Launch PR

Economy affects new product launches and Super Bowl ad recall

 When looking at the top 10 launches from the Most Memorable New Product Launch Survey, it’s hard to believe that 69% of consumers Schneider Associates, Mintel and IRI polled could not remember a single new product that was launched in 2008.

The Super Bowl always has the most interesting and talked-about commercials of the year, but are consumers just too preoccupied to recall and act on ads they saw just once during the game? What will it take to cut through the mental clutter and the morass of bad financial news?

A recent Advertising Age Article, “Bad Times Affect Ad Recall for Bowl Sports,” supports the MMNPL’s findings. According to a 12 year Gallup & Robinson study cited in the article, “there is a direct relationship between the confidence people have in the economy and the attention they pay to Super Bowl commercials.” When the economy is bad, recall decreases. While how engaging the commercial is and the quality of the game also matter, the economy does play an important role. When people are worrying about losing their job or their house, they’re not thinking about that funny Bud commercial.

These statistics create massive problems for already struggling advertisers. Some have decided to skip the Super Bowl this year, while others are trying new strategies to break through. According to an interview from Mobile Marketer, more ads will include text message call outs to solve the recall problem and get immediate responses from viewers. This strategy, which was used in 5% of last year’s ads, including an Obama campaign ad, is rumored to be increasing to 10% or 15% this year.

We’ll just have to watch the game this Sunday to see what happens. Companies need to captivate and engage the Super Bowl audience in innovative ways. It takes a lot to motivate consumers in the best of times and far more in the worst of times so it will be fascinating to Monday morning quarterback this important advertising event.

If you had 3 million dollars would you spend it on a Super Bowl Ad?

Banana Republic teams up with LinkedIn to capture a professional audience

For the first time in its brand’s history, Banana Republic is partnering with an online social network to collaborate on a promotion.  LinkedIn, a professional networking Web site, will offer its members who update their profiles by November 22nd the chance to win one of 25 wardrobes worth $1,000. Every updater will also get a 25% off coupon redeemable at the store or at BananaRepublic.com.

In a time when unemployment is high and resumes are moving over to the electronic forum, Banana Republic picked an opportune time to capture their target demographic on the Internet. With consumer spending at a 28 year low, and the value of the American dollar dropping, every business meeting and every job interview is increasingly crucial. With their latest partnership with LinkedIn, Banana Republic is targeting their high-end products at businesspeople and jobs eekers who dress for success.

Banana Republic is headlining the campaign with the tagline, “Your job title, specialties, education and your style — when it comes to raising your professional profile, success is in the details.” With the use of banner ads, e-marketing initiatives, and a landing page, they are hoping to appeal to both male and female professionals who wear high end clothing to boost their public profile and convey the image of a winner.

Will Banana Republic’s non-traditional social media campaign be enough to boost sales and overcome the nation’s diminishing consumer confidence?

The Volkswagen Routan: Engineered in Germany, Designed for America

After multiple failed attempts to break into the American market with the Eurovan, Volkswagen has decided to launch into partnership with minivan mogul, Chrysler.

The Volkswagen Routan (ROO-tan) made its debut in September with a clever advertising campaign featuring Brooke Shields.  Dubbed as “the first minivan in America with German engineering,” the new seven-seat minivan shares the same framework design as two of America’s bestselling minivans, the Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan. It has been designed specifically for success in the North American market with standard features including power sliding doors, a power lift gate and under-the-floor storage compartments.

The launch campaign is based on the idea that the Routan’s features are so compelling, families are having children in order to buy the minivan. Shields encourages parents to “have babies for love, not German engineering.”

Shields directs viewers to learn more by visiting www.RoutanBoom.com, which links the consumer to the Routan’s homepage on the Volkswagen Web site. Here, one can watch Brooke Shields’ full “mockumentary” on the epidemic that is the Routan Boom or experiment with the Routan BabyMaker 3000, a device that allows the visitor to make a baby without actually “making” a baby.

Nevertheless, the Routan aims to be affordable and family friendly, starting at just under $25,000 and averaging up to 23 miles-per-gallon making it economically viable for families.

Do you think the Routan will become as popular as the Dodge Grand Caravan or the Chrysler Town & Country? Was this a good time for Volkswagen to launch the Routan? Will the Routan be as big a commercial success as its ad campaign?

For more information about new product launches, visit www.MMNPL.com.

Baskin-Robbins Flavor Debate ‘08

This political season, Baskin-Robbins (SA client), is polling Americans with Flavor Debate ’08, a limited edition release of two new presidential election flavors. The two flavor candidates up for debate are: Straight Talk Crunch (representing Republican Senator John McCain) and Whirl of Change (representing Democratic Senator Barack Obama).

