Ads I Love.....

I think I posted my last post too soon! I recently read a great article on Strategy Online about the new joint campaign between Roots and Travel Alberta. This partnership surprised me, but what a great combination! This partnership allows for Travel Alberta to receive exposure around the world and for Roots to continue to brand as uniquely Canadian.



A Canadian brand showcasing the beauty of the county, what a great idea!

Ads I Love.

Lately I have been trying to decide what my favorite in-market ads are. I must say this task ended up being  harder than I
thought. But I have narrowed my list down to two brands that are doing some great work.

Chevrolet is Driving Our World Forward: 

I have never been a huge fan of Chevy (growing up my parents drove Fords), nor a huge fan of car ads. But as I get older and the thought of buying a car becomes an unavoidable task, I find myself taking notice of car ads. Recently, I noticed the youthful and fresh feel of Chevrolet Canada and and their massive launch of  three new cars: the Volt, the Sonic, and Orlando.

The commercials feature quick cuts and urban landscapes, which is designed to appeal to a younger, urban demographic. The print ads achieve this same youthful feel by incorporating small squares that show the fresh energy and urban landscapes featured in the commerical. 

Inline with this young, fresh feel Chevy has launched its 100th anniversary campaign.

Chevrolet Canada's ads are all on brand and inline with their current brand behavior. The continuity between the ads, and across mediums, is impressive. 

In the US, Chevrolet is using the same tagline, "Driving Our World Forward", but the 100th anniversary collateral  is taking a different tone and has even stirred-up some controversy.

Toblerone Was 3D First 

Currently Toblerone is taking advantage of the popularity of 3-D movies to make their product cool, hip, and trendy again. For a chocolate bar company this is a great approach. Take a fun product and make it fun again. 

Both the Chevy and the Toblerone ads take a new approach to marketing the product. The commercials are on brand and do not stray far from the brand's history or brand behavior.

Blog List

Over the past two months I have been busy: starting an internship, moving, and attending numerous family functions. As a result my blog has suffered from a serious lack of love. But while I haven't had time to blog, I've tried to find the time to keep up with my favorite blogs. There are numerous blogs I follow, however there are three blogs that really stand out. 

 In no particular order, here are my top three favorite blogs.

1) The Big Orange Slide

This is a great marketing blog from Toronto agency Grip Limited. The blog takes its name from the giant orange slide inside Grip's office. The Big Orange Slide covers a wide range of topics from digital to strategy to creative, and everything in between.

The Big Orange Slide is a must read for me, and I am never let down by its creative content.

You can follow Grip and The Big Orange Slide on twitter @bigorangeslide.

2) Blogging Me Blogging You

Blogging Me, Blogging You is the personal blog from Ed Lee, director of social media at DDB Toronto. This is my favorite social media and communications blog. In my opinion, anyone who is interested in social media should read Blogging Me Blogging You. Lee is an expert on social media and was recently interviewed for the Marketing Magazines article The Very Necessary Twitter Guide. 

3) AdFreak

Edited by Tim Nudd, Adweek's AdFreak is a daily advertising digest. It compiles the best and worst ads, promos, and media  from around the world. Posts are numerous and offer an interesting commentary on the brand direction.

I love this blog because its posts are current and offers insight on ads from around the world. This was one of the first blogs that made me start thinking about brand personality and brand behavior in marketing and advertising.  

Old Navy Records Presents: A Change of Direction

Old Navy's Brand Position

Started in 1994, Old Navy is named after a bar in Paris. A subsidiary of Gap Inc. (which includes brands such as Banana Republic, Gap, GapKids, and babyGap), the brand “Old Navy” has become synonymous with fun, affordable, on-trend fashion for the whole family. Old Navy’s advertising has traditionally reflected the brand’s fun attitude towards fashion and marketing.

Old Navy started out as one of the fastest growing brands of the 1990s, but as it entered the new millennium it faced declining sales year after year.  In 2009 Old Navy redefined its target demographic and changed its marketing approach, resulting in improved sales. Since then Old Navy has become the most profitable company for Gap Inc.  

