It’s a story told thousands of times, all over the world, as I’ve come to learn over my many many many years of travel.   While it may hold true for traditional advertising it’s an absolute truth for those deploying experiential methodology and using traditional media and less-traditional medias to effectively engage consumers.

 I’ve been fortunate to be on three sides of the fence.:) I owned a small, boutique shop that performed well and delivered ground-breaking work for clients.  I then went to work for a large agency and got to see and live how one name on the door doesn’t mean that there is one “agency” handling things.  Now, I’ve returned to my independent roots because I know that in the world of experiential one must be a part of a team that never turns off, and is unified in all of it’s thinking and methodology – able to act in seconds.

 Early in my career I thoroughly enjoyed beating big shops when I had my own shop, and I enjoyed developing a strategy to beat small shops when I was with a big shop.  However, when I know what I feel is real – as a person that enjoys being a student of the experiential business partly because it’s based around authenticity – there’s just one choice.  I had to face an inner conflict that I couldn’t resolve at a larger shop – the rotating flavor of the week.  Sure, the 3 – 5 different divisions of the “agency” can come together with an often times brilliant pitch, but in a slice of the ad business that is 24 hours a day – the model fails miserably, in my opinion, when there are too many parties involved before one even begins to work with partners.

 The big agency’s once brilliant ideas that came flashing across the screen soon become diluted as they make their way through the layers of various agencies and partners – it just seems like a Greek tragedy to me.  Even though th small shops have the better strategies and ideas anyhooJ.

 I fully step in front of the fact that I am an extremely emotive person – that’s why I love what I do.  That’s why I am always doing something experientially related even when I’m off work hours.  Therefore, in order to feel like I’m not at war with myself I had to find the best solution – the fierce mid-large size independent.  This isn’t your father’s advertising.  This is 24-hour madness at times with traditional elements like digital as well as the rest of the media spectrum. 

 As a creator more than a creative – I enjoy building models for success.  I thrive on it actually.  Maybe one day I’ll find that big agency that says show us the model to do things right longer than during the RFP process.  I’m always a posivist.:) Yes, I can create words too.  In the end, it’s about being real with yourself and everything that surrounds you.  That’s a message, thankfully, I get to talk about around the world. 

 What’s next?  The big wins -  I hope !!!  From corporations that understand that only a unified house of passion can deliver what is needed to achieve their long term goals and not wind up with a flash of brilliance that loses it luster as it makes it’s way through too many hands at the holding co……..

Guest Blog By: Dan Hunter, Partner, IMI International

Hello EMF Nation,

Recently on the EMF posts, there has been a lot of reference to a change in consumer buying habits as a result of the economic conditions in recent times.  One such article referenced from Comscore suggests consumers are trading down in price and becoming less loyal to National brands.  Just last week, another EMF post referenced an article from the Globe & Mail suggesting consumers consider short-term reward more strongly than the long-term gains. Thus consumers are irrational, and it has been argued that this emotional context needs to be overlaid to more rational economic models.

These two articles provided impetus to share with the EMF membership what we at IMI International have learned about changes to consumer buying habits from a proprietary study we fielded called "Building Your Brand in Turbulent Times".  We asked some questions that could be benchmarked versus more "normal" times in 2007, fielded during the 'dark days' of  January 2009 and followed up again in early 2010 to see which of these changes have a lasting effect.

First, our study agreed with both the articles referenced above:  

1.  Consumers are indeed trading down to the lowest price more often now than in 2007 (for details, please see the June 2010 EMF/IMI research article in the members section).  
2. What is interesting, however, is the consideration of "short-term reward" in this environment.  Consumers have also increased their consideration for the "best quality"-while this seems inconsistent, consider that there has also been a consistent increase in the attitude that it is "worth spending more time to be a smart shopper".
   
3.  Another finding reflects a return to the importance of Brand Name products versus price considerations, after a dip in 2009.   
   

Some other category studies we have done at IMI International (from snack food to autos) lead us to conclude that some of the switching to low priced alternatives may not have turned out so well, and the consumer has learned from this experience.  For bigger purchases, you'll know this as "buyer's remorse". 

