The upcoming Warner Bros. film, Man of Steel is destined to be a blockbuster hit. Although the film doesn’t hit theaters until mid-june, the social media hype surrounding the Superman movie has been an effective marketing tactic.
The Man of Steel Facebook page was created two years ago in May of 2011. Today, the page is notorious, with likes hovering just above 664 thousand. Around 160 thousand conversations on Facebook have mentioned the film, partly due to the interactive prompts posted on behalf of the page. On May 15, a post on the news feed asked friends to, “Submit a photo depicting your dedication to all things Superman for a chance to be featured on our Facebook page as Fan of the Week!”. Naturally, the post got nearly 6,000 likes, 300 comments, and several dozens of photo entries.
While the Man of Steel Facebook page is doing a satisfactory job with advertising, the sad Twitter account has roughly only 8,000 followers. And although, they do have a handful of followers and mentions on the site, their daily tweets are a poor representation of what to expect from the film and, a poor effort to engage audience excitement. Conversely, the highly trafficked WB Pictures Twitter account also makes tweets concerning the upcoming adaptation, and has considerably more activity. The page has 600 thousand followers and has interactive posts about upcoming films daily.
Marion Cotillard became the spokes model for “Lady Dior” in mid 2013. Due to Cotillard’s success in French and American films, the partnership was, naturally, an international success.
Dior has a long history for segmenting itself as a luxury brand corporation, noted for high-end fashion, handbags, accessories and, more recently, cosmetics. The French empire owns dozens of similar-quality companies, including Louis Vuitton. The success of the fashion- house and it’s partner organizations have reached global levels.
Arguably one of the most recognizable handbag designs in the world,the Lady Dior Handbag was thrust into stardom when Princess Diana was gifted a stitched lambskin tote, which was sported by the Princess to many notable events. Naturally, media buzzed about the handbag fit for a queen, but rocked by a princess. The infamous handbag was the inspiration for a line of accessories, “Lady Dior”, noted for quality and class. Always to be adorned with nostalgic Christan Dior charms.
Excitement surrounding the Dior brand continues to be refreshed with advertisements featuring celebrity spokes models. The chosen faces embody princess-like couture; intelligence, culture, beauty, and international success. Dior has an exceptional line-up of star-powered partnerships. Natalie Portman for “Miss Dior”, Jenifer Lawrence for “Dior” and Charlize Theron for “J’adore” just to name a few.
Dating back to late 2011, the Christian Dior brand teamed up with Academy Award-winning French actress, Marion Cotillard for the “Lady Dior” line. The 37-year old actress had began a journey of success, with a resume displaying international experience. Her IMDB page is blooming with memorable performances, such as, in the French film; “La Vie en Rose” or in the American film; “The Dark Knight Rises”. Cotillard embodies international fame and success, for this, it is obvious why nearly two years later Dior holds on to the actress as the face of the line.
Cotillard poses by the sea as a spokes model for, “Lady Dior”.Cotillard poses on the Eiffel Tower as a spokes model for, “Lady Dior”.
The series of advertisements feature Cotillard participating in various Francophone related activities. Typically, luxuriating with her signature Lady Dior Handbag, she poses next to the Eiffel Tower, by the sea, or in haute couture. The implications of the advertisements are effective throughout the United States, France and the rest of Europe, where they generally run in upscale fashion magazines. The ad’s can spotted in domestic and international editions of magazines such as, VOGUE and Harper’s Bazaar. The connection here? Parisian leisure and luxury. Only when you get your very own facet of class, the internationally renowned Lady Dior handbag.
All Cotillard needs now is a beret and a baguette- oh wait, maybe that’s just a stereotype? A cigarette and an espresso?… In any event, I am buying what you are selling, Marion Cotillard- as soon as I get a big girl job. Lady Dior Handbags online and in-store.
There are plenty of horrific images online of the affected animals from the Gulf. If that’s not enough to make you wary of BP, maybe this is.
It is hard to believe that three years have passed since the horrific Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion. The outrage was unanimous after the BP spill, which left oil pumping into the Gulf of Mexico for nearly three months, a total of 87 days, in mid 2010. Dubbed as “The worst of its kind in U.S. history”, the spill left upwards of 200 million gallons of sticky, toxic oil distributed over 16,000 miles of coastline. The repercussions were both immediate and long-term.
The initial explosion killed a dozen workers, and left many more injured. Immense water pollution killed several thousands of wildlife animals, many of which were already on the endangered species list. Critical deep sea coral was left dead, or dying. In response, many motorists boycotted the company, resulting in a massive profit loss for the energy giants. In addition, “BP is responsible for close to $40 billion in fines, cleanup costs, and settlements as a result of the oil spill in 2010, with an additional $16 billion due to the Clean Water Act”.
