Lifestyle Brands « Social Networking and New Markets

Facebook Places? Nah! just try the games | Advantage social

August 23, 2010 2 Comments

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This is where Bloomberg caught it

Honda Motor Corp.’s campaign for its new CR-Z car features the hybrid vehicle in some colorful roadside billboards that can’t be seen from a freeway.

The ads are on display in Facebook Inc.’s virtual game “Car Town,” as Honda advertises on the social-network site for the first time today. The game, which allows users to collect and customize cars, has 3.1 million users. It was released on Facebook two weeks ago by Cie Games Inc.

Brands are turning to social networks to reach an audience with leisure time on its hands and the patience to sit through branded messages. Walt Disney Co., Electronic Arts Inc. and Google Inc. have all bought games makers in recent months to benefit from millions of users signing up to play.

Honda joins the august company of Starbucks, Pepsi, P&G and not to forget Coke’s brilliant virality as brand spends on social media increased by two times their 2009 budgets and the resultant Facebook executives are trying hard to keep all the gaming revenues on board as well apart from being one happy property for all brands seeking to reinventing their digital self. Most social brand offshoots are a distinct stream of thought and social conscious hoping to merge into their brands mainstream value for a ‘new me’ that is more persistent. Meanwhile even in conservative markets interactive product placement times and budgets are also likely to jump from $3.6 billion in the US and $600 million in Europe. (Europe has new laws on Product placement as designated by the common market execs).

Facebook’s ‘Car Town’ Reaps Honda Ad Spending in Shift to Games (businessweek.com)
Facebook Places and Other Location Based Billing Services (chasingeyes.com)
Social Gaming a Great Opportunity for Brands, Says Reality Digital (rushprnews.com)
Honda boosts profits through virtual Facebook game (computing.co.uk)

Filed under Digital Media, Facebook, Lifestyle Brands, Marketing, Social Media Tagged with Brands, Business, Facebook, Product placement

The Spreading Digital tentacles of lifestyle | Advantage zyaada

August 21, 2010 Leave a comment

After years of swiping that highly volatile status symbol that supplied oodles of credit to households, Visa power has finally subscribed to doing away with the cards. Starting next week ( September ’10) Visa will roll out a new payment lifestyle for subscribers on latest launch till the Holiday season gets over in December 2010 with Bank of America customers in New York. Later it will also roll the pilot with US Bancorp. Thanks Techland

Reuters reports

Customers would then “bump” their phones with point-of-sale devices in stores — actually they need only wave the phones near the devices — and their bank account data would be collected and their purchases completed.

Bank of America declined to say how many people would be involved in the pilot, and a company spokeswoman declined to comment on Visa’s involvement.

Visa spokeswoman Elvira Swanson said the Bank of America pilot was not larger than the company’s other mobile trials, but she said it could have a more powerful impact on the market than some previous pilots.

Unfortunately the pogram requires users to install new hardware on their smartphones, which does not sound like the smart thing to do for amenable users who would want to migrate to a non invasive lifestyle that does make paying and carrying digital id easy for them, no unwieldy wallets, no embarrasments at forgeting things at home / in the car.

Filed under Digital Media, Financial Services, Lifestyle Brands Tagged with Digital Media

Savings and the Consumer in a recession | Advantage Research

August 6, 2010 1 Comment

Contrary to straight and the narrow, lifestyle spending just veered away from expensive brands during the recession and never really dipped. The challenge is we are not getting any growth in the developed economies.

Here’s the latest lifestyle research/ consumer research at Adage:

In a new study, Pew Research Center asked participants about household spending since the recession began in 2007. Via telephone interviews, nearly two thirds of respondents said they had cut back on spending, and only 6% said they had increased spending. In the same survey, 54% said they thought we are still in the recession, and 63% said it will take at least three years before their families recover from the financial effects.

It will be a couple of months before the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its 2009 data on consumer expenditures, but one of two things will happen: The Pew study will be upheld and there will be some obvious declines in consumer spending, or purchasing trends will continue to increase as they did in 2008 with the recession well in gear. That would show that, while people might want to or think they are cutting spending, in practice they’re actually spending more.