One of the key pieces that was missing for me from the previous articles was a big "Now What" - as a marketer or a person working at an agency, what can I do about it?  This thinking is precisely why we added other questions around value, brand benefits and price (essentially, inputs into the value equation) into our Turbulent Times study.  The conclusions we make provide some clear actions steps for EMF members, as price and value are intricately linked.

To summarize action steps for this audience, we would suggest the following:  

1. Do your homework to determine your brand's unique value proposition.  That is - which brand in my portfolio represents high value, which benefits can I highlight to illustrate added value versus my competition (i.e. 'washes more dishes' versus 'soft on hands'...) and,
2. How can I best showcase these benefits to overcome potential purchase barriers?  
   

While price discounting is a tactic that can be used, and is always a consideration, it tends to erode brand equity (and ROI/margins) over the long term.  Our consistent learning for over 15 years has illustrated the power of Experiential Marketing as an excellent method to convey new benefits or activate new learning areas, whether it is to overcome a shared barrier or perception, showcasing new value benefits or illustrating new 'reasons to believe'.

So, it's time to act. Consumers are still buying. Our shared challenge is to break through the spending concerns that this economic environment has brought to consumers and make them feel good again, as "smart shoppers".

As experiential marketers when we begin new adventures both personally and professionally - we do it because it feels right. In essence, we are connecting with our own internal emotional Rolodex and clearing our own "pathway to purchase" or final destination to get to where we feel our body, mind and spirit need to be. Experiential marketers just can't fake it. So, simply put, when the landscapes of our own lives change - we have no choice but to act. In my experience it is the experiential folks that are the most conscious and understand the importance of being true to self

We understand that by doing this we are controlling our own internal emotional equilibrium which therefore allows us to continue - to walk unafraid - from one day to the next knowing that we have sacrificed nothing while looking for everything to gain.

It is this simple principle which experiential marketers, using the transference principle, begin to understand their clients' intended audiences, what makes them tick, and relentlessly seek the "perfect moment" where to best regulate the external consumer by managing their emotional equilibrium by providing meaningful and relevant brand experiences where and when the consumer will be most receptive to it. We do this by relating their own extremely interpersonal consumer journey as they make their purchasing decisions.

It's the ability to understand that while it may be actual, tangible products and services that are moving off the shelf that it's actually the powerful moments of connections by marketers "selling the emotion" that allows this whole process to take place. I've always said that I've never sold a product or service, that I'm in the business of selling narratives and emotions - it is that strategy that serves as the salient differentiator between the monologue days of the 90's and the current landscape.

When the final curtain drops, as the customers are opening the trunk and putting their purchases inside, they will have bought what they have related to that fits in their budget, but it's a never ending challenge to search through the emotional Rolodex, the heart strings inside of the consumer base, to learn where to form those relevant connections - it's what will have your product/service in the trunk as Joe and Jane consumer make their way back home feeling more understood and that the actions that they just performed were much, much more than shopping - they were a fulfillment of self.

OOOOO I can hear the chorus of “ya gotta be kidding me” from over here.  Yes.  It’s the beginning of the end of Facebook .  It doesn’t matter how many users they accumulated using one style - the minute the T’s & C’s start changing - in the middle of the night - people start heading for the exit.

I stood in front of a crowd at Stanford University in 2007 and told them that MySpace was done, and that there would be another player that would emerge, but ultimately face the same fate, but for perhaps a different reason.

In this case, Facebook crossed the privacy line for a lot of people and just like MySpace became Fox’s space really quickly - Facebook changed the rules of engagement and didn’t play nicely in the sandbox with their users.

You can tell me until you’re blue in the face that they have too many users to fail.  That sounds familiar - too big to fail .  It’s not completely over.  Facebook’s fearless leader can beat a quick retreat and this time do things with the permission of the users and actually get some buy in.  As for now, sure people will keep their Facebook page up, but time spent by users on the site is going to decrease dramatically.  Truth be told, most people had augmented their behavior and have started realizing that they need to step away from “the Facebook”.  So, they have only allowed themselves to use it to update a status every once in a while.

