Lessons Learned from 2013 Super Bowl Ads

The twitpic heard 'round the world. Image: Oreo.

Now that you've had a little time to absorb an 108-yard touchdown and a 34-minute power outage, let's take another look at all of those insane 2013 Super Bowl ads. I want to talk to you about what we, as stewards of (slightly) smaller brands can learn. We probably won't have 3.8 million to spend on a 30-minute spot anytime soon, but there are some good lessons nonetheless.


1) Tell a great story, but connect it to something related. Commercials from Jeep (agency: GlobalHue) and Dodge (agency: The Richards Group) told great stories, with high quality imagery and emotionally gripping content. Unfortunately, at the end of a heart-wrenching story about how much we want those in our military to come home safe, we're pitched a sport utility vehicle, rather than, say, a donation to the Wounded Warrior Project. The Dodge commercial had the same issue. We're called upon to stop taking farmers for granted and to realize the true value of American agriculture, and just when we're moved to support our local 4H or CSA, we're sold a pickup truck.

2) If you truly have the connection, then capitalize on that. Don't be theoretical about it. These ads got high ratings (though they aren't generating a lot of vehicle purchase consideration), but the retired service members who were at the Super Bowl party I went to felt manipulated and felt the tie-ins to Dodge and Jeep were inappropriate. The worst part is that Dodge and Jeep are big supporters of Future Farmers of America and the USO, respectively. But they were unable to make the most of these connections in their ads because they didn't effectively explain (at least not to the folks at my party) what was going on with these partnerships. There was a Jeep/USO logo at the end of the Jeep ad, but my fellow partygoers were so turned off by the ad that they weren't paying attention. The Dodge ad never seems to mention FFA.  How do you think these ads would have been received if they'd opened with each brand explaining how and why it supported its partner non-profit? Don't assume that your audience knows everything about your brand. 

3) Make the most of the moment. Marketers like us have heard a lot this week about Oreo's timely tweet in the midst of the Super Bowl power outage. How did they do it? They put together a war room of everyone involved in their campaign (designers, writers, creative directors, Oreo's own brand messengers, etc.) so that they could get content created, approved, and published in record time. At smaller organizations, we aren't going to have such complex structures, but we can take a lesson from this: Think about opportunities you might have this year to capitalize on events in real time, and figure out who would  need to be in the room if you wanted to turn on a dime like Oreo.

What did you think about this year's Super Bowl ads? More backward sexism and cultural stereotyping than last year, or less? Better music and dancing? Cuter baby animals? Let me know which ones you liked and which ones made you wanna go "meh."

Twitter Lessons we Can Learn from Hope Solo

The public feud between US Olympic soccer player Hope Solo and Olympian-turned-commentator Brandi Chastain continues to make news as sports fans wait for the next salvo in a disagreement about the tone and content of Chastain's in-game commentary. It's not that Chastain is wrong, or Solo isn't entitled to her opinion, too, but sometimes these things are better handled in another way.

Hope Solo. JMR Photography.

For my part, I've heard announcers in gymnastics and ice skating provide commentary in much the same spirit, and it is a little critical. Still, Solo could have handled this differently.

Here's some things to consider next time you're tempted to start a public disagreement:

1) Does your beef really need to be on Twitter? This is the most public, unfiltered, exposed way you can start a conflict. Just because you need to say something, it doesn't mean you need to say it where else where millions of people will see or hear it. Solo could have just called Chastain privately and said, "Hey, we're all in the same gang, right?" I've heard Chastain be very complimentary to other teams - maybe she is just trying to avoid favoritism? A private talk could have cleared things up, but Solo lost her chance.

2) A little grace always makes you look better, and being defensive always makes you look bad. If Solo had held back, we'd all be talking about how hard Chastain is being on the team instead.

3) Do answer your critics, and consider what channels you'll use. Chastain has toed a firm line, saying she's "just doing her job," and has pointed out ways in which she's' complemented Solo's skills. She's resisted the temptation to get on Twitter herself and stuck to traditional corporate media to fit the image she's hoping to maintain.

4) Think about your audience. One of the many criticisms of Brandi Chastain's commentary is that it doesn't really tell the audience what's happening in the game. Does the audience really want to know what the team is doing wrong? Maybe a little, but most of us really need a basic guide as to which players are doing what.

How do you handle criticism of your organization? Please let me know in the comments.

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Be Generous with Your Business

The New York Times recently reported that the key to happiness is giving to others. How can we apply this to our businesses? Here's five ways to give back:

From Flickr user ThisParticularGreg.

