The Super Bowl is the Super Bowl of advertising
One-in-five Americans will be tuning in to this Sunday’s Super Bowl just to watch the commercials. While this may not be good news for Manning and Brees, Madison Avenue couldn’t be happier. You might say the Super Bowl is the Super Bowl of advertising, and brands lucky enough to afford 30 seconds of our time know there is a lot on the line this year, as always.
Viewers’ expectations will be just as high for the Budweisers and the Coca-Colas as they will be for the Colts and the Saints. So the big question is, what can we expect from the commercials? Will advertisers go for the easy laugh? The warm, fuzzy feeling? The sex appeal? We’ll have to wait a little longer to find out, but in the meantime, some early buzz provides some clues.
This year, you can expect advertisers to go:
- Through the roof: At least the costs will. A 30-second commercial in Super Bowl I cost around $40,000. Forty-four years later, advertisers are shelling out $2.6 million.
- Social: If you don’t have a social media presence this year, you don’t have a commercial. Brands are leveraging the hype around the big game to preview commercials on their Web sites and Facebook pages to engage consumers via multiple touch points. Look for online/on-air synergies from Budweiser, Coca-Cola and Monster.com.
- Old school: What’s old is new again. This year we’ll see some old favorites with a modern twist. LeBron James and Dwight Howard take the reigns from Jordan and Bird in McDonald’s “Nothin’ but net” commercial, and Boost Mobile brings back the 1986 Super Bowl Shuffle featuring some of the original Chicago Bears rappers.
- Controversial: Whether it’s CBS’ much maligned Super Bowl PSA or risqué ads banned from the game, this year’s commercials aren’t shying away from controversy. Former Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow will star in a pro-life PSA for Focus on the Family, but GoDaddy.com got its “Lola” ad nixed. Gay dating Web site ManCrunch.com was turned away because ads were sold out, but site reps are alleging discrimination.
- Consumer-generated: Why pay an ad agency when your consumers can do it for you? Doritos and CareerBuilder.com are hosting contests to find the best consumer-generated commercials. The winner gets the most coveted ad space on earth.
- Au naturel: Although not completely nude, it’s certainly close enough. Dockers, CareerBuilder.com and Bud Light will get as close to naked as possible with a barrage of underdressed advertisements.
- For a drive: Toyota might be mired in a recall crisis, but that’s not stopping the rest of the auto industry from getting in the game. One-in-six commercials this year will be car commercials. Expect to see Volkswagen, Hyundai, Kia, Honda, Dodge and Audi.
- At each other: Indianapolis and New Orleans aren’t the only rivals facing off this Sunday. It’s the battle of the online job-search sites, too. Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com go up against each other, along with Coca-Cola and Dr. Pepper, Denny’s and Taco Bell and Doritos and Pop Secret.
- To Hollywood: It will feel like the Academy Awards are being hosted in your living room. Celebrities will be all over this Sunday’s commercials pitching everything from real estate to chocolate bars. Will.i.am, Chevy Chase, Gene Simmons and Abe Vigoda will walk the red carpet.
- Away: Long-time advertiser Pepsi will forego the $2.6 million spot this year to focus its resources on its new cause marketing campaign, the Pepsi Refresh Project. Now that’s money well spent.
Tags: Facebook socialmedia advertising cause campaigns contest celebrity
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New Cone Research Shows Growing Consumer Interaction with Businesses Online
There’s good news for businesses online!
New media users are increasingly interacting with companies and brand in this environment. In fact, interactions are up 32 percent from 2008 with almost 80 percent (78%) of new media users engaging with businesses through traditional online or social media channels. This is according to our latest research, the 2009 Cone Consumer New Media Study.
The2nd annual new media study, an update of the 2008 Business in Social Media Study, is a three-part survey which explored new media users’ interactions with brands, their support of social and environmental issues and their engagement with corporate responsibility practices. The research also reveals new media users:
- Feel a stronger connection to (72%) and better served by (68%) companies they can interact with via new media
- Believe companies should market to them through traditional online advertising (43%, up from 25% in 2008)
- Believe they can influence corporate responsibility decisions by voicing opinions via new media channels (62%)
- Believe companies and nonprofits should use new media to raise money and awareness for causes (79%)
For additional findings, please visit www.coneinc.com/consumernewmediastudy to download the research fact sheets.
