Strategic Insights – We’ve Got Ideas

Heron of Alexandria was one of the most innovative thinkers and inventors of his time. He was a teacher at the Museum of Alexandria during the middle of the first century AD, about the time Paul was in the latter stages of his ministry in the eastern regions of the Mediterranean.

His books on mechanics, geometry, astronomy and engineering were centuries ahead of his time. Heron was fascinated with the dramatic arts and created highly innovative methods of moving scenery and props on and off stage using gravity and pulleys in an automated fashion.

Perhaps his most remarkable invention was a steam-powered engine called a aeolipile. It’s described as follows:

“The aeolipile was a hollow sphere mounted so that it would turn on a pair of hollow tubes that provided steam to the sphere from a cauldron. The steam escaped from the sphere from one or more bent tubes from its equator, causing the sphere to revolve. The aeolipile is the first known device to transform steam into rotary motion.”

Keep in mind that the steam engine was not invented until the early part of the 18th century about 1700 years later, and really didn’t become a force in industry until well into the 19th century as it ushered in the Industrial Revolution.

Think what could have happened if Heron had been able to take his invention the next step. Or more likely, if someone else had recognized the brilliance of his idea and had the second idea of how to put the aeolipile into some practical use for daily application. Oftentimes that’s the way it works. The person with the big idea needs the person who thinks from a different side of their brain to turn the idea into a sellable product.

This is why ad agencies are unique entities. We purposefully set out to build a team of different thinking people who each have a role to play. Some clients need more creative thinking and other clients require more strategic and critical thinking. The one thing that should be common to every good agency is good ideas and the understanding of how to implement them. If Heron of Alexandria had an ad agency hanging around or at least someone who looked at life in a different way than he did, the Industrial Revolution might have taken place in the 3rd or 4th century and who knows where we would be now, Star Trek fans.

Podcasts and podcasting are on the verge of becoming mainstream in a very big way. When NBC starts promoting the podcasts for their most popular news programs numerous times each day………as they are doing now, you know that something is up. Podcasts and podcasting are just about to take off right down the middle of our cultural landscape.

And of course, we are not just talking about music here. We are talking about visual and audio content covering news, information, sports, entertainment, electronics, politics, and even education. Podcasting can included a range of diverse content.

Podcasting offers marketers and advertisers two opportunities.One is to produce their own podcasts containing unique content. Placing this content on their Web site allows others to download the content and view or listen to it on their desktop, laptop, iPod or another type of MP3 player. For example, I listened to a podcast the other day from “Pardon the Interruption,” the popular ESPN television show. Plus, iTunes allows anyone to upload their podcasts to the iTunes podcast library, making those podcasts available to anyone.

Frankly, we think this is a very valuable tool of which many of our clients should take advantage. Imagine creating a podcast for a new product or service introduction, say a new drink at a local bar or restaurant or a new workout regimen at a local health club. What if a client has a product that needs some in-depth explaining? A podcast could really help there. One’s imagination can really run away with this concept. Talk about getting your customers and potential customers engaged in a product or service.

Oh, man.

The other opportunity is to advertise on podcasts. Granted, placing ads on podcasts is in the very early stages of development. In fact, at the University of Tennessee, along with my research partners, we conducted a content analysis on advertising and podcasts and discovered that only 29% of podcasts have any advertising on them at all. And among the podcasts with advertising, the average number of ads was 2.4 per podcast. Most of this advertising was in the form of sponsorships, not traditional ad placement of 30 second spots interspersed throughout the content. The sponsorship model, often used with public radio or public television programs, allows for a limited amount of content interruption. For podcasts, this is key because a large part of their appeal, aside from time and location shifting, is the fact that the content is largely still pure and uninterrupted.

Our research recommends that advertisers and their advertising agencies follow a set of guidelines when advertising on podcasts. In essence, these guidelines recommend continuing to follow the sponsorship model, allowing listeners to enjoy the content without periodic breaks or interruptions. Generally, our overall recommendation is to suggest to advertisers and podcast content providers to respect the listener and maintain the integrity of the content. It is our belief that listeners or viewers of podcasts will respond to an advertising message if the advertisers respect the audience and the content. For that matter, the same goes for blogs.

Oh, if you are interested in learning more about our research on podcasts, please contact us. We will be more than happy to take you through our findings.

Many marketers and advertisers instinctively write off academic research for business purposes as they consider it useless and irrelevant for their purposes. This type of research, they say, is simply “academic.” But does academic research really have no place in our real world business lives? Can it not provide a valuable perspective on some issues we grapple with in advertising and marketing?

I think it is entirely too simplistic just to write off academic research completely. Granted, much of it is theory based and therefore not particularly applicable to marketers’ needs for quick reads on consumer attitudes and behaviors. Of course, little of it deals with specific product areas. Certainly, sample size and composition of those samples are also a concern. And a lot of academic research is published a year or two after the research was originally conducted.

