Insights and Advertising

An interesting look at planning and planners...

chumphreys@insightsandadvertising.com (Chris) — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 15:28:00 +0000

Redscout Presents 'Spur' Episode 1: Is Planning Impotent?

chumphreys@insightsandadvertising.com (Chris) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:22:00 +0000

I recently came across a site where advertising professionals can "confess" their sins. There are some hilarious antics that could only happen in advertising. Go to advertisingconfessions.com to confess your sins.

Insights and Business to Professional to Consumer Advertising (B2P2C)

chumphreys@insightsandadvertising.com (Chris) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 03:18:00 +0000

I've been fortunate to see the increase in consumer insights in B2B marketing. It has been a somewhat overlooked art, being reserved for the big brand advertising agencies. However, I argue that planning and consumer insights (or target audience insights) are just as, if not more important in B2B advertising than with the big guys. And I'll take it a step further. The agency I work for, Geoff Howe, has really done a good job (I'm not just saying it because I work there) at elevating another important segment - the professional influencer.

Business to Professional to Consumer (or B2P2C) is about engaging the important influencers that recommend products to us everyday. This audience includes people like doctors, dentists, veterinarians, golf pros, architects, etc. They are the people that we turn to as 'experts'. And they're recommendation holds a lot of weight.

I bring it up because mining insights about these audiences has proven to be invaluable in focusing our creative brief and resulting in very strategic creative ideas. Insights in these categories are extremely useful with these audiences because they tend to be more homogeneous in nature - at least as it relates to their underlying motivations when it comes to their decision making, beliefs and behavior. This point, makes it even more important in understanding these audiences. Especially since the majority of our B2B (or even B2P2C) advertising agencies aren't harnessing this vital knowledge.

I'm actually sitting in the back of a focus group room right now listening to veterinarians talk about a new product. So be on the look out for some of my work in the not so distance future - coming to a market near you.

Top 10 Retail Trends of 2009

chumphreys@insightsandadvertising.com (Chris) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 15:27:00 +0000

Working in advertising, I have spent a good deal of time working with CPG clients on brands and their in-store marketing challenges as well as mass advertising. This article focuses purely on the retail arm of the IMC plan. I give you – the Top 10 Retail Trends of 2009.

Decreased shopper marketing budgets for brands with less than $25MM sales. Larger brands have increased budgets for retail marketing, often reallocating dollars from mass marketing and turning to more measurable media
Increased pressure for ROI – Although there is money going to retail marketing, it hasn’t been smart to this point. Look for the upcoming year to focus on greater measurement attempts and greater ROI. Especially as the P.R.I.S.M. study launches and becomes mainstream.
Increased pressure to continue to not only gather shopper insights - but to also find a way to significantly mine and act on the data (turning data into insights – See #2 above).
Continued channel migration from independent retail environments to supercenters as consumers continue to tighten spending and save money on gas and commodity products. With large retailers like Wal-Mart and Target carrying an even greater diversity of products (and higher quality products), look for this trend to continue.
Increasing Trade-up/Trade-down mentality. As Consumers pinch pennies on an ongoing basis, they will look for small luxury splurges to escape their grim reality. We’ll see spikes in at-home spa products, wines/champagnes, gourmet meals (cooked at home vs eating out).
Increased personalization – consumers are less and less inclined to purchase luxury goods for the sake of being flashy and showy (the age of the ‘bling’ is out’). The luxury consumer is becoming more discerning. Luxury purchases will still be a significant component of consumer spending, but these luxury purchases will be as a result of in-depth thought and consideration. Purchases will reflect more of a person’s personality. Less about what it is and more about who I am. Consumers will increasingly want a story about the item they purchase.
Increase in purchasing of self-care products indicates a continued trend of consumers either consumers are spending more money on at-home products to avoid healthcare costs (which have dramatically increased). With an ever tightening economy, consumers are less reluctant to go to the doctor without an attempt at at-home remedies.
Increase in retail environments as destination/entertainment – with consumer spending decreasing, consumers will look to retail as a form of entertainment, but will want more out of the environment than just shopping (getting more for their money). They will expect greater entertainment, and an enhanced ‘experience’ that engages all the senses.
Increase in savings vs. impulse shopping – if and when the gov’t does offer a stimulus rebate, look for more consumers to either save this for a rainy day or retire debt. Many will be less inclined to simple blow it on impulse purchases. Those that do choose to spend the money will most likely spend it on considered purchases that have been put on hold because of tightened spending.
Continued ‘green’ movement – Look for the continued ‘green’ or ‘evo-friendly’ movement to continue. Although sometimes more expensive, doing good for our environment and being socially responsible gives people a feel-good sensation that goes beyond money.

