BrandPalace

Brand Advertising Poised to Rebound?

"The cost of raw materials is going up, and marketing is the only thing that offsets those increases. You have to build brand value and spend on marketing."

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By Jonah Bloom

Published in AdAge : May 13, 2009

Could it be that we're about to see an uptick in brand advertising? You might think so based on conversations today with some of the senior marketers attending the ANA's "Brand Building in Tough Times and Beyond" conference.

Some of the results of a survey that the ANA plans to release next week were discussed at the event today, and among the findings was that 74% of senior marketers who responded believe "brand equity" is very important to their company's success. Of course, that hasn't stopped many marketers from paring back their brand-advertising budgets in the past year and focusing most of their efforts on cost-cutting and promotion.

But now, encouraged by the idea that consumer spending might have bottomed out -- or even be starting to trend ever so slightly upward -- some marketers said they would be returning to brand advertising soon.

Marty Ordman, VP-marketing and communications for the Dole Food Co., said that however strongly you believe in your brand, "you have to do your bit to reduce spending at tough times like these," adding that Dole has done some cost-based promotional efforts to reduce the gap between private-label prices and its own prices. However, having witnessed "an increase in the number of customers making multiple-item purchases," Mr. Ordman said that Dole, not historically a big brand advertiser, is eying some digital branding efforts and ramping up in-store ads again.

Need to build brand value
He also said that such periods remind board-level executives of the value of a brand -- especially true if, as in his case, you're competing with private label. That was a point echoed by Richard McDonald, senior VP-global marketing of Fender, the musical instrument brand. "The cost of raw materials is going up, and marketing is the only thing that offsets those increases. You have to build brand value and spend on marketing."

Mr. McDonald noted that while he's seen no improvement in sales of higher-priced musical instruments, Fender has noted improved sales at the lower end of the scale. He said the company is now "redirecting resources" to brand building, particularly through video games, other digital media and partnerships with other marketers.

MasterCard's senior VP-U.S. consumer marketing, Chris Jogis, said the company's belief is that it's important to invest in the brand. "Our strategy and our platform around 'Priceless' remains consistent," he said. "Our marketing plan this year is focused on what we're calling 'outsmarting the times,' and ensuring we are providing as much tangible value to cardholders as possible, to balance with the already strong emotional connection we've built with 'Priceless.'" Mr. Jogis said that while MasterCard might not be spending quite as much as it has in other years, it was able to take advantage of reductions in the cost of media to get more bang for its buck.

Optimistic signs
Cynthia Ashworth, VP-consumer engagement at Dunkin' Donuts, said that the economic climate had worked well for Dunkin', which she described as having established itself as an "everyman" brand. She said the company has boosted brand-advertising spending in some areas, and added that she expects Dunkin' to emerge from the recession with increased market share.

With other major marketers, such as IBM, General Electric and SAP having recently launched significant initiatives to support their brands, these senior marketers' comments might be considered optimistic signs, particularly for those in ad agencies and media companies.

It's worth noting, however, based on the top-line results of the ANA's upcoming survey, that these days marketers regard product as the key to building brand equity (89% cite it as very important in that regard). Other things they regard as very important to brand: customer service (86%), employees (81%), website (81%), marketing communications/CRM (78%), field sales (74%) and then advertising -- regarded by 73% as very important.

Read full aricle here.

There is no better time to be a marketer

Great marketers live for a challenge and they live for change. Today’s marketing world features both, which means there has never been a more a more fun time to be a marketer in my eyes.

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by Dave Knox

Marketing is not and never should have been just fun and games.  Real marketing is hard work in both good times and bad.  It is a job that is about taking insights on your consumer and turning those into brilliant strategies that move more cases.

