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Archives for November 2012

Licensing BMW Brand Equity Brings the High-Performance Promise to Baby Products

When there is equity in a brand, there is a risky temptation to over-extend the brand and ultimately, devalue it in consumers’ minds. Will that happen to BMW as it pursues a wide range of brand licensing opportunities? It can be hoped that as long as the brand is licensed consistently and the BMW licensing team exercises restraint, the BMW brand promise won’t be tarnished. In other words, the brand that promises high performance must be licensed to products that deliver on that promise.

This month, a licensing deal between BMW and Maclaren has been discussed among retail and branding experts across the web with everyone speculating on how the BMW brand will be perceived when it is seen on Maclaren baby strollers. Of course, BMW isn’t the first automotive brand to license its name and logo for baby strollers. If you walk into a baby gear store in the United States, you’ll find a number of JEEP strollers. It’s a great match, particularly for fathers who prefer a more gender-neutral stroller to push their babies.

Furthermore, Maclaren strollers are priced significantly higher than many other strollers, so the high-end BMW brand is likely to match the Maclaren target audience, too. The hope, of course, is that BMW customers who need strollers will choose the BMW Buggy from Maclaren and that Maclaren stroller customers will become more interested in the BMW brand and consider it for their future automotive purchases. The licensing agreement seems like a win-win for both brands.

bmw buggy maclaren stroller

So far, BMW appears to be exercising the necessary restraint in its licensing deals. Brand Channel reports that the BMW team will not license its brand to cigarette or food products and video games that would feature BMW vehicles exploding or being destroyed in any way won’t debut anytime soon. Licensing deals that have been signed to date include:

  • Aspex eyewear featuring, “distinct contouring of the frames as reflective of BMW’s dynamic automotive artistry.”
  • Group III luggage featuring, “exceptional quality and superior performance – two hallmarks of the BMW brand. Created to compliment the enterprising lifestyle of BMW owners, the branded luggage will be manufactured with stylish and distinctive hardware.”
  • Ball Watch featuring expert craftsmanship that, “incorporates various technical feats.”

What do you think of the BMW brand licensing strategy?

Image: BMW and Maclaren

Setting The Benchmark: Online Recruiting at its Best

With the right programmers, top designers and expert copywriters, your corporate website can be made to do just about anything. That’s a great opportunity, of course, but the freedom to create can be overwhelming at times and it’s no wonder that so many top recruiters end up playing things safe. Usually a job description and an application form does bring in applications, but if you want to target the top cut of graduates you need to start thinking creatively. If you’re stuck for ideas, why not take a look at some of the industry leaders when it comes to online recruiting?

Red Bull Racing Internships

Though it’s currently offline, the flashiest (if you’ll excuse the pun) recruitment site I’ve seen directed potential applicants towards an interactive ‘challenge’, including memory tests and spatial reasoning exercises. Only then are applicants allowed to see the application form. It’s a great way of pulling in hits, but also works as a sort of screening process.

Marks and Spencer

Another popular graduate recruiter is right on the mark with a Flash-based site which is simple and designed for the user. The smartphone-like dashboard is a great way of getting users to the right information with the minimum of fuss. It’s creative without being overly ornate.

Nike Design

You’d expect an site looking for product design interns to be top-class and Nike’s is. Putting function over form, Nike offers interns a chance to link a resume, portfolio and a website and allows the applicants creativity to shine. Plus, it allows a link to Facebook which allows recruiters an all-telling look at their applicants pages!

Random House Publishing

Publishing is incredibly in demand from graduates looking for creative roles and, as such, Random House (amongst other publishers) use Facebook almost exclusively for recruiting interns. A post asking for CVs a week before an internship starts will guarantee a committed intern who will have plenty to do!

Ernst and Young

When something a little more formal is required, E&Y are leading the market. It’s on brand and easily identifiable, but most importantly the site layout is incredibly efficient. This sort of model is ideal for large recruiters who offer lots of roles year on year and can easily be tweaked and updated when the branding changes.

Of course, these recruiters are all big brands, but there’s no reason this sort of web estate can’t be generated by smaller recruiters. A well modelled recruitment site is a valuable asset and can stay with you for a long time so it’s worth developing well and looking after.

54% of the World’s Top Brands Are on Instagram

More than half of the world’s top brands are now active on Instagram according to a new report from SimplyMeasured. Those brands are active and attracting followers, too. 20% of brands on Instagram have more than 10,000 followers, and 18% have more than 20,000 followers. However, just eight brands on Instagram have more than 100,000 followers. Those eight brands are responsible for 92% of the audience engagement.

