Gary G: Spike likes the fact that the NFL team he followed when he was still learning to fly is in the playoffs. Go Niners! Make noise and get noticed!
Willem: The Creators Project
A global network dedicated to the celebration of creativity, culture and technology. At a time in the history of the arts where digital technology has revolutionized distribution, democratized access, and re-imagined the scope and scale with which an artist can create a vision and reach an audience, The Creators Project is a new kind of arts and culture channel for a new kind of world.
Rachel: This is a great, clever use of video to show the amazing slender style of LG’s newest TV.
Christian: This is a really cool video on the surprising truth about what motivates us. Very creative in how to make a normal presentation really engaging!
Natasha: The finalists are in for the Doritos commercial that will air during the Super Bowl this year! Check out the five hilarious videos. This one was not a finalist but it was still funny!
It’s that time again- time for the Spikesters to share with you what they like this week.
Charlie: The new Volkswagen commercial.
Sharan: After a stressful week of study abroad chaos in Cairo, my daughter is now safe in London.
Willem & Robert: Using Google’s Street View technology, Google provides art lovers with a 360-degree virtual tour of 17 museums around the world and makes 1,000 works of art by more than 400 artists available online. These masterpieces are presented in such amazing high definition that you can zoom in to see the brush strokes and the grains of the canvas. And it is within those brush strokes that the raging tranquility of Vincent van Gogh’s ‘The Starry Night’ truly speaks to ones soul. Go ahead- check it out for yourself!
Gary G.: Spike likes margaritas and guacamole. In the sun. On the beach. In Mexico. In January.
John: Looking forward to the spring dart season starting up next week. My new team, Innovative Outs, might be the best one I’ve ever been on. You can follow the team and all the stats at www.seattledarts.com.
Andrew: Looking forward to helping John practice for dart season- Tim and I are currently 2-0 against our dart throwing colleague.
A new report released this month by comScore highlights the importance of quality creative to the success of an advertising campaign. The data from comScore shows that ad quality is actually the single biggest factor influencing the number of sales generated from a campaign, regardless of medium.
“Based on our years of research in this space, we’ve determined that the quality of the creative is four times more important than the characteristics of the media plan in generating sales,” said Jeff Cox, executive vice president of comScore ARS. “In fact, creative is the single most important factor and accounts for over half the changes in a brand’s sales over time. Getting the creative right is absolutely essential, and yet its importance so often gets minimized in the process of developing an ad campaign. Now is the time for advertisers using digital, as well as more traditional media, to get serious about optimizing their creative on the front end so they don’t get a rude awakening when the ads don’t work and they are left wondering what went wrong.”
Cox also added,
“Though often overlooked, getting the creative strategy right from the start is essential if an advertiser wants its creative execution to actually perform. Doing so will improve the likelihood of achieving a successful campaign that will generate increased sales. A sub-par upfront strategy is a virtual guarantee that the execution is destined for failure.”
The importance of ad quality and a strong creative strategy is something that we here at Hodgson/Meyers have known for some time and one of the reasons why the campaigns we create for our clients enjoy such success.
Even in mediums such as direct mail where pundits loudly proclaim the medium as “dead” Hodgson/Meyers campaigns have successfully met and even exceeded our clients advertising goals. Take, for example, the direct mail campaign called “Fat Cat” that we created for WindStream Communications, one of the nations top providers of phone, high-speed Internet and digital TV services. The “Fat Cat” direct mail campaign ended up pulling in 55% more responses for WindStream than their average direct mail pieces. Proof that direct mail is not dead, but a very effective medium when done right with quality creative.
When Creative Director and Owner Tim Hodgson was asked about the role of quality creative in B2B advertising campaigns he had this to say;
“It may seem superfluous for an ad agency to say that the creative in a campaign is important. That’s like an auto dealer saying, ‘You know, the engine is really important in this car you’re buying.’ But consider the majority of the ‘creative’ that we consumers are bombarded with daily. Makes a person wonder how many agencies actually believe this.
It’s a hard thing to do, i.e. cut through our frenetic audio/visual environment and be seen, heard and, most important, remembered. Really hard. One could argue that just pounding your message relentlessly will work regardless of the creative. (Some cheesy mattress store jingles come to mind.)
And it’s even harder in the B2B space.