Is YouTube, really the next Google?

chumphreys@insightsandadvertising.com (Chris) — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 16:23:00 +0000

I read an article in the NY Times the other day, and it got me thinking about how we as consumer view and process information. Google has long been the number one search in, but YouTube recently knocked off Yahoo as the number two. With 2.8 Billion searches on YouTube, one has to ask what is being search. The NY Times article profiled a young boy, who uses YouTube first for any search – rather than a traditional search engine like Google.

The two searches reveal two completely different types of information. The example used in the NY Times article was about the Hillary Clinton ad: 3:00am. Google returns searches about the ad in context of news and related to the campaign. YouTube however, returns the actual commercial.

Since people are generally more visual creatures, it makes sense that a video site is nipping at the heels of a text heavy search engine – now that the technology has finally caught up with our views. However, it is still the children that use YouTube as our generation currently uses Google, which has a considerable implication on the future of media and news consumption once this ‘kids’ grow up and drive consumer purchasing. This has two main unanswered questions: How will this new way of media consumption change viewership and advertising? Stay Tuned.

Pet Owners and Politics: Insights into a Target Audience

chumphreys@insightsandadvertising.com (Chris) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 13:36:00 +0000

I apologize for the long lag time in my posting. Work commitments, family commitments, etc. have all led to my inactivity. I know, that's life right? Anyway, I plan to start making regular posts on this blog, even if it is every other week. we'll start here and see where it goes.

I read an interesting article this morning that may have further implications than just the current election. It seems that pet owners favor McCain over Obama in the upcoming election (http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i23gT19o6C2I8dWDUfq6V5lES61QD91PM79G1). Presidential politics aside, there might be some nuggets of info that we can glean from this that might influence future creative briefs for communications targeting pet owners:

If pet owners lean more republican, that target audience tends to view themselves as very patriotic and intelligent, and believe that the responsibility of teaching our children rests primarily on the parents and the church (schools are 3rd). They only partly trust large corporations, but do trust their medical providers, despite rising medical costs (they don’t link the two). And overwhelmingly feel that Ronald Reagan is one of our best political leaders.

The facts below were pulled from a survey from The Economist. The source is listed below.

Some facts about Republicans(1):

Republicans view themselves as (the survey allowed for multiple answers)
- Patriotic (84%)
- Intelligent (74%)
- Honest (64%)
- Generous (53%)
- Open-minded (46%)
Republicans view democrats as (same survey as above)
- Open-minded (73%)
- Intelligent (53%)
- Generous (49%)
- Patriotic (47%)
- Honest (37%)
Republicans feel that the following should be responsible for teaching their children:
- Parents (99%)
- Religious leaders (63%)
- Schools (56%)
Versus democrats:
- Parents (99%)
- Schools (67%)
- Religious leaders (48%)
When asked how much they trust people who run large corporations,
- 48% trust them to at least some extent
- 52% don’t trust them much at all
89% do trust doctors at least to some extent (I’m inferring this goes for vets as well)
When asked which historical figure they would choose to be president 79% chose Ronald Reagan

Source for facts:
1. “Anglo-Saxon attitudes: a survey of British and American views of the world”. The Economist. March 29, 2008. © 2008 YouGov plc. All Rights Reserved

Interactivity and Internet Advertising

chumphreys@insightsandadvertising.com (Chris) — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 17:16:00 +0000

I am amazed at how far we’ve come with advertising – especially online advertising. Advertising used to be a one-sided conversation – marketers talking AT consumers rather than with them. However, I recently came across an ad that has done a good job at involving consumers and interacting with them in their advertising. Lately, I’ve noticed companies creating mini sites where consumers can upload their own pictures and create new characters. You can find some of these at sites like www.becomeanmm.com.

