"Buy the Way…" Insights on Integrated Marketing Communication

While researching new marketing campaigns and tactics, I came across a recent commercial for Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) that seemed…well, it seemed a tad bit weird and it was uncomfortable to watch. The commercial features Colonel Sanders whispering softly about pocket squares, he then proceeds to bite into pieces of fried chicken and his heavy breathing and the loud crunching sound of each bite becomes the main focus of the commercial. I forced myself to watch the commercial three times because I kept thinking: “What are they TRYING to do here? Is this a parody?” I found the answer to my question in the very comments made by YouTube subscribers. A significant amount of subscribers commented that they “didn’t know whether to go to sleep or have some fried chicken.” As it turns out, one of KFC’s newest marketing campaigns is geared towards consumers who possess Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR).

According to Gibson (2016), ASMR is a physical reaction that some people have to “certain acoustic stimuli that produces a pleasant tingling that starts in the scalp and can spread throughout the body” (p. 1), hence the nickname ‘tingleheads’. For example, some people have reactions to whispering, the sound hair brushing, page turning, the sound of someone receiving a massage, crumpling paper, and apparently also the sound of someone eating extra crispy fried chicken. Or at least Kevin Hochman, KFC’s chief marketing officer, seems to think so. He states that KFC wants to tap into a new demographic of consumers who are not aware that KFC now was EXTRA crispy chicken available (Gibson, 2016). Per Mr. Hochman: “It makes a loud sound when you bite into it, versus our original recipe. It appeals to a very different customer” (Gibson, 2016, p. 2).

While KFC’s marketing tactic may work for the “tingleheads”, it also has the potential to backfire with those customers who have negative reactions to certain sounds. Anyone else besides me find soup slurping and loud chewing to be irritating if not utterly repulsive? Anyway, the main question I’m asking myself and all of you is: Is this good or effective marketing? Would the agency pitch project your teams are working on benefit from incorporating ASMR into its campaign design? Have companies stumbled upon an opportunity that will reap financial rewards?

Personally and judging by my failure to find more than a few marketing campaigns (see links below), geared towards the ASMR community, I can only surmise that a study and further research would need to be done in order to evaluate how many consumers actually possess ASMR, so that organizations can decide whether the demographic is large enough for them to design a marketing campaign suited for that demographic. Just out of curiosity, are any of you “tingleheads?”

Pepsi ASMR Ad

Chinese Dove campaign using ASMR

ASMR Marketing Survey Roleplay  (Example)

Explanation of ASMR

References:

Gallagher, R. (2016). Eliciting euphoria online: The aesthetics of “ASMR” video culture. Film Criticism, 40(2), D1. doi:10.3998/fc.13761232.0040.202

Gibson, C. (2016). It’s national fried chicken day. is this video of george hamilton eating KFC making you tingle?: How a major brand is seeking inroads with the whisper-fetish world of ASMR. Washington: WP Company LLC d/b/a The Washington Post.

We are approaching the end of what has been arguably the most unusual presidential election campaign of our lives. With social media taking a stronger place in disseminating the candidates’ messages and tweet rants, Wikileaks and Russian hackers releasing confidential information about back-door dealings, and the media demonstrating it has given up its neutrality as they try to sway people’s opinions about one or the other candidate, one wonders why do political campaigns still spend so much money on paid advertising. Does it in fact have a significant enough impact on voters opinion in order to help a candidate get elected?

For instance, Bloomberg News reports that Hillary Clinton’s campaign has spent $141.0 million in media buys, while Donald Trump took a gamble, with “only” $25.5 million (Allison, Rojanasakul, & Harris, 2016). Regardless, still a lot of money.

Source: Bloomberg News

Source: Bloomberg News

As it turns out, there are a few reasons why politicians still invest enormous amounts of money on advertising. According to a recent study by UCLA researchers, the persuasive effects of a political ad decays in less than one week (Kurtzleben, 2015). Given the short term effects of ads on influencing people’s opinion about candidates, it’s no wonder that the advertising becomes a battlefield, with candidates trying to outweigh their opponents.

A recent article on The Hill said that after a strong campaign of attack ads against Trump by the Clinton Campaign on key battleground states, that she had gained a lead in those polls. However, the article also noted that it is impossible to know if the ads were the actual reason for the lead, especially since Trump had a few campaign stumbles during that period (Stanage, 2016).

In summary, it is nearly impossible to say for sure how much all this spend in advertising impacts the results of an election. Ultimately it seems that candidates are forced into the race for ad placements just because their opponents also are, and no one wants to test whether or not going ad-free makes a difference. This year though, Trump as the unconventional presidential runner that he is, did not focus so much on advertising. Then again, his campaign was so unusual that too many factors are at play to attribute the outcome of this election to lack of advertising.

