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7-Eleven convenience stores are teaming up with Blip.tv for the “7-Eleven Road Trip Rally,” a Web-based reality series that will follow the road trip adventures of two teams headed to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and living on what they buy at 7-Eleven stores. The trip will be chronicled at 711RoadTrip.com. NYTimes.com 5/3/10
Financial Services brands are improving in consumer perception but have not yet returned to 2007-2008 levels says Harris Interactive. AIG has experienced a significant increase in brand equity, along with Merrill Lynch; Visa ranks highest in brand equity among financial services brands included in the report. Marketing Charts 5/3/10
Bank of America (BAC) wants to show that the company has always enabled opportunities and always will so the company is sponsoring the History Channel’s” America, the Story of Us,” and including two-minute spots that show how the bank helped finance such notable projects as San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge and the Erie Canal. Businessweek 4/29/10
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Google (GOOG) has launched Campaign Insights, a tool to help marketers determine the incremental change that is directly attributable to online display ad campaigns on brand awareness and user interest. Available for larger display ad campaigns Campaign Insights goes traditional measures of clicks and conversions to calculate the incremental lift in both online search activity and website visits that result from a display ad campaign. BtoBOnline 10/23/09, Google AdWords Blog, 10/19/09
Disney (DIS) is offering consumers who purchased Baby Einstein DVDs their Money back. The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood says the offer is the result of a complaint they filed with the FTC regarding Baby Einstein’s marketing claims. Baby Einstein says the offer is part of an upgrade package and has nothing to do with the CCFC FTC complaint. Brandweek 10/23/09
Fortune (FO) magazine is dropping from 25 issues a year to 18 in 2010, will undergo a redesign, and focus on more “long-form, deep-dive journalism, great narrative stories,” to gain cost savings and strategic advantage. New York Times 10/23/09
Through Lufthansa’s free MySkyStatus service, fliers on any airline can sign up to have their flight details posted automatically to their Facebook or Twitter profiles, including regular updates about their departure, altitude, location and arrival as they travel. Springwise 10/23/09
Beginning next Wednesday, New York-based daily newspaper, Newsday, will offer limited free content on Newsday.com. Only Newsday and Cablevision Optimum Online subscribers will still have full access; others will need to pay a $5 weekly subscription fee. Clickz 10/22/09
Financial services brands are less effective at building awareness and persuading consumers to become customers says researcher Dynamic Logic. The study says financial services online ads are too text-heavy and could benefit from adding images of people and including fewer details. Clickz 10/21/09
On Wednesday Google (GOOG) reportedly plans to announce a new service that will give users an easy way to learn more about and sample music after searching for information about bands, alsbums and songs. Facebook also plans to integrate music site Lala into its gift store. New York Times 10/21/09
Carl's Jr. has launched the Big Carl, a double burger with cheese and a Thousand Island-style sauce, with an ad campaign talking smack about the Big Mac. LATimes 8/19/09
A federal lawsuit accuses Wells Fargo & Co. of slashing borrowers' home equity lines of credit based on flawed automated software that exaggerated how much the value of their properties had fallen. LATimes 8/19/09
Sears and Kmart have introduced Christmas Club cards, reminiscent of banks' Christmas accounts, to encourage savings for holiday purchases. LATimes 8/18/09
Reader's Digest plans to file for Chapter 11 protection from creditors amid declining circulation, an industry wide advertising slump and large debts. Huffingtonpost, 8/17/09
GMAC Financial Services joins a list of advertisers who have stopped advertising on Glen Beck's television show, reportedly because of Beck’s accusations that President Obama is a racist. Other advertisers include ConAgra, Roche, Sanofi-Aventis, RadioShack, Men’s Wearhouse, State Farm Sargento, LexisNexis-owned Lawyers.com, Procter & Gamble, and Progressive Insurance. Media Matters 8/17/09
Despite some anecdotal reports of a surge in drinking accompanying the economic recession, the percentage of U.S. adults who consume alcohol is fairly steady at 64%, and there has been little change in self-reported drinking volume. Gallup 6/29/09
A Nielsen report on the “myths and realities of
teen media trends debunks the notion that American teens are “too busy texting, Twittering or LOL-ing to be engaged with traditional media." One example: Teens are watching “more TV than ever, up 6% over the past five years in the U.S.” Free download of research available:
How Teens Use Media June 2009.
“Twenty-two percent of Americans have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in banks, down from 32% who said the same at this time last year.” Gallup 6/24/09. This may provide an opportunity for small banks say some marketing experts.
A white paper from neurological testing company NeuroFocus provides guidance tobank brands attempting to resonate with consumers in the current economic environment:
- Empathy is most important: Consumers want to hear that banks understand their pain. Claims of “sacrifices” and applying “hard work” did not resonate as well.
- Age trumps beauty: Marketing materials featuring older people resonated better than young people.
- Use images that evoke stability: Photos and other images that showcase families, solid structures, “clarity in chaos,” and light in darkness scored best in consumers’ subconscious.
- Blogs work: Blog postings - even those written by parties with a vested interest in the subject - were deemed to be the most effective form of written advocacy among consumers.
“The strongest message consumers want to hear from banks is how much their bank empathizes with their pain. These are neurological insights that banks cannot afford to ignore right now,” said A.K. Pradeep, CEO of NeuroFocus. Nielsen, 3/31/09
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CoreBrand CEO James R. Gregory writes:
“The clever and consistent AIG (AIG) corporate advertising campaign in recent years, before the collapse of the firm's credibility, could not and did not outweigh the management decisions that caused the damage. Corporate brand campaigns can be powerful tools to support visionary leaders, but the best campaigns cannot overcome bad business decisions or poor management.
