BLINK #5
#5
Media
Trends
Consumers
Published by
MediaCom has developed nine key rules to ensure your
sponsorship activity delivers business results.
the passion issue
be passionate!
(Above you have rule number seven.)
To find out what the other eight are – and to get a lot more
detail on how to put the ideas into action – read our new
white paper, Can Sports Sponsorship Deliver?
the
Passion
issue
And sign up for our Insider programme, which will ensure
you have exclusive access to all of MediaCom’s thoughts
on the issues that matter.
Visit “News & Insight” at mediacom.com to learn more or
simply scan the QR code below.
Pelé
The man and
the superbrand
the brand olympics
London 2012 was the first
social media Olympics,
but how did the official
sponsors fare?
mobile platforms
Why it's the best medium
for passionate people
philosophy of brands
Interview with Professor
of Formal Philosophy,
University of Copenhagen
mass market emotions
Mass market reach or niche
market richness?
Why not both?
INTRO
WELCOME
Why is the greatest footballer the world has ever known on the cover of
our magazine?
Let me explain.
MediaCom recently announced that it would be helping the great man
establish new partnerships with brands around the world. For us,
this relationship heralds an exciting evolution of both the agency and our
sports division, MediaCom Sport. I was delighted to welcome Pelé to our
MediaCom HQ in London a few months ago, and unsurprisingly, everyone
was far more interested in Pelé than what I had to say about our expanding
capabilities. But that’s alright. The continued interest in a 71-year-old man
(who hasn’t played in decades) is indicative of how passionate people are
about football – and about sport.
We saw that passion this past summer, as huge crowds in London came
together to celebrate the Olympics and Paralympics. The optimism and
fan excitement were palpable, even to TV viewers. Why? Because sport
exemplifies the power of passions to ignite and excite a city, a country and
the world. As consumers become increasingly critical of the hard sell, we
believe that authentically leveraging consumer passions – such as sport –
is a powerful way to break through.
#5 Winter 2012/2013
MediaCom Global
124 Theobalds Road
London
WC1X 8RX
UK
Tel.: +44 (0)20 7158 5500
Email:blink.magazine@mediacom.com
Web: www.mediacom.com
Editor-in-Chief:
Signe Wandler, MediaCom
signe.wandler@mediacom.com
Design & Layout:
Propellant, www.propellant.dk
Art Director, Martin Dahlbeck
Cover:
Tinko Czetwertynski
Printed By:
Vilhelm Jensen & Partnere
And that’s another reason why Pelé is on our cover and profiled in this book
(page 20): because this issue is all about passion.
We learn what it takes to become a brand that consumers are passionate
about (page 6) and what happens when brands get it wrong (page
8). We explore how TV viewing has been transformed into an active,
passionate experience (page 46), while we debate using passion as a new
way of segmenting consumer audiences (page 44). And just to be a bit
controversial, we’ve asked a Professor of Philosophy for his take on brands’
increasing responsibilities in a challenging world (page 30).
I hope this issue of BLINK helps you appreciate and think about using
the power of passion, whether it be for sport, music or another
consumer favourite.
As for me, I can only hope I look as good and have as much energy at 71
as Pelé. Maybe passion keeps us young.
Regards,
Stephen Allan
MediaCom Worldwide Chairman and CEO
2
MEDIACOM - BLINK #5
ISSN: 1903-5373
The opinions expressed in the
articles are those of the authors.
Minor textual contents may be
republished as long as the original
author and publication are cited.
Find BLINK in the “News & Insight”
section at www.mediacom.com
contributors
Peter Walshe
Andrew Curry
Vincent F. Hendricks
European Strategy
Director, MediaCom
Everyone’s passion is
ultimately personal:
respect that and add
value to it.
Global BrandZ Director,
Millward Brown
Brands must understand
that giving yourself away
is a passion killer. “Come
and get me, I’m cheap” is
not reason enough. “Wow,
I’m worth a try because
the barrier to entry is low
[good price] and your
experience will convince
you what a great value I
am” is a much
better strategy.
Director,
The Futures Company
People have been
predicting since the
invention of the World
Wide Web that it will,
sooner or later, get taken
over by commercial
interests. But fans and
fandom still drive the
business of the internet,
not the other way around.
Philosopher and logician
Philosophy is in the business
of premises, reasons for
conclusions and the framing
of arguments. Branding is
in the business of framing,
so philosophy may actually
inform brand efforts
and ambitions.
illustration Ann Pajuväli
Matthew Mee
behind the scenes
To truly understand a
global icon, you need to
meet him for yourself.
We talked to Pelé at the
scenic Hotel Unique in São
Paulo during Brazil’s long
hot summer. As always,
he was in a good mood
and looking forward to
the world’s attention
turning to Brazil for the
FIFA Confederations Cup
in 2013 and the Summer
Olympics in 2016.
BLINK #5 - MEDIACOM
3
#5
Contents
06
Characteristics of a Passionate Brand
08
5 Engagements That Went Horribly Wrong
12
Mobile: Access, Participation, Social
14
Mass Market Emotions
18
The Passionate Shortcut
20
Life Lessons from an Enduring Icon
28
Infographic: Sports Sponsorship
30
The Philosophy of Brands
34
The Heart of the Matter
38
Case Study: NERF
39
Case Study: Loewe
40
M:Files: United by the Big Event
42
Building a Future Proof Mobile Strategy
44
Passionate and Precise
46
Getting Active
48
Infographic: Brand Olympics
50
Advertorial: Celebrating the World of Creativity: A Brief History of The Festival of Media
28
40
44
46
4
MEDIACOM - BLINK #5
06
Characteristics of
A Passionate Brand
By Peter Walshe, Global BrandZ
Director, Millward Brown
Why should brands care about passion?
Research shows that the way consumers
feel about a brand is a key indicator of
sales performance.
08
5 engagements that
went horribly wrong
Matt Mee, Strategy Director,
MediaCom EMEA
It is inevitable that brands will seek to use
our passions as a way to become relevant.
Sadly, too many get it wrong.
20
Life Lessons from
an Enduring ICON
By Erich Beting
The world’s greatest footballer talks
about the influence of his father and the
sporting passions that will erupt in Brazil
over the next four years.
30
The Philosophy
of Brands
How would a philosopher approach
today’s brand challenges?
Copenhagen University’s Professor
of Formal Philosophy talks about
brand ambition and the need for
a wider agenda.
BLINK #5 - MEDIACOM
5
background
brands & passion
Characteristics of
a Passionate Brand
You might wonder why brands care about passion. Why not simply focus on sales?
The truth is that the way consumers feel about brands is a proven driver of sales.
By Peter Walshe, Global BrandZ Director, Millward Brown
One of the indicators we use at BrandZ to
determine how passionate people are about a
brand are the words they use to describe the
brand’s personality. Choosing to describe a
brand as “rebellious”, “fun” or “creative” from
a medley of adjectives that also includes
softer options such as “innocent”, “kind” and
“friendly”, for example, is a clear indicator
of the greater or lesser passion elicited by
the brand.
All four areas are active, positive actions
that embrace powerful and passionate
descriptors of relationships with brands. We
know from experience that there is a huge
Our key measure also assesses whether a brand
polarises consumers. The greater the BrandZ
“clarity” score, the more a brand divides
opinions. It might seem counterintuitive,
but polarisation is an important measure of
passion; after all, products and services that
are all things to all people are generally bland
and less distinctive: an unhappy position, as
far as brands are concerned.
disparity between brands in the degree
to which these words are mentioned. This
shows us that passion is not something
that is just casually given, but rather
something that is earned by brands that are
meaningfully different and deserving of
such accolades.
Four areas of passion
So what exactly do consumers think
about when they rate some brands more
passionately than others? Our studies
suggest that there are four key areas:
1. Adventurous/Rebellious
2. Desirable/Sexy
3. Playful/Fun
4. Creative
6
MEDIACOM - BLINK #5
Polarisation is an
important measure
of passion
As a recent publication of Millward
Brown Optimor’s Top 100 Global Brands
shows, there are clear frontrunners in each
of these four areas:
Adventurous/Rebellious: Red Bull,
Nike, Apple
Desirable/Sexy: L’Oréal, BMW, Apple
Playful/Fun: Disney, Coca-Cola, Apple
Creative: Google, Intel, Apple
Passion does not only result in sales. The
brands that are the most passionately
rated are also the ones that earn the most
online buzz (which, in turn, feeds sales and
brand value).
Is this connection surprising? I think
not. The social space is where we interact
freely on matters of interest, consequence
More passion equals
more sales
or fun. Brands that participate in this
space (without disrupting or interfering
with the party) are engaging freely with
willing audiences.
Finally, a key learning from our studies is
that low price does not buy passion. Instead,
our data clearly shows that consumers with
the greatest passion for a brand name price
as their least powerful influence. Only those
lacking a passionate relationship put price
at the top.
A passionate affair
10 key rules
2012
1. A distinctive brand is more likely to attract consumer passion.
2. Passion adds value to a brand.
$511bn
3.Building a single-minded brand promise entails understanding
which passion to emphasise.
4. Tone of voice is vital to underline passion in an interesting way.
5.
Media selection not only plays a part in targeting relevant
consumers, but also implies the character and passionate
nature of the brand.
6.Brand relationships are built on personal experience.
7.Being true to yourself as a brand is essential to a passionate
experience. A brand’s entire value chain must deliver on this
truth to ultimately affect customers.
Passionate users are a brand’s best advocates and should
8.
be cultivated.
9.Do not worry about polarising your audience – passion is not
about being all things to all people.
10.Think about the brands that inspire your own passion and
consider what personal insights can be applied to your brand.
Buzz
means
money
value
earned
buzz
$112bn
2006
Brandz
BrandZ is the world’s largest brand database of consumer opinion. It includes
interviews with more than two million consumers and business-to-business
customers in more than 43 countries about thousands of brands. To learn more
please visit www.brandz.com
BLINK #5 - MEDIACOM
7
point of view
5 engagements
8
MEDIACOM - BLINK #5
engagements
that went
horribly wrong
It is inevitable that brands will try to leverage ‘passion points’ as a way to create
meaning and relevancy for brands. However, it’s not always as easy as it looks.
