Search results matching tag 'brands'

Apart from your customers, who’s talking about you?

2358199 — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:12:00 GMT

Whenever I hear people talk about brand sentiment, there seems to be a huge emphasis on what their customers are saying about them online, but I wonder sometimes if this had led to brands forgetting the importance of the many other stakeholders who are influencing decisions to purchase on a daily basis?

Of course, customer views and opinions are a critical part of any management information data, but of equal validity are those opinion formers and influencers in key groups and organisations and those writing about you or your competitors or generally related issues in the press. Whether you are a brand owner that outsources your marketing and PR, are the manager of an internal comms team, or are a PR agency helping build brand reputation for your clients, understanding exactly who could be talking about the brand is critical to compiling and effective and targeted communications strategy which minimises risks of brand damage and taps into available opportunities for brand advocacy.

In recent months, we have seen a surge in demand for stakeholder analysis reports, as brands realise that the market has changed dramatically since their last stakeholder review. If you don’t know what’s hot and what’s not in your target industry or who’s writing about key topics that relate to your brand, how can you plan accordingly?

About face: beyond endorsements

1794479 — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:48:00 GMT

A couple of interesting research studies into celebrity endorsements have surfaced of late, prompting us to look again at the role of endorsements in music. A new Adweek Media/Harris Poll, investigating the persuasiveness of celebrity endorsements, offered an insight into the most effective routes to market. Business leaders – of the Steve Jobs variety - came out on top as the ‘most persuasive’, followed by athletes, TV/movie stars, then musicians, with former political figures trailing along in fifth place. However, when the question was flipped as to which were the ‘least persuasive’ athletes, business leaders, politicians and movie stars were deemed less viable than musicians.

Celebrity endorsements can be exceptionally powerful, raising awareness, increasing a product’s appeal and influencing the buying decisions of fans wanting to emulate the lifestyles of their favourite stars. Music, arguably, has more resonance than high profile endorsements from athletes due to the fact that unlike sport the endorsee comes complete with their own soundtrack. This gives a brand leverage every time their music is heard in numerous different possible locations, whereas sport can often be confined to a very limited – and literal -playing field.

A quick scan across the barrage of media channels available today highlights a seemingly never ending string of pop stars and musicians extolling the virtues of a plethora of branded products. Another recent study, The Celebrity Endorsement Sensor, of 24,000 consumers across 25 countries, by the media agency Mediaedge:cia (MEC) highlighted how 35% of its respondents believed celebrity endorsements managed to improve a brand’s overall awareness. However, this awareness is subject to a major perception flaw. A sizable 53% said they had problems remembering which celebrity was attached to which brand. So a brand netting a lucrative music endorsement may actually indirectly be playing into the hands of a rival company. This is a problem that is exacerbated if the musical endorser in question is somewhat fickle in their choice of alignments over a given period.

The Mediaedge study also stated that male adults within the 18-34 age bracket are the most likely to engage with celebrities via digital activities, and it is in this digitally enhanced realm where music celebrities can make a memorable impact. The relationship between artist and brand has evolved from a simple ‘cool-by-association’ proposition to a deeper, more rounded, collaborative partnership. In order to achieve ‘cool-by-integration’ brands need to become actively and creatively involved with their endorsees in broader more consumer rewarding campaigns.

A nationally representative survey in the UK – which features in the FRUKT Music and Brands manifesto 2010 - recently asked: “Which music marketing campaigns make the biggest difference to your brand perception?” Artist endorsements came in at a lowly 23% of all the possible categories. Ticket/download giveaways, the ability to share music with others, receive exclusive content, and get closer to the acts they love were amongst the highest brand and music touch points for consumers.

Endorsement partnerships are like relationships. They need chemistry. It’s ultimately a social science, a love triangle between three separate components – brand, band and fan. As with a chemistry set it’s a delicate balance between creating the perfect mix and it all blowing up in your face. However, get the ingredients right – a dash of star power, a hint of genuine creativity and a healthy scoop of believability – and an endorsement deal rooted in music will give your brand not only a figurehead but a whole new voice.

Here are some key pointers to consider when embarking on a music-based endorsement deal:

1. Understand your market

The reason that some celebrity endorsements fail to provide a ROI for the brand is because celebrities have often been identified in an emotional and sometimes un-researched manner, with the campaign concept tweaked to fit the celebrity into the creative.

2. Forge creative partnerships

The key thing to remember is that placing a celebrity in an ad is not an idea in itself. The off the shelf mentality has gone, campaigns, and even the songs within them can be built from the ground up. Embrace and harness the creativity of those you have decided to work with.

3. Start a conversation

Give them a story. Casting a multi-million dollar film star in your movie means nothing if the script is terrible. The same goes for a music artist. They may be the most popular face on the planet, but if the story they are cast in is bad no one is going to want to listen. Build your spokesperson into a narrative, an ongoing conversation where the music fan plays an active part in the musical journey.