However, there is one site in particular that goes a step further. The new movie Meet the Spartans, a parody to the movie 300 has developed a mini site off their main one at www.carmenhasacrushonyou.com. In this site, you enter your name (or a friend’s), a phone number and a photo. The site then creates a custom video that includes you (or your friend) as Carmen’s secret crush – complete with a photo in her album and a tattoo of your name on her butt. To top it off, she will make a phone call to her crush (at the number entered) to tell you she misses you and to set up a date to see the movie.

This ad is brilliant on a few levels. First, the target audience for the movie is likely 18-29 year old boys. Of these boys, who wouldn’t want to date Carmen Electra? Second, it gets them involved and interacting with one of the characters, complete with a video they can embed into their MySpace pages. And finally, it reinforces going to see the movie repeatedly (although subtly), which many of them will – even if it is just to see Carmen Electra.

Congrats to the agency who created this interactive ad. Very well done.

Modeling Consumer Behavior

chumphreys@insightsandadvertising.com (Chris) — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 16:30:00 +0000

I read an article a while back that I have since revisited. The article was published in the August 2007 issue of National Geographic Adventure Magazine and was titled: “Why Smart People Make Dumb Mistakes (and how you can avoid them)”. The article was intended as a survival warning, but as I read the article, I began to see some overlap into marketing and consumer behavior. The overall premise, which psychologists have been researching for many years, is that our brains create mental models that allow us to perceive the world and interpret our surroundings and situations based on previous experiences. We perceive the world by analogy. However, these models can lead us astray despite being otherwise experienced or prepared.

For example, have you ever driven a car while talking on the phone, adjusting your radio, drinking coffee and by the time you reach your destination, you can’t recall actually driving at all? Or, have you ever hung a picture on the wall, and from then on, don’t recall seeing it when you walk in the room? Our brains produce very sophisticated models that allow us to experience the world without having to stop and take the time to think about our surroundings. We are compensating unconsciously in the name of efficiency.

As it relates to us as consumers, we also create mental models for shopping. When I go to the grocery store, for instance, I always start at the same side of the store and work my way to the other. I have created a mental model for how I shop. In addition, I generally purchase the same (or close to the same) types of items on a weekly basis. I can almost work my way through the store without thinking. Now think about a mom shopping in the grocery store, or Wal-Mart or Target, with kids in tow, trying to get in, get her items and get out. She has a very sophisticated mental model for getting what she needs.

With this elaborate model in place, how does a marketer grab the attention of a shopper who has subconsciously programmed herself to ignore the stimulus around her? We go through extensive research and ways to create advertising and promotions to grab her attention, even though she is programmed to ignore these stimuli altogether. My initial sense is that if we, as advertisers, can find a way to deconstruct her mental model, we can start to engage consumers in a place where they are traditionally programmed to ignore advertising messages.

This subject has caught my interest, and I plan to do extensive research on the use of mental models in advertising. Stay tuned.

Customer Service Marketing: The Neglected Medium

chumphreys@insightsandadvertising.com (Chris) — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 16:08:00 +0000

As we approach the Christmas shopping season – the busiest shopping season of the year – consumers will be out in hoards, shopping, buying and mentally logging their experiences. With the rise of gas prices, the mortgage crunch, the credit crunch, and a resulting lower discretionary income, manufacturers, retailers and their brands need to be cognizant of consumers’ perceptions. Consumers this year have less money to go around and will be more choosey as to where their money goes.

Marketers (and retailers) are very conscious of this shopping season. The deals are already ringing loud and clear. However, retailers are neglecting a key part of their integrated campaigns - what I call Customer Service Marketing.

