Aldo Israel Rings Your Bell

Posted on November 21, 2012 by ckwokchoon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Y83wOHnoldg

Today I came across a marketing campaign initiated by Aldo Israel back in October, where people were invited to receive a free pair of shoes in exchange for an Instagram photo. More specifically, Aldo Israel placed a bell in the middle of a street in Tel Aviv, and asked people to take an Instagram photo of the shoes they were currently wearing, with the hashtag #aldo and their shoe size. They were then instructed to wait for 2 minutes. Soon after, a large wrapped present came up to them with a free pair of Aldo shoes in their size.

The results? The bell was rung more than 450 times, and 500 photos were uploaded to Instagram. Overall, the campaign generated nearly 800,000 interactions for the brand.

At first, I thought this was simply a way for Aldo Israel to increase their interaction through social media. As evident by the numbers above, it was definitely successful as they positively engaged their audience through Instagram.

However, after looking more into it, I realized this stunt was also a form of gift marketing. As Jim Taschetta from clickz.com puts it, “[Gift Marketing is] relationship-enhancing. Gifts allow marketers to invite consumers to enjoy their brands with no strings attached.” Many brands today have shifted towards the current consumer decision funnel, which places an emphasis on the “Repeat and Recommend” stages. Gift Marketing is just another example of how brands are beginning to place more value on fostering relationships with their customers.

The rise of Gift Marketing has shown that companies are putting more value into creating long-lasting relationships with their customers

In this case, Aldo Israel has sort of flipped the conversion funnel upside down. By giving shoppers a gift, retailers are using a form of marketing that can truly change consumer behavior and create profitable new visits. Aldo Israel is so confident in their product that they know once people try their product, they’ll shop at Aldo in the future. In addition, shoppers feel a special connection to the gift-giving retailer, which carries into their shopping cart and future loyalty to the brand. Retailers hope these new customers will become evangelists, who will help them gain even more new customers. In the coming year, it’ll be interesting to see just how far retailers are willing to take this gift giving.

Juicy Couture Takes Full Advantage of YouTube

Posted on November 19, 2012 by ckwokchoon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBEX_uXFMn8&feature=player_embedded

Last week, Juicy Couture launched a new video via YouTube which has supermodel Candice Swanepool modeling a variety of their clothes and accessories. Sounds like the typical ad we’ve come to expect right? Guess again. What’s so brilliant about this campaign is the fact that they made it interactive. Each and every time Candice is shown with a different article of clothing on, or a different piece of jewellery, a box appears and if clicked on, links you directly to their site where you can purchase said item.

Like something you see? Juicy Couture provides a call-to-action by linking products in their video to their website

I love this new form of video advertising, as it makes it very easy to purchase anything that catches the consumer’s eye. Juicy Couture has found a way to utilize YouTube and their website together by integrating interactivity between the two. By showcasing their product, and then providing a “call-to-action” by enabling their audience to click through to a purchase screen, this will undoubtedly increase Juicy Couture’s conversion rate.

Juicy Couture enables an easy way to shop through their ad

Where will this go from here? It wouldn’t surprise me to see more companies taking advantage of this, as it’s very easy and simple to do. One thing that is a concern though, is that every time you click the video to view the item you’re interested in, the video stops. Perhaps if there was some way they could make it so that a mini pop-up tab came up, it could go hand in hand with the video where the user could shop while the video simultaneously played alongside it.

In addition, I think a big thing for companies to consider is how to implement this through mobile technology. I view this as sort of an interactive magazine, where now, when you see something you like, you can buy it instantly. It also wouldn’t surprise me to see this starting to appear in television shows, especially with the increasing use of product placement. Through smart TV’s, touch screens, and tablets, companies may start to implement this same sort of concept through that medium as well.

Australian Metro’s “Dumb Ways to Die” Campaign is Anything but Dumb

Posted on November 18, 2012 by ckwokchoon

After dealing with a number of train-related injuries in the past year, Melbourne, Australia’s Metro Train Company has just launched a new campaign called “Be Safe Around Trains,” which is primarily targeted towards young people with the hope of educating them about the hazards that trains pose. This move comes after their annual safety report recorded 979 slips, trips, and pedestrian falls, and 23 non-suicide related deaths from collisions between people and trains from 2011 to 2012.