And for those of us that somehow get a thrill out of this, there is no better time than now to be a marketer.  Why?  Well consider just a few things:

1. More than ever, management needs leadership on how to grow the business: ROI has always been extremely important but never more so than now.  If a marketer can show management that their marketing expenses are actually an investment, instead of a cost, than this is the perfect time to make the case.
2. Marketing is more dynamic than ever: Marketing has changed more in the past 5 years than in the past 50 years.  In this age of Facebook, Twitter, iPhones and any hundreds of other shiny objects, marketers have the chance to lead this change.  Marketers have a chance to lead the strategy of how your brands and business will use these new tools to really connect with consumers.
3. Consumers are expecting more from us: It wasn’t too long ago that marketers had all the control.  If consumers wanted great TV shows, they had no choice but to watch the commercials.  After all, there were no remote controls and DVR was just three letters in the alphabet.  But that’s changed completely today and as a result, consumers have a choice.  And once they have a choice, they are going to start expecting more from us as marketers because they can easily skip us.  That challenge is what makes it fun to be a marketer today.  We have to find the next Nike+ that goes beyond just shouting at people and instead adds values to their life.

This is excerpt. Read full post here. 

Published in HardKnoxLife, May 5th 2009.

(via)

More on Boomer-Marketing

In yesterday's session, Saskia Schatteman stressed the growing importance of marketing to the Boomers (50+). As it happens I just dscovered an interesting blog entirely dedicated to the subject : the "Baby Boomer Marketing Blog", by the US adman Vince Vassolo.
The quote that drew my attention :

The worst and perhaps most pervasive rationale for targeting young people is the notion that if you get them young you’ll have them for life. This is the idiotic “lifetime value” argument that spawned the dearly departed “new economy.” Someone please show me one 50-year-old who drives the same car, drinks the same beverages, wears the same clothes, or eats the same food he did at 16. I mean, besides my brother-in-law.

Some facts about people over 50:
• They make up 29% of the population.
• They control 77% of financial assets.
• They control 50% of all discretionary spending.
• They watch 50% more television.
• They are the target for 10% of all advertising.

By the way, Vince is quoting here another blogger 'the Ad Contrarian'. This man, Bob Hoffman, a reputed agency CEO (now of Hoffman/Lewis advertising in San Francisco , earlier a.o. of MOJO/USA) fills his blog with refreshingly contrarian opinions on marketing and advertising.

Quote :

The consumer has become resistant to marketing, right? Bullshit. Here’s what the consumer has become resistant to: generic, undifferentiated products supported by smug, benefit-free advertising.

Both blogs are worth a read !!

Do brands matter in a recession ?

Sliced Bread & Purple Cows

Care for an inspiring talk ? It's a lazy Sunday morning and the weather isn't what it should be, so why not let yourself be taken away by Seth Godin ?
Seth is one of the world's most reputed bloggers on marketing : check him out here.
The speech he's giving here was recorded at one of the TED conferences - quite a while ago, but still as fresh and inspiring as can be. Enjoy !

By the way : make sure to pay a regular visit to TED ! Always worth your while !

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10 Rules for Branding In a Post Branded World

Interesting reading : a Manifesto for making branding work in a post-branded world, by Jonathan Salem Baskin (author of Branding Only Works on Cattle, columnist for Advertising Age, and daily blogger at Dim Bulb).

We live in the twilight of a branded world born over 100 years ago. Most marketing remains blinded by the fading glare of its old, outdated promises. Yet there is a new approach to brands ahead of us, based upon a definition that is less about static image and imagined identity, and more about real-time interaction and actual involvement between company and consumer.

Get the pdf here.


Via : ChangeThis - a site with tons of intersting stuff to read & think about.

Keep learning ...

Interesting and thought provoking article in Adweek.

Bottomline :

"We all have to keep learning more about the customer, both the consumer of media and the customer at retail."

What do yoù think ?

Grrrrréàt Advertising Made Simple !

(Thanks, Harry !)

How will agencies fare ?

Interesting stuff for people in the ad industry :

Reconsidering the Advertising Industry

View more presentations from Alain Thys. (tags: marketing agencies)

Wonder how advertisers react on this : do you share this presentations' analysis? And advertising professionals : agree, or not ? All reactions are more than welcome !