At the end of the day, when a user clicks on a native placement, the most important thing is that they
come away having found something thats interesting, entertaining to them. Their reaction should be the same as if they
clicked on editorial content.

Did Wired Just Create the 'Snow Fall' of Native Advertising for Netflix? By Michael Sebastian. Advertising Age.
2014. (online)
For a new feature on the way technology like streaming video is fueling TV's current golden age, Wiredmagazine tapped
anthropologist and author Grant McCracken. The result, which went live on Wired.com this week, is a deeply immersive
experience with text, charts and video.
It's also a native ad for Netflix, with a persistent "Sponsor Content" label to avoid confusion.
It's similar in design to The New York Times' award-winning "Snow Fall" feature, a lavishly designed account of a deadly
avalanche that included video, interactive maps and animation. The biggest knock on "Snow Fall," like the imitations that
followed, was that the advertising didn't live up to the editorial presentation, with ugly standard banner ads occasionally
interrupting the story.
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But "TV Got Better" is the advertising. Although not as extensive or obviously expensive as "Snow Fall" itself, which the
Times spent months building, "TV Got Better" unfurls as readers scroll through the article, revealing a video interview
with "Arrested Development" co-creator Mitch Hurwitz (whose show got a new life on Netflix), a timeline of TV's
milestones, an audio recording of the author, a reader poll and more.
One multimedia element shows how many hours of TV people have watched since opening the story.
Howard Mittman, VP-publisher at Wired, declined to say how much it cost the magazine to produce the article, nor how
much Netflix paid for the ad. "It was a significant investment," he said. The article is not part of a broader print buy from
Netflix.
"I think it really achieves our mission of building branded content that's really just great content," Mr. Mittman said.
The Netflix sponsored post marks the continued evolution of native ad units, which are designed to draw readers' interest
by mimicking the editorial content surrounding it (and by not looking much like ads). Sites like Vox's The Verge and Say
Media's ReadWrite have in recent years produced richly designed native-ad units, but many native ads are basically text
advertorials that live or die on what they say. Others include interactive elements but don't rise to the level of a
comparison to, for example, "Snow Fall."
Wired plans to promote the post on social media as well as across Wired's various digital properties, according to Mr.
Mittman.
Netflix did not respond to an email request for comment.
Wired is owned by Conde Nast, which also publishes Vogue, Vanity Fair and The New Yorker.
Wired, the only magazine among Conde Nast's stable of titles that draws 50% of its ad revenue from digital sales, has
proven ambitious in the native ad space, where roughly 30% of its revenue includes some native elements. Last August, it
rolled out a separate division called Amplifi that's focused on developing native content for brands that will appeal to the
Wired audience.
Amplifi includes a bullpen of writers, filmmakers and others who Wired taps to produce native ads for brands, but Mr.
McCracken was selected by Netflix. Last year, Netflix worked with the anthropologist on a study that sought to
understood the habits of TV watchers.
Wired has previously produced a free tablet magazine with Cisco called The Connective. A second version -- The
Connective 2.0 -- rolled out Thursday, with contributions from big names such as Marc Andreessen of Andreessen
Horowitz as well as an interactive ad unit designed by Goodby Silverstein & Partners that's tailored to individual readers
using a live data feed.
BMW to Bring Back BMW Films. Advertising Age. By Michael McCarthy. 2014. (online)
BMW of North America is planning to bring back BMW Films, the pioneering online movie series produced by A-List
Hollywood directors/actors that popularized branded content on Madison Avenue more than a decade ago
The first iteration of BMW Films was "The Hire:" a series of eight online films starring Clive Owen as a mysteriousdriver-for-hire that were produced for the Internet from 2001-2002.

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Running 8-10 minutes apiece, the mini-movies featured Mr. Owen driving BMW models such as the Z4 roadster. The
flicks were directed by some of the biggest names in Hollywood, including Ang Lee, John Woo, Guy Ritchie and the late
John Frankenheimer.