“This campaign is designed to draw people to the safety message, rather than frighten them away. Especially in our younger segments. We want to create a lasting understanding that you shouldn’t take risks around trains, that the prospect of death or serious injury is ever-present and that we as a community need to be aware of what constitutes both safe and dumb behavior,” said Metro Trains’ Marketing Manager Chloe Alsop.

The centerpiece of this campaign is their video titled “Dumb Ways to Die,” which features a catchy tune and various animated figures dying in foolish situations. Some lyrics include: “Set fire to your hair, poke a stick at a grizzly bear.” A few lyrics also point to transit safety accidents: “Stand on the edge of a train platform, drive around the boomgates at a level crossing, they may not rhyme but they’re quite possibly, the dumbest ways to die.” In addition to the video, they also have a blog and website.

One of the many “Dumb Ways to Die”

At first, my initial reaction to this campaign was that it was definitely controversial and may turn some people off. However, after further research, I’m glad to see that Metro has acknowledged this fact. Daniel Hoare, a spokesman for Metro, said that they were prepared for a backlash from some people who might take offense at its use of humor to tackle a problem that causes multiple deaths every year. “Some people might have an issue with us making light of what is a serious topic, but if we can save one life or avoid serious injury, then that’s how we’ll measure the success of this campaign,” he said. If they haven’t already, I think it’s important for Metro to implement a social media triage. As they are sure to receive many comments on their YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr accounts, this can help them decide what is okay for them to respond to, what might require someone else internally to respond to, and what might be better for someone in the community to respond to.

With that being said, I like this approach by Metro Trains, as I feel it’s more “eye-catching” (or perhaps it’s “ear-catching” in this case) than the traditional approach. The dark comedy approach with catchy music is a nice change-up, as opposed to the traditional PSA’s we are accustomed to, which often show a graphic scene with serious undertones. Their use of a viral video to increase their campaign’s awareness and reach of their message is brilliant. Although the statistics aren’t out, I’m almost positive they have seen a considerable increase in visits (and a decrease in bounce rates) to their website and various social media platforms since the release of their video. Not to mention the fact that if this marketing student from North Vancouver has heard about it, then the awareness portion of their campaign has certainly gone well.

Uncle Drew Helps Pepsi MAX Go Viral…Again

Posted on November 13, 2012 by ckwokchoon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=MLyvkBifQ3w

Last week, Pepsi MAX released Part II to their now infamous “Uncle Drew” Series. This continues on with the same premise as Part I, which you can check out here. The original premise was Pepsi went to a pick-up basketball game in Bloomfield, New Jersey pretending to shoot a documentary on a basketball player named “Kevin.” All spectators were given free samples of Pepsi MAX, and were told them to point them at the camera. This was obvious product placement, but what the crowd didn’t know was that they were in for a surprise. When a player gets injured, Kevin volunteers his “Uncle Drew” as a replacement. “Uncle Drew” is noticeably a good 40 years older than everyone else, and appears to be slow and un-coordinated at first. But after a few missed shots, “Uncle Drew” starts playing like a pro, and wows the crowd with his seemingly unbelievable play, all while sipping Pepsi MAX. Turns out, Kevin’s “Uncle Drew” was actually NBA point guard Kyrie Irving, fresh off his unanimous win for the league’s Rookie of the Year award two days prior to the shoot. The 2^nd video in the series has “Uncle Drew” recruiting an old team member named “Wes” for a pickup game in Los Angeles, California. Once again, the players and spectators had no idea what they were in for as “Wes” was actually Kevin Love, another NBA player who just so happens to be a two-time all-star, and Gold medalist from the most recent London Olympics. At the end of the videos, you see Kyrie and Kevin undergoing their transformations with the tagline “a zero-calorie cola in disguise.”

The LA crowd is in disbelief when Uncle Drew reveals how much better he really is.