By Matt Mee, Strategy Director, MediaCom EMEA
Illustration by Jack Hudson
At the most simplistic level, connecting with
passion points is an attempt to garner attention
in a time-starved world. There are, after all, a
huge range of brands with similar functional and
emotional benefits.
It could also be a way that brands attempt to
leverage key “cultural moments” in the hope that
such an attachment will become fixed in the minds
of consumers.
And finally – at its most sophisticated – this drive for
connection can also be a search for values that can
be profitably transferred from a cultural entity to
a brand.
Sometimes all three factors propel brands in their
push to become part of the cultural conversation.
But if it’s clear what brands get out of it, a successful
positioning must deliver a value exchange that works
for all the parties involved: the brand, the property
and the people.
There is a détente that has to be observed in order for
everyone to come out ahead. It is a delicate balance
that brands get wrong entirely too often.
In fact – like any unwelcome party guest – such
mistakes can be classified into one of five categories.
BLINK #5 - MEDIACOM
9
point of view
5 engagements
The overbearing bore
We have all met them. You and your friends are having a great
time when a loudmouth barges in on the conversation and
won’t stop talking about himself. Everyone makes a mental
commitment to escape at the first opportunity, and the host is
criticised for his poor handling of the guest list.
In the UK, the Premier League’s Newcastle United has played
at its stadium, St James’ Park, since 1892. For the people
of Newcastle, the club and the stadium were irrevocably
connected. It’s understandable, then, that the re-naming of the
ground to the “Sports Direct Arena” did the brand no favours.
The tight-fisted party-goer
If someone is kind enough to invite you to a party, the
unspoken rule is that you bring a gift (a bottle, a box of
chocolates) that helps everyone have a good time and
feel appreciated.
The Olympics is an inclusive celebration of sport that
should inspire and unite visitors from around the world, but
Visa’s contribution to this party was to prevent fans from
buying tickets or using ATMs unless they used a Visa card.
The company suggested that “the easiest way to obtain a
Visa card is to contact your existing bank… Alternately,
anyone can purchase a Visa prepaid card from a Visa card
issuer, which can be used immediately. Please visit the Visa
website for details.”
I hope that this was effective at driving down their cost
per acquisition, but what it didn’t do is deliver the desired
“sweet spot”: a positive value exchange with the fans.
10
MEDIACOM - BLINK #5
The one night stand
It all seemed to be going so well. You met, found that you
had quite a bit in common, spent a little quality time
together and then… nothing. S/he didn’t call.
Here’s a little test for UK readers: who sponsored the FA Cup
before Budweiser? Who has taken over the League Cup?
In other markets, simply change the name of the
competitions and ask yourself the same questions.
Building
connectivity
with
consumers
requires
long-term commitment.
The naif
You like fancy dress and your more glamorous friends said it was
going to be a fun party. You arrive and discover that everyone else
is dressed in rubber. You make your excuses and leave.
The problem with popular culture is that it can be unpredictable,
which causes huge problems for brand management. Whether it’s
Tiger Woods or Kate Moss, brands need to be comfortable with
not only the opportunity, but also the risks of working with figures
and topics in popular culture.
Although Cristal Champagne saw sales shoot through the roof
because of its association with hip hop aristocracy, the CEO’s
comment that he regarded the phenomenon with “curiosity” led
to a high-profile lambasting by Jay-Z. Know the rules before you
decide to play.
The Disco-Dancing Dad
After alcohol has set to work on your initial party
inhibitions, you decide to take to the dance floor and “bust
some moves”. A close friend eventually points out that the
other party-goers are regarding you with incredulity rather
than admiration.
Electrolux may have worked hard to activate its sponsorship
of the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, but the response from
most observers was “?”. The fit between the world’s most
glamorous film awards and the global white goods giant
may have been a bridge too far.
The opposite faux pas is being over-dressed for an event.
Teaming Elizabeth Hurley and beef jerky – even if it’s
organic – is another partnership that simply doesn’t fit (yes,
this really happened).
BLINK #5 - MEDIACOM
11
background
MOBILE
MOBILE
ACCESS
PARTICIPATION
SOCIAL
Access, participation and social are core
attributes that enable mobile to enhance
or tap into consumer passions.
By Stefan Bardega, Managing Partner, MediaCom
ACCESS
People who are passionate about a sport, band, game or film want
access to the latest information or content 24/7. The smartphone
offers this exact kind of constant connectivity: it’s the last thing
switched off at night, the first thing checked in the morning and
it is rarely more than two feet away from the owner.
British broadcaster Sky has been a pioneer in this area with the
launch of its Sky Go mobile app, enabling fans to watch sport
live on their mobile devices. For the launch of the Sky Go app,
MediaCom targeted sports fans using geo-targeted mobile
messages to tap into fan interests when they are at their height:
during the games themselves. The ability to access exclusive
content at the exact “moment of passion” prompted five million
streams among consumers in the first three weeks at launch.
12
MEDIACOM - BLINK #5
40%
PARTICIPATION
The mobile platform offers a way to motivate deeper, more
immersive consumer participation by virtue of its ever increasing and often unique technological attributes.
The features built into smartphones today includes location
detection, image and video capture/distribution, social media
integration, audio playback, voice recognition/control and
near field communication (NFC), to name just a few. All of
these services mean that participation can be not only more
immediate, but also multi-sensory, resulting in a more
rewarding fan experience.
of consumers at concerts
use Facebook to share
their experiences.
Source: Live Nation
According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau, 56% of people
watching the Super Bowl in the U.S. this year planned to use
mobile during the game to access game stats, find information
within Super Bowl apps, post game-related social media updates
and photos and discuss the event live with other fans.
photography Thomas Hawk
won't leave
home without
their smart
phone.
Source: Our mobile planet
SOCIAL
Think about consumer passion as glue. Today, people who
attend concerts, football matches or conferences connect for a
short period of time, thanks to temporary geographic proximity
and shared interests with other like-minded people.
But in the future, mobile will generate connectivity long before
and after events using social capabilities to connect people in
the digital social space. Companies such as Zappacosta are
developing smart mobile solutions that connect event wristband
passes to your social profiles. Each time you enter an event or
pass a kiosk, the wristband triggers an automatic message or
photo push to your social profile, seamlessly connecting the real
and digital worlds via mobile.
Some believe that this kind of application underpins a consumer
“interest graph” (as opposed to “social graph”), but we think it’s
going to produce something more akin to a “passion graph”,
with mobile at the core.
BLINK #5 - MEDIACOM
13
background
business models
MASS MARKET
EMOTIONS
Businesses no longer have to choose between mass market reach
and niche market richness. They can have both, argues Andrew Curry.
By Andrew Curry, Director, The Futures Company
In the past, organisations that followed people’s
passions were considered “niche”. Some weren’t
organisations at all, really, but groups of fans and
hobbyists doing some trading on the side. The Internet
has changed this entire dynamic. Instead of having to
choose between “mass” and “niche”, passion now has
mass market potential.
a far larger museum today, with a far larger and more
engaged audience. Similarly, the Internet enables
businesses to reach passionate consumers far more
easily: such brands are “pulled” into the conversation
by consumers in communities of interest, rather than
having to “push” themselves using conventional
marketing.
That’s what Philip Evans and Thomas Wurster argue,
anyway.
So how do we understand
this in terms of proposition?
One tool is a simple model that explores levels
of engagement by provider and by customer.
Originally created by The Futures Company for a
report published by Coca-Cola, the model indicates
low engagement on the part of both supplier and
customer in the bottom left. This is a passion-free
zone, occupied by retailers such as Poundland in the
UK and other budget stores focused on piling high and
selling cheap.
Passion is about experience, knowledge, and
connoiseurship, and there are strong consumer trends
which suggest these are all on the rise. One thinks of
the professionalisation of the consumer world. It is no
longer enough to be an expert cook; one needs to have
the same knives a professional chef expects to find in
the restaurant kitchen. Or consider the average cyclist,
now following a professional training programme,
recording training sessions via a heart monitor and
uploading the data for analysis when he gets home.
In many previously high-investment areas (think
of music editing, video production), the cost of the
technology needed for a professional-looking job has
plummeted. The knowledge and tailoring that true
expertise required used to limit reach. No more.
The knowledgeable fan or enthusiast is the curator of
14
MEDIACOM - BLINK #5
The bottom right sees low engagement by the customer,
but not by the provider. This is a zone of necessary but lowinterest goods, provided by relatively high-engagement
providers. One thinks of a supermarket such as Carrefour,
for example, whose proposition is underpinned by hugely
complex logistics upon which the shopper must rely.
The passion in this quadrant usually lives behind the
scenes, though it sometimes surfaces in positioning
high
curators
friends
customer engagement
high
low
supplier engagement
transactors
paddlers
low
statements (e.g., “passionate about the freshest
cauliflower”) that seem like a good idea but largely pass
consumers by.
The top two zones are more interesting. The top
right is the expected area for the passion-filled “rich”
proposition, in which high-engagement providers
and high-engagement customers meet in a passionate
embrace. The Body Shop, L’Occitane and Innocent
fruit smoothies live in this category. Operating
successfully in this space is expensive, but offers
premium returns.
been colonised by enthusiasts, and it has encouraged
this colonisation in the same way a gardener might
design an area knowing that it will attract bees
or butterflies.
Likewise, eBay created a market where none existed
before: the online equivalent of the yard sale and the
flea market.
In categories that have not been so easily leveraged,
there is an opportunity for retailers beached by the
Internet. Fans love access. And while every music shop
The internet builds opportunities for businesses able to
speak the same language as fans and enthusiasts to reach
them far more easily.
In the top left hand zone we see a passion sleight of
hand. Customers are engaged, but suppliers are not.