It’s one thing to proclaim “Coke tastes good” and show young people jumping around on the beach in an ad. It’s quite another to wrestle with the intricate issues that large and small businesses face and present clear solutions concerning complex products and services. B2B creative must be compelling enough to encourage action and move customers along in the sales process. Motivating business customers takes a thorough understanding of their pain points, as well as insightful creative that drives them to act (think of it as the “engine” in that car mentioned above).”
Tim makes an excellent point about the difference in creative between a B2B product and a consumer based one. B2B often has a more intricate and complex story to tell and the ability to tell that story in a compelling manner often comes down to the creative both from a visual and a copy perspective.
These days, many B2B companies are looking to cut corners and slash advertising budgets but it is clear from the data that when quality creative is sacrificed for lower budgets, it is the return on investment that is affected most. As our clients can attest, it pays to pay for quality creative. Especially when it comes to B2B advertising.
Marketing research budgets are tight these days. The pressure placed on research to find the right answer is immense. And nowhere is this more evident than when it comes to using research to evaluate creative campaigns
I’ve done a lot of creative development research in my days. Notice how I didn’t say “a lot of creative testing,” an oft-used expression for this kind of research. I deplore the word “testing,” as it suggests some kind of pass/fail scenario. If your idea of taking campaigns to research is to have respondents pick the winner, I respectfully suggest you re-evaluate your objectives.
The objective should be to identify the relative power of each campaign, looking for ways to strengthen each of them. While respondents will no doubt have preferences, looking for participants to “pick a winner” is not, and should not be, the primary purpose—their input is important, but should be but one set of inputs into which campaign should proceed forward (the others’ being the agency’s and client’s experience/expertise, the competitive environment and informed instinct).
Here’s what I counsel my clients to focus on in this kind of research:
What does each campaign/concept communicate? What do respondents take-away from the body of work, in terms of the key idea(s) and messages the campaign expresses?
How does the body of work make them think/feel towards the brand that is bringing them the message? Given the messages being communicated, and the way they are communicated, what does it say about the brand, in terms of the characteristics/attributes you might associate with the brand because of how the message is presented?
If more than one campaign is shown, are these campaigns saying the same thing or are they saying something different? How are they similar and how are they different?
For me, it’s always about what message(s) is being communicated and how that makes them feel about the brand. I’m less interested in whether respondents like or dislike a campaign, or whether they think the campaign is for this audience or for that audience. After all, these are concepts; not finished advertising.
And, as valuable as respondent input is, THEY ARE NOT THE ADVERTISING EXPERTS. The agency and the client are the experts. The decision as to which campaign should proceed to production should rest in their hands.
About the author:John Kerr is a strategic/account planner who has been involved in more than his fair share of creative development research with the likes of Chiat/Day, DDB, JWT and Bozell (now Draftfcb).
For the fans of the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button, you likely will not use it anymore. In the habit of hitting the ‘enter’ button after you type a search query? Break this one, because it is no longer necessary. After months of testing, and weeks of hype and speculation, Google has revealed Google Instant, the newest change to the way that we search: live updating search results.
Google Instant attempts to improve the user experience even more: by saving time, providing smarter predictions and serving instant results. Google estimates that Instant will save 11 hours of search time for every second spent searching. With the combination of time savings, and more accurate search results, Google is certainly staking their claim as the most forward-thinking company in search.
Google’s announcement this morning began with some amazing statistics: over 1 Billion searches occur on Google each week. In these 1 Billion searches, it takes more than 9 seconds to enter a search term, with many searches taking 30 to 90 seconds. Google Instant promises to save 2-5 seconds per search, as well as decrease the time it takes a user to click on a search result as well.
How does it work? As you type in your search query, the search results will adjust based on what you Google Instant searches for you as you type, predicting the most likely keywords that you will search. Once you see results that match what you are looking for, simply stop typing. Your results are already there.
Here, we began a search for ‘woodpecker’ to show the results that we got along the way:
How Will Google Instant Impact Paid Search?
One of the largest concerns about Google Instant for B2B Advertisers is how this new tool will impact paid search. Specifically, the impact on ad impressions. As users type in a query, the search results rapidly change, displaying different ads with every keystroke. As shown in our search for ‘woodpecker’ we returned paid advertisements for MapQuest, the Pacific Science Center, the Woodland Park Zoo and more, before we finally got to information about woodpeckers.
According to Google, an ad impression is counted if a user takes an action to choose a query (for example, presses the Enter key or clicks the Search button), clicks a link on the results page, or stops typing for three or more seconds.
