"Buy the Way…" Insights on Integrated Marketing Communication

Me trying to keep up with this week’s meme cycle pic.twitter.com/59GpWkIl6o

— Fran Zaya, no the other one (@salmattos) April 5, 2018

If you’re like me and you spend a lot of time on Twitter, then you might have noticed the breakneck pace of new memes popping up, from “The Squinting Lady” to “Tired Spongebob” to the eponymous American Choppers Meme. It’s tempting to let them all pass you by and hand-wave them away as silly and unprofessional, even something that’s just meant for kids. In fact, the Monterey Bay Aquarium had exactly that conversation with itself in meme form recently:

We made one pic.twitter.com/DQEEfiuo29

— Monterey Bay Aquarium (@MontereyAq) April 6, 2018

In a reply to someone suggesting the meme was unprofessional, the Aquarium noted that “the tweet right before this one was about our 30 years of sea otter research and a new research paper, and this silly meme about exactly your point has more engagement in ten minutes than that one had in an hour. It had an otter gif and everything!”

The exchange brings home a valuable point from Vaynerchuk’s “Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook!”, that in order to use social media properly, you must speak the native language of the platform. The native language of Twitter likely leans more toward memes than research papers, but the Aquarium’s use of the American Choppers Meme here isn’t just some silly joke played for laughs. It’s an honest attempt at a conversation about brand relevance, ocean conservation awareness, and how best to communicate in a social-media-driven world.

To that extent, it also follows many of the principles we learned from “Made to Stick.” Essentially just a five-panel comic format, the message is simple, but the format’s use to deliver a serious message is certainly unexpected. Coming from a venerable institution like the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which must have this kind of debate with its internal and external stakeholders often, the message is credible. And there’s a pretty emotional story going on here, with the two men shouting at each other about the merits of different conservation communication strategies.

So what do you think? Are memes a valuable communication strategy on social media? Or do “respectable” institutions lose some of their authority by stooping to that level?

What are your impressions on the pitch process? Be honest.

After hearing Brandon Rochon’s first-hand accounts and watching episodes of The Pitch, I was slack-jawed shocked that so much time, money and energy are expended on projects that may never bring in a dollar. In the energy business, we call that a dry hole.

Plus, it can go on for months. First, the frenzied Request for Information (RFI) round, which is then multiplied exponentially for the Request for Proposal round. Requisite all-nighters and frantic travel–potentially all for naught. Those expenses would be brutal and potentially business-busting if you don’t land the contract.

Isn’t there a better way? AdAge’s E.J. Schultze thinks there is. In The New Pitch Process: Shorter, Faster, Better he writes about how “marketers are less enthralled by sizzle and hungrier for substance” and how “pragmatic conversations are replacing flashy presentations.” He quotes Joanne Davis of Joanne Davis consulting saying, “You are not hiring the agency, you are hiring the team within the agency. Let’s sit down and have a conversation and see if we think alike, as opposed to 14 people putting on a Broadway production.”

To that point, Mark Wnek makes a similar observation in his article, Before You Put Your Ad Business Up for a Pitch, Read This. He says CMO’s entertain the song and dance for the best chance at “getting a brilliant idea/ad agency partner.” But then he goes on to point out that the winner is usually just the “cleverest at manipulating the client,” not the team with the most brilliant idea, nor the team that will be the best long-term partner. His solution is to skip the time-consuming pitch process entirely and hire a mastermind creative director to create fantastic work in house.

What are your thoughts on the pitch process? Necessary to get the right stuff, or remnant of a bygone Mad Men era?

References

Schultze, E.J. (2018, April 2). The new pitch process: Shorter, faster, better. Ad Age. Retrieved from http://adage.com/article/agency-news/pitch-process-shorter-faster/312945/

Wnek, M. (2017, June 2). Before you put your ad business up for a pitch, read this. Ad Age. Retrieved from http://adage.com/article/agency-viewpoint/pitch-advertising-business-read/309219/

Is there a better way?

Does a pitch need to be a Broadway show?

We’re only a few months into 2018, but already the most significant digital marketing trends are being discussed. As I’m sure you’ve learned through our courses already, it’s important to stay on top of digital trends — what was relevant five years ago, three years ago, or even a year ago might not be relevant anymore. The landscape is constantly changing, and if you’re not on top of it and anticipating what is to come, you’ll fall behind and likely have a hard time catching up.

Earlier this week, Canadian Mortgage Trends published an article about digital marketing trends in 2018. Yes, this article was written by a mortgage company, but this article is nonetheless applicable to communication management.

It highlighted five digital marketing trends to pay attention to: email, mobile, video and live streaming, social media, and influencer marketing.

