New Media: Double Decker Buses?

If you’ve been to a big city like New York City, you’ll recall seeing ads placed on the sides of buses and cabs. But did you ever see a bus that WAS the advertisement?

A double Decker bus was the new media buy of Sak’s. Why? Well, Sak’s is well known for selling extremely high-end fashion clothing, shoes, and accessories. With the tanking US economy, many European shoppers are coming to fashion meccas, like New York City, to take advantage of the decreasing strength of the US dollar. Sak’s recent ad campaign is called “I Want It” and features landmark museums and destinations in NYC. The company has wrapped a double Decker bus with their new ad, and will be ferrying tourists from Sak’s Fifth Avenue flagship location to the Upper East Side, where tourists will receive free admission to museums featured in the ads.

This campaign will run from March 13-15 and will have appearances from Sak’s fashion director and other personalities. Sak’s says that tourists were really who triggered the idea of a tour bus in a city that is notorious for city tours. Sak’s is joining the tour bus industry for 2 days as they promote their store with their new “I Want It” ad campaign.

We’ll have to wait to see if the Sak’s Double Decker bus plan ends up being profitable to the company, but in the mean time, it never hurts to think of creative ways to advertise to customers. It is, in fact, becoming very effective to allow customers to “try” your products in an environment that the product would be used, before they purchase it. The area of marketing is being termed “tryvertising” right now and you can expect to see more and more of it in the future. Talk with the Marion Group is you are looking for new and creative ways to advertise your product or service.

Making the Connection: ROI and Brand Value

It is an age old questions from management to marketers: What will my ROI be if I invest in this type of marketing? The answer to that question unfortunately isn’t always easy for every area of marketing.

Determining ROI on specific marketing initiatives can be relatively straight forward when the initiatives involve:

· Limited time price discounts and giveaways
· Coupons
· New product initiatives

However, take caution when using ROI as the single measure of marketing success. Why? Because for many companies, such as McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, and Starbucks, their brands are their most valuable asset. Determining the precise value of a brand at any time, however, is near impossible. The models used to calculate the values of a brand generally rely on many layers of assumptions. So if your company decides to run a TV ad, measuring the impact of that TV ad on your brand’s value or equity might produce numbers that are directional (going up or down). However, because of the assumptions involved in determining brand value, the impact results from your TV ad will certainly not be precise and so cannot be factored into ROI calculation. The results would be incomplete at best and misleading at worst.

Focusing only on ROI initiatives can impact the total brand experience and reduce the brand value in areas such as:
-Customer satisfaction
-Customer loyalty
-Employee moral
-Motivation of distributors
-Differentiation

Let’s look at an example. Starbucks decided that on way to increase revenues was to start selling breakfast. Though this seemed as if it would produce and excellent return on invest, the smells of breakfast foods began to fill the stores in the morning instead of the aromas of savory coffee (which is part of the Starbucks brand). The result was that the store turned into a “McStarbucks” rather than a cool place to hang out and have good coffee. The Starbucks brand suffered from this ROI initiative, and so did the stock value.

These affects that ROI initiative can have on a brand, such as Starbucks, are all important but it is generally impossible to put them into hard financial numbers on a day-to-day basis when calculating ROI. How can you put into numbers that customers were dissatisfied with the smell of bacon filling their corner Starbucks? And how can you put into hard numbers the importance of maintaining brand integrity?

For dealing with questions with respect to the ROI on a marketing initiative, it is best to take a big picture approach. Consider your company’s objectives and strategies and identify the measures that best work for each marketing initiative. As seen in the case of Starbucks selling breakfast, focusing only on ROI can be harmful to your brand, thus harmful to your company.

Marion’s Super Bowl Buzz: Part II

Well, the Super Bowl is over now, and the Giants upset the Patriots. It was a close game. Millions of people watched, and millions were disappointed. Not in the game, but in the advertising.

Many of the ads this year were memorable: Naomi Campbell dancing with lizards to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” Richard Simmons almost getting run over, a baby stock-broker renting a creepy clown, the Audi “Godfather” ad, Carmen Electra’s meet and greet gum commercial, and Will Ferrell’s ad for Bud Light. But though the ads may be memorable, they left many people wondering what they were all about. What do dancing lizards and Naomi Campbell have to do with SoBe Life Water? And by the way, what is SoBe Life Water? Makes you wonder…

An unclear message in an advertisement (like a commercial) usually goes back to branding. A product must have a clear branding statement or position and then carry that out to every point of contact with the consumer. Points of contact include technical support, customer service, and yes, advertising. With a product such as SoBe Life Water, something that many of us haven’t even heard of, an effective TV ad should convey what the product is and state the main benefits to the consumer.