Read the Garden State Economy - everything that starts eventually fails.  In this case its failure has just been expedited because of a very savvy computer geek that didn’t get much about social dynamics off the computer screen.

Next........

O’ the lessons to be learned from daily life. How we humans drift away from the simplicity of life to make things multi-layered, extremely complex and place things on a path to their ultimate demise. Not trying to be apocalyptic .;)

Yes, I’m sure for some of you that have read my rants you already know that I feel that the majority of complex situations are the outcome of human involvement. At the core, at the very inner workings of all systems surely problems will eventually arise. They can usually be solved rather easily, but we have built systems of layers that filter simple problems and allow them to percolate into our delicious world of complexity.

And now…..drifting back on course:) Enter the radically simple show Undercover Boss. Should we be surprised by the success of the show? Or, should we realize that this is a fine example of simply tapping into the collective vein of the populations‘ consciousness and delivering a mass deliverable that can be uniquely personalized by each individual viewer? Yes, a mass item that can be uniquely personalized by an audience where the end result is that that it engages people for 17-22 minutes ( I subtracted commercial time:)

Isn’t this what we are trying to do as marketers? Relate to people by connecting to a universal truth that lives inside of everyone - that simply gets translated by a person’s own life experiences and allows them to have/create a deeply personal and meaningful internal event inside of them? One that is always connected back to the brand that evoked the strong emotional response - forming a life-long connection? Or, in this “cult of speed” world a bond that lasts at-least until we are able to touch them again to rekindle that emotion.:0

What a great show that taps into the every man/women feeling that exists at the core of the human condition. People just want to be understood. This show is simply a vehicle for demonstrating a clever way of taking the CEO out off the boardroom and onto the front lines with everyone else. It’s done so beautifully simple that everyone can sit in their recliner and relate - this show has a connected meaning and relevance to everyone - even those that haven’t tuned in yet. Even the CEO’s that are rocked back on their recliner - yes it’s that powerfully simple. I can only hope that they don’t tinker with the simplicity of the show as I’m sure WOM will grow the audience. As marketers, I hope that we too continue to try to find something so relatable, so connectable for our audiences that we too can engage them with their emotional rolodex. That this universal truth that we discover have an unmistakable connected meaning and relevance to our client’s brand, and their audience so that we can deliver simple, yet remarkably powerful brand experiences from now until the end of time.

AHHHHHHHH..It’s good to be back. I was dealing with the loss of my mother so I needed to regroup ... back to the madness that lives inside my head;)

Talk to any garden variety hippie :) and they’ll tell you that they wake up everyday and set their day’s intentions. They’ll go into great detail about what they want to happen that day and they will visualize it happening and set their intentions. While to some this may seem like a total waste of time - it isn’t. Furthermore, there is a lot to be learned regarding the power of intent and how it relates to what we do for a living

Hold on. Here comes a bit of an A.D.D diatribe - I apologize in advance:)

Camus once stated that, “We can’t create experience, we must undergo it.” If we attempt to translate that into a relevant statement for marketers it simply means that all we can do is open up streamlines of opportunities for consumers with the programs we build. When I say that, I mean to say that we can craft a fully IMC plan with the INTENTION of having a consumer have the most desirable brand experience. However, we are limited to only creating the possibilities that this experience will occur. As Camus stated, we can’t actually create the experience. If we could then every marketer in the world would be touting ridiculously amazing case studies because every IMC plan that was created would turn out exactly as intended - a great experience!

The reality, of course, is that there are different modalities of experience - every consumer experiences marketing programs differently - regardless of the marketer’s intent. We are all very different creatures, and furthermore each of us is simply a summation of our own life experiences. Therefore, there are no two people that are identical - even identical twins aren't truly identical.

The question is simple. Why, as a marketer, should we care about consumer intent. Really, it has everything to do with entire behavior patterns ... but. simply put, it is the BIGGEST difference between understanding our audience to determine if we are delivering a brand experience when our audience will be most receptive to it. It’s the difference between consumers rolling out their welcome mat or curling up to an intrusive marketing effort. In part 2 I’ll talk about how to insure you do it right by exploring the consumer’s journey.