Mr. Owen's performance helped turn him into an international movie star. Besides the BMW cars, Mr. Owen's co-stars
included Gary Oldman, Don Cheadle, Mickey Rourke and Madonna (who was directed by her former husband, Mr.
Ritchie).
A team led by David Lubars and Bruce Bildsten at BMW's former agency, Fallon, Minneapolis, created the idea for "The
Hire" and wrote the scripts with input from directors such as Mr. Ritchie. Anonymous Content produced the films. David
Fincher executive-produced.
Trudy Hardy, BMW's new VP of marketing, said at the 2014 Automotive News World Congress in Detroit, the luxury
automaker was planning to bring back BMW Films. But Ms. Hardy and BMW have declined to comment further.
BMW's current ad agency, KBS+, declined to comment on the plan. Steve Golin, who was heavily involved in the first
project at Anonymous Content, could not be reached for comment. Ditto for Mr. Owens' agent at Creative Artists
Agencyin Los Angeles.
Ahead of its time
At a time when marketers and ad agencies were still trying to figure out how to use the Internet and broadband was not in
wide use, BMW Films was ahead of its time, spawning sequels on Madison Avenue and even in Hollywood ("The
Transporter" franchise of action flicks starring Jason Statham was inspired by "The Hire"). But BMW eventually
abandoned the expensive series.
Jim McDowell, the charismatic marketer who championed the films at BMW, went on to serve as VP and Chief Motorer
at MINI USA. Mr. McDowell retired in December. Mr. Lubars has since moved on to BBDO. Mr. Bildsten left Fallon to
form his own shop, then later returned.

A project like BMW Films flips the normal ad budget on its head, with most of the money going into production rather
than paid media.
But BMW is launching a new "i" sub-brand of plug-in hybrid vehicles around the world. A BMW Film encore could be a
nice tool to demonstrate that its i-cars have all the performance expected from the Ultimate Driving Machine. KBS+'s first
TV spots for the i-cars that broke recently on NBC's coverage of the Sochi Winter Olympics took a cinematic approach.
Good idea?
"Resurrecting BMW Films is a great idea. If I was the CMO of BMW, that's what I would be doing," said David Kiley,
author of "Driven: Inside BMW, the Most Admired Car Company in the World," and editor-in-chief of New Roads
Media. "It's really difficult to stand out and separate yourself producing TV commercials any more. It's really hard to tell
an engaging story in 30-second spots."
But marketing consultant-turned Hollywood screenwriter Ernest Lupinacci sees potential pitfalls in a BMW Films sequel.
First, the luxury car-maker will have to compete against itself. Despite all the hoopla, the films basically boiled down to
A-List directors accepting big bucks from BMW for little more than beefed up car commercials, said Mr. Lupinacci.
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"In the spirit of being a cynical son-of-a-bitch, they got A-List directors and paid them A-List dollars to direct C-Level
concepts. These things were better-than-average commercials -- sort of. But if you go back and watch them you go,
'What's happening here?' It's just running footage."
After overtaking longtime leader Lexus to lead the U.S. car market in luxury sales in 2011-2012, BMW lost its luxury
sales crown to rival Mercedes-Benz in 2013, according to the Automotive News Data Center. Mercedes sold 312,528
vehicles last year vs. 309,280 for BMW. Mercedes also lead all luxury car-makers in January sales with 22,604 compared
to 18,253 for BMW, 17,637 for Lexus and 11,386 for General Motors' Cadillac.

Hey, Is That a BMW Racing Down the Bobsled Course? By Andrew Adam Newman. The New York Times.
2014. (online)
THE last time the United States mens team won an Olympic gold medal in the two-man bobsled
competition was 1936, when Franklin D. Roosevelt was in the White House and a gallon of gas
cost 10 cents.
Now BMW of North America, which has built six two-person bobsleds for the United States mens
and womens teams competing in Russia this year, is hoping to help change that.
Since 2011, the automaker has been working with the United States Bobsled and Skeleton
Federation to develop a prototype.