The author, Javed S. Khan (2018), wrote “It’s important that brands keep up with the latest trends in order to achieve their goals.” Take aways from each of the sections included that email is the preferred channel for business communication, mobile marketing is continuing to grow and the strategy behind it is always evolving (it’s critical to stay on top of this strategy), video and live streaming grabs attention and is growing, and social media use is growing. As for influencer marketing, Khan (2018) wrote that younger audiences in particular want authentic advertising. They do not want to see staged messages, and brands are just starting to take notice of this trend.

From this article, I was particularly interested in what it had to say about email marketing and influencer marketing.

With that, here are some questions to consider with this article:
1. Do you think email is still a popular way to market? Why or why not? What strategies would you employ in email marketing?

2. How can campaigns make better use of influencer marketing?

References
Khan, J.S. (2018, April 5). Five digital marketing trends that are dominating 2018. Canadian Mortgage Trends. Retrieved from https://www.canadianmortgagetrends.com/2018/04/five-digital-marketing-trends-2018/

Since the advent of social media, the war for hearts and minds is a battleground which has exploded into the palm of every hand holding a smart phone and every set of eyeballs trained on the glow of their computer screen.  The war of information, opinion, and conviction is being fought, hour by hour, to sway people, votes and power into the direction of competing ideological groups.  With an increase in media delivery outlets and a diminished trust of the establishment, there is virtual chaos in what people accept as true and what they dismiss as false.  Most are rightfully wary of news stations, their agendas, and their political ties.

Recently, Deadspin released a video collage of numerous news stations delivering a prepared script which warned local viewing audiences around the country of fake news and biased one-sided news coverage.  They were warning of the dangers that biased news, which was heavily weighted in personal opinions, presented to our democracy.  What did all of these news stations have in common?  They are all owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group.  Sinclair currently owns 193 media stations around the U.S. and has a pending merger deal with Tribune Media to acquire an additional 43 which would expand their footprint to nearly 3/4 of American homes.  That’s a lot of power and influence for one company to have.  This sort of thing isn’t new, however.  This is very reminiscent of William Randolph Hearst owning 28 newspapers in the late 19th century, having a readership of over 20 million people.  Known for using “yellow journalism” tactics, Hearst was said to use sensational headlines and eye-catching features which were often lacking in substance and sources.

https://youtu.be/TDYgKDJSybQ

The video received a lot of attention as soon as it was released because of the extremely creepy 1984 “thought police” vibe it has and the politically charged atmosphere we live in these days.  Twitter and Facebook were instantly alive with comments ranging from conspiracy theories to mentions of fascism and the return of the Third Reich.  However, it has long been standard practice for news media companies to get their marching (and speaking) orders from the top; this is just a dramatic combination of verbatim delivery of an odd message about news being manufactured.  The optics of it spliced together are horrible for what they were trying to get across.

It’s no secret that controlling information has long been a way to control people.  Just ask the Nazis who burned libraries or take a look at North Korea who only allows its citizenry to consume government approved and state scrubbed internet.  I watched a documentary once that highlighted “historical facts” that many North Koreans have been taught in school.  One of those is that it was the United States that invaded their country in 1950 (teaching them to hate and fear us), rather than it being themselves who invaded South Korea that same year.  They are also taught randomly absurd falsities such as them having won the last few Olympics.

President Trump, who has been very outspoken concerning “Fake News” weighed in on his Twitter account, supporting Sinclair Broadcasting while calling out other networks for criticizing their recent move.

Before we start calling this mass scripted delivery a recent phenomenon though, we have to acknowledge this has been going on for a long time.  Let’s take a look at the below videos which are just a small example of the scripted content news stations are provided with to standardize a message:

https://youtu.be/DzAytlDjl7E

It’s scary to think how centrally controlled the information we receive is.  With the number of large media corporations down to just a handful, the diversity in opinion is severely limited.  One thing’s for certain, wherever there’s money, there’s corruption.  Church, courts, politics, and media are a few examples of institutions we’d have hoped were above it but so regularly prove themselves not to be.  Information is power and if you control what people think, they’ll put and keep you in power.  That is clearly the real danger to our democracy.

I don’t have the answer.  The idealist in me says there’s a way to overcome this and utilize the great communication powers that the internet and social media provide for the greater good.  If we can find a way to effectively offer alternative but trustworthy news sources, there is a potential to decentralize the control of information.  Right now, however, it just seems like everyone has an opinion and their own megaphone.

