"Buy the Way…" Insights on Integrated Marketing Communication

Have you ever wondered what to do with your old cell phone?  Certainly you could trade it back into your phone carrier and maybe get $10 towards your next phone purchase or you could do like most and shove it in that infamous junk drawer just in case you need a spare.  However, neither scenario offers the gratification that comes with donating to a worthwhile cause like Cell Phones for Soldiers (CPFS) (http://www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com/).   

Robbie and Brittany Bergquist

Started in 2004 by Robbie and Brittany Bergquist at the ages of 12 and 13, CPFS was created to provide U.S. troops serving overseas free communication tools in the form of calling cards (Cell Phones for Soldiers [CPFS], 2009).  These calling card minutes allow soldiers to talk with their loved ones back home without the burden of expensive overseas phone bills.  In addition, the donated cell phones are recycled helping to reduce the impact on landfills (CPFS, 2009). 

Since its inception, the family-run non-profit organization has raised over $7 million and supplied the troops with over 150 million minutes of free talk time (CPFS, 2009).  In the past eight years CPFS has received support from sponsors such as Chevrolet, Comcast, and BJ’s Wholesale Club (CPFS, 2009).  The support has been immense and the soldiers and their families are truly grateful.  Yet, Robbie and Britney want to do more. 

With the recent withdraw of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan more and more soldiers are returning home to new challenges.  After being away from home for months and in many cases years, veterans need assistance in returning to civilian life.  As a result, last month Robbie and Britney started “Helping Heroes Home.”  This new program is designed to provide emergency funds to returning veterans for basic necessities such as rent, groceries, and tools necessary to gain good employment (Helping Heroes Home, 2012). 

The program was launched with great support from current CPFS sponsor AT&T.  Started on Wednesday, June 27^th AT&T donates $2 (up to $50,000) to CPFS for watching a two minute video (Helping Heroes Home, 2012).  In addition to watching the video, individuals are prompted to login to Facebook so they can share the link and invite friends to watch as AT&T will also contribute an additional $1 for inviting friends (Helping Heroes Home, 2012). 

I have already viewed the video three times and invited multiple friends.  The website posts the current amount of money raised thus far and since I began writing this blog it has increased by $50.  To date, “Helping Heroes Home” has raised over $22,000 through the support of AT&T (Helping Heroes Home, 2012).  Bringing the program almost half way to its goal in less than just a month.      

CPFS is an amazing organization set out to support those who put their lives on the line for liberty and freedom.  Soldiers returning from overseas duty need our help.  These men and women of the U.S. Military volunteer their time.  Now it is time to volunteer ours.  Clicking on the link below will only take two minutes of your time, yet it can make a lifetime of difference for a soldier. 

http://www.causes.com/causes/639835-connect-for-good/actions/1661108# 

Sources:

Cell Phones for Soldiers. (2009). Retrieved from http://www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com/

Helping Heroes Home. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.causes.com/causes/639835-connect-for-\good/actions/1661108

Images:

http://www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com/

Credit: http://nikeplus.nike.com/plus/products/fuelband

It seems these days that many companies are trying to find ways to capitalize on the current health trend.  You see products that seem questionable, like some infomercial exercise equipment or diet pills, and then you also see products that could be somewhat legitimate.  Well, you might be wondering what this product in the picture is claiming to do.  This particular item is called the Nike+ FuelBand and it is one of many new products that are part of the Nike+ product line.

What is the Nike+ FuelBand?

It is an athletic band, similar to the size of a LIVESTRONG band, which has three accelerometers that tracks your movement throughout the day (NIKE+ FUELBAND, 2012).  It tracks your steps, calories burned, and also poses as a watch.  In addition to these features, the band calculates Nike Fuel, a measurement unit of physical activity.  It takes into account your height, weight, and age and includes all movement, as opposed to a pedometer that mainly calculates your steps (NIKE+ FUELBAND, 2012).  At the end of the day, you simply take off the band and connect it directly to a computer, because the band is also a USB device when unhooked.  Also, the band is water resistant so you can wear it in the rain or in the shower (NIKE+ FUELBAND, 2012).

How does it apply to marketing communications?

Screen Capture – Nike+ Application (MAC)

You might be thinking, “Well, that’s an interesting product, but how does that apply to marketing communications.”  When users connect their band to their computer, it automatically updates their numbers on the Internet and takes the user to the Nike+ website.  You are first welcomed with the update screen that shows the other Nike+ products.  If you connect your band everyday to update your numbers and charge the device, you are constantly reminded of the other products in the Nike+ product line.

