Archive for the ‘Strategy’ Category
Demonstrating Speed
Filed under: Demos, Strategy | Tags: bmw, bugatti, chrome, demo, demos, Google, hotels.com, ronaldo
Comments (1) Some people abhor demos. And there are a lot which suck. But then again, there are a lot of great ones. Seen quite a lot of demos that attracted my attention lately, so finally I thought of narrowing down the post to a couple that communicate speed. I’ll include some older ones from my “demo archive” as well.
Just seen today:
Google’s Cannes award winning Chrome commercials:
One of my all time favorites:
Some more BMW:
Some more cars:
A couple of patterns occur, that may help inspire a structured approach:
- comparisons (BMW M5 – with a nice creative twist in this case)
- comparisons with cool references (Nike vs. Bugatti)
- challenges (hotels.com)
- over-complication – in case the benefit is quite simple (Google Chrome’s speed or the BMW’s acceleration)
Another thing that seems to be common to almost all engaging demo based ads is the fact that the demo is the story. All the while, the dull demos are merely interrupting a story.
Contagion OOH
Spotted in Toronto, a rather unusual OOH for the new movie Contagion:
As they say, it’s rather a piece of art than a piece of communication, as almost nobody pays attention to this. But that might not be the point. I put this into the category of communication initiatives that are not made to be seen by consumers, but by the media.
Best in Class Campaign in Banking – BMO’s SmartSteps for Parents
Banking and financial services can be a hard category for a communication specialist. There is little differentiation between products, a lot of communication goes through direct channels and usually visible campaigns are dull (won’t develop more of the potential reasons).
So this makes good communication initiatives in banking even more special. On of the best I’ve seen so far is a not so new (I think launched this year) campaign by BMO that caters to parents.
Great insight into the need parents have to educate their children on financial matters, clear unmet need on the market (there might be books, but I doubt there are serious free online resources), great execution – a lot of content (video, games, teaching methods, blog etc.), well structured (by age groups), well sustained with some ATL (I remember seeing around the city), a couple of celebrity specialists/authors brought on board (financial journalist, psychotherapist etc.).
Hope this will still be around when I’ll have kids.
Website here.
Note: it seems the SmartSteps is a larger brand/umbrella, with pillars like SmartSteps for Students and SmartSteps for Business.
XBox Opens Dedicated Showrooms in Canada
Filed under: Product strategy, Retail, Shopper, Strategy | Tags: 3ds, microsoft, nintendo, nintendo 3ds, playstation, xbox
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Seen yesterday in Toronto and, according to the employees, also opening in some other big Canadian cities, but not in US. Nice and cozy inside, one can play games and even buy, but they claim it’s not the main scope.
The store is going to be a trial, up to December 2011. If successful it might extend into March next year.
So is Microsoft to mimic the success of Apple Stores? Or it’s a purely temporary exercise, to get more people to try the new Kinect technology? First reaction was to judge this as an Apple inspired initiative, but at a closer look there are a lot of differences. First, sales does not seem to be an objective. Then, the store won’t get the traffic that Apple has – there aren’t simply enough devices to interact with. And any of those that exist inside needs somebody to assist you. The store is also not in the most trafficked place (Queen West) – although it’s a super-premium location and a hip area – so one might argue they are going after some kind of influencers.
Anyway, it’s an area that might develop. A couple of weeks ago I’ve encountered a Nintendo boot allowing people to test their brand new 3DS. With breakthrough technologies appearing, it makes sense to get closer to consumers.
Storytelling Technique Nicely Applied
Filed under: Agency, Campaigns, Strategy | Tags: Fabio, Old Spice, Old Spice Guy, W+K, Wieden+Kennedy
Leave a Comment In the new Old Spice development:
- introducing a challenger:
- the battle (click “Continue” button on bottom right corner till the battle ends) :
Quite an epic by W+K!