The feeling is everywhere. I’m sure you've had numerous conversations about it with everyone from co-workers to close friends - you can even feel it in the air. Everyone seems to be tangled up in an emotional spider web of doubt and disillusion.

Everyone seems to be wanting to simplify things - they want to slow things down. Unfortunately, everyone has finally come to the realization that they unknowingly joined the cult of speed that has taken over our lives. Never before has it been drawn into this sharp of focus. The world is moving incredibly fast, and we all seem to have allocated less time for the things that mean the most to us.

As marketing professionals what can we do to connect to what seems like an unconnectable audience?

It is clear, now more than ever, brands need to hit the pause button - do a quick inventory of their current marketing mix - and adjust immediately. You can almost feel it in the air. The audiences aren't paying attention to anything that corporations are putting forth because in their overwhelmed state it's as if everything has just become noise. My suggestion, of course, is to really get your brand out there using a myriad of tactics that's not just messaging them, but providing an extreme amount of high perceived value at every touchpoint.

This may require some brands to completely abandon their current strategies, but let's all be honest with ourselves - it's needed. I've been writing about the shifting marketplace. And, it's now gotten to the point where you can feel it. The audience's attitudes are the collective mindset of the marketplace. Brands need to agile and learn to connect using experiential marketing methodology on both traditional medias and new medias.

By: Dr. Neal Burns

Every once in a while I think that we need to look at some rather traditional and standard approaches to marketing decisions - stuff that has merit and has worked - and examine how experiential advertising efforts intersect with contemporary business practice.  And, as the "experiential" work moves from "alternative" to "mainstream" - and expected -the data base available grows. The relationship of the measured experience and delivery at brand touchpoints to the constructs of premium vs. price-based , estimates of market share and other marketing considerations will become more important as part of the experiential proposal.  Erik (if-it's-Tuesday-I-must-be-in-New-Delhi) Hauser and I want us all to look smart as this evolution rolls forward.

So, as we try to establish guidelines and best practices to help promote both the effectiveness and acceptance of experiential advertising what can we adapt from marketing theory that helps bring these two disciplines together. (Whoops - Is experiential advertising a discipline - a topic for another day I suspect.)  I suggest that a good starting place is to look at those categories that are dominated by a leader - e.g., beer, athletic shoes, hybrid cars - and what we would suggest for those in second - or third, or fourth - place.

Leaders maintain their position by steadfast innovation - year after year, season after season.  The next in line need innovation plus precise targeting.  For those that are persuadable (a term I will always attribute to Jack Supple) relevance of the offer and its presentation are the moves that encourage not only trial, but also cause a re-shuffling of the considered set.  And, the offer and presentation are the stuff of experiential advertising. The promise experiential advertising mavens can make to their potential customers must be clearly slotted in that direction and speak to the likelihood of increasing relative market share - and of providing irrefutable evidence of engagement. 

Hello Readers of the EMF Blog! I apologize for the decrease in frequency of my posts, but I am dealing with a family illness.

Also, we just launched a new research channel for the EMF. This section is intended to help al brands and practicioners better understand events that are done using experiential methodology.

Having said that - TIME TO TAKE THE GLOVES OFF for part #3.

In part #2 I wrote

Today, everyone knows that the activation budget/media buy needs to be a healthy sum of money in order to reach the intended amount of the mass audience.  Especially since there are reports floating around that it takes 40-plus airings of a commercial to yield the same result of just 4 to 5 airings a few years ago. The media landscape is that much more fragmented. In any case, it is clear that there are two things that need to be taken into consideration: the quality of the spot and the quantity of the times that it runs. Both of these things require substantial spending for a chance at success.

In essence, when you are classifying event marketing as the mass channel that it is let me say this. Event marketing is the most effective media for the key consideration metrics dollar for dollar vs. any mass channel that exists today.

Yes, you heard me correctly, when strategized and activated properly - Event Marketing and Live Brand Experiences are THE most effective media. AND, the effectiveness of this channel only increases when amplified with digital and additional traditional medias.

It’s been a long week, but I thought I’d start to kick up the dirt for next week because it’s time to align reality with perception.

