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.

When I downloaded the iOS 6.0 for my iPhone, I was pleasantly surprised with the passbook app. My favourite part was that it led me to Cineplex Odeon’s app, which makes it convenient to see what is playing near by, see previews and buy tickets. This apparently makes me special in no way at all. As noted in the emarketer article, “Moviegoers and Mobile: Better Together”, a growing number of consumers are finding out about movies through their mobile phone. From checking what is playing, what times, reading reviews and watching trailers, more people are using their phones.

So, while this shows that as a movie theatre, having an app or at least a mobile friendly website is a must, the article points out an opportunity for advertisers. More men than women are watching trailers for movies on their phones. emarketer found that 61% of smartphone users will watch an ad to completion in order to watch a trailer. So, if your target audience includes males who might enjoy a specific type of movie, you just found yourself a 30 second spot to promote your product.

Now that people are using their phones before the movies, maybe they’ll turn them off during.

The increased popularity of Pinterest is generating yet another marketing opportunity in social media that companies need to seriously consider. Pinterest will be attractive mostly to companies that appeal to consumers on the aesthetics of their products.

A new emarketer report ,“Pinterest Fosters Unique Shopping Behaviors”, suggests that Pinterest is especially influential amongst women and notes that the number of retailers followed on Pinterest is greater than that of Facebook and of Twitter. Women’s clothing brands would highly benefit from a strong following on Pintrests with consumers sharing images of their favourite items.

One way to create a following on Pinterest is to have it linked to your overall marketing plan. MarketingSherpa sites a specific example where UncommonGoods was able to increase its followers by 355 people, an increase of 200%. The company did this by effectively linking Pinterest to their e-mail marketing. The key was ensuring that the e-mails contained easy to view images and links to Pinterest. Also, in a day and age where a large amount of e-mails are read on a mobile phone, the images have to be compatible to this medium.

Nearly four years after Barack Obama won the American presidency, a feat some attribute to Obama’s ability to harness the power of social media and excite young people, we’re still unsure how much of an impact social media will have on future elections. According to an Emarketer article “Social Media Begins to Drive the Political Conversation” over a quarter of people acknowledge that social media influences their political opinions.

One of the biggest influences where I think social media already has and will continue to effect future elections, is regarding the debates. Through Twitter and Facebook, a conversation can take place while individuals watch these debates. During the debates, many numbers are thrown around, some of which have been inaccurate. It is impossible for the average person to identify what information should be taken with a grain of salt. Social media can help immediately identify information that should be double-checked.

In an environment with seemingly unlimited campaign budgets, presidential candidates will rejoice in having opportunities to spend money exploring the opportunities presented by social media.

In a continuing effort to monetize its large user base, Facebook is changing their gifts feature. Previously, Facebook only offered virtual gifts, but the new gifts feature now allows users to purchase gifts online. It starts by picking out a gift for a friend, then your friend is notified and they fill out their shipping information. Facebook then delivers your gift to them.

The gifts are intended mostly for birthdays and other big events. With people being reminded of their friends’ birthdays on Facebook, they will be making it easy for people to quickly buy friends gifts. Gift options range from cookies to t-shirts and posters – smaller items. The reason for smaller gift choices is probably because this purchasing decision is relatively quick and less in depth. These spur of the moment smaller gifts also help Facebook avoid competing directly with Amazon where someone might go to make more expensive, thought out purchases.

The problem I see is that most of the fun of gift giving is seeing the surprise and joy of a friend receiving a present. This fun would be lost with Facebook gifts.

Through AdWords, Google allows a company to have their product listed at the top of search results for a pay-per-click fee. This makes it easier for companies to make themselves available to consumers who may be looking for their product.

Recently AdWords has made it so companies can set a budget and split it between different AdWords campaigns. This new feature should appeal to small businesses as it allows for an easier allocation of funds. Companies with smaller budgets can decide on an appropriate amount for their AdWords campaigns and if one campaign underperforms that money can be used to further supplement the more successful campaign.

In my opinion Google AdWords already provides a terrific opportunity for companies who do not have the same big marketing budget as other companies in their market. AdWords’ pay-per-click fee should insure that a company receives at least some benefit from the money they put into marketing, whether it is through increased awareness or could even lead directly to sales.

Another benefit for small businesses is that AdWords allows them to target their market geographically. For business that don’t need a global appeal or even to market outside a small area, the city they’re based in for example, Google makes it possible to restrict search results to areas that will be meaningful for said business.

Through Google’s AdWords and people’s increased reliance on Google to find what they’re seeking, Google has made it easier for smaller businesses to stay relevant. AdWords allows small businesses to pay for advertisement that is significant to them.