Hasta La Creative!

A recent video making the rounds detailed a young woman who, after having a one-night stand and becoming pregnant, decides to find the father. It spawned some rather funny follow-ups (the ex-boyfriend, below, etc.) but outraged many, and it was removed from YouTube.

After many comments on the video, it was finally announced the video was a gimmick to entice people to visit Denmark. While the company might have had the best initial intentions, it fails to spark my interest to visit. In fact, it actually makes me want to stay far, far away.

However, the advertising agency Grey said it was a hit, and it did create quite a bit of buzz, although, not the best kind.

“It is the most successful viral advertising ever,” said Peter Helstrup, Director of Grey Copenhagen. “We have cut through the media clutter. It has cost us the same as a 30-second commercial, aired a few times on TV2.”

Viral videos are always a great marketing campaign, but why did they think this situation would make someone want to visit Denmark?

“Karen’s story shows that Denmark is a free place with space for you to be who you want,” VisitDenmark CEO Dorte Kiilerich said in a news release. “The film is good exposure for Danish self-sufficient and dignified women. We’re telling a nice and sweet story about a modern responsible woman that lives in a free society and takes responsibility for her choices, and she uses a modern and social media.”

Really? This is actually hilarious, but can you really label it a sweet story? If she was responsible, then having a child without a father wouldn’t have happened, correct?

VisitDenmark went a new route with their marketing, and although it may have had the best of intentions, they missed the mark. Do I want to visit a place where it’s advertised I can become impregnated? It doesn’t give me the best of impressions of the country.

Megan Green is a freelance propagation planner who has had her work published on PR News Wire, as well as many other outlets. Contact her on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, or at megankategreen@gmail.com.

This week, the ad community was put on display by an ad leaked out of DDB Brazil. The client, the World Wildlife Fund, was none too excited over this release (or was it?), and the pundits were salivating at the opportunity to rip this spot apart with their fake outrage.

The ad features a very moving truth and the media uproar displays a few ‘inconvenient truths’ about Americans. First, we seem to only care about ourselves. Second, we can’t stomach a brutally honest message. If three people die in a shooting in the US, we talk about it nonstop for months, but if 100 people die in a mudslide in Taiwan, we barely bat an eyelash. This spot tells a great truth about the power of mother nature and is effective in portraying it. It has made me think about mother nature more than anything since Hurricane Katrina, in part because I, too, am a silly American who tends to think only about American lives.

We’ve become distanced from reality. When the ad community attempts to make a hard-hitting PSA to curtail drinking/texting while driving, drug use, or to impress upon people the awesome power of mother nature, we’re forced to go soft for the sake of the populace. Why are we such wimps? The events of September 11, 2001 were horrific, and I don’t see how this spot is, in any way, attempting to make our tragedy seem like anything less.

This creative concept is brilliant. It is so simple, so logical, and so impressively gut wrenching. More people should take a moment to get past the fake outrage and digest the information being presented. Still, the point of the campaign was to create awareness of the awesome power this planet has over us, but I think it accomplished that and then some. This might just be the most efficient use of a client’s money this year.

Pete Kahn is a Product Insights Specialist, blogger and aspiring writer. Feel free to leave a comment, follow Pete on Twitter, or view his profile on LinkedIn. As always, thanks for reading.

Sometimes the past is fulfilled with wonderful memories of friends, music, good times and lots of laughter. Or, the past should remain exactly where it is, especially when remembering how you dressed, your bodily piercings, and that mullet with the spiked top that would never go out of style. If you remember the mullet, do you recall these lyrics?

Buying bread from a man in Brussels He was six foot four and full of muscles I said, “Do you speak-a my language?” He just smiled and gave me a vegemite sandwich”
By: Men At Work, “A Land Down Under

What in the heck is Vegemite, anyway? Until writing this post, I didn’t know, nor care. Then I found out that Vegemite is actually produced by Kraft Foods, and that Kraft has developed a new Vegemite formula and has rolled it out in Australia…

My first thought: “Would this be the next huge marketing FAIL, akin to the New Coke Formula back in 1985?”
Knowing absolutely nothing about the product, I had to do some research. What is Vegemite?