Phil

LinkedIn has finally jumped on the video ad bandwagon with native ads for sponsored content. LinkedIn began its beta-testing video for sponsored content last October, and more than 700 brands including GE and Phillips have already started to utilize this new feature to promote their company on the LinkedIn company pages. Just like Facebook and Twitter, the addition of the native ads will be available on LinkedIn’s news feed as stand-alone posts.

According to LinkedIn, more than 46% of B2B advertisers mentioned that finding a quality environment to reach and engage the audience with video is a top challenge. With the LinkedIn Sponsored Content feature, it will make B2B video marketing a little easier to work “across the funnel”. First, this will help brands build brand awareness with business professionals by telling rich brand stories across the platform, generating high-quality traffic on their desktops and mobiles. Also, sponsored video ads will offer brands the same targeting option as other LinkedIn ads by targeting traits such as company name, industry, job title, skills, etc. Furthermore, marketers will be able to measure the impact of the video campaign through Matched Audience and the Conversion Tracking tool to understand your audience.

This will be a great opportunity for B2B marketers to create a conversation about their brands, engage with the right audience, and attract talented professionals to their company.

References

Cohen, D. (2018, March 28). LinkedIn is making in-feed video ads available to all companies soon. Adweek. Retrieved from http://www.adweek.com/digital/linkedin-is-making-in-feed-video-ads-available-to-all-companies-soon/

Cohen, D. (2017, October 12). Video ads are finally coming to LinkedIn. Adweek. Retrieved from http://www.adweek.com/digital/video-ads-are-finally-coming-to-linkedin/

Elkin, T. (2017, February 9). Native video is on a growth trajectory. Native Insider. Retrieved from https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/294646/native-video-is-on-a-growth-trajectory.html

Liyakasa, K. (2018, March 29). LinkedIn makes in-feed video ads generally available and enhances measurement. Ad Exchanger. Retrieved from https://adexchanger.com/ad-exchange-news/linkedin-makes-in-feed-video-ads-generally-available-and-enhances-measurement/

Spitzer, P. (2018, March 29). LinkedIn goes all-in on B2B video. LinkedIn. Retrieved from https://business.linkedin.com/marketing-solutions/blog/linkedin-news/2018/linkedin-goes-all-in-on-b2b-video

I must warn you that this blog may contain semantic peril, and may reference “historical smoking”. Yes, I said it, “historical smoking”. For starters, I happened to notice this week that there is a new popular burger chain campaign that uses “AF” in the tagline. Also, Fiat has used the “AF” in their 124 Spider commercials in a tongue in cheek fashion that reveals “Stylish A- F—”  before the other letters fill in the rest of the image to read ” STYLISH AS FIAT”.  For those of you reading this that have not yet noticed the trend with current social media efforts trying to understand the existing parental guidance “guidelines” while coming up with more “suggestive” suggestions, “AF” stands for “As F*ck”. I feel like I have barely gotten used to “BS” being common speak and used regularly among our youth… and this seems to be “okay” with everyone.

I think we are looking at a time where language is evolving faster than we can add words to the dictionary. Thanks to the urban dictionary, a place exists now where language can get a trial run on being accepted. If it passes there, we might just see it show up in a traditional dictionary. The evolution of “parental guidance” and communication evolution is alive and well. On one hand, we are watching the use of “AF” bloom into a common saying, and with the blessing of major brands and prime time advertisements. On the other hand, we are warning viewers that a movie contains “historical smoking”? This is happening while Sean Penn smokes away on Steven Colbert’s show without a warning? We might be witnessing a time where things are a little out of balance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Un-j-7qwMas

Simply saying the F-word can be shocking enough for some, but its power is limited to just that. Populating and encouraging the use of the phrase “AF” and especially encouraging its use as a “healthy alternative”, might be drawing more attention to the word and giving it more power than we realize. Having a disclaimer at the beginning of a movie that draws attention to the “historical smoking” that it includes might also be drawing unnecessary attention to that as well. As of late, we can see that the new Chappaquiddick movie about the Kennedy sex scandal… haha, I mean, which one? Right?) states that one of the reasons it has a PG rating from the MPAA is because of “historical smoking”.

https://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/chappaquiddick-film-about-kennedy-sex-scandal-rated-pg-13-for-historical-smoking/

I can’t prove this theory yet, but as a parent of a 10-year old that is exposed to movies and commercial television, I have been asked the question “What is “AF” dad?” and what is “historical smoking?” I tend to balk at these questions. Sigh… I know there will be many more questions to come.
Maybe it really is a simple “age thing”, but if you want to watch a classic western movie, I’m not sure what sets “Western violence” apart from other kinds of violence. Would the violence in a film about the Mafia constitute “Italian violence”? And how is “historical smoking” different from the smoking today? To help keep it politically correct… maybe a “Native American” smokes a peace pipe? Or sends up a smoke signal (Hundehutte, 2016)?

