Strategic Insights – We’ve Got Ideas

You know we’re at the beginning of a new year when you start seeing a flood of weight loss-related advertising. Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, NutriSystem, exercise equipment, various local gyms — all taking advantage of the eager and “newly resolutioned” target audience determined to make this the year they drop the pounds and get in shape. Although I find these ads to be effective during and for the 10 seconds immediately following, for some reason the powers of motivation are not quite strong enough to pull me off my couch into action.

However, there is one show that never ceases to amaze me — and usually on Wednesday mornings after the Tuesday night airing you’ll find me in my sneakers navigating my neighborhood’s hilly sidewalks. Trust me, anything that encourages this one to exercise is definitely persuasive. Tuesday evenings my roommate and I assume our positions on our respective couches — snacks in hand, of course — and prepare for the catharsis we are about to experience yet again. “What have you done today….” the theme song chants and we ask ourselves, “yes, what HAVE we done today?!” In case you haven’t already caught on, I’m referring to NBC’s The Biggest Loser.

Hopefully by now you’re picking up on how inspiring I find this show. But the relevance for our industry is not the show’s emotional draw but rather what it has done with The Biggest Loser as a brand. Not only is there a following large enough to populate the beginning of each season with 20-some contestants,  but because of the results consistently achieved and witnessed by America, the show’s trainers are now revered as get-fit gurus. There are products including work out DVD’s, Wii games, self help books, cook books, and BMI/BMR calculators — and The Biggest Loser store has it all. There is a Club where you pay a membership fee to receive the same diet and exercise advice given to the contestants (you can even sign up to get food delivered right to your door). You can sign up for the online “League,” a community to help keep you motivated and track your progress. The Biggest Loser is on Twitter and Facebook, they have message boards and blogs. There is even a charitable effort, The Biggest Loser Pound for Pound Challenge, which benefits Food Banks.

Also, in addition to airing advertisers’ commercials, The Biggest Loser teams up with sponsorship partners, most of which offer products relevant enough to justify product placement opportunities. Product placements from recent seasons include Extra Sugarfree Gum, Green Giant Steamers frozen vegetables, Brita, and Ziploc (gotta have those pre-measured portions ready to go!). I haven’t done a sales audit, but would imagine these products benefit from the show’s endorsements with a very healthy ROI.

The season premier aired earlier this week and this go round looks as promising as the last. Of course my roommate and I were somewhat startled when one contestant confessed in their testimonial video, “I was no longer satisfied just to watch The Biggest Loser from my couch!” Hmm…preparing sneakers now.

Where have you seen The Biggest Loser?

By the way, did you know several past contestants call Raleigh, NC home? You might even run into them working out at the North Hills Gold’s Gym!

By Marie Duncan, Account Executive
Strategic Insights

I recently became aware of two interesting and potentially offensive products. One was pulled off the market while the other is still being offered (since the company behind it sees nothing wrong with it).

The first product is the “Lil’ Monkey” doll produced exclusively for Costco stores. Brass Key Keepsakes, the doll’s producer, says they did not consider the doll to be racially offensive. As Wake Forest University business professor Derrick Boone notes, this is more a question of insensitivity than racially-charged intent.

I’m sure Brass Key is telling the truth – at least, I can’t imagine they would WANT to step in the PR mess this type of controversy brings with it. Granted, individual perspectives span the spectrum and it would be nearly impossible to foresee every possible reaction to a new product. At the same time, this particular situation makes you wonder what conversation took place and why the question “is this offensive?” did not get asked. Even though Brass Key planned to produce a set of three diverse dolls, the name alone seems questionable. At least the corporate reaction was swift: buyers for Costco immediately removed the product from stores. Brass Key and Costco recognized the problem and decided that was not the message they wanted to send the public.