Tags: PR newmedia cause media mobile blogs CR marketing socialmedia research
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Do you know your girls?
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and every year shelves turn pink to remind us that one-in-eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer within her lifetime. Even though there are still no cures for this disease, there’s a lot we can do to help further the cause.
Raising awareness about early detection is key to conquering breast cancer. What is so important for women to understand is that when breast cancer is caught early (stage 0-1), the five-year relative survival rate is 98 percent. Different campaigns emerge every year encouraging women and men to take control of their breast health through early detection. Our client Yoplait’s Know Your Girls is one that truly captures our attention. It speaks to young women, who don’t know about breast cancer or think it’s not an issue for them. Unfortunately, statistics reveal that thousands of young women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in the next year. Know Your Girls is a way to make young women aware they can, and do, get breast cancer and provide tools to help them educate themselves and their friends.
This fun, female-focused campaign asks young women to pledge to get to know their bodies by getting to know their "girls,"or breasts.For every pledge received by October 31, 2009, Yoplait will donate 10 cents to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, up to $100,000. Money will go to breast cancer research specifically related to young women. The campaign is all Facebook-based – and it has almost 40,000 fans, proving that young women do care about breast cancer and are committed to doing something about it.
Knowing the appeal celebrities have among young women, Yoplait also worked with Audrina Patridge, from MTV’s “The Hills,” to promote the campaign with a one-of-a-kind Know Your Girls T-shirt. Audrina’s photo has appeared on TMZ.con, Perezhilton.com and OK! Magazine Online, helping spread the word about the importance of early detection.
If you do one thing this October, make sure you get to know your “girls.” Not all breasts are the same – you need to know what is normal for you.
-- Irma Koopersmith, Senior Account Supervisor
Tags: celebrity cause clients campaigns Facebook nonprofit
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Know Your Girls
Over the past 11 years our Yoplait client has donated more than $22 million to the breast cancer cause through programs such as Save Lids to Save Lives, and today launched a targeted campaign designed to raise awareness for Gen Y women. Many people are unaware that young women are also affected by breast cancer. Five percent of diagnoses in the United States occur in women under age 40. The new initiative is called Know Your Girls, aimed at encouraging these women to understand what is “normal” for their own breasts, or their “girls,” and recognize important changes.
By visiting Facebook.com/YoplaitPledge, young women can pledge to take an active role in their breast health. Take the pledge yourself or simply help spread the word by encouraging your friends and family to sign up. For every pledge received by October 31, 2009, Yoplait will donate 10 cents to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, up to $100,000. Money raised through Know Your Girls will help fund a new research study led by breast cancer survivor and researcher, Dr. Kristi Egland.
Tags: socialmedia cause clients nonprofit
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Covert Cause: Keeping cause promotions secret
I recently stopped by a local sporting goods chain, which shall remain nameless, to shop for some workout clothes. While wandering around the store, I saw a sign on top of a T-shirt display advertising a cause promotion. “Buy any recycled T-shirt and $2 will be donated to the Charles River Conservatory,” a Massachusetts nonprofit advocacy group that is involved in the renewal and restoration of the Charles River Parklands.
My interest piqued, I quickly selected three shirts and headed for the checkout. To be sure I selected the right items, I asked the cashier if my Ts qualified for the donation. She gave me a blank look, and said, “Uh, I don’t know.” Despite my annoyance, I purchased the shirts anyway, but as soon as I got back to my computer I visited the store’s Web site for more information about the promotion. (What can I say? I work at Cone. I care about causes.) There was nothing on the homepage, nothing on the “Our History” page and nothing on the “Press” page. Only after I searched for the specific item did I see a small-print mention about the $2 donation.
A cause promotion activated at retail can provide a sales lift and traffic boost, but only if it’s done right. Companies, if you’re going to invest in a cause, you must also invest in the cause marketing. After all, what’s the point of a cause promotion if no one knows about it? A program that’s this hidden may even be detrimental, giving your consumers the impression it’s an inauthentic, one-off promotion that you don’t care about. Marketing, on the other hand, leads to increased foot traffic and sales, which lead to more money for the nonprofit, which lead to greater social and bottom-line benefits. Don’t worry that your customers will think poorly of your marketing efforts; 85 percent find it acceptable for companies to involve a cause or issue in their marketing.