This is the space in which online providers leverage
enthusiastic communities to break the dilemma of reach
and richness, offering depth and scale. An example in
this category is Amazon, which first selected books
not out of passion, but because they were the simplest
products to source, store and ship. What Amazon has
done brilliantly, however, is to build a space that has
can’t have the enthusiasm of London’s iconic Rough
Trade, the high street or main street retailer can break
out of the mindset of logistics and stock management
by moving online. Curators can thrive here, linking
the knowledge and commitment that exist in both the
physical and digital worlds.
Source: 1Philip Evans and Thomas Wurster (1999), Blown to Bits.
Harvard Business School Press.
BLINK #5 - MEDIACOM
15
ARE YOU
CONNECTED?
TV is changing.
It’s no longer just about what’s broadcast
on TV – increasingly, it’s about the content
consumers select.
Sometimes dubbed Connected TV or Smart TV, the new
world of TV allows viewers to plug – literally or wirelessly –
their new set into the Internet. It will radically change the
way consumers use their TV and creates both opportunities
and challenges for advertisers.
MediaCom Beyond Advertising has created a short film
explaining how Connected TV will allow brands to enhance the
effectiveness of their branded content, create new distribution
channels and develop true targeted advertising.
Scan the QR Code below to view the film or go
to www.mediacom.com/mediasimplified.
Let our experts help your brands navigate
the Connected TV future.
Global: paul.chard@mediacom.com
APAC: angela.rapley@mediacom.com
EMEA: james.morris@mediacom.com
North America: adam.pincus@mediacom.com
Singapore
3-5 March 2013
All
things
Media
EARLY BIRD
10% DISCOUNT.
BOOK BY 15
DECEMBER
The premier festival for the Asian region celebrating media
innovation and creativity.
Join more than 600 delegates and be part of the debate on
the crucial issues and challenges facing the Asian media and
marketing industry today.
BE PART OF IT. BOOK NOW.
Follow us on #foma13
sia
a
/
m
ia.co
d
e
lofm
a
v
i
t
s
e
www.f
Organised by
point of view
sponsorship
The passionate
shortcut
By contributing to big sporting events, brands can
endear themselves to fans, says Rory Maxwell.
By Rory Maxwell, MediaCom Sport
The ambition of many sponsors is to create
an emotional connection with their target
audiences via a shared passion.
Whether it be sport, music, art, fashion
or causes, such shared interests is often
an important part of consumers’ lives:
something in which an individual invests
time, money and emotional energy.
Brands that can contribute to the way
people enjoy their passions are in a strong
position to secure positive sentiment
amongst consumers. Research shows that
audiences will be more receptive to brand
messages from and more likely to think
positively about a brand associated with
their passions: especially those brands
that can actively enhance the experience.
Sponsorship is unique
Though elusive, brands continue to seek
this magic point of engagement, given that
an emotional connection is more likely to
break through over more intrusive – or,
conversely, passive – forms of advertising.
Sponsorship marketing is unique, because
it can be targeted to a specific community
and deliver flexible assets that allow
18
MEDIACOM - BLINK #5
brands to create a dialogue with that
target audience. Implemented correctly,
sponsorship can deliver a credible and
authentic message across all of the
channels in which a passionate consumer
engages. Those that do it well can endear
themselves emotionally to that audience.
Sponsorship assets can be used not only
to deliver brand awareness, but also
and consistent brand values will help create
the desired connection with consumers.
Sponsorship has power
across sectors
By sponsoring teams or events, a brand can
tap into the passion felt by their fans and,
in turn, create passion for its own brand.
As a fan’s relationship with, for example,
a sports team develops and deepens, so
The strength of sponsorship is underlined by
the fact that it is widely used by brands in low
interest consumer categories.
consumer-facing experiential events,
product integration initiatives, point-ofsale promotions, hospitality experiences,
CSR initiatives and digital content
platforms.
All these assets allow brands to deliver
enhanced experiences and tangible value
or benefits to the fan.
But successful sponsorship requires sound
business planning and clear objectives. A
clear vision, thoughtful creative execution
will their feelings toward those companies
associated with the team over the
long term.
Sponsorship hasn’t always been given
the credit it deserves, but its power is now
clearly recognised.
One of those who changed his point of view
is David Wheldon, now Global Director
of Brand at Vodafone Group. “I certainly
spent the 1980s thinking sponsorship was a
waste of money – a chairman’s indulgence
'Best Job'
P&G London 2012
Olympic Games Film
incapable of driving brand engagement,
brand equity or any of the other advantages
I now know sponsorship can deliver. I’m a
total convert to sponsorship as a marketing
platform,” says Wheldon.
Brands that have long known about the power
of sponsorship include Red Bull. The brand’s
strategy has been to support and create
extreme sports and lifestyle activities that
connect with its brand values of revitalising
body and mind and increasing performance,
concentration and energy levels. The brand
has created an avid fan community around
this lifestyle by sharing unique content with
a huge, passionate audience.
In much the same way, Coca-Cola’s World
Cup sponsorship single-mindedly focused
on football’s moment of greatest emotion:
the goal. Whether reminiscing about the
greatest celebrations in World Cup history,
recording a World Cup celebration song
or touring the FIFA World Cup around the
globe, the company has fuelled fan emotion.
It’s easy to argue that Red Bull and Coke are
sexy brands, but the power of sponsorship is
also used by numerous brands in low-interest
consumer categories.
Take npower’s sponsorship of the English
Football League – the leagues below the
Premiership – and E.ON's role as a former
sponsorship of the FA Cup. Both energy
companies are not only using sponsorship
to establish brand visibility, but to drive a
greater emotional relationship with their
Premiership by bringing the fans closer to
the competitions that matter to them.
London games, illustrates the power that the
company feels a movement like the Olympics
can bring to its brands, many of which could
be classified as low-interest FMCG products.
In particular, P&G has used the Olympic
spirit to tell a moving story aimed at
engaging a powerful audience: mums of
Olympic athletes.
“You can’t manufacture emotion. It’s already
there. When you find it, just find a way to
trigger it: tap into it, fuel it and watch it grow
into something remarkable".
Mark Harrison, Chair of the Canadian Sponsorship Forum
The insurance sector has also been a strong
player in the sponsorship industry for the
same reason: to drive more brand loyalty
and advocacy amongst customers by
communicating with them via the emotive
environment of sport.
Perhaps the case for sponsorship is best
made by those who seek to undermine it.
Many brands try to ride on the coattails of
official sponsors with ambush techniques:
if sponsorship was ineffective, would
these brands work so hard to replicate
sponsorship’s effects?
On an even more high-profile level, P&G's
global Olympic Sponsorship as an IOC
partner, which commenced with the 2012
BLINK #5 - MEDIACOM
19
story
Life lessons
Life lessons
from an
enduring
icon
20
MEDIACOM - BLINK #5
BLINK #5 - MEDIACOM
21
story
Life lessons
Life lessons from an enduring icon
While most ageing icons eventually fade from view, Pelé remains at the centre of it all:
an influential, universally recognised and respected personality around the world.
How has this enduring legend thrived in today’s “I want it now” culture, and what
can marketers learn from him?
By Erich Beting
Photography by Tinko Czetwertynski
The closing ceremony of the London
Olympic Games featured an unmistakably
Brazilian twist. To mark the symbolic
passing of the Games from London 2012
to Rio 2016, the stage was suddenly awash
with vibrant colour, spectacular dancers
and pounding samba drums.
And while that was enough to get the
sell-out crowd whooping with excitement, it
was the emergence of a certain 71-year-old
man that truly sent the 80,000 in the stands
into a frenzy.
That’s because the 71-year-old in question
was Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better
known as Pelé, Brazil’s favourite son and
the “King of Soccer”. Even the least ardent
football fan can understand the scale of
Pelé’s accomplishments: the youngest-ever
winner of a World Cup, the only player
to win the trophy three times and the
only footballer to score more than 1,200
professional goals. FIFA has named him
Footballer of the Century, and he is the
International Olympic Committee’s Athlete
of the Century.
Pelé is a rare breed: one of the world’s last
living icons whose timeless story still
inspires people across the globe. Fifty-four
years after helping Brazil win the World Cup,
he’s still able to draw crowds of screaming
fans and pick up honorary degrees
from universities he’s never attended:
mostly for what he’s doing today, not his
past achievements.
Not bad for a commercial superstar whose
family was so poor that – as a child – he had
22
MEDIACOM - BLINK #5
to play football with a ball of bundled socks
and string.
When the BLINK team met Pelé at the
Hotel Unique in São Paulo, it became clear
that passion is the key to his enduring
appeal. We asked him to share his advice
on staying relevant at a time when attention
is short-lived and fads are abundant.
Lesson #1: Be kind and
respect everyone
When you meet him in person, the one
thing that stands out about Pelé is his star
power. But despite being a sporting legend
for more than half a century, the man is
also remarkably humble, emanating an
easy-going charm and openness that puts
everyone around him at ease.
As a child, Pelé found joy and escape in
football and became dedicated to the
game. As he grew older, he was the one who
practiced while others went to the beach.
“Since I was young, I knew that I needed
to stay in good shape to be a good player,”
he says.
Pelé credits his father as being a big
influence on his approach to the game,
making sure the young player combined
his competitiveness and excellence
with compassion.
"I used to play football with the kids on the
street, and my father used to watch. Once,
I played some tricks on some kids, and my
father told me, 'Listen, this is not good. The
gift you have to play football is a gift from
Sporting Legend, Cultural Icon
& Passionate Humanitarian
Indeed, before we start our interview, Pelé
is more than happy to chat with our crew
about the teams they support and ask for
their thoughts on the latest developments
in international football.
God. Don't tease the kids. You must teach
and help them. You won't become anything
if you are not a nice person'".
Lesson #2: Don’t think
you’re the best
He is also keen to be part of the group.
Upon seeing the huge throne that we had
prepared, he quietly asks: “Do you have a
smaller chair? Because this one is too big…”
Pelé’s attitude toward his gift, his teammates
and even members of competing teams
quickly won him lifetime fans around
the world.
Pelé knows how far a throne is from his
impoverished beginnings in the district of
Três Corações, Brazil.