The effort has been led by Michael Scully, a creative director atDesignworksUSA, a consultancy
owned by the BMW Group that along with designing vehicles for the automaker is hired for
projects by nonautomotive companies, including John Deere, Microsoft and Coca-Cola.
On Sunday, a documentary about the project, Driving on Ice, will air on NBC. It features Mr.
Scully and athletes including Steven Holcomb, who won a gold medal in the four-man bobsled
event in 2010, and Elana Meyers, who won a bronze in the two-woman bobsled in 2010. (The fourman bobsled continues to be made by the Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project.)
Photo
BMW of North America has built six two-person bobsleds for the United States mens and womens Olympic teams.
While BMW produced the documentary and is paying for it to air as part of an advertising contract
with the network, it has the narrative arc and tone of an independent documentary, not a
commercial.
The documentary shows how Mr. Scully, who in the past has designed racecars, adapts his
expertise to bobsleds, which present aerodynamic challenges including being sideways in turns.
Introduced during the commercial breaks for the documentary will be two new Olympic-themed
spots for the brand, with one featuring video of thebobsled being developed and no BMW vehicles,
and the other taking a more traditional approach, with the automakers cars and S.U.V.s driving
along snowy roads to transport athletes to training sessions.
Television and digital advertising for the campaign, as well as social media strategy, is by
Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal & Partners in New York, part of MDC. Production of the documentary
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is by UM Studios, the content arm of Universal McCann, which is part of the Interpublic Group of
Companies.
BMW North America which declined to reveal what it spent on the six-year Olympic
sponsorship through 2016, the bobsleds or the documentary, or its projected advertising
expenditures for the campaign spent $75.9 million on advertising in the first nine months of
2013 and $159.7 million for the full year of 2012, according to the Kantar Media unit of WPP.
For the first 11 months of 2013, BMW sold 244,061 cars, an increase of 11 percent over the same
period in 2012, according to Automotive News. It ranks second behind Mercedes-Benz among
luxury vehicles.
BMW is a progenitor of what has come to be known as branded content. ItsBMW Films,
introduced in 2001 mostly for online viewing, featured stars like Clive Owen in short films driving
BMWs, but with no sales pitches.
Trudy Hardy, the vice president of marketing for BMW of North America, said the company was
involved with the Olympics in a more tangible way than simply having permission to use its logo.
Continue reading the main storyContinue reading the main story
The way we entered this sponsored relationship is much deeper than the rights to the rings, she
said. We wanted to find ways to make our athletes performance better.
Applying expertise developed for cars to other applications is what BMW calls technology
transfer, and in previous Olympic Games, BMW has adapted its software to help swimmers
analyze their starts and turns and long-jumpers their jumps. But Ms. Hardy said the bobsled project
would have more resonance than the brands earlier Olympic efforts.
Software systems are a little more difficult for people to understand, but this hardware makes it
much easier for consumers to translate our brand in the physical sense, Ms. Hardy said.
Scott Donaton, chief content officer at UM Studios, said that when viewers of the Olympics were
barraged with commercial messages, BMW would have something else: a story.
In a time when technology gives people the ability to filter out any branded messages that they
dont want to see, storytelling is the way to engage audiences, Mr. Donaton said.
Rohit Bhargava, a social media strategist and the author of Likeonomics, said that with the
bobsled collaboration, BMW is tapping into a pretty human desire to go behind the scenes,
adding that the automaker is uniquely suited to do so in this instance because it is so integral to the
story.
Dan Mannix, chief executive of LeadDog Marketing Group, which specializes in sports marketing,
said the bobsled-related content would help BMW stand apart from typical car advertising.
Theres so much car advertising on TV that shows cars driving through deserts and mountain
roads and it all just blurs together, but the advertising that is more about the bobsleds is much more
compelling, Mr. Mannix said.
But there is, he added, a risk.
If the team does well, BMW can point to its involvement, but if there is a problem and the bobsled
cruises off the course, they could get a bunch of bad P.R., he said.
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BMW, which is based in Germany, is also sponsoring the German bobsled team, but is not
overhauling their bobsleds as it is for the Americans.