Americans can vote online at http://www.baskinrobbins.com or in any Baskin-Robbins store nationwide for their “flavorite” candidate until midnight, Oct. 20. The votes will be tallied and the winner of Flavor Debate ’08 will be announced on Oct. 21, possibly providing a taste for which candidate America will choose as the next President of the United States in November.

Here’s a look at these presidential flavors:

• Straight Talk Crunch is a Caramel ribbon, chocolate pieces, candy red states and crunchy mixed nuts swirled into white chocolate ice cream.

• Whirl of Change is a Peanut-nougat ice cream whirled with chunks of chocolate-covered peanut brittle and a caramel ribbon.

Baskin-Robbins brand is no stranger to historic Presidential ice cream treats.  In 1960 Baskin-Robbins created a “Candi-date” flavor for the Democratic National Convention which would ultimately name John F. Kennedy the Democratic Presidential Nominee.  This flavor was ground-breaking, not only for its innovative flavor, but because it was a surprise success driven by the smart tactics of Baskin-Robbins founders Irv Robbins and Burt Baskin.

Other notable Presidential flavors include GOPeanut and Saxy Candidate, created for the 1996 election contest between Bill Clinton and Bob Dole.  For these two flavors, both parties were appeased with a "fair and just" amount of creamy Vanilla ice cream with "liberal" portions of Baby Ruth® candy bar pieces throughout, making these flavors one for the history books as well.

Go to http://baskinrobbins.com/Spotlight/Elections.aspx for more information about the Baskin-Robbins Flavor Debate.

We need your vote!

SA has been nominated for a People’s Choice Award in the annual Adweek Buzz Awards.  SA is being recognized for its social media campaign for Baskin-Robbins' 31 Cent Scoop Night campaign back in April.  Anyone can cast their vote for the People's Choice Award, where the most popular consumer campaign will take home the hardware.

There's one winner per category, and the judges' favorite will earn the Grand Prize, a featured spread in Adweek, Brandweek and Mediaweek profiling the winning effort.

Please vote now to show your support for SA and America’s favorite neighborhood ice cream shop, Baskin-Robbins.

“Project Colorize” Draws Eyes in Manhattan

With “Project Colorize,” Ray-Ban has given new meaning to its motto “Never Hide.” In true flash mob style that would make Bill Wasik proud, 100 actors clad in brightly colored Wayfarer sunglasses stood at the corner of 31st Street and 6th Avenue in Manhattan  on July 1st and stared at a six-story billboard designed by artist and “culture jammer” Ron English. The actors stood frozen like statues in the intersection for 20 minutes, drawing the attention of commuters and causing Manhattan traffic to come to a standstill.

This stunt marked the beginning of “Project Colorize,” a collaborative effort between Ray-Ban and Marie Claire Magazine to introduce five new colors to the iconic Wayfarer line, as well as refuel interest in the brand (Wayfarer Sunglasses have been around since 1952). Ray-Ban and Marie Claire have hired five NYC artists to create billboards “inspired by this season’s fashion trends: Day-Glo, Floral, Painterly, and Tailored,” that will hang from various buildings throughout Manhattan this summer. Tara McPherson, Scott Alger, Queen Andrea, and Toofly are among the other artists whose works will be displayed. Ray-Ban also threw a high-profile party at Henri Bendel to end its first day of promotions. 

Since revamping its marketing strategy to revive the Wayfarer brand in 2000, Ray-Ban has been known for its edgy marketing campaigns and high-profile PR events. It seems its efforts have not been in vane, as Wayfarer sunglasses experienced a sharp comeback in the mid-2000’s. Yet, it seems the popularity of Wayfarer Sunglasses can also be attributed to Mary-Kate Olsen, Chloe Sevigny and other notable figures who sported the shades rather than as a result of Ray-Ban’s elaborate (and expensive) marketing campaign.

It’s clear that Ray-Ban successfully garnered the attention of Manhattanites (and perhaps some impatient, road-rage prone drivers). Whether the attention was positive or negative—remains to be seen.

What do you think of Ray Ban’s guerilla marketing efforts? How far do you think a company should go to gain visibility for its brand, and is there a point in which marketing tactics and theatrics can be taken too far?

NEW SERVICE POST: Starbucks "Pass the Cheer" Campaign

Launch Date: November 23, 2007

As the classic Lewis Black joke goes, most of us can’t imagine walking out of a Starbucks without crossing the street and bumping into another one.  But as the Wall Street Journal reports, this holiday season, we won’t be able to turn on our TVs without seeing Starbucks there, too.

According to Brandweek, despite a quick expansion to nearly every corner of the country, the coffee chain is actually below its predicted earnings for this year.  Once driven almost exclusively by public relations initiatives, the brand has introduced mass holiday advertising to increase sales and compete with new quick service coffee  contenders such as McDonald’s.