Personal Names & Branding
Al Ries & Jack Trout have a significant chapter names in their “Positioning. The Battle for Your Mind”. They actually talk about personal names and finish the chapter (if I remember correctly, don’t have a copy on hand) with the advice to change your name if it does not sound good.
While I empathize with not changing one’s name, the least one can do is not use it in advertising & branding. I mean, who wants to talk real estate with a lamb?
My Cannes 2011 Picks (2)
As promised, my other 5 Cannes picks (see last post for reference)
1. Tesco – Homeplus Subway Virtual Store: because they seemed to have invented a feasible mobile shopping solution (that has actually the chance to change the way we shop):
2. Dortmund Concert Hall – Concert Milk: because they use a different category to promote their main business and in the process have actually launched a potentially successful brand of milk:
3. 4th Amendment Wear: because I actually empathize, as a frequent traveler, with the issue they’re tackling, but also because of the innovative solution they found:
4. USG People – The Crying Invoice: because money is hard to collect and calling to ask for money is embarrassing – so the idea of an invoice that “speaks” for itself is brilliant:
5. Gatorade Replay: because they’ve found a nice way to emotionally engage consumers – and because they had the courage to build an event that is far bigger than the usual sponsorship:
My Cannes 2011 Picks (1)
I, too, enjoy Slow Motion, VW The Force and Nike Write the Future (among others). But I’m going to list a couple that have a rather more special meaning to me, usually linked to some kind of strategic innovation.
1. Bolthouse Farms Baby Carrots – Eat ‘Em Like Junk Food: because they changed the category they’re playing in:
You watch the other mock commercials here and here. And they also have their own youtube channel here.
2. Westpac – Impulse Saver: because they’ve found a smart and insightful way to increase the frequency of the interactions between their customers and their products. This, in a category where idiosyncrasy is high and differentiation and innovation quite low:
3. Pacific Brands – Dated Pillows: because it’s more than a communication solution (adding an expiry date on each pillow) that has a potentially huge impact on the business.
4. Papercut Shop – Speed Sale: because they took further (to the limit?) the classical insight that a limited time offer works wonders in the digital realm. Groupon is another digital player who in my opinion is mainly taking advantage of this, rather than the “group purchase” side of the explanation.
5. Innovative Thunder – Pay with a Tweet: because they’ve invented a new internet tool (and business model)
I’ll soon post my next five picks.
Free Kindles (not yet)
I ended the below post with the speculation that Amazon should drop Kindle prices even further. Today I read some interesting pieces that actually advocate giving away free Kindles.
It makes perfect sense, in the same way as telco carriers offer subsidized phones. A monthly yearly fee for a bundle including the latest device might also make sense, provided Amazon can make an appealing bundle. We’ll probably witness more and more efforts of locking customers into platforms in this arena.
For an interesting view, including references to other opinions, read the PC World piece here.
New Selling Line for Kindle Communication
Filed under: e-reader, Strategy | Tags: Amazon, e-readers, kindle
Comments (1) The new Kindle ad features a new tagline – “The book lives on”:
Two interesting strategic elements come out of this spot.
First, Kindle keeps taking on iPad and tablets. It’s not only the glare, but the weight, the battery life, the coolness as portrayed by the look and feel of the spot. Kindle fully dominates the market for dedicated e-readers and electronic books. But it is threatened on the long term by multimedia content and multi-purpose tablets. It’s a classic case where a dominant player needs to establish/extend/defend the category, rather than being concerned with in-category competitors.
Only partly linked with this is the tag-line, which I think shows how Amazon thinks about books. Their bet is on electronic books, not on paper. That is again fully logical, since with Kindle they fully lock their customers, while the same is not happening with paper books. I also fully believe in the death of the physical book on the longer term (with some survivors like albums etc.), but that is not necessarily the main point here. This is about controlling the platform consumers will consume media on in the future and thus getting a commission out of every sale – eventually e-readers and tablets will converge. If I’d be Amazon, I’d lower Kindle prices even more. They would more than make up for that in the future.