Instagram launched as a simple photo-sharing app just two years ago in October 2010. At the beginning of 2012, 15 million people used Instagram. Fast forward nine months and Instagram had grown to 100 million users and shows no signs of slowing down.

Suffice it to say, Instagram is very alluring to brands that want to connect with those 100 million users. It’s not surprising that between August 1, 2012 and November 1, 2012, the Instagram adoption rate among the world’s top brands jumped by 35%. That’s higher than the Pinterest adoption rate during the same time period of 24%, and significantly higher than the 5% increase Google+ experienced.

The eight brands leading the way on Instagram are MTV, Starbucks, Burberry, Nike, Gucci, Tiffany & Co., Audi, and GE. The most active category on Instagram is apparel, and business-to-consumer brands are more active than business-to-business brands overall. You can see some statistics in the image below about these eight brands and their Instagram account details recorded during the 3-month period of August, September, and October 2012.

Click the image to view it at full size.

instagram top brand account details

One of the most interesting things learned from the SimplyMeasured report is how significantly Facebook drives engagement for Instagram photos. Of course, since Facebook purchased Instagram, this is a relationship that will only grow. According to the report, out of 2,533 photos that brands shared on Instagram during the 3-month study period, 60% were shared to Twitter and 93% were shared to Facebook.

Nike stands out as a brand that has had great success with Instagram. A mixture of compelling photos has led to great engagement rates, including:

  • 57.3 tweets per photo
  • 612.3 Facebook likes per photo
  • 1.5 Facebook comments per photo
  • 0.9 Facebook shares per photo

You can read the full Instagram Brand Adoption Study report from SimplyMeasured below, which tracked the performance of the brands on Instagram from Interbrand’s list of the top 100 brands.
 

Marketing, Corporate Lifecycles and Investor Relations

In marketing there is a well-known graph known as the Product Lifecycle Curve, which I’ve set out below.

The graph illustrates how successful products are first brought to market and purchased by early adopters, then go through phases of rapid takeoff and swift growth. Once the product has achieved wide spread acceptance, the growth begins to slows down, eventually reaching a period of maturity. Mature products run their course and inevitably decline sets in.

The speed at which all of this occurs depends in large part on the nature of the industry and the aggressiveness of competitors. Tech gadgets, for example, have much shorter product life cycles than say, breakfast cereals. The exact shape of the curve and the length of maturity will also differ, but the general shape and sequence of the curve holds true for many products.

The interesting thing about the product lifecycle is that it has applicability to a number of other things, corporate lifecycles included. Stop thinking about products and substitute corporate development and the graph doesn’t change. Where this is of interest to investor relations professionals is in the type of investors each phase of the cycle attracts. Set out below is the same graph with investor segments sketched in.

One of the interesting things about the graph is that as you move on the life cycle line from left to right, the price/earnings ratio that investors are willing to pay for a stock declines. This is because investors perceive that the rate at which future earnings will accrue to the company is slowing and they are therefore willing to pay less for that future stream of lessened earnings. Growth investors are well known for their penchant of “paying up” for future growth, while value investors are almost religious about not over paying for a stock.

Companies often struggle with this, particularly at the inflection points between stages. Company executives will say, “We’re a growth company – look at our past record. The market is undervaluing us.” Investors, on the other hand, will look forward and say, “Nope, you’re a mature company. Your big gains are over and we’re not going to pay a premium for a company that is going to grow at the rate of the market.” Many an antagonistic relationship has been fostered based on this differing view of the world.

Understanding where your company stands on the lifecycle graph can help an investor relations person understand how the street may be viewing you.

Best Length for Social Video Ads

social video ads cameraSocial video advertising is one of the big buzz topics among marketers these days, particularly since some advertisers have seen their ads spread across YouTube users and social media farther and wider than ever lately.

According to Unruly Media’s October 2012 viral video chart data, the top 20 most shared ads include Coca-Cola’s Coke Zero, GoPro’s Hero3 Black Edition Camera, Ashton Bikes, Red Bull, Chanel in the top five spots, respectively. The most-shared ad received 790,556 shares while the ad in the #20 spot (from Microsoft Surface) received 107,940 shares.

What makes a great social video? Tapping into emotions by telling stories that create interesting and meaningful brand experiences are the most important steps, but there seems to be a sweet spot in the length of ads that are more likely to get shared and go viral. ReelSEO shared insights from Unruly Media this week about social video ad duration, and the results might surprise you.