The target demographic for Old Navy is “Jennie”.  Jennie is 25 to 35 years old.  She is a young mother with little time.  Jennie is always on the lookout for clothes that are on-trend and affordable. As a busy mother Jennie is not only shopping for herself, but also her family.  If Jennie were a celebrity she might be Reese Witherspoon: 35 years old, two kids, with a busy schedule (she is an actress, producer, spokeswomen, and philanthropist).  Needless to say Witherspoon is busy, and like other busy mom’s needs a one-stop shop to find fashionable clothes for herself and her family.   

Witherspoon and Family

In 2009, Old Navy hired advertising agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky to help boost sales. CP+B developed a unique and quirky campaign for Old Navy featuring the company’s newest personalities “The  SuperModelquins”.  The SuperModelquins were relatively well received. The campaign featured a cast of Old Navy mannequins talking about Old Navy clothes. The campaign would follow the SuperModelquins through various situations and adventures, sometimes interacting with real people.  Mannequins in all Old Navy stores were redesigned to look like the cast of the campaign and the campaign used social media to further develop the SuperModelqins’ identity. Some SuperModelquins had their own Twitter accounts where they posted updates about themselves and current features at Old Navy stores.

Old Navy Presents: Soccer Mamaquins

Old Navy’s brand attitude was also often reflected in its brick and mortar stores.  Over the past few years as the company works to re-establish its brand and define its target demographic, it is also renovating stores to create the  “The New Old Navy”, a more inviting and energizing shopping experience. 

The Market Landscape

In North America Old Navy has many competitors including Walmart, Target, Zellers (Canada only), H&M, Winners, and Joe Fresh. These stores offer varying degrees of competition. For example, H&M offers fashion forward clothing at comparable prices and is rapidly expanding in the US (the company plans to open 150 new stores in the US this year), where as Joe Fresh is only beginning the process of expanding beyond Canada.

Compared to its competitors, Old Navy is more active in advertising.  For example, H&M has few TV campaigns and the TV spots usually focus on the overall high-fashion influences of H&M.  Whereas Old Navy commercials maintain the brand behaviour and identity and typically feature one, or two items that are currently on feature.

H&M Spring 2011 Commercial

                                                                                                                                    

Old Navy’s competitors use print (in-store magazines or fliers) and out of home advertising.   For example H&M and Joe Fresh both offer high quality, heavily branded, in-store magazines to feature new and upcoming trends.  In comparison, Old Navy, along with Target, Walmart, and Zellers, use flyers to advertise feature items and trends. Using flyers is not as high-fashion as an in-house magazine, but flyers can advertise key items on a rotating basis.

Old Navy Flyer

The Campaign: “Old Navy Records: Original Hits. Original Styles.”

In February Old Navy launched a new campaign, a change from the SuperModelquins which had dominated Old Navy advertising for the past two years.  However, as Old Navy and CP+B embarked on the new campaign the SuperModelquins posted their good-byes and new ventures on Twitter.

To further develop Old Navy’s relationship with Jennie, the company launched “Old Navy Records: Original hits. Original style.” This campaign is Old Navy’s first venture into music and creating an interactive brand experience for its customers.  Jennie has come to expect a fun and innovative shopping experience and “Old Navy Records: Original hits. Original styles” offers this. 

The campaign features original Old Navy bands and recording artists performing Old Navy branded songs and staring in Old Navy commercials. The commercials closely resemble a music videos rather than a traditional commercials. The campaign’s music was produced by Honor Roll Music and directed by Joseph Kahn. The Old Navy branded songs selling everything from “Flirty Flip Flops” to “Summer Tie Shorts”.

The first ad, “Super C-U-T-E” glamorized Old Navy by depicting that when wearing Old Navy clothes any activity, even a root canal, can be glamorous.  At the end of the commercial the Old Navy voiceover lets the audience knows they too can “Be super cute in old navy jeans for 
$19.50. Turn up today!”

Old Navy Records Presents: "Super C-U-T-E" by The Audio Threadz

Throughout the campaign each commercial has similar messaging, for example, “Dress up the day with dresses from only $15.00,” or “Let your ankle show with ankle jeans and flirty flats.”  The key message for the ad is to invite the customer to come into Old Navy today and buy the cute, fashionable, trendy items. 