This piece is adapted from the article ‘Sound Investment – From Endorsements to Creative Partnerships’ from The Brands and Music Manifesto 2010. Download a sampler here

5 Tips for Brands in Social Spaces

2154489 — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:28:00 GMT

I was lucky to be part of a great panel moderated by Gordon at media140 on brands and personality. A topic similar to the question I get asked most often by our clients at H&K — “How should my brand behave in social media?”

So here are my Top 5 Tips for social success. Please add yours in the comments.

1. Listen first: People have always talked about the brands and products they love or loath. The amazing thing is that now we can listen in real time as these conversation happen in public. So we help our clients explore the many free online tools, as well as using more sophisticated listening platforms to track and analyse brand sentiment. For real insights, be open and truly interested in what people have to say. Even when they are not talking about you.

2. Think before you speak: There are many examples of brand faux pas in social media spaces. Which mirrors human foibles. If you don’t want those student party pictures on Flickr, don’t post them. Better yet, don’t get drunk. The brand version of reputation protection is to have clearly written social media strategy and guidelines.

3. Be hands-on : The only way to really understand web 2 tools is to use them yourself. So I run Digital PR Acceleration training for clients as a fast-track way to experience social media the way consumers do. We are also big Yammer fans at H&K. An enterprise microblogging platform, it's a great way to connect staff across offices, while organically learning best behaviour in a private community.

4. Share: Try some internal crowd sourcing or fun events to bring your tribe together. For example, WPP Digital holds the yearly Stream unconference where everyone must lead a talk or workshop. Brand teams can learn a lot from new ways of working together that can apply to how their brand can bring something of value to the social media party.

5. Embrace beta: Here's one secret you probably won't hear from your agency. There is no such thing as a social media expert. Digital is not a channel. Better to view it as a river. By the time you think you understand the Twitter phenomenon, along comes Foursquare and Gowalla. You’re a pro with Facebook, but have never tried FriendFeed. So my advice is to keep up with the tech platforms, but with all the enthusiasm of a perpetual student. Party on! ;-)

You should follow me, my agency and all the smart folks from the media140 event on Twitter

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Adapted from an article written for Marketing Magazine 14 October 2009 Issue13

How to cut your nose off to spite your face(book)

1721792 — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:13:00 GMT

As agencies we're all trying to find ways to get our client's brands on to the elusive 7 or 8 sites they habitually visit. Some commentators have insisted that the 'destination' web is over and we'll never produce another microsite. The standard response to most briefs is that we can do 'everything on facebook', create a branded page, add some sort of application and take advantage of the inherently viral nature of the platform.

Couple of problems with that. First, you have very limited control over your new site - facebook can randomly update it's layout, users can start using the page as a customer service channel and disgruntled punters can use it as an opportunity to attack your client.

Secondly and more importantly, no-one will ever find it anyway because facebook have barred Google's crawlers. Brands are increasingly using the call to action "Search for..." at the end of their ads and in their outdoor work and that means ensuring that they come up top. A facebook page would be lucky to make the top ten.

So right now, that means we're back to creating ownable, searchable microsites and facebook is missing out.

How to define your brand?

2657912 — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:35:03 GMT

I work for an online shoe retailer called www.fitnessfootwear.com.
"The web's widest choice of sports and outdoor shoes" is our slogan, but what defines us as a brand?

This is our biggest question right now. Because we don't know what our customers think of us beyond being a fast, efficient and friendly family run business.

But then, we don't just sell running shoes and hiking boots, we sell some bizarre fashion items like emu boots of all things. They tie into the whole trendy outdoors look promoted by some of our other brands.

So here we are with this bright, colourful set, selling all sorts of shoes online -generally with a focus on the outdoors. But how do you depict yourself as a brand and give yourself an identity in this regard?

Any suggestions or resources to help with this would be greatly appreciated.

What’s the future of music sourcing & buying for brands? Part one

2119887 — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:29:00 GMT

Many of us in agencies, record labels, music publishers and music consultancies are looking to answer this question.

There are many issues to consider, most of which concern how one interest group is changing its relationship with another:

* Brand & agency relationships
* Music talent & music industry relationships
* Music consumer & music industry relationships

For this piece, let’s look at the changing nature of brand & agency relationships. We need to look back first before looking forward.

Agencies (of all kinds) have historically been the gatekeepers of client relationships. Agencies recruited and managed supply chains, and suppliers were kept away from clients. Agencies were always positioned as the experts to make the best decisions on:

* Creative collaborators (or creative assets) for a particular project. In ATL, key collaborators include the director/production company, the on-screen talent, the post-house and the music production company/composer. Creative assets include stock footage and existing music tracks.
* The commercial terms on which these creative collaborators were engaged or creative assets were purchased.