The second product is the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles Michael Vick jersey for dogs. One of my Facebook friends made me aware of this issue and my initial reaction was, “this must be a (sick) joke!” It seems absolutely ludicrous the NFL shop would offer this type of merchandise. According to the NBC Sports article, the NFL stands behind the product, arguing fans can purchase a customized jersey for every player. They go on to mention how Vick is now working with humane societies and helping increase awareness/education on the issue. There is a list of restricted words and phrases so fans can’t order jerseys with expletives; the NFL recently added, “Bad Newz,” the name of Vick’s operation.

The capitalist in me says the market will determine the success of this product. If the public finds it offensive, they will not buy the product and thus it will not make money. They say there’s no such thing as bad publicity. But is this the type of public scrutiny the NFL wants? Shouldn’t they aim to protect their brand by not endorsing a product that raises so much controversy? Or, because the NFL cleared Vick to play, is this simply a matter of treating everyone equally? What about Michael Vick’s personal brand? Is this a way for him to begin building a good reputation or will there be a backlash creating the opposite effect?

As we say at Strategic Insights, a brand is a promise. You better make sure your brand is making the promise you intend!

By Marie Duncan, Account Executive
Strategic Insights

These days everyone is pinching pennies. It would be foolish not to, given the state of the economy. As a service provider, we know clients are scrutinizing their budgets — not just trimming the excess but also wisely cutting back in order to prepare for a possibly lean 2010. Thus, in an effort to maximize clients’ marketing dollars, our team brainstormed ways to make our process more efficient. Since our process relies heavily on input and feedback, following are a few tips for clients on how to engage an agency effectively and efficiently. Some are big picture, some are simple methods or changes, but we hope all will help clients make the most of our services. In no particular order:

• INFORMATION Think of information as the recipe for your project. As the client, you know the most about your end goal as well as the details, parameters, constraints and guidelines to keep in mind in achieving that goal. The more of those accurate details we have up front, the more efficient we can be in helping you achieve your desired end result. If we don’t receive the information from you, we’ll ask questions – possibly many – to be sure we fully understand the objectives. As your creative and technical partner, we want to help you think through the entire process and anticipate future needs/wishes. This step might seem to delay the project, but in fact, inefficiency defined is getting halfway down one path, only to receive additional information and realize you should have taken another path.

• NOTICE Planning is key when it comes to efficiency. Whether it is at a project’s inception or towards the end, the more notice we have, the better our ability to provide service to meet and exceed your expectations. This applies to any level of detail, from a project’s master deadline schedule down to your availability on a certain day. Especially when approvals are required in order to move forward, being able to plan around moving parts, e.g., a decision-maker’s schedule, is crucial to avoiding bottlenecks, etc. Notice from you helps us plan our priority queue so we can work more efficiently.

• RESPONSE Speaking of approvals… Since practically all our work product requires input and approval from at least one client representative, we are accustomed to waiting on responses. If you come to us with a set of goals you’d like to accomplish within a certain deadline, we will do our best to give you a clear timeline for getting it done (or we’ll explain why it isn’t feasible!). But no matter what we do on our end, at various points along the way we will need to hear back from you; thus, you help contribute to a project’s efficiency. Particularly when trying to meet aggressive deadlines, your timely response might significantly affect our ability to succeed.

• INGREDIENTS In addition to feedback and approvals, many projects also depend on client-supplied materials. From specifications, to artwork files, to bullet points, to full copy, we will be able to begin more quickly if you supply us with complete and thorough materials up front (or at necessary points along the way, if more practical).

• TRUST You know your business better than we do (although as your partner we strive to learn as much as possible!), but often our perspective allows us to see solutions you may not have considered. Furthermore, our experience helps us know what works (or, when something didn’t work before, what might make it work better next time!). Constraints, parameters and requirements often bog down creativity; while we know you can’t eliminate all the “do’s” and “don’ts,” if you can give us the essentials and then trust us to run with it, you might appreciate the outcome. “We’ve got ideas,” after all, so who knows, maybe we’ll think of something you haven’t!

Everyone has “clients” — what’s your advice on improving efficiency?