Old Navy Records Present: "Don't Hide Your Shine" by Mathew Ray

Old Navy Records Present: "Welcome to the Ankle Show" by Cherie and the Stems

The second key message in each ad is “Turn Up Today.” This message seems to be in reference to a few things. First, Old Navy wants the audience to turn up the music, and the music is the branded Old Navy songs. The second is to turn up to Old Navy to buy the latest fashion.

The campaign extends beyond the fun and flashy music videos. The new campaign has a partnership Shazam, one of the largest applications for electronic devices. When someone hears one of the dozen or so Old Navy branded songs, either online or in-store, they can tag it (using Shazam) and will immediately gain access to the key looks featured in the song, styling tips, and exclusive deals. The consumer can also download the song (for free), watch the video, or learn more about the Old Navy original artist. The key messaging of “Turn Up Today!” also acts as an invitation to tag the song using Shazam.

The objectives of this campaign are to drive sales among the target demographic by further integrating the Old Navy brand into Jennie’s everyday life. Not only is she wearing Old Navy clothes but she can listen to Old Navy artists, and use her mobile phone to interact with the brand. Now, Old Navy is not just another store, it becomes the center of the broader culture where music and fashion co-exist.

A second objective of the campaign is to add new energy to the brand by making it fresh, fun, and fashion forward. This new energy will assist the brand to expand the company’s market share by attracting new customers.  For example, this campaign appeals to me since the clothes are more fashionable then I remember when watching the Supermodelquins.  Old Navy is no longer just for soccer moms, but any woman that wants fashionable and affordable cloths. This campaign assists to leverage the Old Navy brand and to gain a stronger presence in the market where competitors, such as H&M, are infringing on Old Navy’s market share.

The Old Navy Records campaign is a fun, on-trend campaign that emulates the energy of the brand.  Each ad is heavily branded and depicts a fun and current item.  The overall strength of the ad is the creative element that integrates the clothes and the brand into song. This further integrates the brand into the costumers’ everyday life. By matching the Old Navy brand with music the brand is given a new, fun, and trendy appearance. Through this process the brand still maintains its image but is able to further expand its persona.

Old Navy has attempted to make this campaign fully integrated; however the downfall is that the Old Navy artists are just that, an extension of the brand. The artists only exist in this campaign and because of this the campaign loses some authenticity.  All songs are available to download on iTunes, however each song is only a minute or two long, which resemble a jingle more than a hit song.

This campaign falls short. Old Navy should have used fewer artists and more repeat appearances by the artist in various commercials. This would further develop the relationship between the artist and the brand and between music and the fashion. To further create a complete brand experience for its audience, Old Navy could have extended the campaign in to social media (for example created a Facebook page, Twitter account, or MySpace for the artists). Through Shazam the audience can gain access to information about the artist, but by having a separate social media campaign that links the artists and Old Navy would add greater depth and value to the campaign by engaging the audience.  

Social Media and Your Website

When it comes to engaging an audience a company has several options: social media, a website, brick and motor stores, and traditional advertising, and of course everything in between.

Recently JWT Intelligence issued a trend report about the rise of social commerce, and specifically the rise of Facebook commerce. Although this is a rising trend with the millennial generation, it should be remembered that not every audience is using social media for these purposes. For example, KubasPrimedia's recent Major Market Retail Report (MMRR) cites that during during the 2010 holiday season only two per cent of US online orders where a result of social media.

KubasPrimedia’s report provides data that suggests many marketers are ignoring the brand's website and focusing marketing efforts on social media. But as this report points out, social media is a loop, a conversation, and without a strong end, the company or brand's website, the loop is incomplete.

A great of example of balancing websites and social commerce is Biotherm Canada. The Biotherm site has an e-store, a customer feedback section where customer concerns are addressed, and of course ample information about products. Biotherm does have a Facebook page and Twitter account. The Facebook page has great information about the products and has a link to purchase the items from the Biotherm store (located on the company’s website). Biotherm is doing a great job of balancing both its social media presence and its website. My only observation is that the Biotherm website does not have link to the company’s Facebook or Twitter. Having this option would allow a better communication between the two online elements. 




More Info:
Marketing Magazine: Get Off Facebook and Pay Attention to Your Website: Report 
JWT: JWT Explores Rise of Social Commerce 

Volkswagen Canada Wants Your Help To Make A Commercial

I am a big fan of social media. I am not a fan of using social media for the sake of using social media. When using any form of media it should add substance and value to the brand and its audience. This means that social media may not be suitable for all brands, products, and campaigns.