So, how can a company, who’s public image has become so stained begin to recover economic losses and regain public confidence?
After the spill in 2010, BP placed several ads on social media sites, including Facebook.
After the disaster, BP invested frivolously in corporate advertising efforts. In 2010, BP readily took to the internet and their presence was somewhat effective. The company actively updated social media sites and even sponsored banner ads on Google search. Anyone and everyone who took to the internet for information on the spill was conveniently redirected to a webpage explaining BP clean up efforts. These public relation actions were intended to downplay the scale of the disaster, and enhance public awareness of BP’s good will efforts in light of the tragedy.
However, outraged U.S. citizens were working just as frivolously (despite a much smaller campaign budget), against the corporation. Social media was littered with bloggers and media-heads dedicated to boycotting the company and holding them fully accountable for their neglect in the Gulf. For BP, only time and due diligence was able to take focus away from campaigns like, “Boycott BP” .
From an advertising standpoint, from a public relations standpoint, and from a re-branding standpoint we can applaud the efforts of the company. But in every ethical sense, question; how much has BP actually done to alleviate the strain on our environment after their carelessness? To date, BP has spent $14 billion in response and clean up efforts in the Gulf. Somewhere around $9.9 billion has been paid out for claims and various advances. Several grants have been distributed by BP to promote tourism to the affected areas.
While BP continues to claim “Investment in America”, I’m staying salty because of the worst oil spill in U.S. history.
Everyone knows how to play foursquare! It is your quintessential schoolboy game, most frequently played with a large red rubber dodge-ball. If you have any qualms surrounding the nature of the game, have no fear, that is not the foursquare I am writing about. (This being said, if you don’t know how to play foursquare, where the hell have you been? It is only the best recess game of all time!)
What you don’t know about the social media application, Foursquare, is that it is one of the fastest growing ways people can connect with businesses. Reportedly, over 30 million people use the social media application daily, utilizing the database to discover nearby businesses. Foursquare lends its suggestions based on your personal profile and search engine preferences. The applicable functions of Foursquare allows users to search nearby, check-in and review businesses.
On both the website and phone application, users are able to select a location, and specify search requirements. Common businesses users look for include restaurants & bars, coffee shops, entertainment spots and salons. Users can additionally, narrow down these searches by selecting places “I haven’t been to”, “I have been to”, “My friends have been to” and “With Foursquare specials”. The beauty of the application is that, the more places you check in, the better the application gets to know you, and the better the recommendations become. suggestions are not guaranteed to be satisfactory, Foursquare is personalized so, you can see where your friends are saying about the places they check in. Additionally, Foursquare will sync with your reviews to stop suggesting placed you don’t like.
Once you have narrowed your search down, selected an appealing business, and made the trip down; you have to check-in. Checking in allows Foursquare to provide you with information about what businesses are trending. This function also allows your friends to see where you are and how much you enjoyed your outing. Checking in is relatively easy from your Smartphone device. You select “Check In” and that’s it! Foursquare automatically sends you promotional discounts from participating venues.
After you have completed your Foursquare adventure, don’t forget to review. The application prompts you to leave advice. Writing a personal review allows other Foursquare users to view your comments and weigh their decisions based on your feedback. This type of customer to customer interaction encourages businesses to improve upon less than satisfactory aspects, but helps highlight strong points.
Foursquare is available pro bono online and as, an application for iPhones, Android Systems and Blackberry. The service is free and can be downloaded from the GooglePlay store.
Direct media punches through to target audiences. It is to the point and concentrated.
Generally, when I swing open my mailbox, I am greeted by a plethora of trashy junk mail littered with early week discounts on Shasta and Wonderbread. If I am not being solicited order Domino’s for lunch or to bundle my Comcrap services, I am being prompted to open a Discover Card that promises 5%-20% cash back! I eloquently decline engagement by either slamming my mailbox shut without removing the unwanted items or tossing the junk into the nearest recycling receptacle, in hopes it will stop consuming my personal space.
Direct media can be a waste of marketing resources when used incorrectly. As expanded upon above, when there is a lack of market research before marketing goes out, promotional efforts can be completely wasted. Or in my case, recycled! However, when companies are able to do a little bit of homework, they punch through uninterested audiences and appeal directly to their intended target market. Say I was to open an e-mail and discover that Juut Salonspa is hosting its annual 3-Day Sale and that, I would be able to purchase all the Damage Remedy my coin purse will allow for 20% and that, I can go any day this weekend-at any location- because it is a 3-Day sale which means it goes on for three days (Hell yeah, f’n right)! I digress.