Vegemite is similar to the British product Marmite, which is a tacky paste, brown in color, with a salty “beef broth” or “meaty-like taste.” Marmite is usually spread on toast or biscuits but can also be mixed with hot water to make a drink. Marmite is made out of yeast extract saved after the beer brewing process. During World War I, the flow of Marmite to Australia was interrupted and an Australian cheese company, Fred Walker & Co., commissioned an Aussie scientist to come up with similar replacement.

Vegemite was introduced with great fanfare (including a national naming contest) in 1923. The naming campaign was a big success; the product flopped. Despite various marketing efforts, Vegemite sales remained poor. Kraft purchased Walker & Co. in 1926 (forming the Kraft Walker Cheese Company) and in 1928, changed the name to Parmite, which killed Vegemite’s tiny though hard-won market share. Vegemite never recovered.

So, with plenty of Vegemite on-hand, the Kraft Walker Cheese Company started giving it away with Pontiac automobiles and cheese products. Sales responded positively; then, the British medical association proclaimed that Vegemite was a great source of Vitamin B. Sales increased more. By World War II, Vegemite was in 9 of 10 Australian homes, had become part of a soldier’s daily ration kit, and was even carried by Aussie’s traveling abroad due to lack of availability in other countries. Today, Vegemite is one of the most well-known global brands and outsells Marmite in Australia by huge margins.

Kraft tried to extend the brand with a cheese and Vegemite “single,” but failed. However, marketing contests, such as limerick and song competitions, boosted sales. Then, following the war, the baby boom hit and Kraft jumped on Vegemite’s Vitamin B content for infants;

“…baby care expert Sister Mc Donald, said in the Women’s Weekly that “Vegemite is most essential”, further cementing Vegemite’s reputation for nutrition and wholesomeness. Infant Welfare Centres were recommending babies have their quota of Vitamin B1, B2 and Niacin. Vegemite had them all!”

By the 1950’s, Vegemite was to Australia what apple pie is to America, aided in part by consumer-oriented campaigns initiated by J.Walter Thompson.

On July 7, 2009, Kraft released a ’second’ Vegemite. The new Vegemite is a mix of Vegemite and cream cheese, is less salty, spreads much easier, and supposedly tastes better. To coincide with the release of the new recipe, Kraft is running a competition to give the new flavor a name, hearkening back to the competitions that worked 50 years ago. Kraft recently launched a comprehensive marketing campaign to name the new Vegemite, drawing on the successes of past campaigns that involved the public.

In fact, the new campaign mixes both traditional and Social Media, including an interactive website that includes fun facts, the naming contests, and the history of Vegemite. The new Vegemite can be found on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. Below is the one of several commercials. This one has been extended to be 48-seconds long:

And, just as in the early days, J. Walter Thompson was chosen for creative expertise. While some wait to see if this brand extension will be a coup or a pile of crap, early research shows that Vegemite has more brand affinity than Coca-Cola, Starbucks, and Nike (globally);

The research analysed 1.5 billion posts across 38 languages within social networking sites, blogs, message boards, and online news. The results discovered 479,206 mentions for Vegemite, with brand affinity found more often than any other product globally.

If this was an election, the early results would show that the new Vegemite is a serious contender; however, all the votes haven’t been cast. Based on my research, I believe that the new Vegemite will most certainly take space in Australian kitchens.

Jeff Louis: Strategic Media Planner, Brand Project Manager, blogger and aspiring writer. To contact Jeff, leave a comment here, or find him on LinkedIn or Twitter.

It’s out there and everyone’s talking about it. It’s been proven to give companies an edge on competition and the ability to form a bond with customers. So why aren’t you involved in social media yet?