Currently, one of my favorite uses of social media is the current  "Drive Until..." campaign by Volkswagen Canada and Red Urban Canada.Currently this campaign features two commercials.

 

The first commercial shows a man driving around until he finds courage...

 

...and the second shows the same man driving until it's time.

For the third commercial in the series Volkswagen Canada is asking Canadians for help.Volkswagen is asking its audience to give input on everything from the idea, the script, the car, and the cast. Interested fans can post their thoughts and ideas on Volkswagen's Facebook page. This allows its audience to become part of the process and to connect with the brand, and its products, in an interesting and unusual way. For the people's car company this is a great way to connect with its audience.

Reading List: The Ad Age Viral Video Chart

This week I stumbled upon Ad Age's Viral Video Chart. This a great weekly round-up of what is popular around the web. The top rated video on the list is Skittles "Touch the Rainbow." This series of videos are fun and offer an interactive element for the viewer. It allows the viewer to become part of the ad in unexpected ways.

Topping the list are some other interesting videos including Air New Zealand's "Mile High Madness."

The Ad Age Viral Video Chart will be a weekly stop on my growing list of must reads.

POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold

I am not sure what to make of the latest film by filmmaker Morgan Spurlock. POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold  appears to be a documentary taking a satirical look at advertising and product placement in films and television, but this documentary was funded by advertising and product placement. These facts leave me questioning the theme of this documentary. I have read some unfavourable reviews, but I am still very excited to check out this documentary.

Space Heroes

Looking for something to waste time? Something to replace the endless hours you spend on Facebook? Maybe something to make your Facebook experience a little more exciting? Maybe something to blast away at the annoying status updates from those Facebook friends you just can't bring yourself to delete? Well space cadets,  M&Ms has just the thing for you!

I can picture many friends sitting at their desk blasting away at their Facebook page and then running out to grab a pack of M&Ms for their 3pm snack attack.

Start your mission here. 

"Paper Tigers" vs. The Internet

I use to be a dedicated reader of The Globe and Mail. I would attempt to read it everyday cover to cover, well with exception of the sports section. Maybe I had more time back then, or maybe I have come to discover that it's cheaper if I check out news online, heck I find I see more interesting news articles posted on Facebook and Twitter than I find scanning online news websites. 

In the recent article "Paper Tigers",  Marketing Magazine addresses this very issue.  This year it is expected that online ad spending will surpass print ad spending. It is forecasted that $ 2.2 billion will be spend on online advertising and only $ 2 billion on print advertising. It seems I am not the only one who feels that I can get my news else where and the advertising world has noticed.

In this article Marketing Magazine offers newspapers eleven strategies and tactics to keep pace in 2011. One tactic is  to follow The New York Times and charge for online content. But I think the real way for traditional media to stay in the game is to follow the crowd. In the article Marketing Magazine recognizes that for print media to stay current they have to follow the crowd. Newspapers need to go beyond the banner, go social, and develop new apps.

Incorporating more online elements help to engage readers and attract new audiences. Marketing Magazine cites The Star Media Group (a division of TorStar) as an industry leader who introduced the "Double XL" box. The "Double XL" is an online ad format that allows the advertisement to expand outward into the web page. This pushed the envelope and helps advertisers implement new ideas. 

Going social and developing new apps allows for newspapers, which are often seen as traditional, to develop a new identify and stay current. This allows newspapers to connect with current audience and appeal to a new, younger generation of readers.

"Paper Tigers" is a great overview of problems facing tradition media and offers some great solution, however, I think it misses on one point. Anything that newspapers do needs to be big,  and by big I do not mean expensive. Newspapers need to join in the conversation and provide important content in an innovative way. By doing this it will capture a new audience and impressive advertisers.

Reading List: Marketing Magazine's Ads You Must See

Every week the brilliant staff at Marketing Magazine posts five ads that they feel everyone must see. I make sure to check this out every week. Marketing Magazine compiles great ads from all over the internet and the world to share with their audience.

Check it out here:
Marketing Magazine

Here is one of my favorites from last weeks list:

I love marketing and advertising and the way it communications with an audience.  This ad illustrates this connction and the impact advertisers have on culture.

Enjoy!