1) Help a less experienced colleague. People who do the same thing as you do are your partners, not just your competitors. Giving a little advice now and then is a way to make connections, give back, and great karma for later. Now is also a good time to look at how you're mentoring your own employees.

2) Give a customer a break. Have a difficult order with a return problem, shipping issue, or an "I'm just not happy" problem? Make that customer's dream come true. Give a full refund. Extend your return policy. Waive the shipping charges. Send a replacement for free. A little goodwill now will get you a customer for life.

3) Embrace your community. Do you reply to posts on Facebook? Do you retweet your customers' tweets? Do you help the recent college grads who follow your company on LinkedIn? Social networking is a two-way street. Don't just broadcast, contribute. You'll find that your Facebook wall becomes a vibrant community.

4) Get your company involved in local good works. How involved are you in the community where you live? It's easy to ignore our hometowns when we do all of our business online. Can you support your local Girl Scout troop? Kids' softball team? Food pantry? Get out there with your employees and find a way to help out in the community you call home.

5) Get your customers involved in good works. Ask them to donate to a good cause whenever they order, or just to support a favorite charity anyway. Donate a portion of their order to charity. Make it easy for them to share with their friends on social networks. 

How are you giving back? Please share in the comments.

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How to Design a Great Email Newsletter

It's never a bad time to take another look at your email program and see if it could use a bit of a facelift. Here are five key factors to consider when retooling your email design.

From Flickr user Howard Dickins.

1) Digestability. I received a newsletter today that had more than 20 different articles in it. It was just too much. What three or four things should readers pay attention to and why? It's your job to tell people what's important.

2) Sharability. Are all of your articles sharable on social networks? They should be.

3) Consistent branding. Does your email match your web site? Consider replicating your top menu at the top of your stationery and using some of the same graphical elements. Readers who click from your email to your web site should feel like they are still dealing with the same organization.

4) Reader experience. Readers click on a link from your email, and then what? They read the content you're promoting, and then what? Think about your goals. Do you want readers to enjoy your content and then share it with friends? Buy something or donate? Attend an event? Always have your overall organizational goals in mind when you create the landing pages for your emails.

5) Visual appeal. Sometimes it doesn't seem right to spend your hard-earned cash on photos or a graphic designer, but it's a sound investment. A well-designed email makes your brand look the way it should and leads the reader through your content the way you want them to.


What would you change about your email program? Please share.

Need help updating your email strategy? Drop me a line - I can help.

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What You Need to Know About Pinterest

Pinterest, the newest thing in social media, is really exploding these days - people are joining left and right, pinning their favorite stuff to personalized pin boards online.

It's all well and good for it to be so popular, but the real question is, does your business need to be on it? Here's a few facts and figures to help you decide.

1) Who is using it? 

A super-majority of women, which is great, because women make 85% of household purchasing decisions, and in some cities, are better educated and make more money than men.

According to this post on Quora, 80% of users are women, the key age group is 25 to 44, 25% of users have a bachelor's degree or more, and household income ranges from $25K to $75K.

There are three main groups using the site:

• Boomers and who are interested travel and their DIY Babies.
• Working moms who are power shoppers and want coupons on upscale or upscale-looking items, and prioritize convenience.
• Young, middle-class, active families who want to balance work and parenting, need recipes, child friendly activities, advice for healthy living.

2) What are people pinning? 

A quick drive through Pinterest shows people doing a lot of wedding planning, style picks, household and craft things, cool photography, and, of course, kittens. This article from PC Magazine asserts that there's a growing variety of categories on the site. There's a lot of crafting (knitting, collage, etc), food, interior design, and especially fashion and beauty, but also tattoos, cars, art photography, travel, pets, and humor. The better the photographic quality, the more likely it is to get pinned. There's a growing community of teachers on there trading lesson plans and ideas.

Pinterest is also more aspirational than some other networks. On social networks like Facebook, people talk about what they are currently doing, making, wearing, etc. On Pinterest, users can show people what they wish to do, wear, eat, sew, go to, look like, etc., but they may or may not have the means to obtain any of those things. See this slideshow to learn more about what people are doing on the site.

3) Is there an e-commerce connection? 

People certainly are pinning a lot of buyable things, but there don't seem to be any hard numbers out there yet on how much revenue Pinterest could be driving. There's quite a bit of potential, though. A certain number of people who pin things they like will eventually buy those things, and since the URL stays with the image, pinned images do drive site traffic.

4) How many people are on it? 