The catch with TV advertising, is that it’s not always that cut and dry. With commercials, you have to add some level of entertainment while you educate the consumer on your product, and that is where the creativity comes in—you can state benefits to the customer without spelling them out in black and white.

Let’s look at the first Bridgestone commercial that was aired during Sunday’s Super Bowl XLII.


A little squirrel runs into the road, right in front of a speeding car. The squirrel screams, the driver’s wife screams, and then a whole chain of screaming forest animals is set into motion. At the last minute, the driver is able to swerve and not hit the squirrel. The screaming stops. Cute ad-- It’s funny, out of the ordinary, and memorable. You also get the point. Bridgestone tires give you added stability and handling at high speeds, so that if you were in a situation to determine the fate of a squirrel, you can swerve SAFELY and spare the squirrel his life. You know the product being sold is Bridgestone tires, and you know the benefit of the tires. In this case, Bridgestone did a great job of maintaining their brand position in their TV Ad (a point of contact with the consumer).

Having a clear and defined brand is important no matter what company you are or what product (or service) you are selling. Though humor and wittiness may make an ad more memorable, it does not sell the product if your consumer is left wondering what your product even is.

Branding is the core of marketing. If you have a weak core, then the things (points of contact) stemming from that (advertising, tech. support, etc) will have an unclear message and not strengthen your product and your company image.

The Marion Group’s Super Bowl Buzz

Because it is Super Bowl time again, I thought that I’d use the next two weeks to talk about the best part of the Super Bowl. Of course I’m referring to the commercials, though some may argue Tom Brady is the best part of this year’s Super Bowl.

Anheuser Busch usually takes the cake when it comes to claiming the best Super Bowl ad. We all remember the Budweiser Frogs and the “WUZ UUUUUUPPPPPPPP!!!!!” commercials, but is advertising during the Super Bowl worth it? It has been for Anheuser Busch, who has been successful at creating a buzz and a cult following behind the Bud Light product characters.

Fox is hosting the Super Bowl this year, and advertisers have paid between $2.7- $3 million for a 30 second appearance during the game. This year, Anheuser Busch will have 6-7 Bud Light spots during the Super Bowl, the most ads ever placed behind a single product during the big game. Other advertisers include Audi of America, Cars.com, Coca- Cola, Fed Ex, Frito Lay, Pepsi-Cola, and many, many more. Rumor has it that even Victoria’s Secret is trying their hand at Super Bowl advertising this year.

Besides cost, one of the most important things to consider when purchasing a spot is the placement—when will that spot run? Usually, spots during the first half of the game are more expensive and harder to come by than spots at the end of the game. That’s because past trends have shown that more viewers tune in to the first half of the game. It is a common story that one team at the Super Bowl shuts out the other team and the game isn’t much “fun” to watch. Experts are saying that the story may be different this year because of the two teams competing for the National Title. If you haven’t been following sports, the news, or TV in general for the past couple of weeks, let me fill you in on what you can expect from Super Bowl XLII.

The Match-Up: New England Patriots v. New York Giants

The undefeated team, The New England Patriots, led by all-star quarterback Tom Brady, has already set a record of having a perfect regular and post- season. If the Patriots win the Super Bowl, they will be making history as having the only complete undefeated season, beginning to end. This is a huge record that sports fans (and even those who aren’t fans of the Patriots) are on some level waiting to see. Can perfection in the NFL really happen?

The underdogs, the New York Giants, are somewhat of a Cinderella story. The leader of the Giants, Eli Manning, is perhaps best known as brother of Peyton Manning (quarterback of the Indianapolis Colts). Eli had a rough season, at one point losing the support of his home town. However, the magic for Eli started in the post- season when Eli was able to lead his team to 3 consecutive wins, landing the Giants a spot in the Super Bowl in 2008. Eli has a following of supporters now too, cheering him on, and excited for his time to shine and to step out from behind his talented brother’s shadow.
The Effects of the Match- Up on Advertisers

The excitement that both teams bring to Super Bowl XLII is what many experts in the Advertising world think is going to keep viewers glued to their screens until the very end of the game, meaning that not only is the 4th quarter of the game being watched, but so are the commercials during the 4th quarter. The 4th quarter may even draw more viewers as the Patriots make history or the Giants make a name for themselves under the leadership of Eli Manning.

So this Sunday, February 3rd, 2008, may very well be a day that goes down in Patriot and NFL history. It will also be a day that high dollar commercial advertising proves its worth. Resist TiVo and DVR! Watch the commercials. See which ones leave a lasting effect on you, which ones make you laugh, which ones you’ll remember the next day. That is after all, the goal of all these commercials: to get you to remember the commercial, then ultimately buy the product.