But, marketing is more than a small advertising display and a buried mention on the Web site. It involves advertising, media relations and especially engaging your employees. Employees should be your biggest advocates. If they are unaware of the program or aren’t involved, they can’t help you promote and execute it. Help motivate employees by creating store-level incentives to locations that collect the most donations or sell the most products associated with your cause. Create toolkits and message guides so they know how to speak to the program and answer customers’ questions. Employees are your ambassadors, and you need to rally them around the program and the cause to drive results.
You can bet the next time I visit said sporting goods store, I’m going to ask about the promotion. So you better be ready for me.
For more tips on how to properly activate a cause promotion at retail, visit our Web site to read director Marc Berliner’s article, “Cash-Register Cause.”
-- Andrea List, Insights Associate
Tags: promotion cause nonprofit bestpractices
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Se Entiende Español
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s success with "In the Heights," Salma Hayek’s involvement in the production of "Ugly Betty" and now the potential confirmation of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court are just a few examples of how Hispanics are establishing a presence and amplifying their voice in the U.S.
Over the years, businesses, marketers and politicians have started paying more attention to the growing Hispanic market, recognizing its influence and power within the marketplace and society:
- In 2003, Hispanics became the largest minority, and by 2050 Hispanics will comprise about 30 percent of the U.S. population.
- According to The Selig Center for Economic Growth’s The Multicultural Economy, Hispanics accounted for 8.9 percent of all U.S. buying power in 2008, up from only 5 percent in 1990.
Increasingly, companies are leveraging the power of the largest minority in the U.S. by successfully reaching out to this group. General Mills, one of the world's leading food companies, places great emphasis on the importance of understanding its audiences and has managed to effectively connect with Hispanics through its Yoplait brand.
Yoplait’s understanding of the Hispanic market drove it to establish a relationship this past year with Adamari López – celebrity, international telenovela actress and breast cancer survivor – for its "Save Lids to Save Lives" Hispanic program. This relationship has allowed Yoplait to create a personal connection with Hispanics through someone this group trusts and with which they identify.
It is clear that translating a general market campaign doesn’t cut it anymore if the hope is to establish a connection and brand respect. We need to understand this group’s culture, the language and what resonates with them in order to earn their support.
-- Irma Freije Koopersmith, Senior Account Supervisor
Tags: cause clients Hispanics marketing celebrity
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Cone Enjoys a Successful Awards Season
We’ve always set the highest standards for our performance and take pride in delivering exceptional work. The greatest honor we can receive is when our clients are satisfied with a job well done. But, we can’t help but be flattered when our peers recognize our hard work, too. Cone has enjoyed many successful awards seasons, and this year is no different. Whether for inspiring cause branding work or attention-grabbing marketing and PR, our work, and ultimately that of our clients, has brought us much recognition.
The season started off on a high note at the PR News CSR Awards, where Western Union was honored for its work in stakeholder engagement with its Our World, Our Family program, which it partnered with Cone to create. Western Union continues to garner a lot of praise for its work with migrants across the world, including an award from the Center Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy, who presented it with its Excellence Award in Corporate Philanthropy, a very prestigious honor in international corporate philanthropy.
Cone had an even bigger showing at the Cause Marketing Forum Awards with Timberland receiving the evening’s highest honor, a Cause Marketing Golden Halo, for its commitment to making a difference in its communities. Cone then swept the Best Health Campaign category with The American Heart Association’s (AHA) Start! program winning the Golden Halo and Jiffy Lube International taking a Silver Halo for its Maintenance Partners for Life.
The awards kept coming during the Publicity Club of New England Bell Ringer Awards ceremony as Western Union won the Bell Ringer for best community relations campaign, the AHA won for its Start! Heart Walk special event and Jockey International grabbed a Bell Ringer for best television news placement. Not to be outdone, ALPO, Ben & Jerry’s and T-Mobile USA each earned Merits.
A much-deserved congratulations goes out to all!
Tags: clients PR cause marketing awards
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