By Marie Duncan, Account Executive
Strategic Insights

Over the last several weeks, emails from various retailers have flooded my personal inbox, often multiple from one retailer in a given day. “Sale!”, “Special Gift with Purchase!”, “Additional Markdown!” This inundation comes as no surprise since October-December historically proves busiest for the retail industry. Especially given the nation’s current economic conditions, I understand a retailer’s sense of urgency to generate sales. Not yet ready to accept the fact the holidays (and thus, spending season, a.k.a., personal budget crisis!) quickly approach, in most cases I ignore the retailer’s message and hit “delete.” However, just prior to Thanksgiving, a few began to catch my eye. “Cyber Monday” appeared in subject lines and headlines. Every retailer email seems to reference this term, as if it’s a proper noun.

I consider myself to be a fairly savvy shopper. One of three daughters, our mother taught us the skills of professional shopping (just ask our father). When someone says, “Black Friday,” we know what they’re talking about. We’re not part of the crowd fighting for Tickle-Me-Elmo at 4am, but we get out there the Friday after Thanksgiving armed and ready; after all, we couldn’t bear to miss out on a possible bargain! But “Cyber Monday?” Is it an elusive virtual store, existing for one day only, offering exclusive deals to the select few who find it? What is this and why haven’t I heard about it?

Feeling very much out of the loop, I decided to save these new emails for further research later (well, maybe for some shopping too), after my family finished the weekend gorging on turkey and ham. By work this morning I’d received many more emails also referencing “Cyber Monday.” Intrigued, I decided it was time to get down to the bottom of it.

Wikipedia defines Cyber Monday as, “the Monday immediately following Black Friday, the ceremonial kick-off of the holiday online shopping season in the United States between Thanksgiving Day and Christmas.” The thinking is shoppers who’ve spent all weekend in physical stores return to work on Monday and flock to the Internet to continue their shopping. Ok now it’s making sense. Wikipedia goes on to attribute the creation of Cyber Monday to Shop.org, a division of the National Retail Federation. Research from 2004 data showed 77% of online retailers saw a “significant increase in sales” the Monday after Thanksgiving. However, Shop.org surveyed its members in 2005 and the results showed December 12th (two weeks after Cyber Monday) as the busiest online shopping day. So why does Cyber Monday fall this early in the holiday shopping season if the busiest day is not until later?

Retailers use promotion, one of the four “P’s” in the Marketing Mix (others are Product, Price and Place), to keep a product in the mind of the consumer, thus driving demand and leading to increased sales. Promotional offers give the consumer a special deal, whether a true price break or some form of added value, and give the retailer another excuse to get in front of the consumer. Hence, the email inundation. Not only does Cyber Monday provide retailers a theme upon which to base these promotional offers, but the name itself creates a certain sense of urgency, enticing consumers to act now. “For One Day Only!”, “You Can’t Afford to Wait!”, “Don’t Let This Offer Pass You By!”, etc., which then leads to “Offer Extended!”, “Time Is Running Out!”, etc.

This year the retailers come across as particularly desperate; some offers I’ve seen seem off the wall or worse, don’t even make sense. Barnes & Noble offering a free picture frame with purchase? Dicks Sporting Goods offering specials during late night shopping hours? I’ve come to expect JCrew’s daily email touting their latest offer. Many of these deals we wouldn’t usually see until after the holidays. A new homeowner, I think I decorated my house for nearly half the price of what I would have spent last year (although that thought scares me), since most holiday decorations are already marked down to 50% off. Even high-end retailers such as Neiman Marcus are jumping in; one recent NM email offered free gift wrapping and free shipping at any price. I’m not an NM shopper (reference aforementioned personal budget crisis), but you can rest assured their free shipping offer meant a lot to some people. To top it off, the shipping offer is limitless! In other words, NM is willing to accept potentially high shipping costs just so you’ll buy…anything! Other than the fact that nobody has any money, I guess it’s a “buyer’s market?”

What’s your Cyber Monday story?

By Marie Duncan, Account Executive
Strategic Insights