Turning Nothing into Something

Today’s NY Times featured an article on a new campaign created for the Rhode Island Community Food Bank. The agency, Nail, took a brilliant, innovative approach to raising awareness about the many Rhode Islanders who have nothing to eat on a daily basis. The campaign translates the concept of “nothing” into an actual product. The article touches upon the importance of repositioning “nothing” as something tangible, which was arrived at by an insight into the younger demographic the campaign targeted (basically, consumers in their 30s are more inclined to donate money to more “finite”, more tangible causes). Check out www.nothing.org to see how they constructed the message of hunger around taste tests in a shopping mall. I found the act of showing an empty plate to the target as somewhat of a completion technique, where “nothing” is the incomplete item that, once revealed to the taste testers, generated different reactions to the exact problem at hand they were just made aware of. Having said that, I think incorporating a projective technique usually only reserved for the research process of the campaign into the actual execution delivered a message that was much more powerful and emotive. After the surprise of being presented a plate of “nothing”, it didn’t take long for the taste testers to connect the dots and understand the all too common plight facing numerous Rhode Islanders. Some reacted with tears, others with stunned silence – whatever the emotion, it showed what “nothing” meant to them. Such insights could be leveraged in future campaigns/promotional efforts. Also, opting to sell “Nothing” in food stores made the hunger issue resonate on a deeper level. Those who are financially secure enough to purchase their own groceries (much less at more expensive locals such as Whole Foods, which served as the campaign’s kickoff site) are more inclined to feel sympathetic to the cause because they realize they are surrounded by an everyday luxury that’s easy to take for granted, while others have “Nothing”.  Overall, thorough research on how the target regards hunger was evidenced throughout the campaign. The campaign invites consumers to view such an unfortunate reality through a new, more sobering lens.

Claude Hopkins on Curiosity

From Hopkins’ My Life in Advertising: “No other activating factor compares with curiosity.”

So…why advertising?

Someone recently asked me, “Why advertising?”…

Simply put, the most fascinating part of advertising is marrying analytical and creative thinking in unique ways to extract human emotions and influence human behavior. Because the human brain is a cornucopia of emotions, my curious personality is the perfect match for a field that constantly aims to unearth such diverse emotions, consistently striving to discover what drives certain behaviors. This propensity to constantly ask questions, to investigate things from more than two or three angles…well, it’s such thinking that makes it that much more probable that I will never tire of advertising. And that’s why I love advertising.

My Experience as a Research Assistant…

“Creative people in advertising, stereotypically, talk about ‘inspiring’ and ‘motivating’ consumers. Account executives tend to draw on a different vocabulary to describe what happens when consumers engage with advertising. Account planners occupy a middle space: they admire creativity but think analytically. Having very different kinds of people working together on projects is one of the attractive things about the advertising industry. It is a knowledge-based industry that develops intellectual capital, that is, ideas and understanding. Perhaps this is part of the creative dynamic of agencies.”

- Christopher Hackley

Account Planning: Current Agency Perspectives on an Advertising Enigma

The above statement – which I encountered while reading a study detailing agency perspectives on account planning – made me smile. Although the research depicted agency diversity (in the structural sense) as a common source of igniting conflict among agency members, I deem such “diversity” to be one of the most alluring factors for wanting to work in advertising. The last thing I want is to work in a strictly homogeneous environment that stifles any opportunity to collaborate with others whose ideas and approaches to creative thinking/problem-solving are unique from my own. Diversity breeds unparalleled creativity. What is more, embracing diversity makes advertising and life simply more exciting!

GM Spot: “May the Best Car Win”

In General Motors’ “May the Best Car Win” spot, the brand aims to reposition its weathered image in the minds of American car buyers by offering a bold promotion based on cementing customer satisfaction and implanting a much-needed sense of trust in the GM brand. The promotion: if you buy a GM car and are not “100% satisfied” with the product, you can return it within sixty days of the original purchase. As I alluded to earlier, GM’s strategy is to change, well actually perform a major face-lift on its existing brand perception, one that has been severely tainted over the past year and a half. And how will GM’s promotion help mold consumer perception? Essentially by instilling a newfound confidence and reassurance in the quality of GM products, specifically the Chevy, Buick, GMC and Cadillac models.

