A primary benefit of iAds is the lowers barrier of participation. Since it is built into the new Apple operating system, the ads are a part of the mobile experience, therefore when someone engages with an ad, they do not lose their place. iAds become a brand interlude within their mobile experience.
It all sounds good, except the iAd still hasn’t fixed one problem for many marketers: them.
Sometimes you can look at an ad campaign and it just feels right. I would argue the latest Dentyne ICE latest campaign, Practice Safe Breath, just feels right. The campaign is a fun poke at safe sex or at a higher level it is about being prepared when the right moment presents itself.
We have all witnessed the anti-exposure: a commercial that is so annoying it not only wore out its brand welcome, but has also became a detriment to the brand — degrading the brand with each successive viewing.
March Madness is about passion, and where there is passion there are marketers — all trying to capitalize on the heightened awareness, the passion, the fans. Through watching many games and reading coverage online, I have seen the many commercials, the banner ads (I must be nearing frequency levels in the triple digits with some ads). As I analyzed which teams will make it to the Final Four, I also wondered which marketers are winning the advertising bracket. As I reviewed the many ads, I grouped the ads (television and online) into three different groups: basic exposure, contextual integration, and brand passion.
Last Tuesday I was in aisle 12 at the local Kroger a sign caught my attention (see visual). It is a sign about toilet paper with a basic question: How do you roll? An interesting question I will talk about in a bit, but the question poses a more interesting marketing challenge: Can you create a brand experience about toilet paper?
First off, banners are a means to an end. Most of the time they are drivers to a site experience. Banners should not be the center point of your campaign, they are more like the icing you would put on a cake. If the cake tastes like s%*# then there is little the icing can do. This is why we need to think about bypassing the banner.
Any brand can create a successful video by adopting one or more of the genres. The problem is most brands are not interesting, and in order to create a highly entertaining video, the focus becomes about something other than the brand; therefore the brand is lost and does not receive cognitive credit from the viewer.
The formula in creating a Super Bowl Campaign should be adopted for every campaign. Treat the campaign like you have one shot to instill your brand — your offering into your target. Understand that no matter how well you can target media, your brand does not appeal to the majority of the audience. So, balance the commercial between brand and audience. Finally, make the commercial the front door to the campaign — to something bigger. A campaign people will talk about. A campaign people may be able to take part in (and I am not talking about User-Generated Content). Strive to make every campaign a Super Bowl Campaign.
When I opened an email from Entenmann’s today, I did a double take. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. Entenmann’s had a one day sweepstakes for a $4 coupon. That’s right, a $4 coupon (actually 250 $4 coupons to be exact). To enter you need to register at Entenmann’s 4 You by midnight tonight, Nov 19th.
Cokes expedition 206 makes you wonder if this was the best way to engage coke fans globally. Sure the winning team gets a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but how enriching is the brand experience to the billion of global coke drinkers? Or the 3.7 million fans on facebook? What’s in it for them? Why should they care? Is there a better experience to engage more people in Coke’s Happiness campaign?