Starbucks’ new 30-second spots, with the tagline “Pass the Cheer,” are dialogue-free, animated ads that depict characters generously sharing a cup of hot Starbucks coffee with one another.  The message these ads portrays reinforces Starbucks’ early philanthropic push when it insisted on practices such as using only the fairest methods to harvest its coffee beans. Starbucks has also created a holiday "Cheer Pass" for its customers. Consumers who receive the Cheer Passes can then go online to the official Cheer Chain micro-site and post a story of goodwill to share with other visitors.  The site also offers viewers a chance to download a screen saver and track the Cheer Chain, or create their own characters. Cheer Pass cards will be issued at stores across the world.

Will Starbucks’ Cheer Pass encourage you to drink more of its coffee?  Do you think the critics are correct in pointing out that it is new product offerings and discounts, not a cute ad, that will bring in customers this holiday season?

Coming to a Cooler Near You

Amazingly, beer made up 87 percent of all beverage alcohol consumption in 2002. That same year, Americans consumed 6.4 billion gallons of the stuff, according to Beer Soak America. Despite this huge demand, the enormous domestic beer market is dominated by only three U.S. beer companies: Anheuser-Busch (51.9 percent of the market), Miller Brewing Company (18.7 percent of the market), and Coors Brewing Company (11.3 percent of the market). Competition to attract beer drinkers to one section of the beer cooler over another is tough. These three beer powerhouses continuously look for new ways to gain the upper hand and increase their slice of the market. To accomplish this goal, beer companies are constantly expanding their product lines to keep consumers interested.

Consumers want variety and in the case of beer drinkers this is especially relevant.

“One technique retail oligopolies use is flood the shelves with a pseudo variety of similar products made in almost exactly the same way, so that smaller suppliers that offer real variety can be elbowed out. The beer industry is a great example of this trend.”

For example: “Budweiser, it is more than happy to include Bud Light, Bud Dry, Bud Ice, Bud Ice Light, Michelob, Michelob Light, Michelob Dry, Michelob Ultra, Busch, Busch Light, Busch Ice, Natural Light, and Natural Ice.”

Miller Brewing Company has spearheaded the latest attempt to capture the attention – and dollars – of  America's beer consumers with the introduction of Miller Chill.  This American take on the Mexican chelada is the only light beer brewed with a hint of lime and a pinch of salt. The company boasts Miller Chill’s “distinctive twist on refreshment” is a “celebration and fusion of two wonderful cultures.” It was a hit in five test markets – all in the South.  

Time will tell if Miller Brewing Company’s latest addition will be successful – especially in northern parts of the U.S. where the product was not tested and where consumers may respond differently to the new drink.  Until then, Miller will undoubtedly pour much of its resources into its latest creation – and hope that it will stand out on the shelf and summer barbeque goers will accept Miller Chill as their prized warm-weather brew.

iPhone—2007’s Most Memorable New Product?

The iPhone is the most heralded new product launch of the year with sales expected to reach 3 million by 2008. Our thoughts are that the iPhone will surpass all other new products launched this year when we conduct the 2007 Most Memorable New Product Launch Survey in December.

After using my husband’s iPhone, I understand why. This phone is amazing. You just touch a button and the world is at your fingertips. I particularly enjoy watching the most popular YouTube favorites and new postings. It’s addictive and so easy. You just sit there and are entertained, 24/7.

Since we began our Most Memorable New Product Launch Survey five years ago, we have seen drastic declines in consumer recognition of new products. When we asked consumers in December to name a new product that was launched during that year, 81% could not name a single product launched—up from 57% the previous year.

We feel confident the iPhone will undoubtedly change this statistic. With all the hype around the launch of the iPhone, consumer recognition will improve dramatically in the 2007 survey. When we ask “please name a new product that was launched in 2007” without hesitation (unless they have been living under a rock) consumers will immediately reply “iPhone”.

Julie Hall’s Expertise Featured in CNN Money and Brandweek

Julie Hall, vice president of our Consumer Group was interviewed by CNNMoney.com in a special report highlighting the top 10 product launch hits and misses. In addition, she was interviewed for a piece in Brandweek on how smart brands are jumping on the “wholesome for you” bandwagon. 

On CNNMoney.com Julie shared her insights on why some of the product launches being featured were successful and how to create demand by playing off nostalgia during a new product launch. Product launches that were considered hits were Nintendo Wii, Tickle Me Elmo, Mini Cooper, Ford Mustang and the iRobot Roomba.

In Brandweek’s “More Get-Wholesome-Quick Schemes” article by Amanda Baltazar, Julie commented on how the government is considering banning junk food in schools and how food manufacturers can benefit from this trend. If the government does in fact ban junk food there will be a huge demand by schools for healthier alternatives to offer students. According to Julie, companies need to start developing more wholesome portion controlled alternatives as the writing is on the wall—schools are committed to fighting childhood obesity and are going to turn to companies which support that mission. If you haven’t seen any of our Most Memorable New Product surveys yet, click here to see which product launches consumers most remembered in 2006.