Spending growth peaked in 2005 with 6.9% growth over 2004′s average expenditure of $43,395, according to BLS data. Since then, it has dropped steadily to just 1.7% in 2008. But that was still growth. Broken down by age, only those under 25 and 35- to 44-year-olds dipped, and only by 0.2% and 0.4%, respectively. One of the age groups that really drives the economy, 45- to 54-year-olds, increased its spending a healthy 4.9%.

Luxury Goods sales did dip 20% in 2008 and 2009 and then they were the first to come back. If you try to understand the recession consumer, however, he has more extra time on his hands and seemingly less money that must last a little longer. He just spends whatever he can lay his hands on and in typical subscriptions/ regular items of foods and groceries as he thinks make his family ticket thru the bad times. His car still works fine. Her children don’t suffer. And everyone watches the same channels on Tv. Maybe that’s the lucky ticket that’s got all the global millions rooting for each other at the same time. And I am happy Indian companies are paying more taxes in the US if they employ more Indians..

Of course, businesses interested in volume sales like the model Walmart built or as is happening in all consumer categories in Australia right now, the key to the heart of the wallet and not some shavings off the top, is the deep discounts you can offer after the two months premium season for the goods is off. It is true for electronics categories, apparel categories and foods categories including the new Kraft mixes you might want to enjoy. I wonder if we can think this model for currencies also. Buy the dollars at their real value just this week…(My apologies if the weekend stuff got to you, relax, take a deep breath and get to that Mall)

Even for purchases like Insurance or for items that as a group increase Household savings, the same principles apply. New York Life actually increased market share during the recession and it is not MLM. Mid Market companies that invested in MLM have to rethink a simpler model that would intuitively be self sustaining as that model had inherent strengths during a recession.

The important things to keep in mind:

1) Brand investments are important at all times and should not overtly suffer in a recession. A droning level of noticeable brand activity esp as the social world is a really inexpensive and far reaching investment of goodwill
2) Consumers like discount, marketers like discounts and contrary to some opinion even brands like discounts. Look at McDonalds and $1 coffee, $1 breakfast with McCafes
3) Radio and outdoors have been ignored for no fault of the marketer ( okay, point taken)
4) Brand Sense, Tipping Point all say that research must start to try your instinctive hypothesis and not go by the number crunching. Go for the instinct the brand engenders
5) Sell to Moms or any special interest categories that can take charge of the cheerleading for you, Sue.(Glee, Sylvester Sue, defined as a shrew with an agenda, that only grew )

Filed under Financial Services, Lifestyle Brands, Marketing Tagged with Branding, Consumer Spending, Markets

P&G gets to measure the big bang for the sponsorship buck | Advantage Brands

July 31, 2010 Leave a comment

P&G committed itself for the next few Olympics signing up as a global sponsor at London 2012 with Coca Cola and McDonalds. According to London media reports, the IOC earlier signed another $100m or GBP 65 million with Dow Chemicals till 2014

Procter & Gamble, whose brands include Ariel washing powder, Pampers nappies, Gillette shavers and Pringles crisps, signed a 10-year agreement with the International Olympics Committee (IOC).

While Acer, Omega and Samsung remain a veritable tech triad, P&G has earlier made its mark at Vancouver with the Mothers’ Thanks Mom campaign getting it 35% more than it gets for non Olympics campaigns, generating 6 billion impressions and to be reenacted by supermoms from Usain Bolt, Mike Phelps and others at London

The 10 year deal is likely worth a $300-350 million and lasts 10 years till the 2020 Olympics. IOC mentions reaching the $1 illion mark this year presumably for the London Olympics. The photo op below shows the Thanks Mom Moms to be witht he signing team of Pritchard and IOC

Filed under Lifestyle Brands, Marketing

Are brands winding down? | Advantage Brands

July 30, 2010 Leave a comment

Marketing Lifestyle Brands has always been the toughest proposition, esp as now lines blur with services brands and the social internet.

