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Traditional advertising went after “share of mind”–the idea was to get you to associate a brand with a single idea, a single emotion. Volvo: safety. Jaguar: speed. Coke: happiness. The Economist: success. Bang, bang, bang, went the ads, hammering the same idea into your mind every time you saw one. Advertising briefs evolved to focus the creatives on a single USP and a single message. Tell them we’re the Ultimate Driving Machine. Tell them in a thrilling way. It worked when you saw ads infrequently on television, in a Sunday magazine, or on a billboard on your morning commute. It hasn’t worked online. Audiences have stopped engaging with advertising. Big brands like Pepsi and P&G have slashed investment in Facebook spending. The agencies’ response has been to create new formats of ads that take over a page, dominate our mobiles’ screens, and generally scream at us. And when somebody screams at you for long enough, you put in earplugs and ignore them. Or, in the case of the online world, you install an ad blocker, as much of the U.K. population has now done. Yet there are many brands online that people don’t want to block. We asked over 5,000 people around the world to tell us about the brands whose content they actively sought out, then analyzed what those brands did. The results were surprisingly consistent. Popular brands had multifaceted personalities. They could make you laugh, or cheer, or lean forward and take notes. They’d stopped hammering away at a share of mind, and were expanding to achieve a share of emotion....
Despite changing demographics and consumer behaviors, the holiday season remains one of the more influential times of year to launch a campaign and seal it into holiday memory for years to come. To do that, though, your brand needs to come up with something seriously innovative, engaging, and interesting -- something that'll resonate with your customers. This usually means lights, emotions, and celebrating family and friends. Of course, there’s no harm is looking to the past to see which other brands and campaigns have made their way to the holiday retail hall of fame. Here, we look back on 150 years of inspirational ads and campaigns that many consumers say the holidays just wouldn’t be the same without....
The Internet of Things may be coming to a bar near you. In the latest twist in IoT gadgetry, the Absout Company’s Malibu brand is introducing ‘Coco-nect’ cups, which send signals to bar staff when a fresh drink is required. The connected-drinks system uses Wi-Fi and RFID technologies with the coconut-shaped cups. When a fresh drink is desired, the consumer twists the bottom of the cup, which send a drink order to the bar, including the consumer’s location....
In reality, it is the status quo and those who defend it that are the enemies within. Disrupt or be disrupted is the battle cry. According to a study conducted by Accenture, high-performing companies that surpass their peers on financial metrics across business cycles and leadership eras, are those that develop capabilities before they need them. Average and low-performing companies don’t.
Meanwhile, companies that support and encourage their employees’ dreams — the engine of disruption — breed loyalty, resulting in higher profitability. According toTowers Perrin, Intl., organizations with a highly engaged workforce increased operating income by 19.2%, while low engagement led to a 32.7% decline in operating profits.
As the ever-pressing imperative of driving performance collides with a massive cohort of millennials bringing their dreams to work, I am naming 2016 ‘The Year of the Disruptor.’Here’s what I expect to see...
As a society, we love food. That's really all there is to it.
Traditional advertising on the other hand ... not so loved. When it comes to mediums such as billboards, many businesses struggle to determine whether or not it's worth the investment anymore -- except for these brands, that is.
By combining food and advertising, the following 10 brands were able to create some jaw-dropping creations that commanded the attention of their hungry audience....
In honor of the Food Issue, this week we're highlighting fabulous kitchen gadgets, including a selfie toaster, a DIY cheese kit, and a cutting board for the obsessive chef.
Move over, Jesus: With the Selfie Toaster from Burnt Impressions, anyone's face can be emblazoned on a slice of toast. After uploading your chosen selfie on the Vermont-based toaster company's website, you'll receive a toaster with a custom insert featuring an image of your glorious visage (or even that of your favorite celebrity—Kanye toast, anyone?). It's the perfect gift for "the person who has everything," or just a total narcissist....
Here's a fun way for brands to dole out product samples. As part of its sponsorship of this weekend's NCAA Men's Final Four competition, Coke Zero and Ogilvy & Mather installed a "drinkable billboard" that shoots soda through a massive straw into a public drinking fountain.
The 23,000-pound novelty is in White River State Park in Indianapolis, where the games are taking place. Coke Zero flows through 4,500 feet of straw to spell out "Taste It." Then the liquid travels from the bottom of the billboard to a sampling area with six fountain spouts where people can taste the soda....