Many agencies liked to maintain linear top-down operational relationships with suppliers in order to :

* Control the creative agenda
* Control the financial agenda (allowing mark-up on supplier invoices)

Where the agency’s creative agenda (i.e. getting the client to sign-off the work) was served by delaying creative decisions, this would often impact the financial agenda by raising supplier costs. Nowhere more is this true than for licensed music where 11th hour clearances inevitably come with premium level licensing fees. Given agencies aren’t spending their own money, this situation served both agencies and favoured suppliers well. This became even more true as client procurement departments shaved margins on agency fees, which agencies sought to replace with mark-ups on supplier costs.

During the early-mid noughties, the linear top-down model began to be challenged through the rise of client procurement departments and independent production/marketing procurement consultancies. These specialists started to demand better justification for agency creative decisions in relation to the corresponding costs. Invoices were demanded and examined, and in some case poor (or borderline negligent) practices were uncovered. The harsh economic realities of 2008 & 2009 have exacerbated clients’ need to secure best value in all purchases. Cost inefficiencies (i.e. overpaying) that might have been tolerated in the good times pre Summer 2007, are certainly intolerable during 2009 into 2010.

So what next? What will the future look like?

The obvious answer is decoupling – the removal of campaign execution from agencies. Of course agencies are fighting back hard against this trend. They need to protect mark-up on supplier costs which frequently covers the overhead of in-house production staff (where the agency fee no longer does). The truth is that decoupling won’t work in every case, though increasingly clients are considering it.

One interesting recent development here:

Campaign’s graduate-focussed issue of 25th September ’09 included an article by recent agency recruits entitled “If I Launched An Agency”. Common predictions about future agencies throughout the various pieces were:

* Minimal numbers of employed staffers
* High reliance on outsourced expertise
* No fixed physical presence
* Constantly adapting agency identity including name

This points perhaps to a future where lean agencies hold the high ground on brand strategy & creative, but outsource execution to avoid the overhead of hiring & housing production departments. Remote contractors across all production disciplines (including music) will work directly for clients within an outsourced web, coordinated by production and marketing procurement consultants. This situation already exists for some clients who no longer want to support the overhead of large roster agencies – sadly this has led to redundancies in many places. The opportunities are now there for specialist contractors who can add more value, at greater speed for lower costs.

So what are the key tips here for clients?

1. Insist on competitive tendering for production suppliers and don’t rely on one recommendation as the sole solution.

2. Insist on greater visibility in the supplier chain. Know the end-recipients of your production budget and ensure you're receiving the full value of their product/service and not losing it through mark-ups.

3. Take advantage of best-practice process from those with niche expertise in specific fields – this will include music, on-screen talent and photography. Demand that those who buy products/services on your behalf are fully aligned with the brand’s agenda. A loyal partner should be able to look the client in the eye and truthfully answer the question: “What’s a fair price to pay for ….?”

4. Audit productions after the event. Was the optimum cost-efficiency achieved? If not, why not? Learn from mistakes and instil process to avoid repetition.

Who in your opinion is harder to win round – the consumer or the employee?

2640548 — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:56:48 GMT

We at Caburn Hope have noticed that one of the trending hot topics of late is the employee brand. Evidence suggests that the employee brand is becoming a strong sub-brand in its own right, and must therefore be treated with equal passion and creativity as the consumer brand when mounting a marketing campaign. To draw in the best employees, the employee brand must be uber attractive and strong. How important a role does employee marketing and communications play within your organisation, and do you consider staff an easier win than the consumer when trying to achieve brand buy-in?

www.caburnhope.co.uk

Popping up on a high street near you

1715197 — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:04:00 GMT

HMV’s name jumped out at us during a trawl through the music headlines a week or so back. If you didn’t see it the entertainment retailer announced it would be taking advantage of empty real-estate in the recession-hit high street to open temporary pop-up stores in some of the UK’s mid-sized towns. Hats off to this great idea to cope with Christmas demand.

But there’s no reason should this type of initiative should be confined to traditional retailers. While the concept of pop-up stores is not new, taking this principle and applying it to the world of music and brands might have some interesting consequences. What better way to drive awareness and engagement than by making a splash on the nation’s high street? Don’t wait for the customers to come to you, go and find them.

Take a music service rollout that is struggling to gain traction. A simple pop-up demonstration store with some smart incentives and maybe a few bands would almost certainly draw a crowd. Alternatively a clothing brand with a music campaign in full swing could easily replicate the HMV model and establish a physical presence nationwide to support its core activity. There would be space for live music, unique dressing of the location and bespoke promotions that might not be feasible in the permanent stores. Flexibility has to be the key advantage here.