How do we know, joked a recent blog post on Gizmodo, that BMW, a German-based company,
isnt secretly sabotaging the U.S. teams efforts to win the gold?
Stacy Morris, a corporate communications manager with BMW of North America, said there was
nothing incongruous about the sponsorship.
We consider ourselves an American car company just as much as a German car company, Ms.
Morris said.
Jaguar's Branded Film Is 13 Minutes Long, But Still Worth the Ride. By David Gianatasio. AdWeek. 2013.
(online)
When it comes to branded content, the better the content, the better the branding. And so it goes with Desire (below), a
short film from ad agency The Brooklyn Brothers and Ridley Scott's production company, touting Jaguar's F-Type sports
car.
Of course, Jag is a vehicle of excess, and the clip's 13-minute length, like the car's $92,000 price tag, is pretty darn
excessive. I usually can't concentrate on anything for 13 minutes. Still, Desire held my attention all the way through with
solid storytelling, visual panache (props to director Adam Smith) and strong performances from its three leads.
Homeland's dapper Brit, Damian Lewis, who would make a great James Bond, plays a "delivery man" tooling around the
Chilean desert in search of the new owner of a red F-Type. He picks up perky, gun-toting Shannyn Sossamon, who is on
the run from her psychopathic, drug-dealing husband. Jordi Molla just about steals the show as the scruffy gangster,
spitting out lines like "Shut your face or I'll rip it into pieces" with just the right mix of humor and menace, and breathing
into a paper bag in a fruitless attempt to keep his rage in check.
Desire is basically an extended car chase punctuated by zippy dialogue, a twisty plot and lots of gunfire. The film makes
good use of its running time without overstaying its welcome.
As content, it works on par with the similar BMW Films series a decade ago. That comparison is inevitableeveryone
else is making it, and I didn't want to feel left out!but also pretty pointless. Art informs art, and ads inform ads. A more
salient question is: Does Desire succeed as advertising?
I'd say it performs better than expected. The Jag appears in almost every shot, but that makes sense in the context of the
story, so it never feels gratuitousmore like an extended product placement. The key test comes near the finale, when
Lewis rattles off a litany of F-Type technical specs, at gunpoint, to prove he really is in the desert to deliver the car. The
speech doesn't sound forced or out of place, and the scene would be amusing if this were an unsponsored action flick that
just happened to feature a Jag.
I'm betting prospective Jaguar owners like to believe they're sorta specialand for 92 grand, who can blame them?! So, a
long-form, cinematic blockbuster ad seems well suited to this particular audience. (Leave the jokey 30-second cable spots

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for those of us on Honda Civic budgets.) Viewers can sit back and enjoy the wild ride, ogling the F-Type's impressive
design and road handling. It never feels like we're being taken for a spin by an advertising vehicle.
At the crossroads of content and commerce, Desire, like its enigmatic hero, delivers.
Lincoln Looks to Drive Interest in Luxury Brand with Short Film Series. By Marc Graser. Variety. 2013. (online)
Lincoln has lined up filmmakers for a trio of short films to support the latest element of its Reimagine Project to raise
awareness of the luxury brands new redesigned vehicles.
The luxury arm of the Ford Motor Co., paired up with Film Independent to fund the Hello, Again film series, with each
of the three short films from Jacob Hatley, Dana Turken, Nick Citton and David Ariniello taking on classic Hollywood
genres like screwball comedy, thriller-noir and the 70s road heist.
Writer, director and producer Rodrigo Garcia mentored the filmmakers during the development and production process,
with each short meant to tie in with historical aspects of the automotive industry while showing how Lincoln is going
through a brand transformation with sleeker, more modern cars, including the 2013 MKZ midsize sedan.
The films will debut on Lincolns Hello-Again website and Lincoln.com on Sept. 11 and get the expected social media
push, along with ads in Vanity Fair, which is also backing the project.
As part of the promo, Lincoln is enabling each filmmaker to enter the films into festivals or adapt them as full-length
feature-length movies. Doing so would naturally broaden the potential audience of theshort film projects while also
putting Lincoln in front of more people.