With the infestation of private labels in the 90s in the US, the social milieu there has turned distinctly fragmented, ripe for the rise of private labels in supermarkets from Walgreens to Walmart. However, white labeled goods have never gone beyond a certain plateau in market share, and after the continuing battles with recession, the debate was nearly lost in the public mind.

Deloitte argued in a report that store brands no longer suffer from “the stigma of inferior quality” among most American consumers.

As evidence of this, the consultancy quoted IRI figures showing the market share of these offerings rose by 74% across the personal care, household, food and beverage categories between 2006 and 2009.

Overall, this equated to more than 23% of volume sales, and 18% of value sales, in the CPG segment in America last year.

Private label now accounts for 20% of purchases made in grocery chains and 18% in supermarkets, with each of these trends beginning before the recession and accelerating during the crisis.

A primary reason for this shift is the 31% price deferential between ranges manufactured directly by retailers and their well-known competitors.

Our hat tip comes from this Warc push on Friday

This seems to be a curious harbinger for things to come. Especially as this kicks off the argument about US corps also taking their brands internationally devoting more spend here in India and China than in hometown. However, In store brands have come a long way. Target in store brands have premium offerings like Up & Up. Costco has gone in for a new co branding phenomenon, with Starbucks, Quaker oats and Tyson.

Denting Brands is not going to be viable for most hyper mart / supermarket chains. Brand investments outlast most other corporate purchases as denominators of value. Similarly services like Research cannot be effectively branded as the value in reading an analysis cannot be tied to one market player, either as bank or as Goldman Sachs.

Asking the social networks like Twitter and Facebook to denote the decline or rise of brands will always be a tenuous link. Claiming that a Twitter can lead to local retail awareness, does not really affect bigger brands in their brand foot print. Investment barriers and those of process certifications tied to environment and quality will not let many into the big league anyway.

Where is the quest for premium today? | Advantage Brands

Not many local brands famous on twitter would go beyond their current district. Foursquare mayors, though, have a better chance in that selection of services much like Kenichi Ohmae’s Infomediaries and that is a road less traveled as well. Of course twitter has its own problems, but social networks and their dominance is a definite fact for the next decade and more even as form and shape of technology gets more human. But that does not enable the local Mom and Pop pizza man to become the next Mcdonalds and neither in-store McDonalds to become a celebrity phenomenon. That is still much a function of live interaction at the counter.

In fact, McDonalds’ in store and in office cafes have only strengthened and carried forward the global giant’s brand into a distinct orbit that if sustained will strengthen live interaction with menu choices and not dull takeaways or even the diminishing store interactions for McDonalds’ current franchisees which is for staple fare.

Starbucks on the other hand is already leveraging the social networks to sustain its brand premium and offer promotions and discounts effectively at the same time. Similar stories are likely to bring out more brand successes to the fore than white labeled goods from the corner grocery shop and the chinese lady.

Filed under Lifestyle Brands, Marketing Tagged with Brand building, Facebook, Marketing Brands, Twitter

More Digital shoppers, anyone? | Advantage social

July 12, 2010 Leave a comment

Well frankly, some brands do a great job of keeping themselves busy. P&G brands star amongst those for extending the attention span of the internet. However, they pale in comparison to AMAZON.

According to Warc

Amazon, the internet retailer, is set to challenge major grocery chains like Tesco in the UK, with the launch of an online store offering free delivery on over 20,000 food and beverage products

Also, Mobile advertising is up 60% in April-June over last year, so little wonder when P&G came forward with digital joyride budgets for each of its brands that targets ONE BILLION SHOPPERS AROUND THE WORLD using Digital Media

P&G is going with old friend and Amazon competitor Walmart to produce a movie and a ‘Future Friendly’ education drive that presumably coaches sustainability to the familiar brands of P&G last seen and heard loudly at Vancouver.