While most consumers have exposure to your brands and products through carefully planned and executed advertising (which I’m happy to say keeps me employed), the real interaction for most brands happens in-store at the point when a consumer is making a purchase. Based on my experiences at stores lately, it seems that retail workers, those people who we turn to for help in the store and who check us out, are becoming increasingly miserable. While a retail worker’s attitude doesn’t reflect completely on the brands I’m purchasing, it does reflect on the overall shopping experience, which in turn reflects negatively on the retailer themselves. With more outlets for purchasing the products I need, retailers are going to have to make Customer Service Marketing a priority if they want to maintain the lion’s share of sales this (and future) Christmas season.

My challenge to retailers (and even marketers and brands) is this: concentrate on making the overall shopping experience a positive one. This includes everything up to and including the in-store experience. We already know that baby boomers are experience seekers anyway, so why not use this insight and make the shopping experience an engaging one. You might even build some brand loyalty for your store in the process.

Consumer engagement: Stimulating interaction with your brand.

chumphreys@insightsandadvertising.com (Chris) — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 17:11:00 +0000

Consumer engagement has been a buzz word throughout the advertising and marketing industry for at least the last few years, and arguably beyond that. It’s not enough for a communication piece to grab the reader’s attention, it must engage them. So what does engagement really mean, and how do we achieve it?

In my experience, whether we’re talking about advertising or general communication between two people, it’s easier to engage a person with emotion rather than logic. Emotion elicits a chemical response in our brains that gives us a physical sensation. Sometimes the sensation is good, sometimes bad.

Logic, on the other hand makes you think (which, in itself, is not always a bad thing). It is a rational response based on a series of steps that reinforce what we perceive to be true. It is important that we distinguish perceiving truth rather than knowing it, because as we all have experienced, our perception is our own reality.

The fundamental flaw to logic is that people (consumers) don’t make decisions based on logic. We want people to think we make decisions based on logic, but in the end it’s pure gut feel. I’ve seen it in many focus groups and my own buying experiences, I know the logical selection based on perceived price, quality, functionality, etc., yet I still choose the product that is more expensive because it just seems cooler – think Axe deodorant.

While emotion aids in engagement, simply bringing emotion to advertising is not enough. We need to identify with consumers on their terms. Our brand must reflect what our consumers believe in and how they live their life everyday.

Method products have done an outstanding job of this. Method has not only produced products that create a connection with their consumers, they produce products that identify with their consumers (in a category that is often referred to as a commodity or low-involvement category). Method’s products are not only safe (many household products contain various levels of poisons), they are also the epitome environmentally friendly, mirroring the views of their core consumers.

Beyond that, Method has even taken it a step further. They have made their consumers brand ambassadors. They create an interaction with them to try new products, to give feedback and to help spread the word. As a result, these consumers are the most brand loyal I have ever seen.

Consumer engagement is more than just sprinkling the emotional fairy dust over our advertising. It is about creating a two-way dialogue with our consumers. Your consumers want to talk to you, you just have to give them the forum and listen. And that’s the catch, you have to listen. If you listen, your consumers will pay you back with loyalty. If you don’t they’ll pay you back by switching to your competitor – who is listening.

The Creative Brief: What is the purpose?

chumphreys@insightsandadvertising.com (Chris) — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 15:19:00 +0000

It seems the relationship between an agency and a new client is all too often rocky at the beginning. You spend the first few months trying to get all the details of the relationship figured out: the contract, the team, scope of work, etc.

I ran into a creative brief issue with a new client of ours. Call me territorial, but the creative brief, in my view, is an agency document. The entire purpose of the creative brief is to provide the right insights to the creative team that will inspire creative ideas.

I met with the client of ours last week for “emergency meetings” to get some projects going. We began talking about a specific print ad. At the beginning of the discussion, the client stated, very matter of fact, “I don’t like your creative brief format.”

She then proceeded to give our team a “seminar” about the proper creative brief. At first I was a bit taken aback. I mean, the brief is our document – not the client’s.

