Quantifying the clutter

When I created this blog, I had information such as this in mind:

“As consumers, we see over 3,156 images a day. We’re just not conscious of them,” says Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst of the consumer research firm NPD Group. “Our subconscious records maybe 150, and only 30 or so reach our conscious behavior. If I have a celebrity as part of that message, I just accelerated the potential for my product to reach the conscious of the consumer.”

That quote is found in a NY Times article about the power of celebrity and how some brands can enhance their message’s relevancy by using celebrities to hawk their products.

It illustrates the competition marketers have for consumers’ attention and the importance of using smart methods to cut through the clutter.  But “smart” doesn’t always have to mean using a celebrity.  It just happened to have helped in the cases cited in that article.

KISS: Keep it Simple, Stupid

This AdRants post says the best practices for billboard advertising better than I ever could. What is the expression, “The more you add the more you take away”? (Or something to that effect.) I wish more billboard advertisers would heed the sage advice of AdRants imparted in the last paragraph:

It’s unfortunate most agencies and marketers don’t realize the billboard medium is at its most powerful when it’s used for simple, direct messaging. Two to four words and a simple visual is about all the medium can take. Too many marketers and agencies try to cram the entire marketing plan onto a single 14 X 48 foot space which is usually seen for less than three seconds. For billboards, simplicity rules. In creating this McDonald’s billboard, Leo Burnett clearly understands this.

Heineken A Winner at the U.S. Open

I found this article in Forbes and wanted to talk about it before it was too late.  Sports marketing is a personal interest of mine and this piece does a great job of showing how sponsors of the U.S. Open do more than just plaster their logos around the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y.

Tennis, like golf, attracts a high net worth fan.  While most companies leverage their sponsorship of a sports event or team through venue signage, the U.S. Open is an event that warrants a more interactive approach.

“Marketing is getting more experimental, more aggressive and more direct,” says Andy Glaser, brand director at Heineken USA, who adds that the four annual tracking studies the company performs show that its U.S. Open sponsorship improves its recall with customers. In addition to its Red Star Cafe sampling site, the company is unleashing vendors with funky-looking space age backpacks to dispense Heineken beer to fans in the seats.

I like this tactic – why not be proactive in getting your product into the hands of potential customers? Especially when a high concentration of your target market is in a setting that fits well with the brand attributes you want to highlight. 

I hope more sports sponsors take this interactive approach.  The Fan Fests are nice, but let’s see more experiential attempts that allow consumers with a more enriching experience.

L.A.'s Outdoors go Digital

Hello! We here at Marketing Through the Clutter are back from our summer vacation and ready to resume our critiques of the good and the bad of marketing in today’s busy world. 

Circa December 2006 I wrote about Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin vetoing plans by a few outdoor advertising companies to erect digital billboards in Atlanta.  But over on the Left Coast, there’s no such ban and some Los Angeles residents are pretty upset.

Clear Channel is doubling its number of digital billboards in L.A.  To paraphrase the company’s president and COO, the more congested a city, the better it is for billboards.

So he’s saying that the worse the traffic, the better it is for advertisers to use billboards.  I can see the logic that if you’re sitting in traffic and need to stare at something, why not make it an advertisement?  And why not make it a relevant ad since these digital billboards can change their messages pretty quickly? 

Those who live near those billboards can tell you why not.  The flashing lights are garish and disruptive as they stream into the windows of nearby apartment dwellers.

As I said before, I think this is a bit Big Brother-ish, but not a bad marketing tactic.  I just prefer marketing methods that are more one-to-one rather than one-to-anyone who happens to drive by.

Critiquing J.C. Penney's Plan

J.C. Penney’s CMO calls out the dilemma of marketing clutter in his quote announcing the company’s “2007 Back-to-School” campaign:

“While traditional marketing remains an important part of our approach, we are focused on incorporating new components into this year’s Back-to-School campaign that will truly reach youth in an authentic way,” said Mike Boylson, chief marketing officer for JCPenney. “Using this unique approach, we’re able to break through the marketing clutter and sameness to attract kids and teens – whether it’s at the movies, in the mall, on the phone or on the Web.”

But for all the channels J.C. Penney is working in this campaign, there’s no social media! 

There’s a lot of one-way information going on here.  I think the clothing retailer could really cut through the clutter by adding two-way dialogues with the teens and youths they’re targeting.

X Doesn't Always Mark the Age

Penelope Trunk had an interesting post yesterday about generational ID’s.  You may think you’re a Baby Boomer or in Generation Y just because of the year you were born in.  But, how about identifying with a generation by how they use various forms of media? 

Check out the test she put together and see if you’re really acting your age, er, generation.  I scored a 14, which puts me just out of my Generation X birthright.

This got me to thinking.  The way a message is sent isn’t always going to be received as it’s expected to.  To cut through the clutter, companies can no longer assume they know who’s going to be on the receiving end. 

Are you acting your generation?  Take Penelope’s test and come back with your results.

Bad Advertising: It's Not Me, It's You

Heather at Microsoft posted the funny video below, which I wanted to pass along.  It does a good job if showing how ignorant companies can be when trying communicate with their consumers.  The dating analogy is perfect.  

This also seems like a good time to mention that I was FINALLY able to get Windows Live Writer to play nice with my Blogger template last night. So I am now able to post much quicker and easier than I have been able to in the past.  (But probably without pictures since I can’t FTP them to Blogger, I don’t think.) Now, if I could just get Outlook to work like it’s supposed to on my home computer all will be right in my world.

Low Maintenance Messaging

Talk about a different approach! Atlanta-based WestWayne advertising has downsized its website to a single page resembling the classic “404 Page Not Found” page. This is how WestWayne’s page looks now.

Most agencies try to blind visitors to their website with Flashtastic effects that are pretty self-serving. This is a very different approach and I’d love to hear how it’s received by current and potential clients. In addition to offering simple insight from the get-go on consumer behavior, they added a humorous touch by playing off the 404 code and blending it with their phone number. (Pretty convenient that it’s also the area code for the city of Atlanta.) If you know how long since the site’s relaunch, please drop a comment here.

Give BearingPoint a Mulligan

I like Darren Rovell’s post today about the relevance of BearingPoint’s logo on Phil Mickelson’s visor. Well, maybe I should say “logic” instead of “relevance.” Having worked in marketing in the professional services space, I know that those products are really a relationship-based sell and not so much advertising driven. After reading in Rovell’s post the lack of awareness among golf fans for BearingPoint’s services, I thought, “duh.” Whoever made the decision at BearingPoint to make this buy must be a rabid golf junkie – or very interested in pleasing a superior who is.

Nike "Thanks" Imus

Leave it to Nike to use the Don Imus controversy as the source for an ad campaign. In this print ad that began running on April 15, the sports apparel company has taken the comments made by the ugliest man on radio and turned them into an opportunity “…to move the conversation forward,” according to Dean Stoyer, director of U.S. media relations for Nike.

Nike’s connection to the situation is that it has outfitted the men’s and women’s basketball teams at Rutgers for several years. In thanking Imus – without actually naming him – for “unintentionally moving women’s sport forward”, Nike has taken the high road. While most advertisers dropped the talk-show host like a bad habit, this ad put the focus back where it belonged, on Rutgers and the team’s accomplishments.

Side note to Nike: Give some thought to taking a small slice out of your advertising budget to put towards spell check. Even I know it’s not Rutger’s. It’s good that you caught this for subsequent buys, but you were a little quick on the trigger the first go-round. Doh.

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