ComScore reported 11.7 monthly Pinterest users in January, 2012, part of a steep user growth curve. According to this TechCrunch article, there were ten million users on Pinterest as of February 12, 2012, with 20% using the site daily.

5) What's the Double-X Factor?

Per the same article, as many as 97% of these users may be women - a higher number than PC magazine provides. This isn't a bad thing. Though I've heard more than one person describe Pinterest as a "pacifier for women," I think these people are missing the big picture. Businesses have a huge opportunity on Pinterest to appeal to their primary audience demographic -women. She-conomy shares some pretty amazing facts about female buying habits - I think these are worth a reprint:

In the US, women account for 85% of all consumer purchases including everything from autos to health care:

• 91% of New Homes 
• 66% PCs 
• 92% Vacations 
• 80% Healthcare 
• 65% New Car
• 89% Bank Accounts 
• 93% Food 
• 93 % OTC Pharmaceuticals 

American women spend about $5 trillion annually…Over half of the U.S. GDP

• 22% shop online at least once a day 
• 92% pass along information about deals or finds to others 
• 58% would toss a TV if they had to get rid of one digital device 

So, women flocking to Pinterest to keep track of things they might like to buy is worthy of sexist ridicule because...? I know, I couldn't answer this question either.

For a rundown of sexist coverage on Pinterest's success, click here for Mary Sue.

6) Are there businesses with successful Pinterest presences? 

Yes, in fact, Pinterest has started its own pinboard of case studies of people who've driven traffic and sales with Pinterest.

A few examples: 

Kate, a hairstylist and jewelry maker had a small blog that now has millions of pageviews because she has been posting photos of her hairstyles with links back to her site to the how-to videos to make the styles.  I posted about how-to videos a few weeks ago. Here's another great way to use them.

A UK flooring company is using Pinterest to show off their product and help people connect with them across other social networks as well. McKay flooring says that Pinterest has driven a high amount of traffic to their web site and blog, even allowing them to find ideas for blogging, and to help them get DIY tips out to customers.

According to Mashable, 9% of the top 300 retailers now have a Pinterest presence. Some of the most followed users are graphic designers, interior designers, and other creative folks.

How are big brands using it?

• Whole Foods is pinning foods and recipe ideas. 
• DIY queen Martha Stewart is pinning entertaining and decorating ideas. 
• Better Homes and Gardens has multiple boards with recipes, decorating, and holiday tips. 
• Bergdorf Goodman is serving your inner shopaholic 
• The Today show is one of few non-stuff oriented boards - showing news and related images 
• Travel Channel - for the aspirational traveler in you. Where would you like to go? 

7) How can you use Pinterest to grow your own business? 

If you have your other social media presences straightened out and you’re looking for new territory, Pinterest might be a good tactic…. If you're in a creative business, whether you're a graphic designer, photographer, interior designer, fashion designer, restauranteur, travel planner, knitter, crafter, or anything else in that vein, take pictures of your stuff, post them to your blog or web site, and pin them on Pinterest. Link it back to how-to-make, how-to-use, or how-to-wear ideas and see traffic climb. Follow and support other users - many PInterest success stories mention that they get great ideas from Pinterest all the time - it's another way to dialogue with people who love doing what they do. According to this Shareaholic study, Pinterest Drives more traffic than Google+, YouTube, and LinkedIn Combined.

Have you given Pinterest a whirl? How was it? Please share.

Commercials I Love - Super Bowl Edition

I don't know about you, but I mostly watch the Super Bowl for the commercials. This year's game was full of funny, creative and entertaining commercials, as well as the usual lowest-common denominator beer and sexism (please GoDaddy, try something new - we dare you).

Themes this year included dogs and cars. It was definitely a year for a resurgent Detroit, with Chevy especially making a significant investment in their campaign.

So based on a super-scientific focus group including my neighbors, family, and friends, here's a few of the more notable ads this year:

From GEICO:  a group of disgusted junior high girls helps a guy save money on his weight loss plan. Funny and to the point. Consistent with GEICO's branding.



Then, a great dane uses Doritios to bribe a guy to cover up a cat murder. Another one of Doritos' consistently edgy and humorous commercials.



Finally, in this really creative ad, Toyota has not just reinvented the Camry, it's reinvented the couch, police officer, baby, the DMV, blender, curtains, and finally the reinvented rain, which makes you thinner. Bring that on!



What were your favorite ads? Please share. Now, on to the Puppy Bowl!