The 60-second spot features GM Chairman Ed Whitacre, whose recent appointment, inexperience with the car industry, and prestigious executive title make him a not so relatable figure. Such characteristics compromise the degree to which the spot’s message will resonate with the “everyday consumer.” On another level, Whitacre’s dry disposition, coupled with the fact that he is essentially unrecognizable to the general American public, affects the audience’s ability to mirror the same sense of trust and confidence Whitacre purports he has in GM products. The Chairman claims, “Before I started this job, I admit I had some doubts. Probably a lot like you.” His words echo the target’s underlying fear of buying a GM product. Whitacre later challenges the consumer to look at the GM brand and everything that it embodies through a new lens. Asserts Whitacre, “So put us to the test. Put us up against anyone. And may the best car win.” Such a confident message positions GM as a prime competitor in its marketplace. Even the call to action, “Visit gm.com/guarantee or see your local dealer for details,” reinforces the automaker’s faith in its products. The tactic of including “guarantee” in GM’s promotional web site address further aims to reassure consumers of a quality purchase. A side yet telling observation: nowhere in the entire ad does the GM logo appear.

GM is targeting prospective American car buyers. Their consumer is educated and values quality in their purchases. GM also addresses the skeptical nature of its key consumer. At the beginning of the spot, for instance, Whitacre parallels the consumer’s uncertainty with the ailing automaker, which seems to be both an effort to establish his credibility in the auto industry and dispel the negative public perception of high-level executives pervasive among many Americans, namely that such powerful individuals are “untouchable” and “invisible” corporate figures and not always trustworthy. I must say that the ad team had good intentions in their attempt to reconstruct a more positive and trusted brand (and its said Chairman). However, Whitacre was neither convincing nor believable enough to make me want to visit my nearby GM dealer, or much less visit the site to further investigate the promotion.

Some More Thoughts on Brand Storytelling…

http://adage.com/cmostrategy/article?article_id=138503

I especially enjoyed Mr. Vossoughi’s last answer. I couldn’t help but think how integral and rewarding (both in the short and long term) it is for agencies and marketers to understand and appreciate the power of an engaging story, more specifically a brand narrative that fosters a sense of intimacy between the product / service and the target. As humans, we are storytellers by nature. Consumers want to be captivated by their brand experience. I think some of the most successful, enduring brands find a way to integrate a facet of their target in their story, a tactic that can often cause a brand to leave an indelible impression on its targets’ minds. What is more, such storytelling will foster a more intimate relationship between the consumer and the brand. To put it simply, the most intimate relationships are the most loving relationships. It doesn’t matter whether the relationship is familial, romantic or friendly in nature. And as Mr. Vossoughi purported, “Consumers want to love something.”

Perhaps advertisers and marketers should view a brand’s identity as its nationality. As human beings, our nationalities are permanent aspects which shape our self-perceptions. Sure, we probably don’t consider our nationalities on a daily basis. However, we can’t evade our origins even if we tried. So how in the world does this pertain to advertisers and marketers? Put simply, a brand’s identity should always be communicated to the target in a consistent fashion. Employing different platforms (e.g., print, digital, outdoor, television, direct marketing, POS, etc.) to impart novel brand storylines will help keep the brand interesting. Yet the key is to not let the novelty mask the core identity, or nationality if you will, of the brand. All strategies and tactics must function as ongoing efforts to maintain the unique nationality originally attributed to a brand. Otherwise, advertisers and marketers will risk muddling brand positioning and consumer confusion will take center stage.