References

Stanage, N. (August 25, 2016). Clinton buries Trump in negative ads. Retrieved from http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/292563-clinton-buries-trump-in-negative-ads

Allison, B., Rojanasakul, M., and Harris, B. (September 21, 2016). Tracking the 2016 Presidential Money Race. Retrieved from http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/graphics/2016-presidential-campaign-fundraising/

Kurtzleben, D. (August 19, 2015). 2016 Campaigns Will Spend $4.4 Billion On TV Ads, But Why? Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/08/19/432759311/2016-campaign-tv-ad-spending

I began shopping, it always begins with an idea, I was in the dominant mode of buying. Not sure what I wanted but knew I wanted to buy something… If not for me, then for the that special someone, or perhaps something for a co-worker, dirt bike riding buddy, kids etc. Didn’t know quite for sure what it would be. I try to explain to the sales staff and other store associates; who are more than willing to assist you in your quest. All asking “Just tell me what you want” …well if we knew the answer we wouldn’t be having this discussion. As communicators we have to know just about everything about everything.

So what stuck out? It was the brands, brands of products everywhere to match just about anyone’s interest ot the interest of a recipient. Since I am an off-road desert rider; there is simply such an overwhelming power of branding that goes on in the off-road motorsports world. Perhaps you’ve hear of a few of them FOX Racing, MSR (Malcom Smith Racing), MAXXIS Tires, Dunlop Tires, ITP, Troy Lee Designs and the list goes on. I noticed how there is some co-branding going on. One product branding itself with another, what stuck out above all others was Monster and FOX.

According to the Management Study Guide website, “Co-branding is the utilization of two or more brands to name a new product or the ingredient brands help each other to achieve their aims and usually this is to the benefit of the consumer”. I remember reading our textbook Brand Media Strategy (2010), that the author Anthony Young, that media planning is about influence, reaching the right customer and understanding the intangibles of how a group is going to behave and act.

The advantages of co-branding is that the risks are shared, generally result in more royalty income, great customer trust and both organizations can share in the cost of brand advertising and thus, increase the image of their brand product by having that positive association with a like reputable product. Of course, there are limitations too, especially when two companies have differing visions or missions. But, for the most part co-branding has been successful.

In the end, I settled for a couple of t-shirts with the Monster-Fox Logos, so instead of buy four shirts, I only purchased two and request have come in for more around Christmas time.

Thanks for reading. Steve Haugh

References:
http://www.managementstudyguide.com/co-branding.htm

Young, A. (2010). Brand Media Strategy: Integrated Communications Planning In the Digital Era. Palgrave Macmillan.

The other day, I came across what I thought was a trailer for an action movie. I watched as the James Bond-like character performed death defying feats amidst moving vehicles and terrifying explosions without even breaking a sweat (Nudd, 2016). I was surprised to see what ultimately defeated this action hero in what turned out to be an Adobe Marketing Cloud spot called Secret Agent, which was recently released as part of Advertising Week.

https://youtu.be/MNmRJiRarH0

If it can happen to a James Bond-like character, it can happen to anyone.

How many times have you tried to take advantage of a special promotion or sales offer only to find that the salesperson you meet in the store has no idea what you are talking about? Or have you made a reservation online only to find out that it mysteriously disappeared by the time you reached your destination? Chances are, unless the salesperson is able to quickly find the information or consult with a supervisor, you might be out of luck, much like the character in Secret Agent.

I ran into a situation recently where I was observing a coworker in a retail store. She was attempting to assist a customer with her questions about the rewards program. The only problem was that the rewards points weren’t updated daily and there happened to be a technical glitch that made customer’s rewards point balance unavailable. The salesperson didn’t know what to do for the customer except to ask him to save his receipt and come back some other time to get the points credited toward his rewards account. Hopefully, it will be working when he returns.

This is just one example of a program that the marketing team had gone to great lengths to promote, but the sales staff were ill-equipped to implement due to a lack of communication and training. Unfortunately, when these issues occur, they can do more harm than good for the brand by hurting the customer experience, despite the good intentions of the promotional offer.

As communicators, we must consider how to ensure that every branch of our organization has the information and tools needed to provide an integrated experience. This requires marketing staff to understand the store experience and sales associates to understand the brand. Programs like Adobe Marketing Cloud (Adobe, n.d.) may be extraordinary tools to get us there, but we must also instill a standard for an integrated brand experience, an expectation for organization-wide communications, and training to enable every member of the organization to support the brand experience.

References

Adobe. (n.d.). Adobe Marketing Cloud rises to the top. Retrieved from http://landing.adobe.com/en/na/products/marketing-cloud/59361-forrester-emss-wave.html?s_cid=70114000002EvN3AAK&s_iid=70114000002JGu2AAG&sdid=4F569NLM&mv=search&s_kwcid=AL!3085!10!12221384696!21237683929&ef_id=V9iTzAAAACjtXjuM:20160926211314:s

Nudd, T. (2016, September 26). Ad of the day: Bad customer service brings down a secret agent in Adobe’s new comedy: A flashy new Adobe Marketing Cloud spot for Advertising Week. AdWeek. Retrieved from http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/ad-day-bad-customer-service-brings-down-secret-agent-adobes-new-comedy-173703

Plus Size Model, Denise Bidot promotes “There is no Wrong Way to be a Woman”

Social media is allowing brands to get immediate information about what is grabbing the attention of consumers. This information is allowing brands to stay current and helps brand better target their preferred audience. With the women leading as main purchasers in households, brands are looking for better ways to capture their attention. With immediate feedback from female consumers, brands are quickly catching on that they will need to look beyond pink packaging to get a woman’s dollar.