Of course mobile ads are a much different platform and more than half of those land in India or Indonesia, while P&G’s digital campaign is grounded in the US shores and Amazon, yet again, is branching out from the US, bringing groceries to UK in an effort to yet again woo the English customer. Amazon’s international footprint and that of local competitor Apple seems to have gone with the payment options on the shopping cart to the select countries that featre UK, Japan, Continental Europe and very few others.

Pepsi refresh seems to have set a measurable tone that is defining such priorities with brands eager to get the social association of good deeds, while the bigger force like Amazon still manages to go in with just a promise of quality and experience in every new market. Though the twains shall never meet, it may soon be an obvious contradiction in terms to be a social or in fact any digital brand without a social baggage of choice that defines the man. Thus of course, defining the customer experience as something bigger than buying soap or toothpaste or dinner when shopping digitally.

Filed under Digital Media, Lifestyle Brands, Online Maketing

Facebook results show social user volumes | Advantage social

June 21, 2010 Leave a comment

Attacking Google – Pt. I

While the Facebook crowd has developed its own fangs, social business is here to stay with Facebook users celebrating Facebook’s mega results with great aplomb. Ahead of our own estimates at $500m and even more optimistic estimate at $650 million, Reuters reports Facebook as having completed the first round of its internet conquest with $800 million in revenue, tons in profit nd fallen faces and fuming engines at Google. The social web has declared war on the Google dominated ARPANET and life is new and rosy for users with minutage on Facebook increasing significantly every month without any dent in the pocket. We are still looking for turning points that bring out collaborative marketing as a commercial success having rejected subscription models and advertising based models. Zynga however estimates year 2 will not be as rosy enough for it. Shares of Facebook are trading at select online portals featured here earlier.

(Reuters) – Facebook’s financial performance is stronger than previously believed, as the Internet social network’s explosive growth in users and advertisers boosted 2009 revenue to as much as $800 million, according to two sources familiar with the situation.

MEDIA

The company also earned a solid net profit, in the tens of millions of dollars last year, one of the sources said.

That growth in profit and revenue underscores how Facebook is increasingly making money off its 6-year-old service, which ranks as the world’s largest Web social network with nearly half a billion users.

That sort of performance is likely to whet the appetites of investors keen for a public share float, despite the company’s insistence that an IPO is not a near-term priority.

HOLY KAW!

Filed under Lifestyle Brands, Social Media Tagged with Digital, digital web, Facebook, social, Social Media, Twitter, Web 2.0

Brands become the new Cadillac Records | Advantage Brands

June 7, 2010 1 Comment

Adage has become very insistent on twitter with a catchall for the lifestyle brands McDonalds’, Coke and Pepsi fronting contracts with artists to give them direct visibility with new artists. While McDonalds has its own agency “Artists & Labels”, Coke has signed up Universal’s artist K’naan using his “wavin’ flag” adaptation for the $100m FIFA World Cup campaign.

Artists & Brands is also partnering with Rodney Jerkins, a legendary music producer and Music Attorney Daryl Jones. Pepsico America Beverages has roped in Green Label Sound to dig up mountains of consumer love for ‘Do the Dew’

“You’ll see through Green Label Sound the rethinking of ownership of music, a rethinking of how to monetize it, how to build the brand of an artist,” he said. “And I think you’ll see where it’s coming from artists, managers, record labels and alternative methods of funding — and brands will play an incredibly critical part in that.”

Shops like Music Dealers in B2B Music Licensing have stepped up to a staff of 30 in the last two years, while shopping for clients such as Maxwell House, Corona and GMC

Brand spends can definitely make much more sense with new artistes offering a life time commitment for just a snatch of dollars. According to Adage, the Coke song is already no. 1 in China, Mexico and Germany. Social media is also likely to be an all pervasive influence giving these artists much to play for, and the intensity of the superlative reach might well translate into shorter tracks and thus jingles, with brands able to support artists directly.

Filed under Lifestyle Brands, Marketing Tagged with Coke, Lifestyle Brands, mcdonalds, Music, Pepsi