After watching these videos, I was obsessed. Now sure, as a fan of the NBA, I can admit I’m a little biased here. But you can’t deny the sheer marketing brilliance behind this video series. First and foremost, there’s the obvious fact they’re trying to make the comparison between these NBA players and the qualities of their product, Pepsi MAX. Kyrie and Kevin may have appeared to be old, but they were by far the best players on the court. Accordingly, just because the Pepsi MAX can is labelled as a zero-calorie cola, Pepsi wants their target market to know that what’s inside still tastes great.

Secondly, the use of basketball superstars such as Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love are consistent with their intent for their product to be positioned as a men’s diet cola. As influencers within their target market, Pepsi aims to have an effect on customers’ decision journeys. For more on how influencers can affect decision journeys, check out my previous blog post titled Adidas Beliebes in Bieber.

Lastly, I couldn’t help but notice the impact that this viral video had. They initiated a conversation online which encouraged engagement through the Social Technographics Ladder. By applying social technographic segmentation, Pepsi’s viral video had an effect down the chain. “Creators” uploaded the video and wrote articles about it, “conversationalists” updated statuses about it through their various social media platforms, “critics” commented and shared their views, and “joiners” and “spectators” were then exposed to the brand by viewing the video, and reading the content from the “conversationalists” and “critics”. By creating a video that triggered such positive reactions from the first three groups, Pepsi indirectly had an impact on the “joiner” and “spectator” groups as well.

“Kyrie Irving” and “uncledrew” trending on Twitter

Five days after the first video was released, it received 3.1 million views, and 20,000 likes on YouTube. A month later, Sam Duboff (a spokesperson for the brand) said that 80% of the viewers had actually gone back to re-watch the video at some point in time. It was so popular that it was then turned into a 30-second commercial that ran during the NBA Finals last season which resulted in the hashtag #uncledrew to trend worldwide on Twitter. If you ask me, there’s no doubt that Uncle Drew was a slam dunk for Pepsi.

The Long Tail – Taking Your Business Online

Posted on October 29, 2012 by ckwokchoon

Jean-Francois Lapointe added an online business to his BDH Bikes store in 2006 after buying his father’s bicycle shop and has built it into a $4-million-a-year enterprise.

Last week I read an article on the Ottawa Citizen about Jean-Francois Lapointe, owner of BDH Bikeswhich is located in Gatineau, Quebec. Growing up, Lapointe worked for his father at the bike shop, but had to rely on employment insurance during the winters because business was too slow to keep him employed. When he took ownership of the shop from his father, he decided a change had to be made. Instead of focusing solely on the traditional brick-and-mortar business which limited sales in the winters, Lapointe figured it would be advantageous to start selling bike parts online, and it was. By enabling e-commerce through both his website and eBay, Lapointe was able to expand the reach of his company to bike aficionados worldwide. Today, BDH Bikes is considered to be one of “Canada’s biggest online retailers of bicycles, parts and accessories, with yearly gross sales of $4 million.”

This is a great example of successfully moving from offline promotions and communications to include a significant role for online activity. Moving your business online provides plenty of opportunities for growth. In Lapointe’s case, it allowed him to target a niche market through microsegmentation.

This gave him “unrestricted” shelf space, which allowed for more selection for his consumers. In addition, the expanded collection allowed him to reach the customers that aren’t into mainstream products, thus increasing market share and sales. This is called the Long Tail, which Chris Anderson delves into further in his article on Wired.com. For a better example of the Long Tail, take Amazon.com for instance. A typical Barnes & Noble offers a selection of 130,000 books whereas Amazon’s inventory is comprised of roughly 2.3 million books. Although Barnes & Noble offers the most popular and mainstream books available, they fail to account for the segment of customers interested in more obscure items. Amazon capitalizes on this by offering the niche fare that their offline competitors don’t. This is evident by more than half (57%) of Amazon’s book sales coming from outside the top 130,000 titles. The Long Tail proves that even though many consumers congregate towards the mainstream items, “there will always be real demand for niche fare found only online.”