I guess I am CTFU a bit while writing this blog post… click around a bit, you might just CFTU a bit as well.

Cheers,

Darian

Last month, GSMA (Global Spéciale Mobile Association) held their global event, Mobile World Congress, in Barcelona. The GSMA represents over 800 carriers and 300 operators worldwide in mobile. This not only includes the AT&T and Sprints of the world but also hardware, internet providers and more. The goal of Mobile World Congress is to further technology in the mobile space with providers, technology companies and more. The most talked about technology was Google’s big push for RCS. But what is RCS and why should brands care?

RCS stands for Rich Communication Services, it has a few more bells and whistles than your regular text messages. While this technology isn’t new as its existed at a person to person level, the opportunity for application to person is just being developed. This can be compared to messaging apps like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and more but now brands are trying to get in on the action that is within the native messaging app on a user’s phone. This means providing a richer experience without the barrier of an app download.

RCS takes text messaging to the next level by allowing brands to customize their messaging like never before. Instead of receiving messages from a short code (5 or 6 digits), brands can customize their sender name, colors and include interactive messaging. Also, read receipts will be available, something not reportable for SMS.

No longer will brands have to worry about keyword interactions as RCS allows preconfigured “chips” to be presented to continue the customer journey. These can also include location-based services. Imagine, getting a message for a coupon for your favorite retailer and seeing a map of the nearest location.

But what are the downfalls? Currently, only one major carrier, Sprint, has announced its support of RCS in the United States. As this is a Google initiated project (competing against iMessage no less), this will only be available on Android devices; specifically, Samsung for the initial public launch in late 2018. Will RCS be a homerun for Google or will it fall to the wayside like Google+?

References:

https://www.gsma.com/aboutus/

http://www.dmnews.com/marketing-strategy/rcs-set-to-take-over-sms-as-primary-marketing-tool-in-2018/article/737426/

http://bgr.com/2018/02/23/rcs-vs-sms-googles-android-messages-future/

The season three premiere of Syfy’s “The Magicians” on January 10, 2018, marks a critical moment for standards and practices regulating basic cable television. The program was the first time basic cable broadcasters intentionally and regularly dropped the unedited version of the word “Fuck” in a single episode during primetime television. Although basic cable television still does not enjoy full freedom of expletives, nudity, and violence like premium cable, this progression towards normalizing “fuck” “represents a huge advancement in commercial television.”

Back in 1972, American comedian George Carlin infamously brought attention to the seven obscenities that could never be used on television: Shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, and tits. They have been and continue to be heavily regulated and censored by the FCC for “broadcasting on the public airwaves in the United States.” However, because cable television is driven by advertising, “channels’ self-regulation is based on standard mores, and what advertisers are perceived to tolerate,” and not subjected to the FCC guidelines.

Nonetheless, only in the recent years have the words shit, piss, cock, tits, and even bitch and asshole become more common on basic cable, as regulators have allowed their unrestricted use. But because “fuck” and “cunt” were considered more offensive, the unedited appearances of these words have been scarce. That is… until “The Magicians,” which is allowed 10 “fucks” per episode.

Nowadays, “advertisers, particularly ones targeting younger audiences, have started to accept that edgy language is necessary for basic cable networks to compete with streaming services and premium cable networks, where language has always been unrestricted.” “Fuck” has become “such a part of the vernacular,” that it is no longer as loaded of a word: omitting or replacing it in a dialogue would seem awkward and unrealistic.

Moving forward, regular appearances of “fuck” will be used in programs on Syfy and its sister network USA.

The fact of the matter is that the mass media industry has always evolved to conform to cultural norms and societal demands. Reflecting these norms, Syfy and USA lead the change in standards and practices on basic cable television. In the way that advertising and basic cable television go hand in hand, how will this decision on language influence the future of the mass media industry? Do you think that this will affect the content that is marketed to cable television audiences?

Brands are consistently finding ways to stand out from the competition.  You have to be unique and exciting but most importantly, your product has to be differentiated amongst all in the same industry.

So how do you make your brand stand out?  Speak out about the competitor directly, of course. An entertaining fast food battle you might want to follow is the beef between Wendy’s and McDonald’s (yes, you had to see that cheesy line coming).