The Hello, Again films are part of a $1.2 million fund Lincoln is offering up to support reimagined ideas and products
that align with our own and our target customers passion projects like art, film, architecture, design and thought
leadership, said Andrew Frick, Lincoln group marketing manager. In February, that involved Beck reimagining David
Bowies song Sound and Vision, with 160 musicians. The first funded project began in February at TEDActive that
backed champions of fresh perspectives on technology, sustainability and music.
Today, Lincoln is targeting customers that tend to be more culturally progressive and a luxury client that appreciates a
brand for more than just a logo or what the brand says about them externally, according to Frick. They like to shop for
brands that are important to them and make a statement about themselves and not just externally, he said. Theyre open
minded and want to understand the heritage and history of a brand and what it stands for.
Breaking it down further, Lincoln is aiming its new vehicles with four set to roll into dealerships over the next four
years at 35-50 year olds as a way to age down the brand. Already its been able to skew younger by introducing a new
hybrid model thats helped break sales records for the company this summer.
Weve been able to attract a more younger, affluent buyer, Frick said.
With its Reimagine Project, Lincoln wanted to set ourselves apart by fostering innovation and design, Frick said, and
the Hello, Again films were a way to give back to the community.
Other carmakers have also turned to short films to rev up interest in their brands and models over the years, with the trend
most notably kicking off with BMWs short film series The Hire, which starred Clive Owen. But instead of ponying up
major coin, Lincoln turned to up-and-coming filmmakers, instead, for its series.
We could have gone with basic advertising and traditional ways to speak to consumers, but thought the Reimagine
Project was a better way to introduce Lincoln to luxury customers while connecting with Hollywood and filmmakers to
create something that was relevant to the entertainment industry and not be a walking commercial, Frick added. It fits
into our transformation of Lincoln, thats been around for 90 years, as a product and service led transformation.

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Lincoln chose to distribute the films online because its found that luxury clients prefer to do their research online when
buying a high-end car and tend to engage more with online content, as a result.
As they try to discover things about the brands, they spend a lot of time trying to understand everything offered to them,
Frick said. When we do have this kind of content (like short films), we have a high level of engagement.
Lincoln is also supporting its Hello, Again campaign with test drives in 11 cities and an online concierge service.
So far its paying off: Every time we have an event like a Beck or these reimagined events were seeing a significant lift
in favorable opinion of the brand, Frick said. Peoples impression of Lincoln is 75% higher than before they attended
the event. When customers test drive Lincoln we see a 32 point increase in customers perception of Lincoln and our
products and significant increase in how relevant it would be to them. Thats why getting Lincoln in front of people in
unique ways is so important.
SEE ALSO: Fords Mustang Races to Need for Speed
Lincoln is no stranger to the small screen.
On TV, its cars have been integrated into episodes of Mad Men, Necessary Roughness and Decoded, while Michael
J. Fox also drove one in The Good Wife, and Jimmy Fallon promoted the brand through the Steer the Script project
timed around the Super Bowl.
Lincoln will premiere its Hello, Again short films at the Charlie Chaplin Theater at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood on
Sept. 10 at a screening before they stream online. There are profiles of the filmmakers at Hello-Again.com now.

An Animated Ad With a Plot Line and a Moral. By Elizabeth Olson. The New York Times. 2012. (online)
WHEN Chipotle Mexican Grill, the fast-food marketer, began thinking about ways to promote improvements to the
countrys food supply, it decided to skip the graphic photos of jampacked chicken coops and other unsettling farm
practices.
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Instead, Chipotle took a more upbeat approach, creating an animated film with puppets to show a family farmer switching
first tofactory farming, then back to the sustainable approach of turning animals out to pasture. After showing the film,
called Back to the Start, first online and then in movie theaters, the company decided to turn it into its first national
commercial. The two-minute ad will be shown on Sundays Grammy Awards telecast, and viewers will be urged to
download, via iTunes, the song that accompanies it a Willie Nelson rendition of The Scientist by Coldplay.