As a freelancer in social media, I’ve noticed that there are numerous corporations that are still not involved with Twitter, Facebook, or anything on the Internet beyond a website and an email. This is, in essence, what it would be like when everyone started to advertise on the television when it was first invented and a company simply ignored it and kept to the “old school” ways of handing out fliers to people. Although it is important to respect the more traditional ways of advertising, you must also incorporate the new to properly promote and advertise your company and brand (my fellow Beneath the Brand blogger Jon Leung agrees – check out his post Marketers’ Dilemma: Facebook or Twitter).

The best thing about social media – it’s easy and free. At the moment, I recommend starting with Twitter because, as I’m sure you’ve heard, it’s becoming more and more similar to the dot com boom (i.e. don’t be the last one to figure it out).

Look at Twitter this way: imagine all your customers coming together on a daily basis and talking about topics that pertain to you and your company, thereby spreading even more information about your company and gaining more recognition and consumers.

Let me use a company as an example that I am currently involved with: Dolphin Blue, Inc. Dolphin Blue helps businesses go green through its office supplies. If you thinking of promotion from a networking standpoint, the first thing you would do is to find a group that matches your interests, in this case, any green groups that deals with the ecosystem or world health. You would then attend the group sessions, meet people who have those same interests, and start conversations with them about your company. Twitter is exactly like this, only on a much larger scale.

After creating a Twitter account, log on to www.search.twitter.com and search (#green) for people talking about green issues. “Follow” them, re-tweet things they’ve tweeted that you agree with and *poof,* people will start following you, re-tweeting things you’ve posted, and, most importantly, become aware of your services. And thus, networking and building your business starts on a national level. The more people you meet, the more people who talk about you and your company.

Within four hours of Dolphin Blue publishing its Twitter account, it had six mentions and 26 followers! On day two, those numbers grew to 14 mentions and 93 followers. Imagine how many more people it’ll reach within the next week, month or year.

I think Griffin Farley of 22squared said it best. “Don’t plan for the ones you reach, plan for the ones they reach.” It’s all about who you know, right?

Megan Green is a freelance propagation planner who has had her work published on PR News Wire, as well as many other outlets. Contact her on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, or at megankategreen@gmail.com.

After Cannes and all the recognition many commercials and agencies have received, I feel it’s only fair to nominate five commercials that are on the other side of the spectrum. Usually, I like to write about advertising commercials or campaigns that are noteworthy, but lately, there seems to be a lack of stellar campaigns (besides the few I’ve outlined in past postings and, of course, at Cannes).

Due to this lack of creative advertising commercials, and the plethora of horribly bad ones, I managed to poll a few people about which ones make them want to change the channel the most. Here’s a list of the top five.

5. Five Dollar Footlong, Subway
Although the business concept of a $5 bargain meal is great and has caused numerous other restaurants to follow suit, the commercials are becoming annoying and missing creativity. Having different “customers” sing the theme song makes it seem as if this ad agency was procrastinating and threw this together at the last moment. Does it make me want a sandwich? No, it makes me wish I have TiVo to fast forward through it.

4. Volcano Taco Wedding, Taco Bell
First, as a woman, this commercial makes me so angry. If groomsmen showed up to my wedding sweating profusely, I would hurt someone. But, back to the point, I understand it’s a hot and spicy taco, but is it necessary to overreact to the point where it’s ridiculously stupid?

3. Toasty Torpedo, Quiznos
In the words of a fellow YouTuber, ”What was Quiznos thinking?” This commercial is beyond racy. I’m sure everyone agrees with me when I say, “Enough with the sexy sandwich campaigns!” I’ve noticed that the commercial has since been changed to something more family-friendly, but that doesn’t mean we all don’t notice and realize Quiznos messed up. Even YouTube has a montage of Scott saying, “Put it in me.”

2. Somebody’s Watching Me, GEICO
The pile of money with eyes is driving me nuts. The song alone will be stuck in your head for days. I do have to say that I absolutely love the commercials for Geico with Flo, but a pile of money that follows people across the country chasing after cars? *click* Change channel.