Maybe we’re too focused on the virtual world and not enough on the real world on our doorstep. There must be logic in trading the social network site that’s attract a handful of would-be customers, for a pop-up store that brings your brand activity to life on the high street.

Is this reality of a pop-up music brand experiences viable? As with anything it would depend on a lot of factors to consider – location, budgets, proximity of your target audience – but there’s no reason to think it won’t happen on a high street near you soon. Watch that empty space

The Tweet 40

2637600 — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 12:00:00 GMT

Vodafone is building upon it's presence in the micro-blogging platform Twitter in an attempt to drive traffic to its Vodafone Music store. The mobile operator has created a new service which it is billing as the "first-ever interactive real-time top 40 chart for music lovers". Making use of Twitter's 'hashtag' capabilities, users add the artist and track name that they are listening to, proceeded by the RealTop40 hashtag. These votes are aggregated on the realtimetop40.com website, where a constantly updating top 40 list sits and of course all tracks can be purchased from the Vodafone Music webstore.

The headline-grabbing, investment-driving phenomena that is Twitter has stamped it's place firmly into the Zeitgeist. From Obama to Stephen Fry it's hooked an estimated 10m users worldwide, claiming consistent year on year growth of 1000%. If MySpace is synonymous with music and Facebook for friends. Twitter is about opinion and soap-boxing. What's more, researchers at Penn State University found that 20% of tweets are about brands, so harnessing and shaping the platform's chit-chat (and making it positive) has never been so vital.

Along the same lines as wearehunted.com, the Real Top 40 is a neat activation. Music has broad appeal and people are willing express their opinions on it, so the activation is inherently viral. Moreover it makes use of the Twitter's hashtag functionality and carefully, almost surreptitiously mobilizes Twitterers off-site for a soft-sell with relevance.

Four tips for mobilizing those Tweeters:

1. Give them a reason to engage
Deliver an activation that is interactive and go for instant gratification, Tweeters want to be a part of something there and then.

2. Make it viral
Of course the realm of Twitter is inherently viral, but build in broad appeal to your activation to ensure it echos.

3. No one likes a pushy brand
Allow the users to own it and let your brand take the back seat. This is their territory so be respectful. In the case of Vodafone's activation there is no company name grandstanding. The branding amounts to a logo on the website.

4. Offer, don't sell
Of course there is an end game to all this, but again don't be too pushy. The 'offer' should have relevance.

For Gimmick Sake

2546157 — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 09:48:00 GMT

Playing night after night at the Hammersmith Apollo doesn’t seem so appealing to the exuberant performer in search of the next thrill. Ever since the Beatles pioneered the ‘gimmick’ gig by performing on a Saville Row rooftop, bands have been rocking out in all manner of places from high on snowy peaks (The Alarm) to leagues below the sea (Katie Melua). Brands have also got in on the act.

They’ve tried it all, from unusual locations, to mad stunts, but how can they be sure they are really adding value? Sony Ericsson, for instance, invited 200 people to sit on a plane at 35,000ft with a jigging Jamiroquai at their feet back in 2007. Unquestionably a unique camapign, but some may have struggled to find the immediate relevance to the Walkman handsets. Until it was duly pointed out it was to reinforce the message that you can listen to music without limitation. It’s no coincidence then, that most of the major brands active in music are all vying to find a more unusual place to host a gig, and all conveying the message that live music can be taken literally anywhere.

However, is this message getting lost amidst the gimmick itself? If you really have to choose an ‘original’ location, then do as Carling did when they invited fans to see their favourite bands play at festivals around the UK in the back of Carling’s refrigerated trucks. The gigs were an ancillary but popular part of the ‘Strike it Cold’ campaign and the Carling Cold Beer Amnesty, which all reinforced the unifying product message that ‘quality’ is best served cold.

Similarly T-Mobile ‘s ‘impromptu’ Pink performance for the ‘sing-along’ in Trafalgar Square was a well timed performance, following the hype from the flash mob dance in Liverpool St Station, that fitted rather snuggly into the ‘Life’s for Sharing’ campaign. Alternatively, if gigging in a manhole isn’t your thing, take things digital. YouTube hosted the world’s first collaborative online symphony concert, which invited musicians from all round the world to enter with the chance to play at Carnegie Hall in New York. The entire campaign was hosted, submitted and performed on YouTube allowing it to showcase its viral abilities and its wealth of credible content that goes well beyond wedding dances and two legged dogs.

A well planned stunt can unify a campaign and showcase your brand’s product and messaging very effectively. If finding a new location is what your brand needs it should complement a larger campaign and not be standalone. The key to capitialising on the inventiveness of a particular promotion is in maintaining a clear lead back to what makes the product itself unique. Full articles and comments are included in the new FRUKT Music Intelligence Report. To find out more visit www.fruktmusic.com. You can also follow us at twitter.com/FMInews