The proceeds from the downloads are to go to the Chipotle Cultivate Foundation. Chipotles founder, Steve Ells, started
the foundation last year to encourage sustainable farming methods and family farming. A major selling point for the fastfood chain, whose 1,230 outlets brought in nearly $2.3 billion in sales last year, has been the fresh and sustainably grown
ingredients, including pork and beef, in its burritos and tacos.

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National television is a new tack for the 19-year-old company, which has produced some advertising on local television
but mostly has employed radio, billboards and digital advertising. The Grammy Awards, which this year will feature
performances by Bruce Springsteen and Adele, among others, is a much bigger arena. Last year the telecast drew more
than 26 million viewers, the most since 2000, and at least that many are expected to watch this years ceremony.

Chipotle, which does not employ an advertising agency, devised its marketing approach based on its own research, which
it said showed that 75 percent of its 800,000 daily customers came for the taste, value and convenience of its food. Those
are positive reasons, but expected for any food franchise that wants to be successful. So to get customers more
passionately involved, the company decided it needed to have a general, higher-level message and to tell the story in a
more approachable way, said Mark Crumpacker, Chipotles chief marketing officer.
And we wanted to make the message interesting and entertaining, he added.
Chipotle believed it had the right message already in its emphasis on more natural food. The company had shifted to more
naturally grown produce and to beef, pork and chicken produced without antibiotics. It then set a goal of trying to make its
customers more aware of sustainable ways to farm. Chipotle turned to the Creative Artists Agency, the Hollywood talent
group, to find a director. The company selected Johnny Kelly, a director with London-based Nexus Productions, who met
with Mr. Ells in London to map out a film project.
Its a very complex set of issues things like animal welfare, monoculture, locally sourced produce, water pollution,
Mr. Kelly said in an e-mail from London.
The initial concept for the film was to contrast the farmers organic farm with a gloomy-looking factory farm next door. It
later developed into an evolving process, with the farmer adopting the industrial methods himself, then realizing the error
of his conveyor belt ways and moving back to sustainable agriculture.
That shift, changing the farmer from a passive observer to an instigator who transforms his own farm, closely reflects
Chipotles own story as they began moving away from using factory farm suppliers 10 or so years ago," Mr. Kelly
explained.
Chipotle also created an eight-minute behind-the-scenes video that shows the intricate model-making and set-creating
efforts by Mr. Kellys team during the year it took them to complete the film. Among those he hired was Gary Cureton, an
animator who had worked on Wallace & Gromit, the British animated film series.
The film was released on the Chipotle Web sites YouTube page last August, and has been viewed more than four million
times. It was also shown on nearly 10,000 theater screens nationwide last fall. Chipotle said that Zeta Interactive, a digital
agency that tracks the impact of commercials, rated Back to the Start one of the top 10 advertisements in Internet buzz
in 2011. It was one of only two ads on the list that did not make its debut during that years Super Bowl broadcast.

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The Willie Nelson rendition of The Scientist has been downloaded about 25,000 times so far, and 60 cents from each
99-cent download has gone to Chipotles foundation.
The foundation has been supported by download proceeds and $1 million from the revenue generated by Chipotles
annual Boorito event on Halloween, in which customers dressed in farm-inspired costumes pay a cut-rate $2 for a
burrito or other dish.
Over the last two years, the Denver-based company has donated more than $2 million to groups like Jamie Olivers Food
Revolution and the Nature Conservancy. At the end of last year, the foundation presented its first major award, of
$250,000, to Farm Aid, which was founded by Mr. Nelson and other well-known singers to promote family farms.
To underscore its message about the importance of natural ingredients, Chipotle is also sponsoring two all-day festivals
with music and chefs in Chicago and in Denver this year, said Mr. Crumpacker. And he said the company was expanding
its invitation-only loyalty program, called Farm Team, which does not reward frequent buying but instead gives
customers points for knowledge about food and how it is produced. They can redeem the points for food or merchandise
on a members-only Web site.