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Commercials I Love - Direct TV

Those of you that know me personally know that I love TV commercials. The best ones are 30 seconds of art that can make you laugh or cry.

One of the best commercials I've seen recently is part of a new Direct TV campaign - it's called "Don't Wake Up in a Roadside Ditch."

Why do I like it? It's got great timing and visual interest - when I first saw it I wasn't really paying attention but I stopped what I was doing to watch it because it's quite funny.

The premise? People who are unhappy with their cable companies are at the beginning of a downward spiral, which could end up in a roadside ditch. Customers can get back on track with Direct TV.

The only problem? The pitch is at the very end - first-time viewers don't even know what the commercial is for until the very end. I don't think it's a big issue with this particular commercial though - much like the Volkswagen Darth Vader piece, it's interesting enough that viewers will stick around through the end.

Your lesson? There's room for a little story, art, and entertainment in your marketing. Even if you don't do video ads, you can still add some interest and humor to your social media, email, and web promotions.

Take a look and let me know what you think.

Creating Your Branding Statements

So, last week we talked about building your brand and what you need to do to create meaning and strength behind your brand.  I asked you three questions:

Boxer puppy. Flickr  user MythicSeabass.

1) What do you do?


2) How are you different than the competition?


3) What do you stand for?

Now let's go through a branding exercise - we'll answer these questions for a sample brand.

Imagine that you own a small, local pet-sitting service, called Pets n' Friends. So...

1) What do you do? 

Pets n' Friends offers dog walking and pet sitting services for local pet owners and their pets.

So far, so good...

2) How are you different than the competition?

We really care about your best animal friends. Our qualified pet sitters and dog walkers are not only specially trained, bonded, and insured, they are genuine animal lovers. Our pet people love spending time with your pets - interacting with them, snuggling them, walking them, and playing with them. We offer great value, with weekly, monthly, and annual packages tailored right to your pets' needs.

Great job! And finally...

3) What do you stand for?

At Pets n' Friends, we feel like your best animal friends deserve the best quality of care, even when you can't be there. We believe that pets that have lots of caring people around are the happiest and healthiest, so we've designed a full suite of programs for play, exercise, and companionship.

Well, there you go. How would you describe your brand?

Need help? Let me know.

Building Your Brand

Brand. From Flickr user DentalBen.

What's your brand?

Your company name? Sure.

Your main product? OK.

Your visual identity - your logo and colors? All right.

That's a start.

But the strongest brands mean something. The strongest brands stand for something.

Now it's time for you to decide what your brand stands for.

Here's a simple exercise to get you started - ask yourself these questions:

1) What do you do? This is the core of your brand. Do you make clothes for children, sell organic produce, provide computer repair service, help people plan vacations?

2) How are you different than the competition? This is your value proposition. Are those children's clothes more affordable? Is the produce locally grown? Is the computer service guaranteed? Are the vacations more luxurious? These key differentiators help you articulate the value you offer to your customers.

3) What do you stand for? The very best brands are memorable because they stand for something larger - something bigger than a product or service. Do you believe that great children's clothes help kids stay more active and learn more? Do you believe that locally-grown organic produce is the key to our health and our economy? Do you believe that businesses are hurt by poor IT service? Or do you believe that travel can be a transformative experience that causes people to change the world?

Attempt to answer these questions, and you'll be closer to understanding how to strengthen your brand. These answers should be reflected in all of your communications - from your in-store merchandising to your catalogs, to your web site, PR, and social media.

You'll notice that I didn't say a word here about your logo, colors, or company name. While these things can make a difference to your business, the real difference is defining what stands behind them.

Need help articulating your brand? Drop me a line.

Marketing News Roundup - August 5, 2011

What should you be paying attention to this week?

So many coupons! Photo: Flickr user sdc2027.

Google has purchased daily deal aggregator Dealmap. There are now more than 400 providers of daily deals, a sector that may grow to $6.1 billion by 2015. (New York Times)

Your takeaway: Keep an eye on these daily deal sites, but be wary. The bottom line is that you’re almost always going to have to discount your product by at least 50%, and consumers are loyal to the deal site brands (like Groupon or LivingSocial), not your brand. Do your homework before you commit. More information here.


The Washington Post reports that everyone is rebranding, from Honest Tea to non-profits, to the DC Water and Sewer Authority. (WaPo)

Your takeaway: In my experience, changing a visual brand (your logo, color scheme, tagline) is almost never worth the expense and headache, especially if you’re a brick and mortar business (just imagine purchasing new signage for hundreds of stores). But it CAN be worth it if there’s good reason to change. If you need to disassociate your brand story from a PR nightmare, or your visual identity is simply outdated, give some serious thought to what it would take, and what it would cost to rebrand yourself. Just read this story about the Gap’s experience before you jump in.


