Art & Science

5 Keys to Online Shopper Marketing Success

March 8th, 2010 by Mike

How do we develop effective Shopper Marketing strategies for our clients? We reach consumers before they get to the store — using online tactics to drive offline sales.

• Brands must wrap themselves around relevant insight and contextual content
• Capitalize on the ability to target specific shopper segments with relevant messaging and offers — Provide the shopper with value
• Treat your website as shopper marketing and communication vehicle as well as an eCommerce site
• Optimize your content for search engine visibility
• Take advantage of the available reporting and  analytics to confirm success and continue to enhance campaigns

 

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Ads I Love: Travelers Insurance

March 2nd, 2010 by Karla

The basic promise of any insurance company is that when things go wrong, their company can set it right. But while scare-tactic commercials (”what if you’re in a car accident?”; “what if someone steals your identity?”) may convince you to buy insurance, they don’t create the kind of emotional connection that makes you buy the advertised brand.

In 1998, Travelers Insurance merged with Citicorp. In 2002 that union was dissolved, and Travelers set about re-establishing their independent identity. (Click here to read a fascinating article about how they reclaimed their umbrella logo.)

Travelers launched a set of fanciful, storytelling commercials that were ownable, memorable, and formed the kind of emotional connection that distinguishes one brand from another. It started with an ad called “Delivery,” in which a bespoke older gentleman travels the countryside with a 35-foot umbrella, helping people in trouble. In the ad’s final scene, he gazes out over a city sheltered and protected by a network of identical umbrellas. It’s the pinnacle of insurance’s emotional promise.

One of Traveler’s more recent ads (”Prized Possession”) depicts a dog worrying over a favorite bone. Though he tries hiding it in a plethora of secure locations, he can’t seem to relax until it is protected by Travelers.

Every product offers rational benefits — low premiums, low deductibles, great customer service — but ultimately it’s brand recognition and emotional attachment that drive customers to you, not the other guy.

 

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Brand placement: the ugly, the bad and the good.

February 2nd, 2010 by Esther

By now, it’s no surprise to anyone to see a familiar product make a cameo in a movie or TV show. It’s fairly commonplace – a far cry from the insidious, subliminal messaging once suspected to be flashed before our unwitting eyes during packed matinees.

So you see a soda bottle on a prime-time set, or a particular shoe worn in a hit video. No big deal. At least it shouldn’t be. Brand placement, at it’s best, is inconspicuous. Or when it does play prominently, it should still walk a fine line between prop and plot device. Anything more can get… clunky.

The clip of the interactive Heroes spin-off storyline, aptly titled “Slow Burn”, prominently features a Sprint phone. For various reasons Lydia—a character for whom the average Heroes fan has little to no empathy—must hold this device, send texts on it, and basically stare at it from time to time. Clunky.

The tolerably awkward Stephen Colbert bit during the GRAMMY Awards comes off a little less forced, probably because the host’s intentional undermining of his own relevance (referring to to Jay-Z as simply “Z”) fit right in with his brandishing of the iPad, a product that hasn’t quite found its place in the populace.

Timbaland Morning After Dark

Finally, a bit of product placement that doesn’t cause involuntary cringing; Timbaland’s Morning After Dark Video features not one but two Nokia mobile devices, one of which the video’s heroine listens to throughout the video. By the time a close up reveals that the device is playing that very Timbaland song, you’ve been wondering what was pulsing through her earbuds anyway. The reveal is relatively natural in this fast-paced, synth-heavy realm.

Whether we’re talking product placement, social media or any other means through which we touch base with an audience that is fragmented beyond all recognition, the degree to which we can seamlessly insert a brand into their already-in-progress experience makes all the difference. How else could all that subliminal movie messaging work so well for a product as heinous as Whopper candies?

 advertising 

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Bringing People Together

February 1st, 2010 by Esther

For the 2010 Surfaces Convention in Las Vegas, Daltile needed to convey the extent of their ongoing product innovation in a big way. Square One responded to by creating materials based on the theme “Building Your Tomorrow”. This theme was employed to explain several facets of Daltile’s expertise and service, and was brought to life in four room vignettes highlighting new products and technologies.

Though the materials we created were employed in a traditional trade show environment, the result was a one-on-one dialogue — the most powerful kind of communication, and the ultimate goal of all the work we do, regardless of our medium.

 face to face marketing 

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Oh Yes They Did!