Screen Capture - http://nikeplus.nike.com/plus/home/NickRodgers/

Then you are taken to your personal Nike+ website, which holds all the information of your physical activity.  As you can see in the picture, there are ads posted in two locations.  While the user is looking at their goals and checking their progress over days, weeks, months, or years, they are welcomed by these two ad locations.  Also, the branding around “Nike Fuel” is great because instead of comparing steps or calories with another individual, Nike has created their own unit of measurement that will be discussed.  You can even register your friends on Nike+’s website, so you see how you compare with your friends without having to discuss the numbers in person.

Credit: nikeplus.nike.com

Finally, this is a great database that Nike is growing on consumer behavior.  They are obtaining great insight on data that reflects their customers’ physical activity, which is associated to information like height, weight, and age.  Also, for the GPS products that are included in the Nike+ product line, Nike has the ability to see where each user is exercising.  You can actually see this when you are logged into the website.  The map shows hotspots and popular routes of where there is a lot of physical activity.  Looking at the picture, it’s nice to see that people at USC are active (or at least according to users that have a Nike+ GPS product).  Overall, the branding with this band is great because it makes you think about Nike EVERYDAY; because you want to see what your progress is each day.

Personal Review

Well, I seem to have fallen into the brand advocate category.  After receiving one from my wife on Father’s Day, I have told everyone around me about it.  There seems to be a strong social effect around the band.  My CEO, Medical Director, and brother have all purchased one, and at least two pharma reps I know are strongly considering purchasing one.  Now, to be fair, I used to carry a pedometer around with me to try to hit at least 10,000 steps a day and would compare steps with those around me, so this type of activity was already occurring in my social circle.  When comparing my pedometer to the FuelBand, there seems to be a discrepancy with the calculation of steps.  I am not exactly sure which one is correct, because I do not count each step I take everyday.  Even if the band is not 100% accurate with actual steps, it still seems that it is a good way to log physical activity everyday, because the band and website take care of tracking all your information.  As long as I have a consistent unit of comparison, which is now Nike Fuel, I am happy.

References

NIKE+ FUELBAND.  (2012).  Nike+.  Retrieved from http://nikeplus.nike.com/plus/products/fuelband/

Is there a more telling expression of a customer’s fondness for a brand than a tattoo displaying its logo? This was the subject of a recent report that aired on Marketplace, which discussed the trend of tattoo marketing (Hepperman, 2012). Instead of the run of the mill promotional materials that might otherwise be offered to spread the word in a marketing campaign some companies are offering customers the opportunity to get free brand tattoos (Hepperman, 2012). Continue reading →

Cuties are on the rise. Not cute, cuddly animals or small, precious toddlers. Rather, Cuties are a brand of Clementine – a small, seedless mandarin that is easier to peel than a standard naval orange. Cuties are changing the way that produce is advertised in the United States.  Historically, the produce wars were fought between local produce vendors and mass market produce flown in from all over the globe. Cuties is changing the name of the produce game with both the catchy, memorable name for the product and an initial corner on the clementine market.

Just like Google and Coke, Cuties has made itself the brand associated with clementines. Customers do not ask a grocer where the clementines are located, they ask where the Cuties are. The appeal of the Cutie is found in the easy to remove peel, the easy to carry size, the lack of seeds and the adorable name. Citrus fans no longer have to fumble with the best way to remove the peel of an orange (a quick google search found that peeling an orange takes 13 steps and very messy fingernails), or the mess of biting into the orange segment and having juice from the orange spit in their face. The Cutie is a bite-sized citrus snack that is much easier to consume.

The Cuties brand was founded in the mid-90’s by Berne Evans of Sun Pacific after a harsh winter ruined much of the citrus crop for his company. He learned that clementines imported from Spain were selling well in some supermarkets and investigated whether the fruit could be grown in California. He then contracted with a grower to sell trees exclusively to his company, stalling other produce companies for a short period of time. The group focused on selling clementines in western states until 2011, when the group expanded distribution across the United States.

Much of the success of Cuties can be attributed to their marketing efforts. They capitalize on the size of the fruit being perfect for kids – providing an indelible link between Cuties the fruit and cutie-pie children.  This advertising concept further solidified the memorable qualities of the Cutie brand.