BDH Bikes is just one of the many great examples of the advantages to using the Long Tail.

Adidas Beliebes in Bieber

Posted on October 16, 2012 by ckwokchoon

Earlier this year, Adidas decided to expand their NEO sub-brand by targeting “teenage girls more influenced by music and fashion than sports.” They stated that they would be doing this through their social media platforms on Facebook and Twitter. The past few months has already seen NEO busy in action with campaigns like their love song digital promotion for Valentine’s Day, and convincing David Beckham to endorse a special shoe line within the sub-brand.

Today, Adidas brought along a new celebrity for the ride, I think you might recognise him…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8idGF7SgzcU&feature=player_embedded

Adidas has “Bieber Fever”

Yes, Adidas has just signed off on a two-year partnership with Justin Bieber to be the new face of their NEO “Live Your Style” campaigns. This includes a “Find My Gold Shoes” contest via Facebook, in addition to sharing his favorite seasonal outfit combinations, which his fans will be able to purchase. Adidas believes Bieber’s strong influence over a global fan base is something they can capitalize on.

“He possesses an undeniable young, carefree, bold spirit and energy that is identical to the Adidas NEO Label. He lives his style in the everyday, but most certainly when he is performing through music and fashion.”

Customer Decision funnel What better way to attract a target market than by getting a main influencer within the category, Justin Bieber in this case, to endorse their brand? As I learned in class, influencers can play a huge role as customers reach the stage of researching and evaluating their options. When influencers endorse a product, they make customers narrow down their consideration set, which is full of your competitors. In addition, by focusing on a specific target market like this, they are further narrowing down the funnel by concentrating on a niche group of customers who are more likely to convert. This will surely help to increase the chances of turning awareness into consideration, followed by intention and subsequently into purchases.

Best Buy Fights Back

Posted on October 12, 2012 by ckwokchoon

Today I read an article on Time Business about Best Buy making two announcements which will take effect just in time for the upcoming holiday season:

They would begin price matching online retailers
They will offer free home delivery on merchandise that is out of stock in stores

In an attempt to combat the recent trend of “showrooming,” Best Buy will now match the prices of their online competitors

These changes are surely a retort to companies like Amazon.com, which as of late has been contributing to the recent trend of “showrooming” which has plagued brick-and-mortars like Best Buy over the past couple of years. “Showrooming,” for those that aren’t familiar with the term, is when a customer examines products in a brick-and-mortar store, and then purchases the same item online, usually at a cheaper price. As a result, it is estimated that Best Buy is host to around 15% of shoppers who come into their stores to test their products with the intent of purchasing online. This number has increased roughly 3% in past two years. In addition, it’s estimated that 43% of electronic buyers bought something online after checking it out in store.

Best Buy is taking these steps to improve the percentage of shoppers who actually enter their stores and leave with a purchase, which is currently about 40% of all shoppers. In addition, Best Buy believes that 20% of all “showrooming” shoppers end up making their purchase in the store, another figure which they would like to increase. “We have a tremendous opportunity to increase that close rate,” said Matthew Furman, a spokesman for Best Buy.

Expect to see more of these signs at your local Best Buy

Although it comes a bit late, I like this move by Best Buy. They acknowledged that they were missing out on sales and took action to increase their conversion rate, which has been in decline for quite some time. This suggests that they’re taking an honest look at their competition and recognizing that online retailing is becoming the preference for shoppers who purchase electronics. According to ShopperTrak, analysts have also forecasted that this trend will continue as foot traffic is expected to decrease by 8% in electronic stores this upcoming holiday season.

However, I see this move being successful in the short run as opposed to the long run. It’s estimated that overhead costs of brick-and-mortars add roughly 10% to prices, so it’ll be interesting to see whether or not Best Buy can survive by matching the lower prices of their online competitors as it will squeeze their margins even further. Doug Fleener, president of Dynamic Experiences Group shares these concerns.

“If you are willing to match price, you let competitors determine your profitability, and if customers know that, you’re only encouraging that behavior. This is not a sustainable strategy with the overhead Best Buy has, and limited time will mean nothing to consumers — there will be no going back.”