Ad Position
Google Instant will also change the layout of the Google search results pages. Because the search suggestions box remains open, the organic results, as well as any top position ads, are pushed down the page. In some cases, the organic results are pushed completely below the fold, and users will only see the search suggestions box, as well as paid advertisements.
Though this will initially increase impressions and clicks on paid search campaigns, the quality of the clicks received is not likely to improve. With organic results beginning far below the fold, many users will confuse paid and organic searches- resulting in low quality clicks on top performing ads. Paid ads in position 1 and 2 will likely show above the organic search results, but below the search suggestions box. Ads in lower positions (particularly positions 3, 4 and 5) appear to have a higher rank because the paid search results on the right side begin at the top of the page.
Quality Score
With increased impressions due to the ever changing search results pages, paid search marketers can expect to see a decline in their click through rate (CTR)- simply due to this increase in impressions. Because CTR is one of the main components of quality score, B2B Advertisers may see a change in the overall competitive landscape of paid search. Will quality scores begin to decline because of Google Instant? At this point, we can just wait and see.
Recently Dodge ran a commercial for their summer Tent Event in which a chimpanzee, dressed a la daredevil Evil Knievel, celebrates by detonating a miniature cannon loaded with confetti. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) lodged a complaint against the auto manufacturer for using a chimp in the ad.
Rather than engage in a war of words, Dodge remained invisible on the issue. That is, they digitally removed any trace of Suzie the chimpanzee leaving only a walking daredevil outfit, now referring to the non-chimp as an invisible monkey.
This brilliant solution accomplished two things. It appeased PETA. And generated a great deal of free publicity for the carmaker. Among other respected sources of news, The London Daily Mail online and the Los Angeles Times—not to mention the Hodgson/Meyers blog—have reported on the event.
Kudos to the car company and its advertising agency, Wieden + Kennedy, for taking the complaint seriously and for using it to increase awareness for both PETA and the sale of Dodge cars and trucks.
In the world of business-to-business advertising, every so often client and creative planets align just right so as to produce a sterling piece of work—one that turns out exactly as it was drawn up. Such was the case when agency Hodgson/Meyers teamed up with client UC4 to produce a flash video as a showcase introduction to the latter’s website. Take a look for yourself: UC4 Rethinks Automation
With blue chip clients from Siemens, Shell and Suzuki to GE, Gucci and Goodrich, UC4 is a global leader in business automation software. For B2B Top 100 Agency Hodgson/Meyers the task was to develop a Web video that not only explained what UC4 did, but do so in an accessible and entertaining fashion.
As with similar success stories, this was most certainly a team effort. UC4 Chief Marketing Officer Fred Kahout and Director of eMarketing Paul Rosien provided company insight. H/M Director of Account Planning Jason Frummet and Project Manager Lea Loya gave strategic guidance, while partners Tim Hodgson and Gary Meyers offered brand direction. All that was left to do for graphic designer Charlie Worcester, Web master Craig Labenz and writer Gary Graf was translate those marketing thoughts into creative genius.
Key to the concept was the combination of rhythmic—dare we say, poetic—copy and imaginative—nay, truly inspired—design and flash animation that brought to life the difficult-to-convey concept of business automation.
(From top left, moving clockwise: The word “communicate” connects two animated servers; Servers rotate and mesh as if gears in operation; Camera pulls back from a line of servers to reveal a conductor’s baton as enterprises orchestrate; Black and white server squares make up a city skyline and cloud, showing that UC4 works on site, in the cloud and everywhere in between.)
Agency and client collaborated on the project through a sequence of storyboards, test footage and refinement. UC4’s graphic standards (developed by Charlie) provided the color palette for the animation. Mr. Rosien’s background as a drummer influenced the techno-percussive beat. And UC4 voice Kevin Crawford provided the narration.
The result? A lively, engaging animated story that visually reflects the power of UC4’s ability to integrate and orchestrate business processes, all to help automate and accelerate companies’ growth.
All in a day’s (well, several days’) work for the team at Hodgson/Meyers
The Fluke Corporation selected Hodgson/Meyers after an agency review to provide campaign strategy and creative for a significant, new, international (and, as of now – confidential) 2010 product launch. “We are particularly interested in exploring new creative and media opportunities to reach different channels and audiences around the world, and Hodgson/Meyers really wowed us with their approach and thinking,” said Senior Marketing Communications Manager, Barbara Hanson. “We’re excited to get moving on this product launch.”