The most important story this week:

Remember how Obama lowered FICA by 2% as part of his economic stimulus? FICA is shorthand for the social security tax the government takes out of employee paychecks each pay period. In 2011, people collecting a paycheck received a 2% reduction in their FICA withholding, so paychecks got a bit bigger, whether folks received raises or not.

Unfortunately, as part of the recent debt ceiling debacle, this tax cut won’t be held over for 2012. This means that in 2012, the government will begin taking that 2% out again. The result? Workers collecting a paycheck will have more tax withheld starting January 1. People who don’t get a raise will have smaller paychecks, to the tune of $10 billion a month, or about $1,500 per working family for year. (Business Insider)

Your takeaway: That’s $1500 these families can’t spend on your product. What’s your plan to deal with this? You’d better start thinking now - about how to market more meaningfully (and less expensively), and how to stay relevant. Is your product a "want" item? Make it a need. Even if you’re a B-to-B outfit, if your customers sell to consumers, you’re still going to be affected.


What's on your mind this week? Please tell me in the comments.


Have a great weekend, and thanks for reading!

On Building Trust

One of the most important things your potential (and current) customers need to do is trust your business. After all, if they don't trust you, why would they buy from you? Why would they recommend you to others? Why would they follow you via social media?

Photo: Flickr user Sahaja Meditation.

Here's how to build that trust:

Mean what you say and say what you mean. Keep your promises.

Be available. Answer phone calls, emails, and posts on twitter, Facebook, and Google+ promptly. If your company is reviewed on other sites like TripAdvisor or Yelp, keep track of reviews and reply appropriately.

Stand for quality. Provide a quality product and resolve complaints quickly and fairly.

Appreciate what you've got. When customers publicly thank you for the great work you do, acknowledge it.

In short, treat your customers the way you want to be treated. The best way to build trust is by simply being trustworthy.

Related posts:

Refocusing on Your Customer
Don't Rickroll Your Customers - Offer Better Service
A Tale of Two Customers - Why Customer Service is Marketing Too

Marketing News Roundup - July 22, 2011

What should you be paying attention to this week?

Most business executives now aware that social marketing is important, but have failed to create cogent social media strategies as part of overall marketing plans. (eMarketer)

Your takeaway? Do you have a social media strategy that supports the rest of your marketing plan? Social media can be time-intensive, so make sure that time is being used wisely.


Photo: Copyright John Rawlinson, Flickr

Fake Apple store in southwestern China best ripoff store ever, and just around the corner from, you guessed it, two more fake Apple stores. (NPR)

Your takeaway? Now's a great time to set up google alerts and other social media monitoring so you can see how your brand is faring online (and detect any fakes).

Time to take another look at coworking. Coworking offices are set up so that independent professionals have space to work and share ideas. The city of Santa Cruz is using it to help local talent find work. (Fastcompany)

Your takeaway? Why does the best talent for you to hire have to live somewhere in your geographic area and arrive in your office at the same time each day? Maybe it's time to think more creatively about getting the best people for your marketing team.

Have a great weekend, and thanks for reading!

Creating Your Brand Story

We've discussed different aspects of story marketing on this blog before, here and here.

Today, it's time to think about your brand story.

Your brand story is how you explain why you do what you do. It gives a bit of history, and invites people in to support what you're doing and who you are.

For example, there's a pretty popular brand of all-natural frozen lunches that says something like this:

When our children were born in 1982, we were very busy, but we still wanted to be able to eat healthy, quality food that was quick and easy to make. We couldn't find any at the store, so we created it ourselves. We liked it so much, we wanted to share it with you.

So, what does this story do?
photo © 2007 Keith Tyler | more info (via: Wylio)

• It explains how long the company has been in business.
• It provides a way of identifying with the company - many people are busy, and many people are busy parents.
• It explains the problem that this product solves - being too busy to make healthy meals - we can all identify with that!
• It welcomes you in to the brand, and offers you a seat at the table to share.

When you're writing your own brand story, think about:

• When did your brand come about and what was your situation?
• What problem were you having that your brand solves?
• How can your current customer identify with that?
• What can you say that invites them to join in the story?

Not sure where to begin? I can help.

Related Posts:
What is story marketing and how does it work?
Writing your own customer stories