Investigating the Adoption of Account Planning in Ad Agencies

My psychology of advertising professor recently asked me to assist her with a study “examining whether advertising agencies that adopted account planning departments earlier rather than later (and thus developed them because they saw real value in account planning) are now reaping the benefits of the early adoption more than agencies that adopted account planning departments later (and thus developed them because everyone else was doing it).” As an aspiring account planner, I viewed this position as a worthwhile opportunity to learn more about the formal and informal structures of account planning departments. Additionally, investigating the contrasting motives which drive agencies to adopt account planning departments would offer a more exhaustive understanding of the different internal cultures coloring the ad industry. The latter is especially integral to my future role, as it will help me realize how my unique personality and approach to understanding and developing creative strategy (of course, I still have so much to learn about understanding and developing creative strategy) compares to existing agency philosophies. Analyzing this relationship will ultimately help me thrive in my forthcoming career.

While reading a previous study of my professor’s that explored the effects of early and late adoption of account planning from an organizational perspective, I enjoyed comparing and contrasting her data and my knowledge and perspectives on the account planning process. The following are my thoughts on a select topic of her study, in which she discussed the institutional approach to account planning.

“The use of institutionalized forms helps to signify legitimacy and ‘protects the organization from having its conduct questioned’ (Meyer and Rowan, “Institutionalized Organizations: Formal Structure as Myth and Ceremony,” The American Journal of Sociology).

Concerning the safeguarding of questioning an organization’s conduct, I evaluated Meyer and Rowan’s statement in a different way, specifically in the light of management and approach to client strategy. In contemplating the different outcomes for maintaining and implementing innovations (strategic, creative, managerial, etc.), account planners as well as other agency departments must always consider how their existing and prospective clients will assess agency conduct. Therefore client retention and an agency’s capacity to enhance its reputation and bring on new accounts are directly dependent on institutional methodology. I haven’t read Meyer and Rowan’s article and consequently do not know whether they defined conduct in this manner. Nevertheless, I believe the most successful agencies (and which create the most persuasive ads) are those that embrace this aspect of agency introspection on a continual basis!

Emotive Advertising

Emotion or reason? Which has more weight on influencing a consumer’s purchase behavior? My personal experience, coupled with the considerable wealth of psychological research on emotion and its direct relationship to memory formation and ad-liking, has shown emotive advertising is more often than not the operative force in forecasting purchase behavior.

I recently finished reading The Advertised Mind by Erik Du Plessis. Du Plessis analyzes a cornucopia of psychological and biological research with the intent of enlightening ad practitioners on advertising effectiveness. He discusses the most fundamental elements of cognitive function including: neurological structure of the brain; learning; memory; emotion; reason; recognition; recall; persuasion; arousal; consciousness; forgetting; and attention. I couldn’t help notice the pervasiveness of emotion throughout the book; almost every investigation of the various elements of cognitive function either directly or indirectly highlighted the power of an emotion. I would like to share one of the most memorable statements concerning the unwavering relationship between emotion and perception:

 “All an individual’s perceptions – that is, everything that occurs in the individual’s environment that has an impact on one or more of the individual’s senses – act as input to the brain. They all pass through the emotional filter, which determines which perceptions should be the focus of conscious thought…We might appear to get a rational answer to a research question (about whether a respondent recalls an advertisement, for instance), but that rational response will still have been mediated by the individual’s initial emotional response” (215). 

Concerning the relationship between emotion and memory…

A recent Nielsen IAG study revealed the top ten recalled television ads. Attesting to the power of emotion on memory construction is the Kay Jewelers spot. The #1 ranked ad featured actress Jane Seymour “paint[ing] red hearts and talk[ing] about the Open Hearts collection being the universal symbol of hope and love.” The ad resonated with consumers because it spoke to the ubiquity of these sentiments. This “universality” of human emotion also divulges that our physical experience of a specific feeling is not culturally bound; our ability to love, for instance, is simply a part of human nature. Hence, as an aspiring account planner I continue to appreciate the indispensable value of creating ads that in some way or another prime an individual’s most emotionally-rooted memories.

http://adage.com/article?article_id=136436

“The Talking Stain” Tide to Go Stain Remover Pen – 2008 Super Bowl Commercial

“Connectivity and engagement are the keys to successful storytelling and selling, and they depend on a deep and profound understanding of who the customers are and where their emotional triggers can be found” (182).