Football, he argues, is a global game
because it can be played by anyone. “What
makes football so special”? he asks. “It is
Why Pelé? Why now?
Pelé is the most famous and most successful
footballer of all time. His skills have amazed the
world, his story has inspired generations and his
fame transcends cultures.
But Pelé is more than just an incredible
footballer; he is also a humanitarian and an icon
of cool. He is an exemplary spokesperson for
Brazil, a role model for kids and a tireless social
campaigner. He has the kind of wide-ranging
appeal that few can touch.
Now, when all eyes are turning to Brazil – the
world’s sixth largest economy and host of
the Confederations Cup in 2013, the World
Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016 – Pelé
is more relevant than ever. As brands look for
ways to activate sponsorship deals in the lead
up to this busy time, it’s difficult to think of a
better spokesperson.
MediaCom
its
Sport
partnership
is
with
proud
to
Legends
announce
10,
Pelé’s
exclusive global agent. This partnership offers
MediaCom’s new and current clients exclusive
access to a legendary, global superstar and
– most importantly – a unique opportunity to
enhance future marketing strategies.
Marcus John
Global Head of MediaCom Sport
BLINK #5 - MEDIACOM
23
story
Life lessons
a pastime for everyone. It doesn’t matter
if you are small, strong, fat – everyone can
play football. You have the pros, but it’s a
game everyone can play.”
Pelé was intensely aware of this, and worked
on his fitness when many others thought
he would ride on his glory. “That’s another
lesson that I learned from my father. God
gave me the gift to play good football, but
if I’m not in good shape, I will fail,” he says.
Pelé continues to apply this philosophy in
his business dealings today. “You can use
this for sport or for business; I think it’s the
same. First of all, respect people. Secondly,
"I always think that, if I stay as an example
to young people, that will be good. A lot of
players think only about how they can make
money right now. I think that this is my
example, to encourage the next generation."
Lesson #4: Remember where
you came from
Even while playing professionally, Pelé
used his celebrity to draw attention to
global issues, keeping his focus on those
efforts that could affect real change. As
an active player for Brazil’s professional
team, Santos Futebol Club, his star appeal
was so powerful that it triggered a two-day
truce in Nigeria’s civil war. Fighters on
In 1967, both sides of Nigeria’s civil war
declared a two-day truce so they could
watch him play in Lagos
don’t think you are the best, because if you
do, then you start to lose. This is the same
for any condition, any profession,” he says.
both sides agreed that there was nothing
more important than watching Pelé play
in Lagos.
Lesson #3: Keep a clear eye
on what you really care about
Today, Pelé tirelessly directs his
passion to charity work, inspiring
others by demonstrating the power of
individual potential and displaying an
infectious optimism.
By the 1970s, Pelé was officially retired and
thought he’d stay that way. Then he got an
offer he couldn’t refuse: come back to help
get football noticed in the U.S. To Pelé, this
wasn’t about playing again – it was about
his tremendous desire to bring more young
people to football.
Having never played football outside Brazil
in his entire life, Pelé signed with the New
York Cosmos in 1975 and helped raise the
game’s profile in a country where it had
previously been all but ignored.
Fundamentally, the secret of Pelé’s long
success on and off the pitch has been to
make choices based on what he believes
is truly important. Indeed, conscious of
his position as a role model, Pelé looks for
commercial opportunities that allow him to
engage younger generations.
24
MEDIACOM - BLINK #5
Pelé was appointed as UN ambassador for
ecology and the environment in 1992 and has
worked as a UNICEF Goodwill ambassador
since 1995. He also helped pass legislation
in Brazil, intended to reduce corruption in
Brazilian football. The law became known
as “Pelé Law”. Earlier this year, British Prime
Minister David Cameron asked him to help
promote the international campaign, Race
Against Hunger.
Pelé is equally passionate about promoting
his home country at a time when it will
soon host the biggest sporting events on
earth: the Confederations Cup in 2013,
the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics
in 2016.
"I worked for the World Cup Committee
in 1994, 2002 and 2010 in other countries.
Now, it is time to do something for my
country – I have to do something! These
events are very important for the country.
The next four years will be important in
changing people's perception of Brazil."
Pelé’s work will focus on promoting what
Brazil, the world’s sixth largest economy,
can achieve. "Brazil was always the best on
the field, but now we must show that we are
also the best off the field ," he says.
Lesson #5: Do good now.
don’t be satisfied with
past achievements
Certainly the next few years will create a
vibrant legacy for Brazil, but – for Pelé – the
future is about what he can do now. He
explains clearly that he would prefer to be
remembered for his role in changing lives,
not just for his sporting achievements.
“The future is now. What you do now
for the future is the best thing,” he says.
“Remember me not as a great player but as
a human being and for what I have tried to
do for future generations.”
After our interview, Pelé thanked everyone
for their time, making a point of shaking
hands with everyone in the room. It’s only
a small gesture, but one that sums up the
man perfectly.
For all the cups and medals he has won on
the football pitch, Pelé is still the kid who
grew up in Três Corações, playing with a
ball made of bundled socks tied with string.
Pelé in his own words
me not as a great player but as a human
On modesty
being and for what I have tried to do for
"I used to play football with the kids on
future generations.”
On the wide appeal of football
the street, and my father used to watch.
Once, I played some tricks on some
“[It] is a pastime for everyone. It doesn’t
On Brazil
kids, and my father told me, 'Listen, this
matter if you are small, strong, fat –
"I want to help my country off the field.
is not good. The gift you have to play
everyone can play football. You have the
I worked for the World Cup Committee
football is a gift from God. Don't tease
pros but it’s a game everyone can play.”
in 1994, 2002 and 2010. Now it will be
the kids. You must teach and help them.
in my country – I have to do something.
You won't become anything if you are
On celebrity and hubris
We take this very seriously and have to
not a nice person.'"
“The future is now. What you do now for
work very hard to deliver."
the future is the best thing. Remember
BLINK #5 - MEDIACOM
25
story
Life lessons
Becomes the
youngest ever
World Cup
winner at age 17
Born in Três
Corações,
Brazil
1940
26
Helps Brazil
win their second
World Cup
1958
Declared a
"non-exportable
national treasure"
by the Brazilian
government
1956
1961
Scores his
1,000th goal
1969
Receives the
International
Peace Award
1975
1970
1962
oins the football
J
club Santos,
becomimg the
youngest player to
join Brazil’s First
Division and the
league's top scorer
MEDIACOM - BLINK #5
Helps Brazil win
their third
World Cup
Emerges from
retirement to play for
the New York Cosmos
in the NASL (North
American Soccer League)
1978
Plays final game
for Santos
Plays his final
career match
on 1 October at
Giants Stadium
in NYC
1972
1977
Represented Brazil
in Olympics closing
ceremonies and
welcomes the
world to Rio 2016
L'Equipe
names him
Athlete of
the Century
Named
Extraordinary
Minister for
Sports, Brazil
1981
1995
Appointed UN
Ambassador for
ecology and the environment
1992
Awarded Brazil’s
Gold Medal for
outstanding
services to sport
Named Athlete of
the Century by the
International Olympic
Committee and Reuters
News Agency
1995
Receives lifetime
achievement award
from the BBC
1999
Awarded an
honorary degree
from University
of Edinburgh
2005
2012
Appointed
UNESCO
Goodwill Ambassador
Receives
honorary Knight
Commander of
the Order of the
British Empire
Received honour
of FIFA Player
of the Century
(shared with
Maradona)
Named Brazil
Ambassador for
2014 World Cup
1995
1997
2000
2011
BLINK #5 - MEDIACOM
27
L
WOR
IDE
S
PE
Sponsored
industries
DW
rship
so
n ND
f spo
o
e
e valu
h
t
infographic
sponsorship 2010
$46.3 Bn
HIGHEST PAID ATHLETES, 2011
beer
98 deals with a value
of $1 BN
kobe
bryant
LeBron
james
53M
48M
Clothing
98 deals with a value
of $1.568 BN
Deals by category
automotive
(% of reported deals)
or
ts
MEDIACOM - BLINK #5
%
na
ts
3%
ri
gh
re
er
h
ot
2%
5%
28
g
in
m
84
sp
6%
br
oa
dc
a
st
108 deals with
a value of
$718 million
&
lt
u
Telecom
a
s
rt
cu
194 deals with a value
of $958 million
most SPONSORED
MOST IMORTANT FACTORS
WHEN CHOOSING PARTICULAR
SPORTS PROPERTIES
SPORTS
1
soccer
2
american
football
Connection with athletes
Online reach
Global reach
CSR/Community reach
3
27%
27%
formula 1
38%
North
Latin
America Europe America
9%
Asia
Pacific
other
Sources: Forbes.com, Sports Business – 2012 Sponsor’s Survey, TWSM 2010
Annual review / IFM Sports Marketing Surveys, TWSM 2012, IEG Sponsorship Report, 4 Jan 2011
BLINK #5 - MEDIACOM
29
Q&A
brand Philosophy
30
MEDIACOM - BLINK #5
The Philosophy
of Brands
How would a philosopher deal with the brand challenges that marketers
face every day? Matt Mee, European Strategy Director at MediaCom asks
Vincent F. Hendricks, Professor of Formal Philosophy at the University of
Copenhagen, about brand ambition and the need for a broader agenda.
By Matthew Mee, Strategy Director, MediaCom EMEA
Illustration by Adam Hayes
Matt Mee: What does a brand mean to
a philosopher?
lifestyle. And that goes for many other
well-established brands, as well.
Vincent Hendricks: To me, brands
are signal exchanges between a company
and a designated part of the public.
No brand wants to come across as being
unattractive. So you tell a story, establish
a narrative and frame a message in such a
way that you hope has public appeal.
Basically, branding is a signaling game; if
you use a Mac, you are creative, successful
and a free thinker; if you drive a luxury auto,
you are successful in business and perhaps
in your personal life, and so on.
These signals can be very strong. What
Apple is also selling is a lifestyle, or
the impression of a particular kind of
unique, fulfilling their own individually
defined goals, being attractive and
interesting, etc., and social media comes in
handy for boosting these kind of signals.