CoreBrand defines a brand crisis when "Familiarity" grows and "Favorability" declines significantly and quickly. A crisis is over when the process reverses itself and "Familiarity" declines while "Favorability" increases.
Brand "Familiarity" grows when a company is in the news - a lot. "Favorability" declines because the news is usually bad. We gauge the severity of the crisis by the amount of "Familiarity" growth vs."Favorability's" decline. The data also reveals how much damage is done to the company financially, and how long and how much money will need to be spent to help the company recover - assuming the underlying fundamental problems have been solved.
Negative corporate events that don't meet the criteria of our definition are usually not a threat to the company's survival. Companies that do meet this definition need to take prompt action in order to survive. The longer a crisis is allowed to go on the more permanent damage is caused to the corporate brand."
Source: VisibilityPR
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Capital One (COF) is notifying at least some cardholders that their rates will go up because of the current economic crisis. ConsumerAffairs.com 2/24/09.
Quiznos, the nation’s number two sandwich chain has re-appointed founder Rick Schaden as CEO after CEO Dave Deno resigns after five months. The chain has suffered recently from franchisee lawsuits and the success of Subway’s $5 foot long promotion. Advertising Age 2/23/09
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Iconix Brand Group, Inc. (ICON), today announced that Target Corporation (TGT) has renewed its direct-to-retail license agreement for Iconix's Mossimo brand through January 31, 2012. Mossimo has been licensed exclusively to Target in the U.S. since 2000. Iconix Brand Group owns, licenses and markets a portfolio of consumer brands including CANDIE'S®, BONGO®, BADGLEY MISCHKA®, JOE BOXER®, RAMPAGE®, MUDD®, LONDON FOG®, MOSSIMO®, OCEAN PACIFIC®, DANSKIN®, ROCA WEAR®, CANNON®, ROYAL VELVET®, FIELDCREST®, CHARISMA®, STARTER®, and one of my favorite brands, WAVERLY®. Iconix Brand Group, Inc. 1/7/09 via PRNewswire
Constellation Brands, Inc. (STZ), “the world's largest wine company and a leading international producer and marketer of beverage alcohol,” today reported its fiscal 2009 third quarter results, reporting net income of $84 million, or $0.38 diluted earnings per share ("EPS") for the quarter ended Nov. 30, 2008 ("third quarter 2009"), compared with net income of $120 million or $0.55 diluted EPS for the prior year. The company is a producer and marketer of beverage alcohol in the wine, spirits and imported beer categories, with more than 250 brands in its portfolio and sales in approximately 150 country. Major brands in the company's portfolio include Corona Extra, Black Velvet Canadian Whisky, SVEDKA Vodka, Robert Mondavi wines, Clos du Bois, Ravenswood, Blackstone, Hardys, Banrock Station, Nobilo, Kim Crawford, Inniskillin, Jackson-Triggs and Arbor Mist. Constellation Brands, Inc. 1/7/09 via PRNewswire
Brands that bit the dust in 2008 included retailers Bombay Co., Linens ‘n Things, Steve & Barry’s, Sharper Image (closing retail stores but will live on as an online, catalog and direct-to-retail brand), and Mervyn’s; airline brands Aloha Airlines, Skybus, ATA, Champion Air; and financial services brand Bear Stearns. LATimes 1/2/09
Kraft (KFT) may have cracked the code with its release of a Facebook application that enables users to donate six meals to hungry families for each friend they convince to add the application. In contrast to earlier programs which signed up few users, reportedly 25,000 Facebook users have added the cause-related Kraft application, which results in 1.4 million donated meals. Adweek 12/30/08
Dominos (DPZ) is running a 30-second spot contending that 2/3 of the participants in a national taste test prefer Dominos oven-baked sandwiches to Subway. Adage says attack ads and taste tests are on the rise. Advertising Age 12/30/08. May require registration or subscription.
The Gatorade Company, a division of PepsiCo (PEP), is renaming, reformulating and repackaging their Gatorade brand sports beverages to better appeal to a “broader range of athletes and active people.” Gatorade Fierce® is now Bring It, Gatorade X-Factor® changes to Be Tough™, Gatorade AM™ is now called Shine On™ and Gatorade Rain™ becomes No Excuses™ Brandweek 12/29/08, Image from Gatorade image library
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When it comes to word-of mouth communications regarding personal finances, a group comprising 11.5% of the adult population are the key influencers says a new survey from Mediamark Research & Intelligence (MRI).
Dubbed “Big Circle Influentials” because of their relatively large sphere of influence, these 25.4 million adults mirror the typical American adults in terms of average age (45.4 years) and have only 4% higher household income than the national average of $65,500. However, they score well above the national average for key financial and wealth indicators.
MRI says it’s vital for financial advertisers to be able to identify Big Circle Influentials because they advise family, friends, neighbors, colleagues, as well as people they don’t know, virally, and through social networks. Targeting on demographics alone won’t allow marketers to reach them.
According to MRI’s financial word of mouth segmentation, compared to U.S. adults Big Circle Influentials are:
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33% more likely to own a home valued at $500,000 or more
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157% more likely to have made 10+ investment transactions in the last 12 months
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109% more likely to have securities valued at $150,000 or more
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30% more likely to own an IRA
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20% more likely to own a 401K
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44% more likely to seek financial planning counsel
SOURCE: Mediamark Research & Intelligence (MRI)
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