In their book, What’s Your Story? Storytelling to Move Markets, Audiences, People, and Brands, Ryan Matthews and Watts Wacker underscore the enduring value of storytelling to selling a brand. Proctor & Gamble’s 2008 Super Bowl spot for Tide to Go stain remover stick exemplified persuasive storytelling to amplify brand awareness for their product. Although Tide to Go was introduced to the marketplace in June 2005, “The Talking Stain” advertisement positioned the product in a new, more relevant light. The 30-second spot hooked consumers with its absurd humor; a talking coffee stain on the interviewee’s crisp, white shirt constantly interrupts any effort of the young man impressing his potential employer. It engaged viewers by approaching one of the most embarrassing, yet preventable situations you may come across when interviewing for a new profession: entering a job interview with a distracting stain on your clothing! At the end of the commercial, we realize that the disastrous situation could have been easily avoided by erasing the coffee stain with Tide to Go.

The award-winning commercial opens with a hiring employer and an interviewee in an office setting. “So tell me about yourself,” says the interviewer. The young man’s response is limited to three words, “Well, you know,” before he is interrupted by the talking coffee stain on his shirt. The interviewee attempts to impress the employer with his organizational skills, but his efforts are thwarted by the stain’s intrusive gibberish. The interviewee does his best to ignore the irksome stain and carry on with his selling points. On the contrary, the interviewer is only able to maintain eye contact for a few seconds until his attention is diverted to the talking stain. As the camera closes in on the pear-shaped coffee stain, the viewer’s attention is directed away from the individual and to the problem at hand. For three seconds, the stain takes center stage and the viewer lacks the option of concentrating on anything else. Viewers further witness the disruptive coffee stain when the camera is directed toward the interviewer. His confusion and embarrassment for the interviewee are palpable, as his gaze is strongly fixated on the stain. His body language and facial expressions indicate that there is no way he is hearing anything the young man is saying. Moving his head to the side and furrowing his brows, for example, signify his curiosity and disbelief at the situation. The interview culminates with the interviewee smiling at the seemingly exhausted and perplexed interviewer. The tagline reads, “Silence the stain, instantly.” Adjacent to “instantly” is the original Tide to Go stain remover pen. Lastly, a voice-over gives consumers a call-to-action: “Get famous at mytalkingstain.com.

The commercial resonated with viewers because it never ceased to push their emotional hot buttons. For instance, consumers were embarrassed for the young man’s awkward situation. In addition, they empathized with the interviewer. Everyone has endured a similar situation in which an awkward moment overshadows a dialogue. What is more, it did not matter which role better mirrored the consumer’s real-life experience. Ultimately, the universality of the “I can relate” tactic captured the viewer’s attention and added to its hilarity. Above all, Tide to Go emerged as the ultimate, stain fighting super hero. The product’s active ingredients simultaneously help prevent distracting stains and humiliation!

Proctor & Gamble’s objective was to generate online traffic to Tide to Go’s new digital, user-generated advertising campaign, ultimately with the intent to raise awareness for the September 2008 launch of Tide to Go Mini. Capitalizing on the enormous popularity of their Super Bowl spot, Tide to Go asked consumers to create their own spoofs of “Talking Stain” by March 9, 2008, with the top four user-generated spoofs airing on prime-time television in the fall. The winning spot was shown during the season premiere of The Office on NBC on September 25, 2008. The top ten consumer spoofs included:

• Hillbillies, Questions for Dollars Game Show, The Dietician, The Date, Closing Argument, Sorry to Keep You Waiting, You Never Listen, The Supermarket, The Marriage Proposal, and Tide Stain Rap
Furthermore, the following statistics illustrate consumers’ enthusiasm in response to the spot and its call-to-action, the launch of Tide’s consumer-engaged online campaign, www.mytalkingstain.com:
• By the end of Super Bowl Sunday, the site received more than 30,000 unique hits and over 5,500 user-generated spoofs
• The immediate surge of online hits following the spot resulted in 5 minutes of refreshing the site in to have it load properly.
• By February 15, 2008, consumers spent more than 15,000 hours on www.mytalkingstain.com.
• As indicated by YouTube AdBlitz – one of the largest consumer polls for Super Bowl ads – among the 20 million video views and 900,000 votes for the 63 Super Bowl advertisements, “Talking Stain” received the most votes and an average 4.5 out of 5 stars rating.
• With an Ad Meter Score of 7.39, “Talking Stain” was ranked the # 10 most popular spot according to USA Today’s 20th Annual Super Bowl Ad Meter (tied with SoBe Life “Dancing Lizards”).
• It was declared one of the top ten Super Bowl commercials of all time in the CBS prime-time special, “Super Bowl’s Greatest Commercials 2009.”

Even Kevin Burke, the P&G North America Laundry Marketing Director, underestimated the spot’s success: “The number of people that continue to watch the ad and visit our website has vastly exceeded our expectations. We’re thrilled about the positive response from consumers and ad critics across the country.”

Whereas “Talking Stain” achieved wide acclaim among consumers and the advertising and marketing communities, it did not evade negative commentary. Regarding the spot’s ability to resonate with female Super Bowl viewers, CEO and President of Advisory Link Gerry Myers considered the spot ineffective in reaching its usual female target demographic. “For an audience of more than 40 million women [the event commanded a record viewership of 97.5 million] who spend 85 cents of every dollar, I found the mainly macho ad line-up to be not only annoying and sad, but bad business,” said Myers disapprovingly, also a specialist in “marketing and selling more effectively to the female consumer.” She added, “The Tide to Go ad had the opportunity to target both male and female customers, but instead created a spot that was difficult to understand and that made very little sense. It would get my vote for most disappointing ad of the Super Bowl.” Opposition to Myers’ criticism of the spot was evidenced in the first two responses. Paula Lynn thought the spot “hit it right on…It connected with ‘everyman’ [and] was emphasized for [its] visibility and perception.” Moreover, PeopleTalk Research’s Allison Cohen deemed the ad “the most innovative one of them all!” She argued, “men are the core target for that product…but it didn’t leave me out – I’ve been in the role of the interview where I couldn’t take my attention away from somebody’s stain or something else that prevented me from listening to what they had to say.” Not only did Paula and Allison’s commentary reveal strategic elements of the ad, particularly connecting with its target audience, but both women also stressed the spot’s relevance to consumers. This is precisely what the creative brief intended to achieve. The ability to provide a tangible solution for a reoccurring consumer problem is the ultimate motivator! In addition to this blog, I encountered a different angle of negativity towards the spot, which touched upon Martin Lindstrom’s idea of NeuroMarketing in Buyology. The Advertising Age article, “The Super Bowl Spots That Got Inside Consumers Heads,” revealed the neurological effects of Super Bowl advertisements on the human brain. I was surprised to learn that “Talking Stain” – the same ad that achieved a high status in almost every consumer Super Bowl poll – “registered relatively low brain activity” among its test subjects! Biomedical researcher Stephen Sands attributed the result to the fact that “the interviewee in the ad had trouble getting his point across…People’s brains block out all messages when confronted with competing signals.” However, this study contradicted my research on the spot’s consumer reach and subsequent engagement level with the brand; statistics indicated that the P&G definitely achieved its objective of connecting with consumers in Tide to Go Mini’s digital campaign as well as raising awareness for the product. To conclude, though, I came across a very modest amount of negative comments on the spot.

As for my insight into increasing the advertisement’s effectiveness, I would build upon the web 2.0 narrative. In this age of digital media, content is constantly evolving. As a result, it necessitates more creative ways of engaging the consumer with the brand. I advise the brand to develop an onsite and social media application for designing customized t-shirts on their computer. The curser would appear onscreen as the Tide to Go Mini pen. Even more, create a nation-wide t-shirt design contest with college fashion and design students as the target demographic. The winner’s design would be unveiled in a top fashion/beauty magazine.

