The guest contributor for day eleven is Steve Dimakis, a Senior Media Planner at MEC Wellington, the media arm of Y & R. You can find out more about MEC New Zealand here and globally here. Steve has had over 10 years experience working in the advertising industry comprising of time spent working in agencies, for media providers and directly consulting to brands. His pick for 2011 demonstrates how a brand can successfully utilise their "essence" and he has some wise insights on the matter.
Best of 2011
Nicole: What was your favourite New Zealand advertising/marketing campaign for 2011?
Steve: I really would love to be able to list one of my own clients here, but the campaign for 2011 that really struck a chord with me was “Share The Joy” for Cadbury New Zealand
Nicole: What made Cadbury's "Share the Joy" your pick?
Steve: I have spent a significant amount of time working with brands in the FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) sector and feel that many could learn from Cadbury’s campaign. Like most in the FMCG world, Cadbury will operate on low margin, high turnover and are quite often subject to retailers’ pricing demands in a market where switching costs between brands is nil.
What I like about this campaign is that it is all about giving Kiwi’s a reason to love the brand again and so when they are at the shelf, they have a reason to pick Cadbury ahead of any other offering, regardless of price point.
Cadbury Snow Globe
Nicole: My personal favourite in the Cadbury "Share the Joy" series is the Snow Globe created in Auckland last Christmas.
The tactics of the campaign are truly integrated and all work to embody the essence of the campaign. From a house in Auckland that spectacularly light up when people clapped and made joyful noise to a song made entirely from the unique noises of joy in New Zealand as well as the traditional, and not so traditional, media channels used to generate awareness of each tactic. Everything works together nicely.
However, regardless of the executions and their relative success, what I truly love about this campaign is that it moves away from selling based just on the products under the brand halo and sells based on the essence of the brand. It harks back to when Charles Revson – one of the founders of Revlon – appealed to the sales force, asking them to explain what they were selling. As expected, none of the answers provided by the sales force got to the essence of what Revlon was actually about. Revlon was not a company that sold nail polish or beauty products in general. According to Charles Revson, Revlon was selling hope... Hope that by using these products, I could be closer to living the life portrayed in their campaigns.
Cadbury, it may literally be chocolate, but sharing joy is the essence.
Nicole: What do you expect to see more of in 2012?
However, regardless of the executions and their relative success, what I truly love about this campaign is that it moves away from selling based just on the products under the brand halo and sells based on the essence of the brand. It harks back to when Charles Revson – one of the founders of Revlon – appealed to the sales force, asking them to explain what they were selling. As expected, none of the answers provided by the sales force got to the essence of what Revlon was actually about. Revlon was not a company that sold nail polish or beauty products in general. According to Charles Revson, Revlon was selling hope... Hope that by using these products, I could be closer to living the life portrayed in their campaigns.
Cadbury, it may literally be chocolate, but sharing joy is the essence.
Nicole: What do you expect to see more of in 2012?
Steve: The biggest trend for 2012 that I can see is the continued emergence of mobile. Increasingly, brands and their agencies are realising that in the current climate of fragmented consumption and technology, nothing has really changed. If we want to get our message in front of our target audience and engage with them, then we need to be where they are. This is as true today as it was in 1952. Our challenge is to understand the audience, empathise with the audience and engage the audience. It therefore makes sense that mobile advertising, while already growing, will continue to grow as more members of each target audience continue to spend more and more time engaged with their mobile devices. Content is and always will be king, the important thing is to understand how and why that content is being consumed by your audience and leverage that knowledge.
Nicole: What do you expect (or hope to) see less of in 2012?
Nicole: What do you expect (or hope to) see less of in 2012?
Steve: There are so many things that come to mind here, but I need to be careful not to land myself in trouble :)
I would hope to see more brands treat Social Media the way it should be. I would hope to see more brands realise that the greatest way for them to sell their products or services is by word of mouth or “peer to peer recommendation”. Again, something that hasn’t changed since day dot.
Social Media is nothing but a grouping of software applications that let people stay in contact with each other and get closer to the things they are passionate about. There is nothing scary or difficult about using social media to your advantage, you just need to keep in mind what each social media tool was designed for.
I would hope to see more brands treat Social Media the way it should be. I would hope to see more brands realise that the greatest way for them to sell their products or services is by word of mouth or “peer to peer recommendation”. Again, something that hasn’t changed since day dot.
Social Media is nothing but a grouping of software applications that let people stay in contact with each other and get closer to the things they are passionate about. There is nothing scary or difficult about using social media to your advantage, you just need to keep in mind what each social media tool was designed for.
How do you think social media should be treated in 2012?
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