We are shifting away from outdoors billboards were a mainstay in the Midwest and radio, Mr. Crumpacker said,
and trying to engage our customers in new ways.
Hiding a Commercial in a Chipotle Comedy Series. By Marc Graser. Marketing News. 2014. (e-reserves)
THE NAME CHIPOTLE is uttered just one time during the four 22-minute episodes of the new comedy series "Farmed
and Dangerous" which premieres Feb. 17 on Hulu. But the restaurant chain is hoping the show itself will speak volumes
for its brand.
Chipotle is spending well over $1 million to produce the series, which eschews the usual branded-entertainment tactics,
such as showing characters eating burritos or saying "Brought to you by Chipotle."
"It's definitely on the risky side of marketing," admits Mark Crumpacker, chief marketing and development officer for
Chipotle. "We're asking viewers to do a lot--to get engaged with a show and come back and watch more than one episode.
To do that, we had to create pure entertainment."

"Farmed," which stars Ray Wise ("Reaper") and Eric Pierpoint ("Heart of Dixie"), satirizes the lengths a fictional
agribusiness corporation goes to create a positive image. The story focuses on the introduction of PetroPellet, a petroleumbased animal feed created by fictional industrial giant Animoil.
Chipotle has long avoided television when promoting its products, opting to spend marketing dollars elsewhere. The
company's campaign to educate consumers on how its food is prepared started with animated short films "Back to the
Start" (2011) and last year's "The Scarecrow," both of which generated millions of views online.
Chipotle said it needed to produce a TV show rather than another short film because of the complex issues surrounding
the production of food in the U.S. and elsewhere in the world.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

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"I wanted something longer to talk about all the issues, because there are so many" Crumpacker says.
"Farmed" doesn't duck them, dealing with the overuse of antibiotics, synthetic hormones, welfare of animals in
confinement, the use of GMOs and the over-prevalence of processed foods.
"Chipotle was brave enough to not put its brand on this in any way" says Daniel Rosenberg, co-producer of "Farmed and
Dangerous" and co-founder of New York-based production shingle Piro, which co-produces the series. "They wanted to
make it entertainment first and (marketing) messaging second."
Financially speaking, "Farmed" may be a gutsy endeavor for Chipotle, but producers working in branded entertainment
question the company's move to embrace longform programming.
"To ask the consumer to dedicate four times their mindshare in one shot is a bit alarming to me as a marketer, and begs the
question if Chipotle is riding the success wave of their initial launch a bit high," says Jarrod Moses, CEO of brandedentertainment specialists United Entertainment Group. "It puzzles me why they wouldn't continue to issue shortform,
impactful and proven-to-be-successful content."
Chipotle opted to produce the series and dedicate considerable marketing dollars to the project instead of using the
traditional promotional strategy of fast-food chains, which hype new menu items and price discounts.
"The more people are curious about where their food comes from, the more questions they ask, and the more likely they
are to end up at a company like Chipotle," Crumpacker says.
Chipotle and Piro have developed "Farmed" with an eye toward adding episodes should the series find a fanbase.
Chipotle would also like to find a partner to produce the show if it continues.
The company already has been approached through Hulu by a potential marketing partner to sponsor the online series, as
well as to back Chipotle events the restaurant produces in three cities each year.
Crumpacker is optimistic the series will find its way to traditional television in some form.
"The idea was to have multiple seasons" Crumpacker says. "We did four episodes to test the waters. We expect it to find a
home on television later on."
In-Store Promotion
Chipotle will plug "Farmed and Dangerous" on 10 million drink cups.
Examining a Generation Tied to Smartphones: AT&T Mobile. By Andrew Adam Newman. The New York Times.
2014.
SO attached to their cellphones are 18- to 24-year-olds that 61 percent of them sleep next to their
devices, compared with just 22 percent of cellphone owners over 65 who do so, according to the
Pew Research Center. While that might depress those who yearn for simpler times, such devotion
delights AT&T, and now the phone carrier is introducing a major effort that highlights how
connected young Americans are to their devices.