The information she presented was covered in our brief format (under different headings, though). I thought, “Fine, we can work through this.” But then came a point of difference that I cannot work with. She presented a consumer insight from the top of her head. How can you come up with a true consumer insight without even talking to your consumers or at least doing a little background? She might as well have pulled it out of a hat.

The kicker: she wants to include the creative idea in the brief. I tried as diplomatic as possible to dissuade her from doing this, explaining the true point of the brief, but to no avail – it must be in there.

So my question is this, “What is the point of the creative brief?”

Is it, as I have been taught, simply a document to provide our creative team with the insights to inspire their ideas? Or is it a document to set up our creative presentation – as our client wants?

If I could have my way, I wouldn’t even show the brief to the client. What started as a way of covering our ass has turned into a ceremonious process of letting the client dictate the creative process. Most of the time we have two briefs anyway. One the client approves and the one we brief the team from.

“How do we, as an agency, entice clients to let us do our best work for them instead of stifling the creative process?”

Behavioral Ad Targeting: The Future of Facebook and Myspace Advertising

chumphreys@insightsandadvertising.com (Chris) — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 20:09:00 +0000

I read an article this morning from Adweek, entitled: Social Network Ads: Too Close, Too Personal? (Bryan Morrissey, November 5, 2007) about how MySpace and Facebook are using hyper targeted ads for users based on information mined from their profiles. I also recently attended a presentation by Facebook Vice President of Media Sales, Mike Murphy, at the AAAA’s Account Planning conference in San Diego (August 2007) in which Murphy discussed this very subject.

As an account planner, I am truly excited about the opportunity to not only learn more about consumers and what motivates them, but to also find ways to deliver messages that will connect with consumers. The executives at both Facebook and MySpace have it right – this changes everything.

An advertising message must do two things to be successful.

The message must be relevant to and connect emotionally with consumers.
The message must be seen by the consumers in which it is trying to connect.

This new technology gets us closer to the second point. By targeting users’ based on their profile information, we can get a whole lot better at providing ads that are truly relevant. Making sure the message connects emotionally to consumers is on the shoulders of the agency.

Although consumers might not want to admit it, there is a benefit to them too. By targeting advertising messages to users’ profiles, advertisers will be able to provide relevant messages (based on consumer insights) that they might actually want to see. As the article states, some of these ads are already receiving click-through rates of over 10% – further proof that consumers are clicking on ads that interest them.

While the media accurately portrays that there are opposing sides to the story, they often prefer to discuss the privacy (or anti-privacy) side of the story.

So, is this new technology a violation of users’ privacy?

It’s a very good question, and one that I’m sure will be disputed for a very long time. I’m a little biased, being an account planner, but I don’t agree with complaints about privacy violations. First of all, I’m constantly reading blogs and user postings to mine for insights on various issues anyway. Second, if the whole world can see your MySpace profile or your blog post, you aren’t exactly exhibiting a concern for real privacy to begin with.

As account planners, we are constantly trying to find ways to glean insights and reach into the hearts and minds of consumers – all in the name of better advertising. As technology continues to evolve, we will continue to find new ways to target consumers and mine insights from them.

Hook 'Em While They're Young

chumphreys@insightsandadvertising.com (Chris) — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 14:00:00 +0000

It works for the tobacco industry – o.k. bad example. Illegal and unethical products aside, the concept of introducing brands to children as a way to create loyalty can be a very successful and lucrative marketing strategy. I was looking through a Christmas toy catalog last night, when I noticed many mainstream brands that are being manufactured as toys for kids.

For example, T-Fal has come out with an entire toy kitchen. This has come a long way since the Easy Bake ovens of Christmas’s past. But it really got me thinking; how do these “branded” toys affect brand loyalty among children?

Even Tiffany & Co. has a line of products for babies and small children. My fiancée and I recently bought a Tiffany & Co. branded piggy bank for our goddaughter’s 2^nd birthday. We bought it because of our relationship with the brand – only the best for Sophia. And then something happened. When we handed her that signature blue box with the little white bow, she said, with pure admiration and her limited vocabulary, “Pretty.”