Will simply selling more by the volume fix their problem? What will happen come January when sales are sure to decrease after the holiday season? Is there a way to decrease their cost structure in order to remain competitive with e-commerce giants like Amazon? Only time will tell…

Blank You Very Much says Coca-Cola

Posted on October 5, 2012 by ckwokchoon

Earlier this week, Coca-Cola launched a new crowdsourcing initiative on Blank You Very Much (BYVM), a platform where brands interact with their fan base by inviting their consumers to participate in various design contests. The contest doesn’t entail creating a new logo for Coke, but instead incorporating a design that will go on a t-shirt. Judged by a panel consisting of five fairly well-known people within the design industry, the winner will receive a $5000 cash prize in addition to their artwork being featured on a limited edition t-shirt.

At first, I liked the idea of Coke interacting with its fans and customers and encouraging them to contribute to their company through an online contest. It’s a great way for Coke to appear more personable to the community by engaging them to create a positive design for the brand. However, as I thought more and more about it, I started to change my opinion on this initiative.

Some of the many designs Coke now retains the rights to

First and foremost, Coca-Cola is a multi-billion dollar company and the “grand prize” is only $5000? This pales greatly in comparison to some other crowdsourcing initiatives out there such as Pepsi’s Refresh Project which dishes out a combined $20 million, or The Netflix Prize which paid out $1 million to the winner. Secondly, as with most crowdsourcing initiatives, the rights to all the designs submitted are retained by the company. So in this case, BYVM and Coca-Cola will be free to use any submitted design at their discretion at any point in the future.

To me, this sounds more like exploitation than crowdsourcing. And after some research, I found I wasn’t the only one thinking this as well. Turns out AntiSpec founder Mark Collins has strongly voiced his opinion on the matter as well. In addition to some of the points I made above, he goes on to say:

“Aspiring designers don’t see the bigger picture. They don’t see that it devalues our profession. They don’t see that corporations like Coca-Cola are taking advantage for their own gain. All they see is the carrot dangling in front of them.”

Collins also thinks that these brands should be more responsible and be held accountable for their actions. He states:

“And the real shame is they probably do understand already, at least to a certain degree. Large successful businesses run on informed calculated decisions. Somebody at Coca-Cola decided that paying small change for thousands of hours of design work was too good to pass up.”

Yes I do realize that it’s a voluntary contest and that Coke isn’t forcing anyone to do their bidding or anything like that. And crowdsourcing isn’t always about extrinsic motivational factors like financial gain. Intrinsic motivational factors like personal pride, learning by practicing, developing a personal portfolio, striving to beat the competition, etc can all play a part into someone’s willingness to enter this contest. So I guess it’s up for debate. Is crowdsourcing just a subtle way for corporations to exploit their participants? Is it only considered “exploitation” when it’s a large company at hand? You be the judge.

Nike Wins Gold in “Olympic” Marketing

Posted on September 28, 2012 by ckwokchoon

Every Olympic Games presents the opportunity for brands to strut their best in order to garner the attention of millions of people. With over 219 million Americans tuning in, the 2012 London Olympics became the most-watched event ever in United States TV history.

Nike edges past Adidas in this event

Knowing this, it should come as little surprise that brands were willing to shell out top dollar for a spot as an official sponsor of the games. Adidas, for example, paid close to $60 million for their official sponsorship status. One would think this much money would certainly pay off right? Think again. In an article I recently read on AdAge, 37% of respondents in a Toluna Global Omnibus (TGO) survey mistakenly identified Nike as an official sponsor of the games, whereas only 24% of respondents correctly identified Adidas as an Olympic sponsor. Nike didn’t pay a dime to the International Olympic Committee or the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games, and yet they still managed to reap the benefits from the event. How did they do this you ask?

Over the years, Nike has been no stranger to ambush marketing, a strategy where brands capitalize on a marquee event by associating themselves with it, without paying a sponsorship fee. Nike decided to launch “Find Your Greatness,” a global ad campaign via YouTube specifically designed to coincide with the start of the London Olympics. This ambush marketing campaign features videos of everyday athletes in towns and cities around the world named “London.” Take a look for yourself.