AT&T has hired Vice Media, the chronicler of youth culture, to produce a video and advertising
platform, the Mobile Movement. So far Vice has produced about 15 documentary videos with
young people in six cities, including Los Angeles, New York, Nashville and Austin, Tex. In the
videos, which are beginning to appear on a Tumblr pageand YouTube channel, interviewees
discuss their creative pursuits and dating, sometimes answering specific questions about their
connections to their phones but more often mentioning the devices only incidentally if at all.
In one video, Harold (only first names are used) is interviewed on a Los Angeles rooftop, where he
talks about being a sock designer before telling an anecdote about his phone.
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I was with my friends at a bar dancing and I was really drunk and I dropped my phone into the
toilet and when I fished it out, I rinsed it off with water and I put it in a bag of rice to try to save it,
he says. And it totally worked but the only thing that was wrong with the phone is it would
repeatedly text people the letter P and so I thought it was kind of ironic.
The effort is being introduced on March 8 at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, which
AT&T is also sponsoring. At the conference, the brand also will screen the first episode of a web
series, Upwardly Mobile, which highlights mobile technology advances from young developers.
Another web series, The Network Diaries, scripted short films that prominently feature mobile
devices and that were inspired by anecdotes from the documentary videos, will also have its debut
at SXSW.
The multifaceted effort is aimed at so-called millennials from 18 to 34, said David Christopher,
chief marketing officer at the AT&T Mobility division of AT&T.
Millennials live their lives through mobility and mobile technologies and AT&T is at the center of
that, he said, adding that because younger consumers tend to avoid or ignore commercials, the
company hired Vice to help reach that demographic.
We know the most important technology to this generation is their cellphone and a great network
that it runs on, he said. If we said that flat-footedly, it might come across as just too overt to
them, but saying it in a way that is via them in their own voices, in their own way of telling
stories becomes very relevant.
Online-only commercials, also by Vice, feature clips from the unscripted videos. One
that promotes AT&T Next, a service that enables consumers to get a new smartphone every 12 or
18 months, opens with phone users apparently talking about something else.
Continue reading the main storyContinue reading the main story
My first, I was 16, says a young woman. I was like a freshman, probably, says a young man,
and the thread continues with more interviewees. Id wanted it for a very long time. And I lost it
in the woods. Its perfect. Finally, an interviewee draws the double entendres to a close with,
My phone is my life. The spot closes with the screen text, Love it. Then leave it. Then love it
again. AT&T Next a new phone every 12 months.
Eddy Moretti, the executive creative director of Vice, said that all the creative work had a unifying
theme.
This whole platform is driven by a very true desire to learn about what it means to be a young
person living a mobile existence in America today, he said.
Vice started as a lifestyle magazine in Montreal in 1994 and, keeping its edge intact, has become
an online and video media concern valued at about $1.4 billion. Its newsmagazine on HBO,
Vice, memorably arranged for the former N.B.A. star Dennis Rodman to meet the North Korean
ruler Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang in 2013; the shows second season begins on March 14.
For its own media properties, which include the technology websiteMotherboard and the music
website Noisey, the Vice audience falls primarily within the coveted millennial segment, with 35
percent of its audience 18 to 24 and 41 percent aged 25 to 34, according to its media kit.
AT&T, which declined to reveal advertising and production costs for the effort, spent $1.41 billion
on advertising in the first nine months of 2013, making it the second-biggest advertiser in the
United States for the period, behind Procter & Gamble, according to the Kantar Media unit of
WPP.
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Brian Morrissey, editor in chief of Digiday, an online publication that covers digital marketing and
media, said that when established brands like AT&T hired established advertising agencies to
create content that resonated with younger consumers, the results could be unfortunate.
When brands try to speak quote-unquote authentically with millennials, it can come across like
your dad dancing at a rave, he said. Its awkward.
But he reviewed some of the new content for AT&T by Vice and said it would strike a chord.
Vice is able to communicate with kids in a way that they understand and like, Mr. Morrissey
said. Vice is basically a millennial whisperer.

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