Matt: So while social media lets us
pretend that we’re all individuals, the role of
brands as social currency undermines that?
But at the same time, everybody is
subscribing to or converging on the same
values. We have never been so alike in our
actions and decisions. Everybody wants
a Burberry, Mac or a Gaggenau kitchen.
But why?
Vincent: People seem more narcissistic
now than they ever were, and social media
plays a crucial role here. Everybody wants
to present themselves as being original,
It all comes back to the signaling game.
If success is presumed to be expressed by
buying a new car, then in order for me to
show everyone that I am successful, I have
BLINK #5 - MEDIACOM
31
to acquire the signal itself. It’s like with
currency: I only accept the currency that
everyone else has agreed upon and accepts.
It’s unequivocally demonstrating my success,
so everybody feels uniquely successful, and
yet everybody is the same because that’s how
the signaling game works. Brands are in the
business of signaling success.
Matt: So a successful brand is one that
attempts to emulate or deliver those signals,
to the point where it becomes a kind of
societal norm?
Vincent: That’s right, but many brands
don’t quite get that far. For the ones who do,
the signal value is massive.
Matt: At the crux of what you’re saying
is that brands need to create signaling
effects. How do they do that?
Vincent: The majority of firms are in the
business of making money. That’s fine, but I
would like companies to be more ambitious
than that. They need to support things that are
important to society, like properly formatted
and presented information: information that
could be used for decision-making.
The financial crisis has shown us that when
people get the wrong kind of information,
they may make terrible decisions, get
caught in bubbles, lemming effects,
echo-chambers and so forth.
Brands need more ambitious agendas
that we value in this world. Wouldn’t it
be something to see a fragrance brand
sponsor peacekeeping missions in the
Middle East? A global societal ambition for
an otherwise vanity-driven business: now
that’s novel and innovative!
Long-term
commitment needed
Matt: How can this happen in a world
in which corporations are becoming
increasingly short-term in terms of their
outlook?
Vincent: Substantial ideologies are
never implemented overnight. You have
Vincent F. Hendricks
Vincent F. Hendricks is Professor of Formal Philosophy at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, Elite
Researcher of the Danish State. He is the author of many books, among them Mainstream and Formal
Epistemology (Cambridge University Press 2007), Thought2Talk (Automatic Press/VIP 2007) and The
Convergence of Scientific Knowledge (Springer 2001).
He is also the author and editor of numerous other papers and books, and is Editor-in-Chief of Synthese
and Synthese Library.
32
MEDIACOM - BLINK #5
Q&A
brand Philosophy
to change people’s mindsets, you probably
have to change some of their value set,
outlook, perception, incentives and so on.
There are many preconditions to making
such a change work, but it’s not impossible.
Most branding needs to be short-term: you
want to get people right here and right
now, but that need mustn’t preclude longerterm ambitions.
There’s a sort of prisoner’s dilemma
with these things: if everybody is out to
maximise utility for themselves, then
everyone may experience a suboptimal
outcome. No country in the world is going
to be able to solve the climate crisis alone.
No country in the world is going to be
able to solve the financial crisis alone.
No company can make a global social
difference alone. These fundamental
problems can only be solved if we all move
and work together.
Obviously, there has been a lot of
conversation about the duties of
commercial organisations to pursue an
agenda of positive social consequence,
and the need for their foundations to be
moral or ethically correct. But corporate
social responsibility should not merely be
a point on the company agenda – it has to
be an ambitious societal agenda.
Matt: Ultimately, what you’re saying is
that too many brands have been pushing the
status quo in the short-term, without really
looking at what’s coming around the corner
or acknowledging problems that require
long-term collective action.
Vincent: Each behaves as if it’s the
maintenance guy, which is fine. But
maintenance does not mean progression
for the better: maintenance means
maintenance. If your brand wants to be
more influential, you need to have
an ambition worth something. That’s
innovative. Ambitious brands produce
what consumers don’t expect, not just more
of what they do.
Matthew Mee
Matthew Mee is Head of Freshness and Strategy for MediaCom EMEA. He is a sought after global
speaker, and has written numerous articles including “The Age of Dialogue”. Matt is based in London
and holds a degree in English literature and drama.
BLINK #5 - MEDIACOM
33
point of view
great cases
Beats by Dr. Dre has extended
Interscope Records and Dr. Dre’s
relationship with the fans.
The heart of the matter
There are lessons to be learned from brands that have looked to entertain.
Kate Rowlinson highlights campaigns that have embraced consumer passions.
By Kate Rowlinson, New Business and Marketing Director, MediaCom EMEA
“‘Hey man, my lawyer wants me to sell
sneakers,” and I looked at him straight and I
said to him, ‘F--- sneakers, let’s sell speakers,’
and he said, ‘Oh man, that sounds right.’”
relationship consumers have with both of
them. Beats by Dr. Dre on Facebook has 2.8
million likes and 118,306 people are talking
about it right now.
This was an exchange between Dr. Dre and
his business partner and CEO of Interscope
Records, Jimmy Iovine. The exchange led
to the creation of Beats by Dr. Dre – audio
equipment for the hip hop connoisseur.
Beats creates products which allow the music
aficionado to listen to music as the artist
intended: products that afford the discerning
listener – the “real” fan – access to the nuances
of recorded music: the studio licks and tricks
that go unnoticed with lesser equipment.
It may be easy to drive a deeper connection
with music fans when you’re already in the
music business, but Dre has tapped into an
audience far beyond his own fan base, and
Universal, Interscope’s parent, is reaping the
rewards, the acclaim and the credibility.
This verbal exchange between Dre and Iovine
took seconds. The company now claims
revenues in excess of $500m.
As examples of tapping into passion points
go, this is a pretty good one. A record
company executive and an artist create a
product line which extends and deepens the
34
MEDIACOM - BLINK #5
Beats by Dr. Dre is one small part of the
bigger journey that has transformed
Universal Music from a “record company”
to a “music company”: a transition that is in
full swing. In 2001, record sales accounted
for almost 100% of Universal’s business.
In 2011, a growing and meaningful
percentage of income comes from ancillary,
non-recorded music revenue streams,
with most artist deals now including
some additional rights. Not bad for a
company and industry allegedly unable
to adapt.
And as a passion point of choice for
brands, sport and music tend to top the
bill – sport actually accounts for 87% of
global sponsorship deals, according to a
recent TWSM report. Not surprising when
you consider that sport and music offer
up two of the most emotional experiences
you can have as a human being, be it as
a participant or spectator. At the recent
Cannes Lions festival, there was an array
of award entries from brands forging links
with both sport and music. In fact, there
was a whole sub-category devoted to the
“best use or integration of music”.
Does it sell?
ASOS has tapped into the current passion
for street dance, its insight being that
young guys take their style cues from this
scene rather than “fashion” experts. It
produced a film in which amazing dancers
performed wearing ASOS clothes: the neat
trick being that you could click and order
the clothes directly from the video.
Hyundai did something entirely different
with music in scale and ambition. Project
Re:generation is a bold undertaking from
Hyundai in the US for its Veloster model.
The Veloster is on a mission to target
the “creative class”. It’s not entirely clear
why this car will appeal to the creative
class (I always thought they liked vintage
Mercedes…), but it might be something to
do with its hybrid ability to combine the
“style of a coupe with the functionality of
a hatchback”.
Hyundai invited five famous DJs, one of
whom was Mark Ronson, to recreate and
reimagine five traditional styles of music,
from classical to New Orleans Jazz. This
resulted in a feature-length documentary
that premiered at the SXSW Film Festival.
Hyundai also secured a partnership
with the Grammys, an endorsement in
Rolling Stone and live performances
on Letterman and a raft of other chat
shows and, ultimately, at Coachella. So far,
so credible. In terms of an entertainment
property which spoke to and earned
the admiration of hardcore music fans,
Project Re:generation was an unmitigated
success. According to its creators, the
film will earn $130m dollars in advertising
inventory alone from broadcast and
digital streaming.
Absent from the conversation, the
promotional literature and the award
entry, however, is any mention of
Veloster sales. Did the huge effort drive
business for Hyundai? The lesson from
Project Re:generation must surely be the
importance of ensuring that your passionfocused efforts sell stuff.
Be brave. Aim high!
The sport association that stuck out for me
at Cannes was the South African Breweries
Grand Prix winner, showcasing how Carling
Black Label persuaded South African football
to agree to let fans create and manage its
professional teams via Facebook. Ridiculously
brave in its scope, this partnership saw
football fans deciding on the team roster and
voting for live substitutions via their mobile
phones during the game. More than 10.5
million votes were submitted. The message
from Carling Black Label is: be brave,
aim high!
Deep Consumer Insight
Let one passion drive another
Majestic Wine, the UK wine retailer, wanted
to position itself to a broad audience as
an accessible, unintimidating purveyor of
wines. But how would it do this on a relatively
low budget and in the most impactful and
meaningful way?
Lauren Luke famously built a business and
career by posting “how to” make-up videos on
YouTube. Part of the genius behind Lauren’s
posts was that she targeted her audience’s
passions and interests in order to maximise
viewing levels. If she knew that teens would
be searching for the latest Britney Spears
video, she would do a “Britney” look and
tag her films so they turned up in searches
for Britney.
MediaCom unearthed a deep consumer
insight that conversations about wine tend
to start with food. This consumer truth led
to the development of the “Perfect Pairings”
strategy, which provided Majestic Wine
suggestions alongside recipes, food articles
and programmes at a time when consumers
are thinking about their favourite food or
planning a meal.
This association has been successful for
a client relatively new to above-the-line
advertising, with consumer research showing
uplifts in spontaneous brand awareness and
well above-average responses on key brand
metrics such as “good at recommending the
right wine for you”.
There is some extraordinarily good work
going on across the globe right now, which
roots brands firmly in the arena of people’s
loves and passions. It’s fair to say, though, that
there is a major congregation around two big
passion points and – with 87% of global spend
in sport – this comes with a hefty price tag. So
what of other passions and ways into them?