Fluke Corporation is the world leader in the manufacture, distribution and service of electronic test tools and software. Since its founding in 1948, Fluke has achieved the number one or number two position in every market in which it competes.
A wholly owned subsidiary of Danaher Corporation, Fluke is a multi-national corporation headquartered in Everett, Washington, USA. Manufacturing centers are located in the USA, the UK, Asia and The Netherlands. Sales and service subsidiaries are located in Europe, North America, South America, Asia and Australia. Fluke Corporation has authorized distributor and manufacturer representative channels in more than 100 countries and employs approximately 2,400.
In an admittedly non-projectable examination of one household mailbox, “research” shows that, with five pieces of direct mail a day, the average homeowner receives more than 1,500 items of, for the most part, unrequested mail a year.
With so many letters and catalogs destined for the recycling bin, woe to the direct mail that does not immediately capture the reader’s attention. At Hodgson/Meyers, we’ve found that sometimes the best way to put the wow in your DM is to put the meow in your DM.
Enter the Fat Cat.
Illustrating the problem: Here kitty kitty
With service in 16 states in the southeast, Windstream Communications provides phone and Internet packages to business and residential markets. On the consumer side, Windstream often found itself up against more established, yet more expensive cable providers. To help portray those companies as being more costly, we represented them collectively as, you guessed it, the Fat Cat.
A casting call was put out for filled-out felines to…actually PhotoShop magic was responsible for creating the centerpiece character. Gold eyes gleaming and pleasantly plump, the animal quickly caught the fancy of H/M employees, earning such endearments as Phat C, Heavy C and Puff Catty. Not only did Fat Cat stand out as illustrated, he perfectly illustrated how cable companies profit from charging their customers higher prices.
Windstream vs. Cable TV: A tail of five kitties
Originally scheduled to star in a single direct mailing, the Fat Cat so resonated with Windstream—and its customers—that the client requested a series of five pieces to showcase the savings Windstream offered over its competition.
With Fat Cat soaking in a tub of money, one mailer featured the headline: Are you getting soaked by those Fat Cats at your cable company? Another featured the Cat sporting a diamond-encrusted gold dollar sign collar (think of it as feline bling) in front of a private jet with the headline, Is your cable company getting fat off you?
Fat results
Windstream notes that the first Fat Cat mailing pulled 55% more responses than their average pieces. Which shows that Puff Catty was the purr-fect DM solution.
Depending upon the source, it’s been reported that consumers receive on average anywhere from 250 to 3,000 marketing impressions in a single day. Even taking a low figure of 100 impressions per day adds up to 36,500 a year!
So, if you’re an advertiser, how do you stand out? In the case of Hodgson/Meyers client CSG Systems. Inc. – a customer interaction management solution company – the answer was to come out fighting. Or at least to wear boxing gloves.
How to stand out in the direct mail crowd
In touching more than half of all U.S. households, CSG helps companies such as Comcast, DISH and Time Warner with billing and customer interaction solutions. When the time came to introduce a new product offering, CSG wanted to reach approximately 100 key decision makers in the cable and satellite TV industry.
With such a narrow, targeted audience, a direct mail approach seemed the most appropriate vehicle. However, these influential executives are also the same targets of most every other technology company as well. Thus, the challenge became to create marketing materials that would not immediately be placed in the round file, under W for wastebasket.
As the marketing agency for CSG, we needed to think big and think outside the box. In this case, thinking big meant size. And thinking outside the box had to do with thinking about what went inside the box.
Which brings us back to boxing gloves.
Adapt the mail strategy to the marketing strategy
Cable and satellite marketing managers face the never-ending problem of customer churn, people who leave one provider for another. CSG has a way to help providers eliminate churn with a better customer management solution. We recommended sending life-size professional boxing gloves along with product information to the target audience, allowing CSG to figuratively and literally give marketing executives the tools to effectively fight churn.
The sheer size of the direct mail piece (7.5” x 10.5” x 12.5”) received immediate attention. Inside a handsome box, copy and layout framed a personalized message as if announcing a heavyweight championship bout.
Box copy and Everlast boxing gloves were customized with each individual recipient’s name. These decision makers were encouraged to “K.O. churn with CSG customer intelligence solutions.” In so doing, they’d be able to build strong customer relationships, retain subscribers more effectively and enhance the value of each customer interaction.
Big package. Big Idea. In short, a real knockout!
(Customized boxes for the CSG mailer were provided by MasterCraft.)
