In an attempt to reach younger consumers, Campbell’s soup is currently rebranding its Soup To Go. The new soups now come in a bag instead of a can and come in unique flavours. These flavours include “ Spicy Chorizo & Pulled Chicken with Black Beans” and “Coconut Curry with Chicken and Shiitake Mushrooms.”

Because they are trying to attract Millennials, Campbell’s Go soup’s marketing is centered on a tumblr type website. In what I assume is an attempt to appeal to all things of interest to the Millennial generation, their website includes:

Black  & White Photos of their product

Cat Photos

 And long, made-up acronyms

What these have to do with soup is beyond me. It seems as if Campbell’s has simply taken everything stereotypical of a younger generation, grouped it together and expect to sell soup. This campaign seems very superficial and I think it will be viewed as such. It is insulting that this is what Millennials have been boiled down to.

However, the plus side of this campaign is that they did try to be humourous. When marketing is successful in being funny it is usually more effective at capturing consumers’ attention. Sadly, the only thing funny about the jokes used was the fact that someone had actually allowed them to post such corny jokes.

Overall, simply putting this campaign on a site similar to one popular with youths and throwing together stereotypes of a younger generation, will most likely not be successful in capturing youths attention.

Last week I was going out for dinner at Earl’s. So as not to be surprised by my options, I went to do some reconnaissance, through my phone, to see what I could be having for dinner. Unfortunately I was met with this.

At the end of 2011, Sweden’s Tourist agency, Visit Sweden, put into work a new idea aimed at energizing people around their brand. With Visit Sweden’s brand being Sweden, they decided to let Swedes tell the world about it.

The Idea

Visit Sweden was looking for citizens to run the  @Sweden twitter handle for a week to present their thoughts and insights of Sweden. They wanted to showcase ideas that aren’t normally offered in traditional media, turning Sweden’s citizens into evangelists for their product, Sweden. Individuals would nominate people for the contest and every week a new Swede would get to be the voice of the country.

The Problem

Controversy arose when one of the particular curators made some offensive comments using the @Sweden twitter handle. The particular tweets attracted a lot of negative attention to Sweden.

Overall

Visit Sweden’s idea of loaning out the country’s twitter handle was an innovative and bold move. In my opinion, this strategy led to mixed results. On the one hand, they attracted 25,000 followers from 120 countries. For a tourism agency the vast range of countries attracted is very positive. However, the negative press attracted must also be considered. The story of racist tweets was picked up many news agencies and painted Sweden in a bad light.

Visit Sweden did not censor the posts from its curators and this makes sense as it makes the tweets more authentic. However, when giving consumers what is essentially the voice to your brand you must be careful. Visit Sweden should have done a better job screening their potential curators. Had they done this, they would have prevented the scandal of posting such extreme views.

Check out the campaign here.

When I wake up in the morning, after getting ready for the day, one of the first things I do is flip through my e-mails that have arrived while I sleep. Mixed in with an array of school and work related e-mails are my ad related e-mails. Whether it is a Groupon or a specific retailer e-mailing me about potential deals, anything not crucial that I read before my coffee simply gets marked as read and then is subsequently forgotten.

A marketing article, “Infographic: E-mail open rates by time of day”, suggests that companies can increase the effectiveness of their e-mail marketing by adjusting when they send their e-mails. If e-mails are not opened within an hour of when they are sent then their open and click-through rate drastically decrease. E-mails, like the ones I receive during the night, are therefore much less effective. The article goes on to suggest that e-mails sent around nine o’clock in the morning or three in the afternoon have the greatest effect. Tailoring sent e-mails to this pattern could help companies make their email marketing more effective.

After years of bad press and rumors about all of the terrible things about their foods, McDonalds is attempting to answer questions right from the source: the consumer. At the end of May 2012, McDonald’s Canada started asking consumers to submit their questions regarding their food through Facebook and Twitter. Questions were then answered on their website.

McDonalds has been successful in using Twitter in order to start and leverage a conversation about its brand. By allowing consumers to ask anything about the food, McDonalds risks publicizing some negative issues.

McDonalds has also been very successful in managing its tone throughout these conversations. Maintaining a serious voice when necessary, but at the same time being humourous when possible.

It will be interesting to see how this strategy works out for McDonalds, as it could be an area where consumers can air negative press. However, I believe this strategy should be considered by brands confident enough to answer all questions about their brand publically.