With hashtags like #effyourbeautystandsards, #nowrongwaytobeawoman, #leanin, and #askhermore, women are letting it be known that they want to be heard.  There has been vocal backlash about the way women are represented in the media. Brands only featuring “sample size” models in their advertising with great attention to photoshopping, some argue, is creating a damaging depiction of what women should strive to be. When girls in first through third grade wish they could be thinner, then Houston, we have a problem.

Major brands like Dove and Aerie are responding by featuring women of all shapes and sizes often without retouching. The advertisements help brands in two ways. First, the advertisements themselves appeal to a greater female audience as women feel they are able to relate the the brand and the messaging. Second, the ads generate their own social media buzz with articles praising their new advertising choices.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pqknd1ohhT4

The Dove ad employs emotional advertising to pull at the heartstrings of female consumers. Mothers speak about what they dislike about their bodies, and then their daughters are asked the same questions. The daughters seemed to have internalized a lot of the same insecurities expressed by their mothers. The ad shows the greater importance of the body positivity movement.

But it’s not just body positivity. A comment on a recent Vogue post said “I’m sick and tired of having my intelligence insulted. Like we would care about something so insipid. Unfollow.” The comment has since been deleted, but really sums up the sentiment that women want advertisers to recognize that they are more than just what they look like. A recent Secret ad event took a stab at the gender wage gap. Although some might argue the ad is a bit simplistic, at least it’s raising the issue.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ilSeJ6B5ro

Social media is providing a forum to voice what they will ultimately attract their dollar. They are seeking brands that underscore their beliefs and value them beyond their looks. If these hashtags are any implications, maybe the future really is female.

I have always been a sucker for a good urban legend.  They are always so dramatic and have this teachable moment—some are scary and some are just plain hilarious.  These narratives are made interesting which allows one story teller to remember enough to tell a variation to another person (Heath & Heath, 2008).

In the spirit of Halloween, I will share one of my all-time favorite urban legends…or perhaps my story is a bunch of hocus pocus.

A couple years ago I took a trip to visit a friend in Boston, while walking past a church he decided to give me a mini history lesson.  In the era of oligarchy governments of the 1600’s, when a wealthy family would have a bad seed in the family they would often send them off to the seminary to become priest.  At the time priest were regarded very highly and this was a way a family could preserve family reputation damage from the embarrassments of their son.

Although, there was an attempt to reform their son’s in the seminary these men would often continue their unfavorable favorable behavior, including not studying.  In that era, traditi onal catholic mass was delivered in Latin, however if a priest did not take the seminary seriously they would often leave without learning proper latin.  During mass there is a sacramental portion where the priest is supposed to say in Latin “Hoc est corpus meum” which translates to “this is my body”.  However, due to their vices many priest would often forget the latin language and improvise and say hocus pocus!

When researching for this topic I could only find the portion of faux-latin translation, but let’s face it, having the version with the bad seed of the family make this urban legend much more memorable.

Today the word, hocus pocus, refers to a meaningless expression or to play a trick on someone.  Which makes sense considering they were making up words.  Alternatively, if you were a child in the 1990’s you may recall Hocus Pocus as the 1993 Disney movie starring Bette Midler and Sarah Jessica Parker (see image).

Heath, C.  & Heath D. (2008) Made to stick: Why some ideas survive and others die. New York, NY: Random House.

When used correctly, hashtags and social media campaigns can elevate a brand. On the flip side, if they’re poorly written, they can have the opposite affect. I often find myself looking at longer hashtags and having to carefully read them to understand what they’re trying to say. Although hashtags seem like a minuscule part of a marketing strategy, they have the potential to make a large impact.

As a business owner, I understand the importance of this as I drove all of my business through social media- Instagram and Facebook. My Instagram username, Bamabina_Bakes, ties into my hashtag #BambinaBakes. I also encourage anyone who posts my work to use my hashtag in order to gain more visibility.

Just as there are strategies for large marketing campaigns, there are for small social media campaigns as well.

You’ll want to make sure you’re using your hashtag on relevant content. I wouldn’t post a picture of my incredibly cute dog and add #BambinaBakes.

If you’re using your hashtag on Twitter, be prepared for discussion. Good and bad. There are always people who may not like what you post. Larger corporations often see negative feedback on social media campaigns because the audience knows someone is reading it and running damage control.

Instagram and Facebook did not used to have an edit feature, but luckily for most brands they do. I read about Sephora’s social media mistake: They left out the U from their #CountDownToBeauty campaign… woops.

Have you witnessed a hashtag gone wrong?

Hennessy, R. (2016). Your Hashtag and Your Brand go Hand in Hand. Entrepreneur Media, Inc. Retrieved from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/282109.