I thought, “Wow, they’ve already got her.” Now when she grows up and starts dating, no gift from any boy will have quite the same effect if it doesn’t come in that signature blue box. Granted, this will be the result of many years of reinforcement through exposure to Tiffany & Co. advertising and her mom’s admiration for the Tiffany & Co. brand.

But I think it goes beyond simply introducing brands or providing a line of toys for kids. It is reinforcing the brand and what the brand stands for to kids. For example, if Tiffany & Co. were to offer a line of children’s jewelry for them to play with, it would most likely cheapen the brand. Tiffany & Co. is about obtaining the unattainable. It’s about pure luxury and indulgence. If it is available at any age for any reason, the brand is no longer enticing.

This brings me to my main point. Branding products for kids is a great idea to create and build loyalty, but only if the product reinforces the brand and what the brand stands for.

Many of the brand loyalty studies I’ve read indicate that brand loyalty, especially for the younger generations is extremely low. While I do agree with these studies, I have to wonder why that is. We as consumers are naturally connected to certain types of products that we identify with, so why is the younger generation so anti-brand loyal. Is it because they are truly immune to advertising as much of the generational cohort research says? Or is it simply because no brand has been able to crack the code to the younger generation’s set of desires and really identify with them?

The Entitled Generation

chumphreys@insightsandadvertising.com (Chris) — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 13:39:00 +0000

I recently read an article in the NY Times entitled, “She’s Famous (and So Can You)” (Guy Trebay, October 28, 2007) that really got me thinking about a group of consumers and how they view not only themselves, but their place in society. The article goes in depth about a new type of celebrity that can gain fame (or is it notoriety?) without talent. We seem to be infatuated with famous people who have done nothing special (Paris Hilton, Tila Tequila) – and some have even become famous for being shockingly un-talented (William Hung).

All that aside, it got me thinking about this group of consumers – the millennial* consumers, who are increasingly fascinated and captivated by these “celeb-realities”.

And my question is, “how can we create an emotional connection with a group of consumers who feel entitled and truly important themselves?”

As Guy mentions in the article above:

When Jake Halpern set out to write “Fame Junkies,” his book about what is now a universal obsession with celebrity, he was surprised to uncover studies demonstrating that 31 percent of American teenagers had the honest expectation that they would one day be famous and that 80 percent thought of themselves as truly important. (The figure from the same study conducted in the 1950s was 12 percent.)

This is truly fascinating – millennial consumers see themselves as truly important and fame as an option. In the past, depending on the product, we have been concentrating on consumer targets such as Baby Boomers and Gen Xers. These generational cohorts have their own nuances when we try to create emotional engagement. For example, with Baby Boomers, we are talking to a generation that has grown up with larger than life experiences and now wants her buying habits to be centered on an experience or a feeling. They grew up seeing other people in the limelight and want to experience larger than life sensations.

Since we are in the beginning stages of targeting this millennial group with advertising, I predict a large shift in the way we communicate with this group. Since they want to feel entitled, we will have to find ways for our brands to fuel this feeling of entitlement. I could be wrong, but I expect we will see more campaigns that are centered on identifying influential members of this group and a more “celeb-reality” approach to brand building.

*The dates of this generational cohort are often disputed, but for this article I am assuming those individuals born somewhere between 1980 and 2000.

Brand Positioning

chumphreys@insightsandadvertising.com (Chris) — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 14:45:00 +0000

I recently came across what I think is one of the best brand positioning ads I've seen in a long time.

In an advertising market where it's extremely difficult to tell one auto maker from another (only a few have done it successfully), this ad really gets to the heart of what Audi is trying to be known for. We all know Volvo still owns the safety position in consumers' minds, thanks in part to Al Ries and Jack Trout's book: Positioning. The Battle for your Mind. We also agree that BMW is known for performance (thanks to German engineering).

But Audi takes a slightly different spin. They know it will be difficult to dethrone each of these manufacturer's position in a head to head fight, so they slighted averted each of the others' position. They say, you can have safety, performance, design, comfort, but if you don't want to settle for just one, you can have it all with Audi. Brilliant.