According to the Unruly Media study, the average video length of the top 50 most shared global video ads were:

  • Top 10 – 4 minutes 11 seconds (2,513 total seconds – does not include “Kony 2012”)
  • 11-20 – 2 minutes 30 seconds (1,501 total seconds)
  • 21-30 – 3 minutes 5 seconds (1,849 total seconds)
  • 31-40 – 2 minutes 57 seconds (1,770 total seconds)
  • 41-50 – 1 minute 45 seconds (1,049 total seconds)
  • Top 50 – 2 minutes 54 seconds (8,682 total seconds – does not include “Kony 2012”)

Many research reports in the past have shown that videos that are too long will have a high abandonment rate and with that comes a low share rate. The same is true of videos that are extremely short. However, even a 15-second pre-roll ad before an online video can be enough to motivate people to click away without watching the video content. If your ad doesn’t say something compelling within the first 5-seconds (and absolutely within the first 15-seconds), then your ad is likely to fail. It might even damage the success of the video it’s displayed with.

The trick is finding the right kind of video content to interest and engage your target audience. Greg Jarboe of ReelSEO asked Unruly Media Head of Content David Waterhouse about how marketers can marry engaging brand content with the fast-moving online audience in order to increase sharing. You can read the full interview here. You can also keep up on the Unruly Media viral video chart here. It’s a great place to learn what type of video ad content is resonating with the online audience to help you with your own strategies and planning.

Image: Jacob Power

The Psychology Behind Viral Marketing: Why People Share

Did you know that a virus doesn’t even have to mate? It just grows exponentially; hitching a ride on its host, taking over the host’s functions in order to replicate itself inside every cell it comes into contact with.[1]

The term ‘virus’ has anything but a good connotation. The term ‘viral marketing’ brings about a very different response, however; one of intrigue, excitement, and curiosity.

But what is it?

According to Dr. Ralph F. Wilson, E-Commerce Consultant for Web Marketing Today Viral Marketing is “…any strategy that encourages individuals to pass on a marketing message to others, creating the potential for exponential growth in the message’s exposure and influence.”

He compares this type of marketing to viruses, stating that “Like viruses, such strategies take advantage of rapid multiplication to explode the message to thousands, to millions.”[2]

While modern medical science knows the reasons why viruses insert their DNA into other cells, isn’t it an interesting question as to why people pass on marketing messages to others?

What is it that makes one press the ‘forward‘ button or the ‘share‘ icon? This is an important question, because without someone making a conscious decision to pass on a marketing message, Viral Marketing simply wouldn’t be possible.

It is important for corporations to know the answer to this question for several reasons. Viral Marketing has several benefits[3]

  1. Increases Visibility
  2. Establishes Consumer Credibility and Trust
  3. Enhances Customer Interaction
  4. Reduces Marketing Costs

The Psychology of Sharing

Schutz (1966) developed a fundamental motivation theory which outlined three reasons why people engage in interpersonal communication[4].

  • Inclusion – The need to be part of a group and attract personal attention
  • Affection – Showing appreciation or concern for others
  • Control – The need to feel in control of one’s social environment

In a study, researchers Jason Ho and Melanie Dempsey applied these concepts to Viral Marketing[5]. They found that Schutz’s theory offered explanation for why people decide to share online content. More specifically, they found the following:

  • Inclusion and affection, (uniqueness in particular), are the leading reasons people share online content.
  • Control was found to not be a reason that people forward online content. They explained that this is because there is no consistent feedback in sharing online material, and feedback is what drives sense of control.

So, how can this information help your corporation as you develop your Viral Marketing campaign? The following are some tips on how to create marketing messages that will go viral:

  • Create a marketing message that a user would want to share in order to make them feel unique. Creating marketing messages that reflect a target audience’s self image has been found to be effective.
  • Create a marketing message that will enable the user to show affection to another user.
  • Design marketing content that creates cohesiveness among social groups. Find an element shared by your target audience, and present it in a way that encourages bonding and sharing

Viral Marketing is an essential component of promoting your brand on the Internet. Many corporations think it is more complex than it really is. When it comes down to it, it really just follows the tenants of basic social rules.

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References

1Virus http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/alllife/virus.html

2 Dr. Ralph F. Wilson: The six simple principles of viral marketing

3 http://blog.brainhost.com/5-ways-viral-marketing-will-help-your-business/

4 Schutz (1966) A three dimensional theory of interpersonal behavior

5 Ho & Dempsey (2010): Viral Marketing: Motivations to forward online content