However, if one is careful and knows where to look, some academic research can be of value. As long as one realizes that most of the research is quite broad in its perspective and typically attempting to reinforce or build on a theory, valuable nuggets can be located.

For example, we found some useful data on consumers’ use of coupons that assisted us in the development of a coupon strategy for a specific client. We also found articles explaining how consumers are engaging with content found in interactive advertising. This learning helped us develop the agency’s overall strategy for advertising on new media. Obviously, this whole “new media” area is timely and vital for marketers to understand as we lunge further into an Internet-based communicaiton world.

The key to locating good learning in academic research is being familiar with the key journals and the types of articles found in these journals….or at least finding someone who is familiar with them. And of course, one has to be able to cut through all the academic jargon that infests these articles, making it practically impossible for any normal human being to read.

Remember, nuggets of wisdom are there and often worth the effort and time involved in looking for them.

You have probably heard a lot about weblogs, or blogs, in the past few years. Seems like each time we read the newspaper or watch television, someone is mentioning or referencing blogs.

Originally, weblogs were considered “personal journals published on the Web.” Many people rushed to put their thoughts and opinions, covering a whole range of subjects, on the Internet for others to read. As blogs evolved, some became more interactive, allowing for comments from visitors. And blogs can be just about anything! Politics. Sports. Entertainment. Technology. If you can think of it, there is probably a blog about it. (Ever heard of a blog dedicated to cuteness? Go visit www.cuteoverload.com.

Our view here at Strategic Insights is that weblogs present clients with two opportunities.

One is simply an advertising opportunity. Advertising on weblogs is becoming more and more popular. A number of advertising networks have emerged, fueling the presence of advertising on weblogs. In fact, the original and now largest advertising network is located right down the road from us, in Chapel HIll. Blogads, Inc. has over 1,100 blogs in its network. Other networks are smaller and more specialized……but are growing in importance and in number.

And steadily, the profile of the typical advertiser on blogs is being enhanced. In the old days of blogging, like last year, typical advertisers were t-shirt makers, authors, dating services, online gambling, and the like. Now, we are seeing that profile change to major car manufacturers, movie studios, television networks, cell phone makers and services, among others.

Clearly, the more prominent and established brands are feeling more comfortable advertising on blogs.

And why not?

Research from our friends over at Blogads has shown that bloggers and their visitors are indeed pretty fertile demographic territory. Educated. Salaried. Attuned to politics. Engaged in the community. Not a bad profile. You can bet the big boys are paying attention.

Granted, there are several pitfalls to advertising on blogs. The content on blogs can easily veer into the hyper political, an area some advertisers may find a bit uncomfortable. Plus, comments on the advertiser and their product/service can seep into blogs, for better or for worse. Finally, an advertiser cannot be guaranteed on things such as preferred adjacent advertisers or product category exclusivity on blogs. In some ways, advertising on blogs can still be a bit like uncharted territory.

The second opportunity is for clients to have their own weblogs and connect these blogs with their regular Web sites. This could help position the client as an opinion leader is their area of a product or service. The client could control the agenda and direct it in areas of interest.

Of course, having a blog and being a good steward of that blog requires time, effort, and energy. But our view here at the agency is that consumer engagement in a brand and having consumers perceive you as an “opinion leader” of a certain product category is invaluable. It is an excellent investment in the long-term health of a brand. In fact, we even have a whole blog post dedicated to helping you manage your own corporate blog.

We have done some research in this area just to see what kind of advertising is on blogs, what form it is taking, and just who is advertising on blogs. If you are interested in this research and its findings, please let us know.

David Ranii’s article in the News & Observer (6/13/06, Business Section) on ad campaigns using corporate icons exposed the pitfalls of using real people or even actors as brand spokespeople or icons such as the Maytag repairman.

As the article stated, people as actors have real problems with their lives that can bleed into public view. They age, get sick or want to move on to other things.

In our experience rather than real people the animated brand icon sometimes works best for the long haul. If you think back you can easily remember the Energizer Bunny, Tony the Tiger, Ronald McDonald, Mr. Peanut and the M&M Characters. All of these are recognized in association with their brands. They tend to be friendly, engaging and positive messengers. They can take on any personality you wish and even be problem solvers if the marketing strategy requires it. Further, you can dress them up or down, evolve them over time to current looks and dress or give them flaws if necessary. The Geico Gecko is the most popular of the current animated characters that has changed its look and demeanor since its inception a few years ago. Two years ago 26 ad icons were nominated to the Advertising Walk of Fame in New York City. Of that group there was only one human, Juan Valdez of Columbian coffee fame. 22 of the 26 were animated.

That’s strong evidence that this type of tactic works. Check out some of our animated brand icons all over our website.