Targeting people by their interests is
nothing new, but data and the Internet will
increasingly allow us to target big, expensive
passion points through cheaper ones, a bit
like Lauren did. Converse recently targeted
teenage boys super cheaply by paying
very little money for hugely voluminous
search terms such as “how to kiss a girl”.
The searches led to mini-Converse content
initiatives, hence using one passion to
drive to another.
Whatever a brand does around
a passion point, some simple
truths remain:
1. Make sure it sells stuff
2. Be brave, aim high and
3. Make sure there is real consumer
insight at the heart of it.
BLINK #5 - MEDIACOM
35
SS: Let me mention this term you’ve coined– this idea of “Brandwashed”.
It seems to me that you’ve devoted a considerable portion of your life
to helping the consumer become Brandwashed - steeped in brands
from the earliest age – even from in the womb you suggest – are you
in some senses now feeling guilty about the world you’ve helped
to create?
Martin
Lindstrom
HARDtalk is the flagship programme on BBC World
News that asks the difficult questions. In this special
series of interviews for Blink, Stephen Sackur, one
of the BBC’s most respected journalists, adapts the
same uncompromising style with moguls and
figureheads shaping the worlds of advertising, sales
and media. This issue, Stephen goes head to head
with Martin Lindstrom a brand marketing consultant
and the author of Buyology and Brandwashed. He is
the founding partner and chairman of the board of
Buyology Inc, a strategic marketing company, and
director of the London-based BRAND Sense Agency.
ML: Yes. I think it comes back to the fact that I’m just as much of a consumer
as a marketing guy. And I love to build brands – I find it fascinating. And in
many cases I think it can be incredibly rewarding, not just money wise but
rewarding in the sense of giving people a sense of choice and credibility.
But the reality is, that in the world now where companies are desperate
to increase share prices and sell even more, they become too desperate.
The reason why I wanted to write Brandwashed was mainly to say to them
– fine, we all love brands but you go too far right now and you forget that
at the end of the day you are consumers too and that means that whatever
you do to consumers, you are actually hurting yourself as an individual as
well. So mainly what I’m trying to say in this book is to get companies to
wake up and start to realise that if they go too far now, the consequences
could be so dramatic that it could tear down their brand. So they have a
period of time now where they have to get their house in order, in terms
of their ethical code and in terms of privacy. A lot of companies today have
not realised that they are living on very dangerous ground.
SS: You say in your book at times you are disturbed by the psychological
tricks used by companies to sell their brands. I just wondered
specifically what are you disturbed by right now?
ML: Just to give you one example, I’m sure you’re aware of something called
the ‘super cookie’? The cookie, as you know, stores information about us
but the super cookie is a programming code that is stored and placed on
our hard discs which is engineered in order that consumers are not able to
find it. It recovers all the data of where we went to and what we did online
and sells it to third parties. All the advertisers that are signed up have more
information about the consumers so they can make things more targeted.
What some of us are realising is that all of this data obtained by the super
cookie has never really ticked the right legal boxes. And this is going so far
that they will be able to tell what websites you went to before and what it
means for the products they want to promote to you right now, and we’re
starting to get into a very blurry field. And that makes me feel incredibly
uncomfortable because what it means is that consumers have no way to
get out of this. So what I tend to say to companies, because don’t forget
I’m a marketing guy, is that it’s fine to take information about consumers
but give the consumer the option to see what information you have
gathered about them and give them the option to delete it, or at least to
see the benefits if they decide to let the company use those details. But
don’t do what many companies are doing, which is to keep the data and
not tell the consumer.
What some of us are realising is that all of this data
obtained by the super cookie has never really ticked
the right legal boxes.
BBC WORLD NEWS is a trademark of the British Broadcasting Corporation, © BBC 1996.
to relax a little bit more and we let our guard down. And I think that’s
the reality for any consumer is that they will read an article like this and
say ‘I have to be more careful now’. And then we relax. We need a
constant reminder and if that’s not happening then we just go back
to scratch again.
SS: You’ve described in detail how businesses now use neuroscience
to get deep inside peoples’ brains to understand how best to
access their most basic instincts. You’ve described how
companies reach out to the youngest of children to implant
messages that become important later in their lives when they
get cravings and desires for particular brands. How much further
can all of this very manipulative work and science go?
HARDtalk presenter, Stephen Sackur
SS: Why should we trust business to be responsible with the data
they are collecting about us that we are not even aware they
are collecting?
ML: I don’t think we should trust them right now and that’s the problem
because we are in the transformation phase where it’s not selfregulating. I think we are stuck in a limbo between government
regulation and marketing guidelines; and self-regulating laws that have
been established by the industry. And then you have the third type of
regulation – the consumer regulated law. I think what will happen in the
future most likely is that we will move away from government regulation
and move towards more consumer-regulated activities; where
consumers increasingly stand up and say “hey – this is not right – I’m
going against a brand”. Brands are incredibly sensitive so that the fact
that consumers might stick together and go against a brand is probably
the worst thing that can happen for them. I also think we will see a
Wikileaks in the future – a Wikileaks for brands. It will see independent
organisations – either established by competition or established by
independent parties that have an interest in this – where they would
share the type of information that companies have about consumers.
I think we will see that more and more. I think that fear in the marketing
community will start to be prominent because so many people will be
against a brand that the most clever marketers will say “I don’t dare do
this anymore”. And I also think that we will need to see ethics included
in the training of those marketing guys, me included – no one has learnt
about it.
SS: On a personal level, how careful are you now about the way you
consume, the way you use the internet and the way you react to
some of the multinational corporations that have given you a
very good living over the years?
ML: I’m slightly schizophrenic whenever I buy stuff because on one hand,
I really like brands. And then I have this internal fight with myself thinking
“that trick they’re using there is probably going too far”. Sometimes
when it goes too far I step out of it and think “that’s too ridiculous”.
I am more cautious online because I do know that most of the stuff
we do online is more easy to track than a person can know. But we’ve
become pretty lazy as consumers. We’ve become so lazy that maybe
we’ll be aware of an alert for half a year, but then everyone else starts
ML: Much, much further. But I think there are two questions – how much
further can it go and how much further will it go? I think the ‘will’ part
realistically will be dependent on the reactions of society and what
individuals ethically are comfortable with. From the neuroscience point
of view, we will see a steady evolution - that whole area will definitely
start to explode over the next couple of years. On the other hand as
consumers get more clever then the marketing community will become
more clever and you will have a game of cat and mouse . But I do think
we will get to stage where you can predict many of the steps that
consumers will make before they are aware of them from a conscious
point of view. Which in turn will mean that in principle consumers will
become more vulnerable and at that stage there are some serious
decisions to be made from an ethical point of view, from governments’
point of view and from the individual consumers’ point of view.
I think that fear in the marketing community
will start to be prominent because so many
people will be against a brand that the most
clever marketers will say “I don’t dare do
this anymore”.
SS: Is that a world that you want to live in - that you are happy to
live in? Because to me it sounds thoroughly frightening.
ML: No, not necessarily. I think that’s the reason I decided it was a good
time to write a book about this. I wanted to make a black and white
statement in order to create a more direct debate between consumers
and companies. That’s not because I’m going against companies, because
I’m not – I’m still working for companies – but it does give me some sort
of good ammunition to start a debate internally within companies and
make a change from the inside.
Martin Lindstrom conversation with HARDtalk presenter
Stephen Sackur, 19th June 2012
For further information on advertising and sponsorship on
BBC World News and bbc.com please call +44 208 433 0000
or e-mail internationalsales@bbc.com
Advertising feature sponsored by BBC World News.
cases
office wars
Office Wars
Helping Germany have fun at work
NERF Blasters are colourful toys that fire foam darts or disks, but this type of play
is not always seen as appropriate for German children. How do we sell them?
By Markus Großweischede, Marketing Director, Hasbro Deutschland GmbH
and Matthias Hoeppner, Group Head, MediaCom Beyond Advertising, Germany
We found two clear insights that helped
us identify and connect with a new target
audience for NERF. First, we realised that
toy blasters were perfect for young men who
hadn’t really grown up.
Second, we knew that young men just starting their working lives could find sitting at
a computer screen frustrating. They needed
to let off steam.
This led to our solution: Office Wars – five
minutes of great fun – before getting back
to some serious hard work.
new passion. The key to success was to ensure
that the connection between the NERF Blaster
and the show was seamless. Our savvy audience would see through anything inauthentic.
The next step was to use search,
partnerships and social media to turn this
engagement with the product on-screen
into sales. We supported each episode
with a smart search strategy, driving
consumers to Amazon to buy “the Blasters
from Stromberg” during and after each
broadcast. We also sold NERF Blasters via
the official “Stromberg” shop, reinforcing
that they were a real part of the show.
In addition to the success for our client,
the campaign has won internationallyrecognised creative awards from The
Global Festival of Media and Cannes Lions.
“Working for our branded play
division, we at Hasbro feel greatly
honoured
and
encouraged
by
the Lions to continue to deliver
How we conquered the
new target group
We identified “Stromberg” – the German
equivalent of “The Office” in the US – as
the must-watch primetime show for our
target. The fifth season was in production
after a two-year break, and the anticipation
was massive.
In close collaboration with the production
house Brainpool, we embedded the NERF
Blasters into the entire series. We kicked off a
national craze for office warfare and started a
38
MEDIACOM - BLINK #5
Finally, we connected via a Facebook page
where 500,000 fans got a message from the
main character himself, Bernd Stromberg,
who said he didn’t want his staff fighting
anymore, so fans should try to win the
Blasters from the show.
immersive brand experiences to
our
consumers
We not only earned massive social buzz and
free media coverage, but also doubled the
sales on Amazon in the the all-important
pre-Christmas season.
anytime
Markus Grossweischede,
Marketing Director,
Hasbro Germany
Internationally recognised
success case
–
anywhere.”
and
cases
loewe
LOEWE
A matter of personality
Loewe was challenged to find a new communications approach for its new product line
– the Connect ID. How could we articulate its premium brand values to a broader audience?