January 21st, 2010 by Dana

Last night I saw a commercial that had my jaw dropping and put a happy grin on my face at the same time. It was the newest Domino’s commercial. (The video here is the longer version — but it’s well worth the watch.) Pizza commercials have all become so similar that my brain usually just tunes them out. Domino’s got my attention!

They showed their failures!  (Often collected via social media vehicles like Twitter.)  They owned them!  They corrected them. They actually showed people saying why they didn’t like their pizza as much anymore.  Most places or products just tell you they are “New & Improved.”  Domino’s tells and shows you how they are improved.

I was super impressed!  I love when a corporation — once a small company — gets back to basics.  Rather than dumbing things down and looking for ways to spend less while making more, Domino’s seems to recognize that their consumers may have brains and a decent sense of taste.  They are getting back to the taste of it all — which is exactly what a pizza company should be doing!

 

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Font of Knowledge

January 5th, 2010 by Nicole

So I might be a copywriter, however, I do have this crazy love for typography. No, I’m not an expert in the subject, but typography just fascinates me. All typefaces are intriguing to me; anything from hand-rendered to ornamental to regular Roman type.  And the day I found out the difference, or that there even was a difference, between fonts and typography, I felt like a new, more adroit person.

Caving into my obsession, I decided to watch the documentary Helvetica. What a great film about that illustrious sans-serif goldmine. Watching interview after interview, I found a new appreciation for my love for typography — one I shared with the interviewees. And, I started to realize just how much Helvetica has impacted life around us.

Things I learned about the typeface from the documentary:

• It’s a Grotesque sans-serif
• Released in 1957 in Switzerland
• Originally is was called Die Neue Haas Grotesk (but later they felt Helvetica, the latin name for Swiss, had a nicer ring)
• That there is a difference between Arial and Helvetica, and it can best be seen in the capital letters C, G, and R, as well as the lowercase letters a, e, r, and t.
• It was created in response to the need for a clear, modern, universal font, and is now one of the most commonly used fonts in the world.

Aside from learning about the font itself, I also discovered that renowned designer, Massimo Vignelli, has one of the coolest Italian accents I’ve ever heard.

The film really makes you realize how special, and ubiquitous, fonts are. Fonts surround us every moment of every day, and each typeface was designed, it was the brainchild of an artist. Each serif, or line, or curve has meaning. You take for granted the fonts that you use all the time, or even mock those over-used ones like Papyrus, Impact, or Comic Sans, but really each typeface is its own little piece of art.

I definitely recommend seeing Helvetica. Even if you’re not a type nerd like me, you’ll undeniably find enjoyment in knowing the story behind this legendary typeface.

For more information about the film go to helveticafilm.com.

 

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Shopper Marketing and Social Media

December 31st, 2009 by Mike

Our goal is simple: Drive offline sales by building online relationships with shoppers.

Let’s start by addressing the most common question on this subject: What is Shopper Marketing?

Simply put, it’s the strategy by which manufacturers and retailers engage their most valuable shoppers. The better the strategy, the more frequent, meaningful, and profitable the interactions. Ultimately, shopper marketing is about increasing sales and brand loyalty.

The two hottest subjects in marketing today are Shopper Marketing and Social Media. It’s obvious the two must work together; the question is how. How can Shopper Marketing and Social Media be used together to drive awareness, trial, and offline conversion?

The answer is simple and proven: When done correctly, online campaigns drive offline retail sales.

A recent study by comScore, in partnership with dunnhumbyUSA, confirmed that online ad campaigns — with an average reach of 40% of their target segment — grew retail sales of advertised brands by an average of 9%.  This is big news. This puts online campaigns on par with TV campaigns, in terms of raising retail sales of consumer packaged goods.

It may seem obvious to remark that the internet is the next big powerful tool in the advertising/marketing arsenal. The question is how creative can we be in harnessing this tool for our clients.

 Shopper Marketing 

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Ads I Love: Motorola Droid

December 29th, 2009 by Karla

I need a Droid.

I didn’t know I needed one until I saw the commercials — but they got me, hook, link, and sinker. Suddenly this non-texter is craving the badass, macho phone that will let me tweet my every move (and still give me directions!).

The Droid is a web-capable phone heralded as “the iPhone killer.” The source of its strength is Android, an operating system built by Google. Talk about your battle of the brands.