Have a great weekend ... Look for lots of dirt to fly next week.;) AHHHHHH I love this place;0

Let’s begin to think about other mass channels and the current thinking applied there - let’s start with the oldest and most famous traditional mass channel - the good ole’ TV commercial!

It’s certainly been a round a long time, and when used properly, it’s certainly a great component to any integrated marketing campaign.  I say this, of course, taking into consideration that a brand is working with substantial dollars, and not in a situation in which it’s working with slashed budgets. Sound familiar?

When working on a TV spot - whether a 15-, 30- or 60-second spot — the tried-and-true media planning and buying methodology will break down the cost of the spot into a few quantifiable buckets.  How many buckets exactly?  Lets just say that it’s about 3 to 5 separate buckets, not counting the cost for ideation.

We’re talking about the mechanics of the spot itself. (Please note that I am not a media buyer so I’m applying a beginner’s perspective to this process. I apologize in advance.) There’s the pre-production costs and all the advance work needed to kick-start the production. Site and talent scouting, procurement, scheduling, troubleshooting, etc….there’s a bunch of money set aside for these kinds of things.

Then there’s the actual filming of the commercial. If you’ve even been on the set and seen the amount of down-time that marketers pay for, you’ll know that there’s a lot more spending going on than actual filming. The guy that turns the fan on and off every time the director calls “rolling” or “cut” is a union worker, folks. He gets paid more than a grade school teacher. And we’re paying him. Please note: it’s extremely important to realize that all of these dollars are being spent before the commercial is even close to making it in front of the very first consumer.

If you want the commercial to be any good you must spend anywhere from $500,000 - $10 MM into a good spot depending on location, the talent level, special effects, post-production, etc. There’s a lot that goes into a good spot, and all of it is pretty damn expensive.

So now that we have bought a TV spot, we need to activate it. So what’s the activation budget that comes with it? This is crucial because the activational pot of money determines when and where your spot will be aired.  These are critical issues because of the metrics used to measure traditional TV advertising.

Today, everyone knows that the activation budget/media buy needs to be a healthy sum of money in order to reach the intended amount of the mass audience.  Especially since there are reports floating around that it takes 40-plus airings of a commercial to yield the same result of just 4 to 5 airings a few years ago. The media landscape is that much more fragmented. In any case, it is clear that there are two things that need to be taken into consideration: the quality of the spot and the quantity of the times that it runs. Both of these things require substantial spending for a chance at success.

So why spend the money? Well, common wisdom says that it’s the best way to reach the most people. But even if this is true (which I don’t think it is), is it worth the price? To many forward-thinking marketers, it might not be.

The traditionalists who are sticking to their 30-second guns dismiss event marketing as too much money for too little eyeballs (as if eyeballs was all that mattered!). But if you just looked at the amount of dollars they are throwing at an ever-elusive audience, you would be smart to rethink their reasoning.

If it takes $500,000 to create and shoot a commercial, it might take another $3 million to buy the time to air it…hoping that media buyers’ algorithms will be successful in getting the spot in front of the intended audience. In other words, for a traditional TV ad campaign, you will need to spend much more to activate a spot than to create it.

But if you built an experiential footprint to show up at events, for instance, or created a pop-up retail experience for $500,000, your activational budget is already baked into the cost of the campaign. You may have spent half-a-million bucks to reach the first consumer, but you won’t spend any more on reaching millions more afterwards. Can we say the same thing about traditional TV advertisement?

It’s often comical to see brand managers fret over a $100,000 event marketing or trade show budget line-by-line, but think nothing of approving $25,000 for craft services on a Hollywood set. The common misperception that a TV spot will get you the mass audience – while event marketing is too niche and not scalable – is totally erroneous and ridiculous.

And we’re not even going to start talking about the value of the audience interaction itself. What do you think resonates more with a consumer, a TV spot or a marketing experience? And what do you think the value of that engagement is? What leads more to purchase consideration, understanding of the brand, and word-of-mouth referrals – a TV commercial or a memorable event marketing campaign?

Right. So where’s the confusion, folks? And now we’re just getting warmed up…….Stay tuned at Chief Marketer