So how are we to respond? I believe that no matter what your business is, you need to become the CEO of a software company. Software must be your differentiator. Software must be your competitive advantage. Software must be integrated, ingested, and ingrained in every aspect of your offering. Software must become your foundation so that you’re freed to build the rest of your offering, rather than constantly defending against new challenges posed by voracious software.
Some Internet memes rely on added sugar and mysterious ingredients to extend their shelf lives, as we discussed yesterday. Others, such as “Alex from Target,” are like French black truffles — not only are they wild, rare and out of the reach of most of us but they also require highly sensitive snouts to root them out.
Let’s get to the nut graf: “It turns out that Alex from Target is not a marketing ploy and he’s an actual, genuine person and bagger,” who just happened to be “fangirled” for his “super hot” looks while doing his job on the line in Texas, TMZ reported with all due exuberance yesterday.
In fact, according to TMZ’s blurb accompanying its video report, “Little Al's employer tells TMZ the Internet phenomenon is 100% genuine grassroots.”Lest you think this story is strictly for the tabloids, consider this revelation from the New York Times’ Leslie Kaufman: “The Alex phenomenon became the subject of news articles on the websites of Time, the Washington Post and CNN over the last two days. TheDallas Morning News tried furiously to confirm just which Target he worked for.”
And that’s nowhere near the half of it....
Looking for an innovative business card for yourself? Check out these 32 ingenious examples that are sure to leave a lasting impression. It’s interesting to see not just creative businesses like agencies, design firms and photographers using unconventional cards but also lawyers, doctors, finance professionals, etc. If cost is a concern, you can also create two sets – one conventional/economical and the other radical (in lesser quantity). Use the appropriate one depending on the type of client, budget, etc.
From retro juice cartons to floral fashion campaigns, these botanical marketing examples look to nature for inspiration. Drawing from the fashion world's recent obsession with botanical prints, this list of marketing strategies aims to influence consumers with the help of vivid visuals and transparent packaging designs.
Whether turning to vibrant floral imagery or focusing on a product's natural ingredients, reputable companies are choosing to affect their consumers with this bold and eye-catching branding concept.
These botanical marketing examples include food and beverage packaging designs that are adorned with plant graphics along with fierce fashion campaigns that are lensed against floral backdrop vignettes....
Think Nike: just do it. Think Apple: Hello. Think EA Games: Challenge Everything.
If your campaign speak keeps going and going and going like the Energizer Bunny, you may wear people out before they catch up with your this. Make it simple. Get on your Harley-Davidson until you can define your world in a whole new way.
Thinking big about speaking simply is power.
Complexity is difficult. Complexity will drown in the noise.If you can’t speak simply about whatever this is, take a step back, think bigger about simplicity. Do something different with this. Look at the heart and soul of this. Simple will rise above the noise.
Think Big. Speak Simply.
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“When you tell people you work at National Geographic, you get incredible reactions. It’s revered, trusted, and stands for quality. And, they’ve been at the content game for close to 130 years,” she says. On the other hand, Cress says her role feels more like being at the helm of a one-year old company. “National Geographic Partners is a joint venture between 21st Century Fox and the National Geographic Society. We’re like a well funded startup, working on reinventing and reinvigorating the brand,” she says. But with so much history to rely upon, however, the brand is hardly resting on its laurels. Instead, it’s continuing to push the boundaries of innovation and technology, just like it did back when Alexander Graham Bell was the president of the National Geographic Society. He was the one to make the then-controversial decision to start including photography in the magazine, something that was considered to be a lowbrow, tabloid way to sell magazines....
If you're a marketer of any kind, this phrase is probably lurking somewhere in the back of your mind when you start a new project: "How do we make this brand really stand out?" The constant battle to differentiate a brand in a crowded playing field is challenging, and it's pushing some marketers to the extreme.We've rounded up 14 creative campaigns and promotions that rely on unconventional mediums to spread brand messaging to consumers. Check them out for some unique inspiration for your next big campaign....
5miles, the Dallas and Beijing-based challenger to Wallapop and Craiglist has secured $30 million in new investment as it celebrates its first year in business this month.
The 1-year-old 5miles mobile marketplace app has managed to attract more than 5 million users (averaging 30,000 downloads a day) and is continuously working towards becoming a major player in the local online classified advertising business that’s been long dominated by Craiglist.
Its list of investors now includes IDG, Morningside, Blue Lake, and SIG-China (part of the Susquehanna Investment Group). In addition, individuals who have worked with or have ties with e-commerce giants like eBay and Alibaba have also invested in the app....
