Archive for November, 2008
Goodbye Seduction, Hello Coupons
By STEPHANIE CLIFFORD and STUART ELLIOTT
SASHA TSYRLIN is a location scout who has spent decades finding sites to film television commercials. He used to spend his days in mansions and gated estates. “You would go to big houses and pretend this is how the average American lived,” he said.
These days, his job is significantly less glamorous. Now, advertisers want their commercials filmed in homes meant for middle-class or even blue-collar families, Mr. Tsyrlin said.
“The client always seems to have an emphasis on, ‘A house is too fancy,’ ” he added. “They say, ‘Well, we don’t want the audience to think that only rich people can afford our product.’ ”
As the economy rapidly deteriorates from flourishing to floundering, marketers are scrambling to remake their advertising so products seem affordable and sensible rather than indulgent and fabulous. For many big marketers, including automakers, retailers, consumer product companies and even financial services, a major shift in consumer psychology spells an end to the aspirational advertising that has dominated their campaigns for the last decade.
There is a sense that expensive purchases — even if consumers can afford them — have become gauche, said Stephen J. Hoch, professor of marketing and director of the Jay H. Baker Retailing Initiative at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Posted by Tom Polanski in Marketing on November 10th, 2008
Important Message from Hilary Schneider Regarding Yahoo!/Google
By Tom Polanski, EVP, eBrand Media and eBrand Interactive
Below is an e-mail I received from Yahoo!. Am I the only person to see similarities between the way Yahoo! is being managed and the way the McCain campaign was being managed? To be fair I like and respect everyone we work with at Yahoo! but C-level Management seems to be a little lost. Now that I think about it; what else is new?
Anyways, here you go:
Dear Mr. Polanski,
We wanted to reach out to you directly regarding Google’s decision,
announced earlier today, to terminate the advertising services
agreement that the companies announced in June. Yahoo! continues to
believe in the benefits of the agreement, and is disappointed that Google
has elected to withdraw from the agreement rather than defend it in court.
Google notified Yahoo! of its refusal to move forward with implementation
of the agreement following indication from the Department of Justice that
it would seek to block it, despite
Yahoo!’s proposed revisions to address the DOJ’s and advertisers’
concerns.
While disappointed by this turn of events, we are writing to you to
reaffirm our commitment to working together to drive your advertising
results, and to provide the continued leadership you expect. The fact is
that this deal was incremental to Yahoo!’s product roadmap and
does not change Yahoo!’s commitment to innovation and growth in
search.
Posted by Tom Polanski in Advertising, Seeing Into the Future on November 6th, 2008
Case Study: H&R Block Gets Big Buzz through Social Media for Digital Products: How to Test and Pick Channels
SUMMARY: Social media campaigns may never replace more traditional marketing, but they can help you create some serious buzz for your products. Always start those campaigns with testing.
See how H&R Block tested and then added to their social media campaign to increase awareness of their digital products by 43%. Includes:
- How to choose social media tests and channels
- Tips on human capital management
- Creative samples and links to successful social media sites
CHALLENGE
H&R Block wanted to build awareness that the company offers more than tax advice from retail sites. The firm’s digital products include TaxCut, tax-filing software that competes with TurboTax, and Tango, a new online tax-filing program.
“We’re a multichannel brand with digital products as well as our retail side … but most people didn’t know that,” says Paula Drum, VP Digital Marketing, H&R Block.
Drum also wanted to appeal to a younger demographic that is more digitally aware. To do that, she wanted to position H&R Block as an innovative company.
“Consumers are beginning to interact with brands a bit differently,” she says. “They’re looking for conversations and the ability to have a relationship with a brand … We wanted to enable that as part of our marketing program.”
Posted by Tom Polanski in Social Media on November 4th, 2008