In conclusion, I thought “Talking Stain” was a very calculated, consumer-centric advertisement. It went above and beyond its objective of raising awareness for the new, more portable Tide to Go Mini stain remover pen. The strategy revealed the fruits of creating a conversation economy around a brand! As I mentioned earlier, it pushed viewers emotional buttons; humor served as the principal emotional stimulus in capturing and maintaining the viewer’s attention. Emotions are involuntary. The inevitable disruption in our mental state as a result of being exposed to such stimuli will ultimately attract our attention. Feat accomplished, Saatchi and Saatchi! Finally, the call-to-action expanded upon the brand narrative, causing the consumer to assume a lead role in the brand’s story. Engagement? Yes. Connectivity? Definitely.

DDF Pore Minimizer Serum Print Ad – New Beauty Magazine

DDF Print Ad in New Beauty Magazine

The print advertisement for DDF (Doctor’s Dermatologic Formula) Wrinkle Resist Plus Pore Minimizer Moisturizing Serum appeared in the Winter-Spring 2009 Midwest edition of New Beauty magazine. DDF’s advertisement aims to market the anti-aging serum as a novel approach to erasing wrinkles. The skincare line targets women who are seeking to reduce the signs of aging. Additionally, they are marketing to a female audience, probably a younger demographic from this perspective concerned with the prevention of wrinkles and fine lines. The latter view finds more validity in DDF’s online version of the advertisement. For instance, the company’s site focuses more attention on the serum’s preventative benefits; a sub heading reads, “Preventative anti-aging begins early.” Whereas the DDF Skincare site stresses more about the importance of averting wrinkles “early on,” the print advertisement is more vague in addressing its target audience. The part of the copy that reads, “See younger-looking, more flawless kin today…and day after day,” speaks to both older and younger women. The comparative adjective, “younger-looking” is a product benefit that appeals to women trying to reverse the signs of damage. Moreover, the “flawless” appearance is more neutral, a quality that does not discriminate on the basis of a woman’s age. Regarding New Beauty’s reader demographics, a substantial group of which range in age from their early twenties to those in their late seventies, DDF assumed sage strategy.

In a different sense, myriad cosmetic surgeons and skincare professionals read New Beauty, as the publication offers the most recent and advanced research on cosmetic enhancements (whether they be surgical or topical). A considerable amount of the magazine’s pages feature advertisements for cosmetic surgeons, dermatologists and cosmetic dentists. Besides targeting age-conscious readers, DDF is marketing the serum to cosmetic surgeons and aestheticians. For example, there is an emphasis on the product’s “patented DDF dual-phase technology.” Vitamin B3 and Promatrixyl Pentapeptide are recognized by skincare professionals as effective anti-aging ingredients and lend credibility to the said wrinkle treatment. As I touched upon earlier, many skincare professionals read New Beauty because it is a credible source for top of the line skincare products, thus providing rationale for whether or not those professionals should sell / market the brands in their office. As for the magazine’s editorial content, articles and reviews are either written or approved by some of the beauty industry’s most notable professionals. However, the fact that the product is available at Sephora, Ulta and Nordstrom makes it questionable whether DDF is targeting skincare professionals. Cosmetic surgeons and aestheticians tend to sell their patients skincare that cannot be legally sold by national beauty retailers because they contain higher concentrations of the active ingredients. Why spend more money on a product that you could probably find for less in a mall or online?

I thought this was a smart advertisement for a number of reasons. DDF was meticulous about the organization of anti-aging terminology in the headline and copy. I particularly liked the juxtaposition of the headline, “A NEW TWIST ON ANTI-AGING” and the double helix design of the serum. The packaging is sleek and refined, two elements that often dictate whether a consumer will buy a skincare product. I viewed a number of other advertisements for anti-aging products throughout the magazine. However, I thought that DDF’s advertisement was one of the more convincing sells within an industry saturated with “new and innovative” ways to appear “younger-looking” and “flawless.”

http://www.ddfskincare.com/p-66-ddf-wrinkle-resist-plus-pore-minimizertrade-17-oz.aspx