Tag: endorsements

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advertising blogs Digital media social media

Kids in the Haul

Haul videos.  Have you heard of this trend?  Young adults, mostly girls, come home from the mall, lay their loot out and film it for upload to Youtube.  Haul videos.  Ever driven by a pickup in the Prairies and seen the deer horns hanging out the back?  Anthropological, kind of, isn’t it?  Don’t gasp.  We  do it in the car on the way home.  Look in the bag at our new runners or new hoodie and admire our purchase.  Run up to our room and put it on, admiring our new, cooler, redefined self in the mirror.  Filming and posting is an extension of our online existence.  This is a great mix of Gen Y’s faves: shopping and tech.

Is there any value here for consumers or is this just voyeuristic or narcissism run rampant?  Turns out that there is value.  The vloggers (read video bloggers) don’t just film high end loot hauls but talk about bargain basement shopping and deals, pointing consumers to sources and offering tips.  Some of the best haulers have inked sponsorships and advertising deals.  With millions of views, and perceived authenticity from the vlogger by  consumers,  manufacturers want in on this game.  (Endorsements and free merchandise must be disclosed.) Some girls are making big bucks. Is this the next big thing?  Really, whether it is or isn’t, it’s a trend that companies are putting some bucks behind as more consumers tune into this alternative channel of product information.

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social media viral marketing

(RED) or Dead

Had a great discussion yesterday about the launch of product (RED), forcing us to think back to 4 years ago when this brand and business/charitable model were a whole new concept for raising money for a cause.  Look what showed up today:  YouTube Preview Image

In this campaign, to support World AIDS Day on Dec. 1, digitally savvy celebs have stopped posting on Facebook and Tweeting until $1,000,000 is raised.  The campaign, called Digital Death, encourages consumers to buy back these celebs digital lives by texting to Buylife.org.  There was so much traffic that the website went down.

There were many other prongs to the campaign too:  (RED) products are available year round from Nike, GAP, Starbucks and Armani.

Starbucks has an exceptionally cool advent calendar (okay, who doesn’t love those), with a World AIDS Day contribution of $.05 for every view of a new Killers video.  Great.  Innovative.

Frequent use.  Small, regular payments.  All of the things that we talked about that (RED) was trying to do following the initial launch of the campaign:  keep you coming back.  Keep up that Customer Lifetime Value.

Today’s the day:  World AIDS Day.  Get yourself to a Starbucks today.  5 cents from every drink goes to fight AIDS in Africa.

Jay-Z & Cristal: Giving Up Control

We’ve talked quite a bit this term about giving up control of your brand.  Brandchannel has an interesting article about Jay-Z, Cristal and brand control.  You may know about the famous feud between the CEO of Cristal and Jay Z.  The CEO of Cristal was asked about his thoughts on how Cristal had been lifted from a luxury brand known to connoisseurs to a bling brand via rap mentions.  His response:  we can’t stop people buying it.  Yikes!  Enter Jay-Z.  By including the brand name, along with Dom, in his song, Jay-Z introduced Cristal to a whole new segment and gave the brand a new meaning:  audacious, kind of subversive, associated with the good life in an cheeky, intrepid way.

Is this a problem for the brands:  what if they don’t want the association with hip hop’s values?  Can they do anything about it or should they just drive on and wait until the next thing takes over?   Is there any real risk to the core segment that buys the brand being alienated by the infusion of new buyers or will the groups even notice each other?  Should the CEO have said anything or just kept his mouth shut and been thankful that his brand’s sales had dramatically increased?  Interesting decisions around brand control and when to let it go…or if you can even control it the way you’d like to.

Categories
advertising

Bolt’s Gold

The world’s most lovable athlete, who knocked us all out with his sprinting ability and personality in Beijing, has finally signed an athletic wear endorsement deal with his longtime supporter, Puma. What’s notable about this deal is that it’s the biggest deal in athletics history. Say again! The biggest deal ever! Details haven’t been released but this one echoes another fave’s, Ronaldo’s $32.5 million 4 year deal with Nike.
Bolt has been compared to David Beckham as one of the most marketable athletic stars. Many athletes can connect on the performance side of their sport. Bolt connects with fans in a unique way. Marketing and endorsement gold.The world’s most lovable athlete, who knocked us all out with his sprinting ability and personality in Beijing, has finally signed an athletic wear endorsement deal with his longtime supporter, Puma. What’s notable about this deal is that it’s the biggest deal in athletics history. Say again! The biggest deal ever! Details haven’t been released but this one echoes another fave’s, Ronaldo’s $32.5 million 4 year deal with Nike.
Bolt has been compared to David Beckham as one of the most marketable athletic stars. Many athletes can connect on the performance side of their sport. Bolt connects with fans in a unique way. Marketing and endorsement gold.
An interesting marketing question to consider is why do celebrity athletes command higher endorsement fees than actors, singers or musicians? Sports is the only arena in which the performance is unscripted and the day’s play spontaneous. Athletes gives us an opportunity to cheer and live our own best sports day vicariously through their performances. This is a quality that ad writers can’t create. Sports offers us the chance of failure, elation and memories. Remember Crosby’s Olympics goal. Where were you? What were you doing? Because of this, we’re willing to buy the golf clubs, sports drinks, even pain relievers, these demigods shill more than those endorsed by the latest movie star.

An interesting marketing question to consider is why do celebrity athletes command higher endorsement fees than actors, singers or musicians? Sports is the only arena in which the performance is unscripted and the day’s play spontaneous. Athletes gives us an opportunity to cheer and live our own best sports day vicariously through their performances. This is a quality that ad writers can’t create. Sports offers us the chance of failure, elation and memories. Remember Crosby’s Olympics goal. Where were you? What were you doing? Because of this, we’re willing to buy the golf clubs, sports drinks, even pain relievers, these demigods shill more than those endorsed by the latest movie star.

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