By Henrik Rutenbeck, General Manager at Loewe Opta GmbH
and Michael Knezevic, Unit Director at MediaCom Germany
Loewe is a premium brand within the
competitive and price-focused Hi-Fi TV
category. Since 2003, Loewe has managed
to strengthen its premium position by
owning a list of very clear and unique brand
values: minimalistic design, meaningful
innovation and exclusive individuality. But
for customers to fully understand these
values, they must be expressed at every
point of contact.
about pursuing objects of beauty – objects
that reflect his own personality – and
associate Connect D with those moments.
2160 ways of telling:
“this is me”
In 2012, the company launched a new smart
TV product line called Connect ID, with
the objective of reaching a larger audience.
It was crucial that Connect ID’s lower
prices not denigrate the company’s core
values, so Loewe promoted the new line as
offering the consumer 2160 ways to design
the Connect ID television so it expresses
the buyer’s own style and personality.
LUMAS Galleries was that partner.
The product is the star and
so is the customer
In addition, an exceptional customer
experience in flagship stores and specialist
retailers is a Loewe hallmark.
How could the concept be extended to new
channels selling Connect ID?
The answer was to look at other occasions
in the shopper’s life when he is passionate
Pictures at an exhibition
Research revealed that art browsing and
buying provided such opportunities, so
Loewe began looking for an art partner
that reflected its own values while also
reinforcing Connect ID’s lower pricing.
LUMAS
offers
museum-quality
art
photography at price levels more accessible
to a broader (particularly younger)
audience. Likewise, LUMAS galleries and
exhibitions are presented with the greatest
of care, and the art buyer receives advice on
how to personalise his purchase. It was the
perfect combination for Connect ID.
To create buzz, Loewe invited specialty
retailers and a group of consumers to
special LUMAS events in select German
cities. A broader swath of consumers was
also invited via regionally-targeted online
campaigns created by MediaCom.
The online activity drove overall interest
in the events while enabling consumers to
self-select and register for the exhibitions.
Integrated brand
communication of its own
The reaction from both consumers
(particularly those found through the
online campaigns) and nationwide and
international press was overwhelmingly
positive.
Loewe was credited with creating a unique
connection between Connect ID and a
seemingly unrelated life experience – art
buying – at a time consumers would be in a
state of mind to appreciate beautiful things
that helped express their own personalities
(at an affordable price). The opportunity
to get competent and credible advice was
specifically pointed out as a “new and most
welcomed value.”
Consequently, Loewe has extended the
idea of getting the best of both worlds
into its next Connect ID communications
campaign, establishing a collaboration
with high-end German magazines and
Internet portals.
Together with its partners – Philipp &
Keuntje, MediaCom and Brandoffice –
Loewe once again proved its ability to not
only promote innovation and individuality,
but to also break new ground in the home
media and entertainment system category.
Premium positioning, indeed.
BLINK #5 - MEDIACOM
39
M:files
the big event
United by
the big event
Families can connect virtually, but physical family time
has become a precious commodity.
By Virginia Pino, SVP Market & Consumer Intelligence, MediaCom Canada
What defines quality family time in a world where
families are in transition? Divorce, delayed life events
and globalisation have all put pressure on the family
unit. The way that families talk to each other has also
been transformed, thanks to digital devices.
MediaCom set out to deliver an understanding of
how Canadians interact with their digital devices by
using our Real World Street tool. We talked to families
with children up to 18 years of age, paying them
several visits and engaging with different household
members each time. Our Real World Street families
were all digitally savvy despite some having moderate
incomes. We sat in their family rooms and explored all
their devices and how they were used, interviewing the
older kids separately to discover what they did when
their parents weren’t watching.
The first big “AHA!” moment was our discovery that
family digital behaviour was not impacted by income,
number of children or the part of Canada where they
lived. The key factor was the age of their children.
Younger children were more excited and more
comfortable with technology (as were their parents),
but as children got older, parents developed a love/
hate relationship with technology – not dissimilar to
the sentiments surrounding TV when it first became
the centre of family life. However, despite this rancour
and older children’s obsessive behaviour with their
devices, parents continued to bring new technology
into the home.
We were also surprised by the number of devices in
each of our Real World Street households. In a home
headed by a single mom with two children over the
age of 10, there were at least seven digital devices,
40
MEDIACOM - BLINK #5
despite the fact that the head of the family had a
modest income.
On average, we estimated that Canadian families now
have 5.3 digital devices per home based on just 2.3
people per home. What we realised, however, was that
family behaviour had not actually changed that much.
Parents are still driven to protect and kids are driven
to explore. The only way to protect younger children
is to have them in close physical proximity; at this age,
digital devices serve to educate and enable exploration
in the home. As children get older and start to explore
on their own, they physically and emotionally separate.
Digital devices help parents “keep an eye” on them
while not stifling their need to seek out and grow on
their own.
The explosion of mobile devices means that families
are no longer bound by physical limitations. They can
interact with content across many platforms while
not even in the same room. Conversely, they can be
in the same room while viewing different content (a
behaviour most notable in households with one of
Canada’s three million tablets).
In the 21st century, however, families unite around
content. Not only do we live in a global village where
we have friends and colleagues around the globe, we
also have multiple schedules within one family. Years
ago, we lamented the fact that the traditional “family
dinner” was disappearing. Now we lament the lack of
physical contact between family members. “She comes
in from school, drops her bag and runs to her room;
she even sleeps with her mobile under her pillow!” said
Michelle, a mum to both a 4-year-old and a 12-yearold, who is in a constant struggle to bring her family
together, in one room, at the same time.
1
Before
One > Many
4.1 people
Now
Many > One
2.3 people
5.3
The truth is that as our relationship with technology
may continue to shift from love to hate, our
interdependence on it will only grow. It serves more
than just a pure entertainment function. Today, small
screens are our personal assistants. We schedule our
days, we create our “TO DO” lists, we text our kids
to make sure they are safe and we stay in touch with
the office at all hours. We are always connected, at
least virtually.
So how did our Canadian families connect physically?
The solution that our Real World Street families have
found to the dangers of digital disconnect is the “Big
Event”. We recognised that one of the devices that
families referred to with the most nostalgic enthusiasm
was gaming devices. Parents have realised that the only
way to stay connected with family in real time was to
find common ground around content. The traditional
board game nights become “the Big Event”: familycreated nights where only one screen is allowed.
photography getty images
Creating such an event is the perfect opportunity for
many brands to connect with relevant content and
gain the receptivity required to recall commercial
messages. This understanding has helped us identify
a partnership with Microsoft Advertising for an
exclusive video partnership linking client brands such
as Starbucks and Diageo to their XBox platform.
Put simply, we wouldn’t have understood the
opportunity of the “Big Event” if we hadn’t spent time
with our families, in their homes, talking about their
devices. It’s this kind of insight that demonstrates the
power of Real World Street.
BLINK #5 - MEDIACOM
41
background
mobile strategy
Building a
future proof
mobile strategy
Companies need to develop a mobile strategy if they hope to future
proof their businesses. This may involve adapting an existing digital
strategy, or developing an entirely new mobile-first digital approach.
By Stefan Bardega, Managing Partner, MediaCom
Illustration by Mike Lemanski
We all know that smartphone ownership is increasing.
50% of the UK population owns a smart phone. Google
is forecasting 25% of its search clicks will come from
mobile this year, and we are told that 22% of the UK
population can only access the Internet via mobile. Not
only is mobile finally here, but it is happening faster
than many marketers anticipated.
We have created the following framework to help
businesses develop a mobile strategy.
1I
insights will uncover
diversity of mobile usage
Understanding the diversity of mobile habits is a
critical exercise. We often uncover polarising mobile
attitudes and behaviours during qualitative research.
People that look identical in every traditional form
of segmentation may reveal mobile habits that are
radically different. This is most extreme when it
comes to mobile payments. In London, we see more
awareness and acceptance of mobile payments,
thanks to Olympic sponsors such as Visa pushing
adoption. Further north in the UK, we see much
less interest in mobile payments. Businesses need
to build solutions that cater to multiple levels of
sophistication, and make it easy for learners to move
up to more complex services.
42
MEDIACOM - BLINK #5
2I
identifying a clear
role for mobile
All too often, the role of mobile may not be well
defined. This leads to a lack of clarity when it comes to
execution, and can result in a business simply taking
its existing digital properties and miniaturising them
for mobile. Brands should think about the unique
attributes of mobile, and consider whether they create
a new opportunity. Many of the most successful
mobile brands have different mobile strategies based
on the computer being used; Starbucks’ desktop site
is predominantly a digital version of the menu, while
mobile helps get people through the queue. It does
this by enabling customers to use their phones to pay
for coffee and to accumulate loyalty points. At the
same time, the company gathers valuable data. Both
parties win.
3I
mobile platforms should
determine your mobile
properties
Mobile is a fragmented market with a multitude of
platform distribution opportunities, so having a clear
view of what you really need is important. Amongst other
things, brands need to decide whether to build an app,
a mobile site or both. For most businesses, the starting
point should be a mobile optimised website. The app
market is extremely cluttered – a victim of its own success
in some respects. To get regular use, any app needs to
give high-frequency utility or, if entertainment-driven,
requires regular content updates.
that all offline communication channels provide a
mobile opportunity to interact. This may be a QR
code, near field communication, audio recognition or
augmented reality.
4
5
DISCIPLINES SHOULD BE
STRATEGICALLY DEPLOYED
AND INTEGRATED
The selection of which mobile disciplines to deploy – be
it mobile search, display or SMS, for example – should be
determined by matching the strategic benefits of each
to the business objectives. If your objective is to drive
traffic to a mobile website, the most cost-effective route
will be using mobile search to harvest people already
searching for your brand or product.
If you need to distribute a complex ad message in an
engaging way to as many people as possible, then mobile
rich media advertising is the best way to go. Made
possible by the rise of HTML5, rich media for mobile
enables brands to create mobile experiences similar to
Flash ads on desktops, but with more unique mobile
features like accelerometers and GPS positioning.