In an attempt to “cash in” on the Olympic frenzy this past summer, they subliminally linked their brand to the name of the city which just so happened to be hosting the biggest sporting event of the year. In addition to their series of videos, the campaign was also fueled by a #findgreatness hashtag via Twitter, and various billboards located within Great Britain.

One of Nike’s many billboards displayed during the Olympic Games. This one in particular references Wimbledon, where Olympic Tennis took place.

Although this campaign was brilliant on Nike’s part, it’s also important to keep in mind how they succeeded in pulling this off. It’s interesting to note that (prior to the Olympics) according to Forbes’ athletic footwear brand Customer Loyalty Index, Nike ranked 2^nd, and Adidas 5^th in customer loyalty and engagement. So maybe the results of TGO’s survey should come as no surprise seeing that Nike’s brand was already considered more powerful than Adidas’ before the games even started. It makes me question, was Adidas’ sponsorship of the Olympic Games worth it? Maybe Nike’s ambush marketing campaign wasn’t necessary at all. Maybe their brand awareness is so superior to Adidas’ that they would’ve gotten recognition regardless. Maybe Adidas should have anticipated this and spent that $60 million elsewhere. Even though I wasn’t aware of their “Find Your Greatness” campaign, I for one thought (or maybe assumed) that Nike was an official Olympic sponsor. Then again, it definitely didn’t hurt their cause.

Perhaps, it’s time to introduce marketing as a new sport for Olympic competition

Fantasy SEO – A Link between Search Engine Optimization and Fantasy Sports

Posted on September 18, 2012 by ckwokchoon

With the last official day of Summer fast approaching, my favorite season looms just around the corner. No, I’m not talking about Fall, I’m clearly talking about another fascinating season of fantasy sports. Okay, maybe not THAT fascinating to most, but to me, another season of fantasy football/basketball/hockey/soccer (you get the idea) means countless hours spent online reading articles and doing research on the latest and breaking news from the many professional sports leagues that I follow.

I had always thought the time I spent looking at trends and player statistics was just a waste of my time until I read Tommy Landry’s blog post comparing Search engine optimization to fantasy baseball. The parallels between the two have led me to come up with some key takeaways, but first let’s start with the basics.

Search engine optimization, or SEO for short, is a way of increasing the attention your website gets in a search engine’s results. Simply put, the higher up and more frequent times your site appears on a search engine list, the better, as it increases its number of views. Here are 2 key takeaways that are bound to help you in both SEO and your fantasy sports teams.

1) Add Fresh Content: Having fresh content can help improve both your site’s ranking, and your team’s standing. Constantly updating your site with new material gives it a better chance at being found by search engines, thus increasing the traffic it receives. This same notion applies to your fantasy team as well. Always look to update and improve your team’s weaknesses by offering trades and making key waiver wire pickups. Don’t be afraid to take a risk on that rookie in the draft too (see Evgeni Malkin and Cam Newton). Fresh legs and fresh content are guaranteed to make your team and your site more relevant in the standings.

2) Use Social Media: Social media’s instant interaction has its advantages with regards to this topic. Sharing links to your website through your company’s various social networking pages gives it the opportunity to get re-distributed (re-tweets, shares, likes, check-ins, +1’s, etc) through the various means. Integrating social media into your strategy exponentially increases the reach of the links you want viewers to see. Social media can also be helpful to you as a fantasy sports manager. Using Twitter to do a search for #Fantasyfootball lets you see what others around the world are saying about fantasy football instantly. Asking for help is also an option with a variety of accounts (@Fantasycouch) dedicated to answering fantasy sports questions.

This is just a brief look into the overlapping parallels between these fantasy sports and SEO. I’m sure I’ll come across more angles and similarities between the two as the season gets into full gear so don’t be surprised to see a Part II in the nearby future.

Carey Kwok-Choon's Blog

A Marketing Blog for Comm 464