Drumroll please… and the worst commercial goes to –

1. The Young and the Wireless, Verizon Wireless
This one doesn’t really need an explanation. My friend said it best when she said, “Who was the executive that approved those commercials?” Not only is this commercial void of being catchy and interesting, a two year-old could have come up with something more creative.

How does White Collar crime work? What if the safety harness on the roller coaster broke? What are 10 inventions we use daily that was first used at NASA? How does WiFi operate? Who is Aaron Fotheringham?

Aaron Fotheringham is the seventeen-year-old athlete featured in HowStuffWorks.com’s online and television ad campaign in support of the popular website. The spots have been released on YouTube, and will also be seen on TV starting this week. And, it’s not who Aaron is; it’s what he does:

Aaron, born with spina bifida, and dubbed with the nickname Wheelz, lives in Las Vegas, Nevada (which may play a part in his penchant for taking risks). One day, while his brother and friends were dropping into empty swimming pools on skateboards and BMX bikes, his brother suggested that he “drop in.” Although nervous, Aaron took his first “wheelchair drop” into the pool.

He’s now known as the inventor and pioneer of an extreme sport called “Hardcore Sitting” and competes in BMX racing. Against cyclists.

He’s been competing alongside BMX bikers since 2005 and has more than 10 corporate sponsors. He won the trophy at the BMX Intermediate Vegas AmJam 2005 Finals and spends about 30 to 40 hours per week practicing the sport he invented.

In mid-2006, Aaron became the first person in history to complete a back flip in a wheelchair. On Halloween, 2008, Guinness Book of World Records certified Aaron as the sole inventor and performer of the wheelchair back flip. No one has duplicated his feat. There is a section on HowStuffWorks.com devoted to Aaron Fotheringham and his journey.

Along with the sponsorships, the accolades, and the TV appearances, he’s launched a website, AaronFotheringham.com, and was awarded $20,000 by the FOX reality TV show “Secret Millionaire.” The money will help form a company that teaches other children in wheelchairs the sport of Hardcore Sitting.

This is the second ad campaign HowStuffWorks.com has launched and builds upon the highly successful “Scuba Cat” campaign launched this time last year. The new campaign also features a skydiving car, with both video spots centered around the theme of “Keep Asking.” The spots ask all types of questions, along with a voice-over, “For expert answers to the world’s great questions, go to HowStuffWorks.com.” The tagline “Keep Asking” demonstrates the ability to utilize a single execution to capture a full range of emotions and tackle a wide array of topics.

Preston Kelly, headquartered in Minneapolis, provided the creative juice that powers the campaign.

Jeff Louis: Strategic Media Planner, Project Manager, and New Business Account Coordinator. His passion is writing. Reach out and touch him: www.linkedin.com or www.twitter.com.

Microsoft launched two “Hulu-esque” online TV spots this week that star Dean Cain, the actor known as Superman from the TV series “Lois & Clark.” The spots are a bit surreal, much like the Hulu commercials that have were released earlier this year. The two spots, named F.O.M.S. (Fear Of Missing Something) and S.H.Y.N.E.S.S. (Sharing Heavily Yet Not Enough Sharing Still), are in support of Internet Explorer 8 (IE8), released in its final version on March 19th of 2009.

It’s unclear if Microsoft is experiencing low download rates for IE8, or are simply running the spots to support the new software in a more competitive environment. The IE8 browser is chock-full-o-features that include new malware protection, a discrete browsing mode (for those that need to hide their searches) and greater tab control. One of the best features is that when the browser crashes, it only restarts that particular tab, leaving the rest of the tabs operating normally. However, there are problems with IE8, such as it has to run in “compatibility mode” to read a majority of websites, and it is not as fast as the sparsely-featured Google Chrome browser.