An idea doesn't have to be unique to be great. In fact, there are some really awesome examples of great marketing out there that you can lean on to inspire your next project. (Austin Kleon calls this concept "stealing like an artist.")
But finding these examples isn't always easy. That's where we come in. We've collected 12 places on the web where you can browse and search for examples of great marketing -- including website design, design in general, email marketing, and social media pages. Check them out, bookmark them, and use them to inspire your own marketing strategy.
Get 50 brilliant examples of website design now by downloading our free flipbook....
Some call it growth hacking. Others call it optimization. But what we’re all talking about, really, is crazy smart, innovative, results-driven, product-focused marketing that has an outsized impact on your company’s growth and bottom line.In certain circles, the term of art is traction.
Traction is what separates fledgling startups from international brands and it’s the name of a one-day, one-track event that brought dozens of founders and growth champions from tech giants like Twitter, LinkedIn, Dropbox, Hootsuite, Marketo, HubSpot, and PlentyofFish to Vancouver last month.
The day was filled with actionable insights and examples of how small tests, tweaks, and tactics can make or break your business. Here are some of our key takeaways....
Certain aspects of coolness, Quartz and Asp argue, reside in an identifiable part of the brain. “Specifically, we found that buying a desirable item or even finding a retro t-shirt in a thrift store impacts a part of the brain known as the medial prefrontal cortex,” Quartz said.
Put simply: cool things activate a pleasure center in the brain. “The concept of cool isn’t that complicated,” Quartz said. “But it’s interesting to look at how it gets played out. Cool is a social attribute, and as we dug into it, we saw that the concept has changed over the last forty or fifty years, from opposition and rebellion in the 1950s to today, where it is much more of a pro-social idea.”...
You never know what you are going to be asked when you go around the country flogging a book. My favorite question thus far: "What are the best marketing ideas you have ever heard?"
My response....
Social media managers pride themselves on coming up with fresh ideas and interesting content. Likewise, business owners and entrepreneurs active in social media need to stay compelling and helpful. It’s how ibusinesses maintain relevance and add value to our social streams.
One of the best places to find inspiration is from other creatives. Reading online marketing quotes from some of the top social media marketers around the globe inspires me to want to work harder, and better. So hopefully these online marketing quotes can have the same effect on you....
Design is hot. Design executives are being tasked with being design driven, but don't have the tools or processes to sustain this effort.
... In some ways, designers and design managers have shot themselves in the foot — design thinking neither negates nor replaces the need for smart designers doing the work. And because design thinking has many paths through parallel phases, it seems fuzzy compared to the process of creating code. Compared to analytical thinking or science, our industry still doesn't have a consensus on what design thinking means. Most designers couldn't tell you what it means
.It's been 20 years since I was ingrained with the concept that the designer mind could think much differently than a marketer, engineer or the guy in a suit-and-tie. Yet, for all its power and inspiration, I still don't completely understand the meaning of design thinking.
Should we abandon the concept? Absolutely not. I use the methods and ideas that it espouses daily. I believe we just lack some of the tools necessary for the practical application of these methods to stick within organizations....
The 10 best designs of the year include a soccer cleat, a campaign to end gun violence, and much more.Fast Company hosted its annual Innovation By Design Awards and Conference in downtown New York today.
It culminated this evening at our awards celebration, where we revealed the 10 best designs of the year.It was long road getting here. We received 1,587 submissions from around the world. From that, we pared entries down to 53 finalists. And from there, our esteemed panel of judges fiercely debated, voted, stalemated, and debated again to reach a consensus on the top 10 designs of the year....
1) No one knows you exist.You make a great product. But the world isn’t holding its breath waiting for you....
But when you look at this way, things look different: Goliaths have more meetings, more committees, and more red tape. More ideas being killed by research, more to lose by taking risks, and more outdated business models that they are stuck in. More rules, more regulations, and more good people leaving. So who cares if they never run out of photocopier paper?
Use your strengths: your speed, your instinct, your passion. Back your ideas with hard work. And yes, love can and does scale. Good luck.There has never been a better time to be a maker.
Thank you, Internet. You have levelled the playing field.
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Fast Company asked more than 5,000 people to tell us about the brands they sought out, then we analyzed what those brands did. The results were surprisingly consistent. A must-read for PR, marketing, advertising pros. 10/10