2. There are plenty of fancy phrases describing the changes to brand integration > Consumer skepticism. > Media fragmentation. > Conversation era. > Real time ramp-up.
I am a planner working at amv – not a digital planner but digital is at the heart of what I doPredictably I’ve included my Twitter and my blog up there if you’d like to connect with meThe topic today is about brand integration. There’s a lot of effort spent in our industry trying to predict the future and the next big thing (which is unpredictable) so today I simply wanted to talk about what brand integration means in 2010. And I’ve got some great and hopefully inspiring case studies of brands that I think are doing it well today...
But, despite all these changes, we still need big ideas. We need to start with ideas, not media platforms. So its more important that ever to be idea-centric in our thinking.
It’s just that the sorts of ideas that work today, need to work a bit differently. It used to typically be that you bought media, on the brands terms. But actually, it’s increasingly important to earn media by creating things that have social currency. Earned media is not free media – it means creating stuff that’s worth talking about. There’s a theory that goes so far as to say that if you create content that’s interesting enough, then you should never need to buy media, because people will just come to it.Now I’m not quite that extreme, but I do believe rather than just telling people, we should do things that inspire consumers to tell each other.
Here’s the inspiration bit. I’ve identified 5 ways to deliver great integrated ideas
First of all and arguably the most important, is about being “magically simple”. This is something that my Doritos client said to me in a briefing, and it’s really stuck with me. If it takes 10 slides, 3 charts, and 1 mood reel to explain the idea, it’s probably not a good idea. The best ideas sell themselves and fly off the paper.A good stress test is to define the idea in one sentence.
The idea is this – the more people tweet about Uniqlo’s new range, the cheaper the clothes become for everyone. Incredibly simple and yet powerful idea. Beneficial to both the brand and the consumer.
Another magically simple idea is the IKEA Facebook showroom. If you’re the first person to tag an item on Facebook, you win it. It doesn't get any simpler. It uses technology on Facebook that already exists, and that consumers are already familiar with. The idea is inherently social because tagging stuff goes into your news feed. And again it gets people talking on the brands behalf. The campaign was to support a new store opening, and this simple idea meant they created a lot of buzz for not a lot of money.
Now I’m sure this isn’t the first time you’ve heard this, but it’s more important than ever to do stuff rather than saying. Communications that actually provoke a response and invite participation.And the example I have to show you is the Walkers “Sandwich” campaign.Through research we found that a packet of Walkers crisps actually make a sandwich at lunchtime more enjoyable. But rather than just telling people, they went out of their way to really prove it…
The third principle is about leveraging each touchpoint to its maximum potential. This Is something that I get strangely excited about – because it can be the really little things that make a big difference. Chances are your brand already has multiple touch points and therefore multiple opportunities to build a brand message – whether that’s at a vending machine, through a call centre, or where ever…
Robinson Cursor Club was an innovative email campaign. Through eCRM, consumers were invited to actually send their cursor on holiday – and in-between it would actually send you photos of where it’s been and what it’s been up to. For some reason this really tickles me. I couldn’t find anything specific on results, but it won some awards so I can only assume it was a success.
Unilever revealed an ice cream vending machine branded “Share Happy”, which is apparently the world’s first “smile-activated” vending machine. Ultimately, the vending machine offers a unique brand experience as part of Unilever’s new ice cream mission to encourage people everywhere to share life’s small moments of happiness.Ultimately, the machine is an extension of the brand premise that ice cream is one way to facilitate “sharing happiness”.It uses augmented reality to measure your grin; facial recognition technology will judge whether your grin is large enough to be awarded a free ice cream. A photo is taken and uploaded onto Facebook – with the person’s permission.
As I said before, the reason was social media is so huge, is because people like connecting with other people. So as a brand, you should look for ways to facilitate this and bring people together – online and in the real world.
Lurpak are celebrating the satisfaction and pride that comes from cooking meals from scratch. They actually got foodie bloggers to make the food that featured in the advertising. And the online component is a useful and entertaining tool which allows you to create your own bake club with friends.
Innocent often find ways to bring people in the real world, and their new campaign is no different. They’re launching an achingly cool pop-up café in east London, where you can get your 5 a day in one meal for a fiver. See what they’ve done there with all the fives.
And finally, as a typical planner, I think it’s really important that brands find ways to leverage consumer truths. And to bring this to life I want to share with you my new campaign for Walkers called Rainy Day.
The consumer truth is simply this – the great British public love to talk about the weather. And so in Walker’s latest campaign, they’re going to put a smile on your face, even when it rains. All you have to do is guess where in the UK you think it’s going to rain, and if you get it right, you win a tenner. We’ve split the country into 21,000 squares (with the help of the Met Office), so you have to pick a square. You’ll know the day after whether you’ve won, and you’ll receive a signed cheque in the post soon after.