The ads do nothing to dispel these irregularities, and instead are somewhat humorous takes on personal browsing habits. Both of the spots are featured on YouTube, as well as below. F.O.M.S features a woman frantic over missing a bid on EBay, while S.H.Y.N.E.S.S. enables people that send crap over the internet to send it faster using one of IE8’s accelerators. (great…)

The campaign, if it can be called such, is masquerading as a set of PSAs that are promoting BrowserfortheBetter.com, which is a landing page devoted to the new browsers. What’s great about downloading IE8 from this page is that for every download, Microsoft will donate eight meals to Feeding America, the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity.

Whether a humanitarian effort or a sales ploy to get the browsers downloaded, the result is the same: food for the hungry. And for this, Microsoft deserves recognition.

Jeff Louis: Strategic Media Planner, Project Manager, and New Business Coordinator. His passion is writing, contributing to BMA as well as freelancing. He’d love to hear from you, so leave a comment or follow the links:linkedin.com or twitter.com.

LiLo, the charming Disney redhead that never gained a foothold in reality: Another child-star on the brink of losing everything? Not according to her best PR move to date. Beleaguered Lindsay Lohan released a mock E-Harmony video yesterday on FunnyOrDie (1.7MM views) that takes sharp jabs at herself: She’s single (lonely), reportedly broke, and probably alcoholic. But, she has her good qualitities as well, promising Mr. Right: “…at the end of the date, I promise you that I never lose my Google hits, just my underwear.” Gotta love a woman that has clear priorities!

Speaking of Google, if you haven’t seen YouTube lately, it’s crystal clear that Google is serious about monetizing the popular video site. Check out YouTube Edu (Education), YouTube House Hub (Government), and YTSO (YouTube Symphony Orchestra). The YTSO alone is worth the visit. And don’t forget to visit Pepsi-sponsored PopTub, a channel featuring the freshest videos on YouTube.

Jeff Louis is an experienced Senior Media Planner, Project Manager, and New Business Coordinator. His passion is writing, contributing to BMA as well as freelancing. He’d love to hear from you: www.linkedin/in/jefflouis or on twitter @jlo0312.

Google and Twitter, rumored to be meeting late last week, were huddling to discuss: a) new applications, b) mergers, c) acquisition, d) monetizing strategies, or, e) “We didn’t huddle, we didn’t even talk!”
The answer, much to our curiosity’s disappointment, was “none of the above,” and we were left, yearning, with no juicy story. Until that is, we looked a little deeper: There it was, a story, neatly nestled inside the rumor…our dusky jewel, ripe for choosing.

Whether Google buys Twitter, doesn’t buy Twitter, or marries them is not news…it’s a forgone conclusion. Some company, (probably Google), is going to purchase Twitter. But, it could also turn out to be MSN, Yahoo!, AOL, NewsCorp, or even Verizon.  The real content, the actual tale to be told is this: Whenever Google acts, we, the denizens of the Internet, pay attention. We sit up, sign in, and search for news. Once found, like kids with secrets, we repeat it. Discuss it. Argue about it.  Text it. Blog it. E-mail it. Tweet it. Opine it. Feed it. Post it. Which leads us to face it: Google is more respected than Bill Gates, Jack Welch, Bono, and Perez Hilton, combined. Google is the Internet’s darling, the sweet Lindsay Lohan before she was arrested. Twice. Google is young and beautiful, the little girl from Disney that won our hearts. Google is the online business’ shining star. In December 2007, FastCompany had this to say about Google:  

“… Its performance is the envy of executives and engineers around the world … For techno-evangelists, Google is a marvel of Web brilliance … For Wall Street, it may be the IPO that changes everything (again) … But Google is also a case study in savvy management — a company filled with cutting-edge ideas, rigorous accountability, and relentless attention to detail … Here’s a search for the growth secrets of one of the world’s most exciting young companies — a company from which every company can learn.”

