Tag Archives: YouTube

Aldo Israel Rings Your Bell

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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.

Repeat and Recommend Stage

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

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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.

Interactive Video

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.

Clickable Ads

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

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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.

Get your toast out with a fork

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

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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 2nd 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.”

pepsi max

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, Pepsi Uncle Drew“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.

uncle drew trends on twitter

“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.