Cuties Advertisement

A great name, timing and a successful marketing campaign have brought Cuties and the produce market to a never-before-seen level of consumerism.

Reference

Jordan, Miriam (2012, July 13). The big war over a small fruit. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304373804577521241458781700.html?mod=WSJ_hps_MIDDLETopMiniLeadStory

Last semester in CMGT 500, for discussions about teams and organizational culture, we viewed a clip about the process of collaboration and innovation that IDEO, a Silicon Valley design firm, undertakes on every project. The video below shows that process with a project of improvement/redesign of the modern-day shopping cart. (View the last three minutes to see their final iteration of the shopping cart of the future.)

IDEO link

It looks as if someone has taken IDEO’s idea to develop the next, improved butler-cum-shopping cart for consumers, with a  bit of a mind-reader embedded in there as well.  The Smarter Cart is a new design, courtesy of Chaotic Moon Labs (seriously, that is the name of their company.  You think that is interesting, check out their ‘Apply Now’ page)One way to get shopping going is to text the Windows tablet, which identifies you and your needs for that meal, cleaning frenzy or Olympics summer party.  The cart utilizes Microsoft’s Kinect motion-sensor capabilities to track and follow you, directing you toward your shopping items list, even warning you if a particular sour-cream and cheese potato chip selection is a dietary no-no (what is programming code for “OVERRIDE”?).

Send it a text and let it take you shopping

The Good News:  The products get scanned when they get into the cart and the purchases get finalized and the transaction completes itself in the cart, allowing you to avoid the checkout area completely.  So more time to shop, less hassle.

The Bad News:  It won’t be ready for another couple of years, according to the New York Times Magazine (2012).

But the idea opens up opportunities for the partially disabled, busy parents and others to shop with just enough assistance to get this item done and crossed off.

What might open up as well would be data mining/collection opportunities and marketers to insert their sales pitches, coupons, ala Target (Duhigg, 2012). That’s when things could get a little complicated… or lucrative.

What do you think?

ABC News. (2009).    IDEO Shopping Cart. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M66ZU2PCIcM

Chaotic Moon Labs. (n.d.). The Smarter Cart. Retrieved from http://www.chaoticmoon.com/labs/chaotic-moon-labs-smarter-cart%E2%84%A2/

Duhigg, C. (2012) How companies learn your secrets.New York Times. (Feb 19)
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/magazine/shopping-habits.html

Once the darling of the marketing mix, advertising has taken a back seat to public relations in the marketing programs of a growing number of technology companies.  Having worked in the field of technology public relations over the past 15 years, I can remember the days when my clients spent incredible amounts of money, and invested a majority of their marketing budgets, in strategically placed advertisements. This was back in the day, back in the early 2000s, when having brand visibility in print publications was the ultimate goal of the marketing program.  The bigger, brighter and more creative the advertisements, the better.  A number of my clients regularly spent hundreds of thousands of dollars each month on print advertisements.

And then publications went digital.

As companies stopped spending on print advertisements, some technology publications successfully maintained their loyal readers by transitioning from periodicals to live digital portals that drastically shortened the news cycle from days, weeks or months to mere minutes.  However, other publications, many of which were very successful and influential print publications gradually shrunk and ultimately disappeared.  I saw my clients’ advertising budgets cut markedly because they didn’t consider online media as valuable or impactful as print advertising, so they continued to advertise through banner ads and other online advertising opportunities on key websites in hopes that simply keeping their brands visible would drive brand awareness and product adoption.  During this period of transition, my clients still utilized public relations, but we took a secondary role and continued to capture a small portion of the shrinking marketing budgets.

And then social media hit the mainstream.

With the emergence of social media, individuals now had the ability to become powerful brand advocates capable of significantly impacting the success, or failure, of a company’s products.  Our clients realized that people trust the opinions and recommendations of people they know and those people were sharing published information or original content with their friends and families.  Realizing that not only was it more cost-effective than advertising to use public relations strategies and tactics to generate coverage about their products and services, our clients realized that the coverage was more effective in driving readers to answer a call to action.  While advertising is by no means a dying art, the emergence of digital and social media has forever changed the balance of the marketing mix, balancing out the roles of advertising and public relations, and clearly defining the importance of both in building brand awareness and driving demand for a company’s products and services.