My point is this, if a company can identify who is excited about their brand, they have just identified who is a potential buyer of their goods. In my example above, Juut Salonspa direct markets to me because they have researched my level of of brand loyalty. Juut saves my customer profile and can identify every single service or product ever purchased. Additionally, they can identify what complaints I’ve made, trends in my purchases and patterns in the types of servies I buy. For obvious reasons, this is a tool for customer services and customer relations. However, this personal profile information is the most useful to Juut as they are able to identify what types of promotions are most-likely to result in a sale.
And it works! Juut knows I only occasionally head in for facial services or a pedicure here and there. It would be a waste of resources to market a salon service promotion to me, such as cut and color, as I rarely use the Salonspa for those purposes. What they have gathered, I presume, is that I will most definitely thrown down a big chunk of my paycheck to stock up on 20% off products.
Timing is key, and clever companies will strategically place big sales and promotions in the spring. Why, you ask? Many Americans have just received their tax return, (if they didn’t procrastinate until last minute-Happy Tax Day y’all) and because it is the middle of the calendar month, renters still have a few weeks to scrape together some cash after their big buying binge. At least, I hope I do.
The term “support media” screams product placement. In the world of James Bond, only name brand will do.
Companies are willing to throw down some serious dough for exposure in the movies, and with good reason. Consumers self-select themselves when they buy a ticket stub and head to a film. For example, when Daniel Craig opens up a Sony VAIO as 007 in Skyfall, sales are pretty much guaranteed to soar.
The latest Bond film was completely littered with product placement from Omega watches to Heineken laggers.
Heineken reportedly wrote a check for around $45 million to have their popular beverage replace the iconic vodka martini “shaken, not stirred”. That’s no chump change. The penetration of the Bond market is ideal as far a alcoholic beverages go.
Bombay Bicycle Club, an English indie rock band from London, recorded this Jameson Live session to promote their upcoming 2013 St Patrick’s Live party. The concert will take place at The Academy on Sunday March 17 th 2013. If you are regrettably stuck in a less festive location on the 17th, have no fear you and your mates can watch the whole set live from 22.50 (17.50ET / 15.50PT).
It is difficult to measure the effectiveness of partnerships when it comes to advertising. Celebrity endorsements are highly sought after and a reasonably effective tacit in the marketing world. After all, who wouldn’t want to use Aniston’s Aveeno lotion? Yes, even I am personally intrigued by the appeal to celebrity. (However, that is just a piece of garbage commercial. Am I wrong people?) Anyways, when considering the partnership between Jameson; arguably the biggest name in Irish Whiskey, and Bombay Bicycle Club; an indie rock band from Crouch End, it is puzzling as to why Jameson would not have picked a bigger name artist.
The appeal to celebrity is awfully trendy in the liquor industry, and 2013 has offered up massive talent. Hennessy recently launched their “Wild Rabbit” campaign featuring big names like Erykah Badu, Manny Pacquiao and Martin Scorcese. Heineken made 007 a hop head in the recently released Skyfall and Tangueray got groovy with a string of print advertisements featuring Aloe Blacc. So, why would Jameson strum up a line up with indie rockers on one of the biggest Jameson drinkin’ days of the year?
What is important to recognize about Jameson’s chosen partnership is that, they have appealed to an important niche market. The young adult, indie-rocker, music heads of the world can unite by drinking Jameson! It don’t take no genius to figure dat! Additionally, the clever partnership does not affect the loyalty of existing Jameson devotees. This type of additional branding is ideal. And I must admit, I dig it.
Its been about a month since the superbowl aired, turning my relaxing Sunday into a festival of beer guzzling, nacho eating and Beyoncé booty shaking. (I know girl, did you see Kelly and Michelle?) Yet still, weeks after the haze has cleared, I haven’t drank a Pepsi. So what is this corporation thinking? Placing advertisements everywhere, when no one even drinks the mediocre soda? In the recent annual report, Pepsi announced a massive $600 Million increase to their advertising budget for 2013. Pepsi is preparing, once again, for an uphill battle against its prime competitor Coca-Cola.
What makes them think 2013 will be different? Pepsi never recovered their number two soda slot after 2010, when Diet Coke took over. Yes, we can argue that Dr. Pepper is always going to taste better than Mr. Pibb, and what about the Doritos empire? And, everyone loves Lipton ice tea! But the truth is, there is no bigger competition than the one over carbonated beverages. On average, a person in the U.S. drinks 56 gallons of soda a year. The highest consumption is concentrated among males 12-29, 160 gallons per year. Hence, why Pepsi places such high value on their celebrity endorsements. Consequently, PepsiCo has also announced they will be unable to maintain around 8,700 positions, and plans on making those cuts later in 2013.
To wrap up, it is clear that investing in advertising, especially celebrity endorsements, it held in high regard for business.
djjazzyfresh 