During Super Bowl LII, Wendy’s decided to take a direct shot at its popular competitor, McDonald’s, during a 30 second commercial in which Wendy’s spoke out about McDonald’s ‘flash frozen’ hamburger patties. In it, Wendy’s stated that even McDonald’s claimed on their website that their burgers were made that way to ‘seal in fresh flavor.’  In the commercial, Wendy’s said,’ The iceberg that sank the Titanic was frozen too.’ Ouch…

Being that one of Wendy’s most prized differentiator is the fact that their beef patties are never frozen and made fresh to order, this was indeed a direct shot to make them stand out and look more appealing to their audience.

And if you thought it ended there, Wendy’s actually came out with a series of commercials bashing McDonald’s about their ‘flash frozen’ beef patties. Some of  the comments from Wendy’s:

“Flash Frozen? That’s two Fs for efforts.”

“We think if your thing is fresh flavor you should start with fresh beef like we do on every hamburger, everyday.”

“Skip the hamburgers at the Frozen Arches.”

McDonald’s seemed to be unbothered by the commercials but in early March, the company decided to announce that they will begin using fresh beef on their Quarter Pounders in the US (minus the restaurants in Alaska and Hawaii). In true form, Wendy’s had more than a mouthful to say about the news.  Take a look at the Twitter responses Wendy’s dished out (even taking aim at another competitor Burger King):

Capitalizing on social media and its ability to spread news fast, just last week, Wendy’s decided to create an entire rap mixtape highlighting their goodness while of course beefing with their competitors. A creative and uh…different marketing strategy indeed. Here’s the link to this mixtape if you’re hungry for more of Wendy’s tactics:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trXPoMyWhcM

So what do you think? Do you believe directly bashing a competitor is a smart and effective strategy? What are the implications here? Does humor play a factor in making this strategy effective?

References

Gurdus, E. (2018). Wendy’s just released a hip-hop mixtape— here’s what the CEO had to say. CNBC. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/26/wendys-just-released-a-hip-hop-mixtape-heres-what-the-ceo-had-to-say.html

Messitte, N. (2018). What does the Wendy’s mixtape mean for modern hip-hop? Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/nickmessitte/2018/03/26/will-the-wendys-mixtape-change-modern-hip-hop/#c07d6a143c6c

Quinn, D. (2018). Wendy’s mocks McDonald’s after Super bowl telecast snafu: ‘Ya’ll freeze the live feed?’ People. Retrieved from http://people.com/food/super-bowl-2018-wendys-mocks-mcdonalds/

Rossman, S. (2018). Wendy’s brings the beef, rips McDonald’s over fresh beef Quarter Pounders. USA Today. Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/nation-now/2018/03/07/wendys-brings-beef-rips-into-mcdonalds-over-its-fresh-beef-quarter-pounders/402584002/

If you have known me for any length of time, you would know that I’ve never been into sports. However, that has changed in the last six months. Last October, I found myself with season tickets to the Las Vegas Golden Knights, the first professional sports team in Las Vegas. Over the last six months I have learned about the great sport of hockey and our team has done amazingly well, exceeding expectations and breaking records. Another thing the Las Vegas Golden Knights do well (besides play hockey) is communicate with their season ticket holders. Their social media pages all have a lot of followers, they send frequent and informative emails and they excel at in-game ceremonies. The successful communication started long before there even was a team – in 2015 owner Bill Foley and general manager George McPhee started a ticket drive called “Vegas Wants Hockey” and they managed to get 11,000 people to deposit money for season tickets for a team that did not yet exist (not to mention in an arena that had not yet been built). I’m sure glad the ticket drive was a success, as it ensured the arena was built and an expansion team started in Vegas. The timing couldn’t have been better, because the Vegas Golden Knights helped their city heal from the tragic events of 1 October. And now, I get to go to my first ever hockey playoffs, because the Vegas Golden Knights clinched the playoffs!

References:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/markewing/2017/07/16/bill-foley-and-the-national-hockey-leagues-newest-franchise-the-vegas-golden-knights/#2b4d21dc6359

https://vegasknightsoftheroundtable.com/2018/02/28/a-look-back-at-the-vegas-wants-hockey-ticket-drive/

http://news3lv.com/news/local/watch-golden-knights-opening-night-pre-game-ceremony-honoring-las-vegas-heroes

https://www.nhl.com/goldenknights

https://vergecampus.com/2016/06/las-vegas-first-pro-team/

https://vegashockeyknight.com/2018/03/11/vegas-golden-knights-break-record/

https://lvsportsbiz.com/2018/03/26/a-season-of-healing-after-oct-1-mass-shooting-in-vegas-comes-full-circle-for-golden-knights-tonight-with-possible-playoff-clinching/

http://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/22926524/vegas-golden-knights-first-clinch-playoff-berth-inaugural-season-1979-80