Which is not to say that Google is perfect, or has not made mistakes; they just don’t make many. As a highly respected company, with the starlet flair, Google is in the spotlight, the subject of speculation, rumor, innuendo, and gossip. So, as in the case  of the Twitter reporting last week, online and traditional media sources, thirsty for being credited with announcing Google’s next venture, often print rumors before the facts are known. Although it’s shoddy journalism, many of the online sources probably don’t care about being wrong, as long as they’re first. Headlines and copy can be changed in seconds. The take-away is simple: Not only does Google play an important part in our lives, but we spend a lot of time and energy making Google important to society.

Google’s other major foray into Social Media, YouTube, is expected to lose $470 million dollars in 2009. But, it’s not all bad news: Revenues are expected to increase by 20% YOY (Google will only lose 80% of what they could have). Not asking for government handouts as of yet, YouTube’s major challenge is no different from that of  Twitter and other Social Media sites: Monetization. In the short-term, Google has signed a deal with Disney-ABC Television Group and ESPN to provide “professional” content, driving advertiser demand “through standardization of ad formats and improved ad effectiveness.”  Or, to restate it clearly, YouTube will provide better videos to reel in bigger advertisers. It remains to be seen if having Disney on YouTube will provide the revenue needed for YouTube, but the main question is how the users will react to the site “incorporation.”

 There has been a lot of chatter regarding emerging media, new media, and how Web 2.0/Web 3.0 will change the world, let alone the practice of advertising as we know it. I am certain that the world, and conventional advertising, will definitely be affected…once effective methods to monetize these new media platforms are determined. If you keep up at all with the trades, you are certainly aware that Google’s purchase of YouTube has been terribly unprofitable, to say the least. And it remains to be seen if YouTube will ever provide profits for Google. There is also the constant buzz regarding Twitter: Is Twitter for sale? Are they working on a new business model? Or, is Twitter but a passing fancy? 

One thing abundantly clear is that Social Media networks have become the new, untapped vein of gold for advertisers in the digital age. Social Media users freely provide relevant information about themselves which is then used by advertisers to segment them into convenient, targetable groups. Paired with Social Media’s meteoric rise in usage, advertisers are often left scrambling to hastily build strategies to reach this audience unobtrusively.

While all of this action (or perceived action) is exciting, the current trend seems to be more about making a buzz than making a buck, with a few exceptions:

In December 2008, Internet News reported that Dell produced over a million dollars in sales by offering discounts to consumers that followed Dell on Twitter. And while these sales accounted for but a drop in the bucket compared to their overall revenue ($61 Billion in 2008), it is evident that while Twitter’s not able to monetize their service, Dell had no problem doing so.

So, while most are playing catch-up, there are shining examples of advertisers and agencies that are ahead of the curve, positioning themselves to lead by example rather than yammering on about what they plan to do. Take, for instance, Lisa P. Maxwell (LPM) in Chicago. Visible, LPM’s web development arm, created LPM’s new Flash site, and fitted it with webcams at each employee’s desk. Anytime during the day, a client, prospective client, or curious web-surfer can click on one of the employee “cam profiles” and chat in real time with the employee. The site lets you know which person is available to chat via the use of two buttons that highlight the web cam images (green=available). Depending on the time of day, you might find yourself talking to the Creative Director, New Business Manager, or even a copywriting intern. It is actually quite fun to talk to this captive audience…they seem to be an intelligent bunch willing to answer most questions. I spoke to one of the Account Managers this morning about working at LPM and being on camera, and she said that they’ve had fantastic reviews. She also said that the best thing about LPM was “the people.”The point of this viral “experiment” is to increase traffic to LPM’s site via non-traditional methods, and in this sense, it has been a qualified success, adding 1500+ visits during the first month of operation. It’s not clear if any new business leads have been generated virally, but as with many viral endeavors, it may take some time. However, if I was marketing director looking for an agency to lead my business into the intricacies of social/emerging media marketing, I would certainly add Lisa P. Maxwell to the top of the list.

Some agencies lead. Others talk. And the rest just don’t get it.