The first shot over the bow was an ad called “iDon’t.” It was a direct attack on the iPhone — and they nailed it. The ad begins in perfect Apple form: upbeat, indie song; white screen; black text. But one by one, Motorola calls out everything you might have thought about the iPhone, but never said out loud.

It was like the emperor’s new clothes: Yes, I DO want a keyboard. I like open development. I want interchangeable batteries!

It only got better from there. The next ad says, “We built you a robot.” Robots crush rocks! They punch holes through steel walls! Robots get the job done. (And who hasn’t dreamed of owning a robot?)

The more Motorola talked, the more I believed. The iPhone is too pretty; too delicate. What if I smudge it? What if I drop it and break the screen? Droid promises to have learned from Apple’s mistakes, and I find that promise irresistible.

The third ad is my favorite — and the piece that tipped the phone-purchasing scales. This ad promises that Droid doesn’t sacrifice function for fashion. “It’s fast. Racehorse-duct-taped-to-a-scud-missile fast.” I could write fanmail to the copywriter.

You’ve sold me, Droid. When my contract is up in May, I am definitely getting one — even though it means switching service providers.

And I will finally fulfill my childhood dream of owning a robot.

 advertising 

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Can Twitter really help your business?

December 22nd, 2009 by Ernie

Like the answer to most questions like this: It depends.

Mostly, it depends on how you use it.  It depends what you consider success, and how seriously you incorporate this powerful tool into your marketing plan.

I read an article in USA Today by Steve Strauss, in which Strauss says, “Bottom line: For many small businesses, Twitter can work, but for just as many, it is not worth the effort.”  So maybe he was just talking about the local cleaners or coffee shop.

I disagree with Mr. Strauss – here’s why.  People are engaging with Twitter and Facebook at ever-increasing rates.  A June 2009 analysis of the top-10 social media properties by Nielsen (click to download) reveals that Twitter was again the fastest growing site, increasing 1,928% year-over-year, from one million unique visitors in June 2008 to 21 million unique visitors in June 2009.

Nielson also reports that Americans have nearly tripled the amount of time they spend on social networking and blog sites from a year ago. In August 2009, 17 percent of all time spent on the Internet was at social networking sites, up from 6 percent in August 2008.

So, can Twitter help your business?  Well if you had a room full of people, and you could walk in and tell them about your business, would that be helpful to your business?  Again, it depends.  It depends on who they are and what you tell them.  Fortunately, there are a ton of great research tools out there to give you an edge when it comes to finding your audience and speaking to them appropriately.

 facebook, social media rankings, Twitter 

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Bird’s the Word

December 17th, 2009 by Ernie

The Global Language Monitor website, in its annual survey of the English language, has announced that Twitter is the Top Word of 2009.  “Twitter” was followed by Obama, H1N1, Stimulus, and Vampire. The near-ubiquitous suffix, “2.0,” was number six — does that even count as a word? — with Deficit, Hadron (the object of study of CERN’s new atom-smasher), Healthcare, and Transparency rounding out the Top 10.

In a year of world-shaking political events, a pandemic, a financial tsunami, and the death of a revered pop icon, we’re still talking about Twitter more than any other subject.

“Being limited to strict formulas did wonders for the sonnet and haiku.  One wonders where this highly impractical word-limit [140 characters] will lead as the future unfolds,” says Paul JJ Payack, President of The Global Language Monitor.

Hitwise, a leading online competitive intelligence service, recently revealed that UK Internet traffic to Twitter has increased 22-fold over the last 12 months.

Why the hype?  Is it curiosity drawing people in? Are they creating accounts like online rubberneckers, just to see what the big deal is? Are Twitter followers a badge of popularity? Or do people love exchanging ideas in really, really short sentences?

Twitter does add value by providing access to great content.  It does take work and a commitment of time, but you will be rewarded with good relevant content from some great people. There’s no company today that shouldn’t be on Twitter (and if a 13-year-old can do it, anyone can do it). People are out there talking about you — don’t you want to hear what they’re saying?

An excellent read, which really hits the main points of joining the “Twit-o-sphere,” (especially if you’re just getting started) is Twitterville.

So, does Twitter deserve to be the most used word of 2009?  Honestly, I don’t know. But what I do know is that Twitter and who knows what will come after Twitter, goes one step closer to put the power in the hands of the consumer.  Probably where it belongs.

 social media, Twitter 

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