Develop mobile
measurement approach
Your KPIs for mobile should be directly linked to the
role that mobile is playing, and your measurement
framework should be built around those KPIs. If the
role of mobile is to reduce churn and retain customers
by increasing usage of a loyalty app, for example,
ensure that the tracking is set up in advance to enable
you to track user engagement over time. In this case,
you would need to insert the tracking code into the
app before submission to the app store, so be certain
you understand all of the intricacies of whatever
action you choose to take.
Whatever mobile disciplines you decide to use,
they must be integrated into the customer journey,
along with your other media. At minimum, be sure
BLINK #5 - MEDIACOM
43
44
Football
Football
Heavy Metal
Percentage of TV viewers who
watched Euro 2012 final: 90%
Number of people who play football
videogames: 2M+
Average attendance at La Liga
matches 2011-12: 30,272 per game
Number of Facebook fans for the
Spanish team: 316,000
Number of UK viewers for the
final of the 2010 World Cup: 20M
Total attendance at Premier League
matches over a season: 13.1M
Number of people who play football
once a week in England: 2.1M
Total number of people who
are members of a club
in England: 370,475
Number of responses to Google
search for “Heavy metal”: 51M
Total number of worldwide Black Sabbath
album sales: 70M+
Peak audience for The Osbournes
series 1 in the US: 7.7M
Total number of venues played in
2010 Ozzfest global tour: 8
cycling
MUSIC
fishing
Total global TV audience
for the Tour de France: 1bn
Daily TV audience in France:
3.9M (first two weeks of 2011 Tour)
Total roadside audience
for all stages: 15M
Percentage of French citizens
who cycle as their main
daily transport: 3
Total number of music
tracks sold in 2011
(all formats): 1.6bn
Total number of digital track
sales in 2011: 1.3bn
Top selling US album in 2011:
21 by Adele: 5.8M
Total global attendance at all
concerts promoted by LiveNation
in Q1 2012: 4.9M
Audience for Extreme Fishing with
Robson Green: 1.1-1.3M
Number of rod licences sold by
Environment Agency: 1.5M
Total number of fishing
clubs in England: 93
Readership of
Angling Times: 331,000
American football
Champions league final
Total US audience for Super Bowl on TV: 111M
Number of tweets during the match: 5.7M
Most retweeted tweet: 2,999 retweets
Number of visitors to host city
Indianapolis: 150,000
Total global TV audience: More than 300M
Total number of unique users of sports sites
in 10 European markets: 177M
Total Chelsea followers on Facebook,
Twitter, YouTube, Flickr and Google Plus: 12.7M
Total number of Bayern Munich
members: 130,000
MEDIACOM - BLINK #5
infographics
passonate & precise
Passionate
& Precise
Illustration by Ester Aarts
Many brands try to connect with consumer
passions, but it’s tricky. You have to be
very specific. They ‘like’ football or they
‘like’ music but real people don’t just like
football, they are mad about Manchester
United, they love playing Fifa 2012 on
Xbox or they are aficionados of Hip Hop.
There will always be a broad audience that
is vaguely interested in sport or music,
for example, but the most important
people are those who are truly passionate.
For brands that want to connect, it
is these subgroups that hold the key
to engagement.
Brands need to make the journey from
generic interest to precise passion.
The cross fertilisation
of passions
And none of us is passionate about only one
subject; all of us have multiple interests.
Media research is characterised by the
search for such overlaps. Are viewers of
HBO in the US more likely to buy whisky?
Do regular Chinese Weibo users download
more apps? Are German football fans more
interested in Audi or VW vehicles?
The overlaps can sometimes be surprising
and show the way to alternative engagement
or very specific target groups.
like Tony Hawk, 27 times more Whitney
Houston fans like Serena Williams and
9 times more fans of Whitney like Miami
Heat. 4 times more fans of Adele like
Chicago Bulls (all affinities are measured
against the Facebook base.)
Sources: comScore, Exacttarget.com, socialbakers.
com, Hollywood Reporter, Facebook, Twitter, UEFA,
Chelsea, Bayern Munich, CNN, PR Newswire, Reuters,
PriceWaterhouseCoopers, mediauk, ESPN, Nielsen
Company & Billboard, Wikipedia, Blabbermouth.net,
Angler’s Mail, Environment Agency, fishingnet.com,
European Commission, CrispSocial
People show their interests on Facebook
and that can be analysed. An analysis will
show that 21 times more Black Sabbath fans
BLINK #5 - MEDIACOM
45
background
social tv
Getting active
Watching our favourite shows is no longer a passive experience, and
brands need to create content that engages if they want consumers
to talk about their ads.
By Ivan Fernandes, Global Director, MediaCom
Once upon a time, TV was a passive
experience. You sat on the sofa and watched.
No longer.
things: the way broadcasters market their
programmes and the way brands leverage
event TV.
Check your Twitter feed at a concert on a
Saturday night or during a big sports match
and you can see what your friends are
thinking about the real-time action. Now
the biggest events occur as much in the
Twittersphere as they do on the big screens
in our living rooms.
Actions for broadcasters
It’s the use of second screens, particularly
mobile – not connected TV, as some forecasted
– that has made the traditional distinction
between lean-back TV entertainment and
lean-forward interaction online irrelevant.
Location, too, has become unimportant.
While the “social” aspect of TV watching
was predicated on the other people in the
room with us (or at the water cooler the
next day), now many of us instantly activate
our viewing via status updates on our
mobiles. Apps, video calling and texting
have also become increasingly important:
YouGov research in the UK found that 43%
of consumers had commented or discussed
a TV show with people based elsewhere.
Among women, it was one in two.
The shift from active to passive changes two
46
MEDIACOM - BLINK #5
other online. Users log on to Sound Off using
their existing Facebook or Twitter accounts,
and have the option to communicate there
or share their thoughts across other social
media platforms.
At its simplest level, this means broadcasters
should make sure that all viewers use the
same hashtag or @accountname when they
tweet. Hence, the profusion of Twitter calls to
action at the start of each programme.
Actions for advertisers
France Télévision leveraged social TV
during the Eurovision Song Contest, the
annual primetime showcase for Europe’s
best singers, by not only tweeting live but
also showing consumer tweets on an online
Twitter wall during the broadcast.
Such techniques are also being applied
by advertisers with their own content to
promote. Great creative is no longer unveiled
in the middle break of the Champions League
Final or during the Super Bowl: instead, a
complex pre-game release programme helps
spread the excitement.
Broadcasters also believe that social chatter
before a programme airs will enhance
viewing figures. This summer, USA Network
launched six sponsored campaigns designed
to provide fall viewers with additional
content, including new episodes, behindthe-scenes films and a crowd-sourced crosscountry treasure hunt.
Others have created whole social platforms
designed to take the experience even further.
Pepsi leveraged its sponsorship of the X
Factor in the US by creating Pepsi Sound Off,
to allow fans of the show to interact with each
The aim of such social TV campaign is to
build up the chatter ahead of the broadcast.
For the launch of the Passat in the US in
2011, VW’s Super Bowl ad was released on
YouTube a few days before the game. By
seeding the spot and harnessing the buzz
about Super Bowl ads, it became the highest
rated video of all time in the global Autos
& Vehicles Category. Online viewing has
become a massive driver of campaign reach,
much like an airing on TV.
Other brands are taking such a process
further by trying to be the place where
consumers talk about all TV, not just a
single show.
Two great social
TV campaigns
Coke gets social with
Paul McCartney
DANIELLE ARCIdIACONO
@Daaannii33
1m
Watching Big Brother and ordering dominos #happygirl
A good example is Orange, which has
brought the gaming mechanics of
Foursquare to the field via a new social
TV app called TVcheck. The app, which
has been launched in France and the
UK, enables users to check in to their
favourite TV programmes and connect
with friends, unlock games, earn badges
Get the latter right and people will find
your ad.
Second, creating great content ideas is
just the start of the engagement journey.
The way you seed that content and create
incentives for consumers to engage with it is
as important as the content itself.
The
world-famous
soft
drinks
brand
encouraged music fans in Mexico to tweet and
post status updates during live streams of key
music events.
Working with social software company
Thismoment, the brand offered fans the
chance to watch Paul McCartney and the Vive
Latino music festival via the new bespoke
broadcast channel, Coca-Cola TV.
Viewers – around 500,000 for the former
and 750,000 for the latter – took part in the
conversation around the content via Twitter
and Facebook.
“The way that you seed content and incentivise
consumers to engage with it is now as important
as the content itself”
and chat about favourite programmes on
social networks.
TVcheck uses the iPhone camera to
recognise what show the user is watching
and automatically checks in the user. Other
examples of social TV apps include Zeebox
and IntoNow.
Fundamental changes
to marketing
Such examples showcase two fundamental
changes in marketing and the way brands
use TV, in particular. First, the goals have
changed – it’s not so much about the ad
anymore, it’s about the social engagement.
Brands need to become more focused on
content (and not just 30-second slices
of content), and invest in the specialist
resources needed to exploit the opportunities
that stem from the online activation of TV.
Social media enables brands to extend the
brand experience, but they need to recognise
that they can only push content that is
relevant to their audiences.
Content will ultimately dominate the future
communications landscape, but brands
and broadcasters must simultaneously
focus on the need to add value to any
social experience.
Suits content asked
audience for help
The USA Network show, Suits, asked viewers to
become part of the storyline this summer. The
idea was to let the audience become part of the
team via a Suits Recruits application that ran on
phone, tablet and laptop.
The app integrated heavily with Facebook, and
offered fresh content that linked to what was
actually happening on the TV show.
The aim was to create a hub for Suits-related
conversations and chat.
Suits Recruits was sponsored by Lexus, which
also advertised within the TV broadcast.
BLINK #5 - MEDIACOM
47
BRAND OLYMPICS
This past summer, MediaCom analysed Twitter
mentions related to Olympic sponsors during the
Games. What we found demonstrated that social
media activity is not simply about total follower or
reach; instead, the ultimate success of a sponsorship
should be judged by engagement and the sentiment
that people express for the brands.
SIX KEY WAYS TO SUCCEED
WITH DIGITAL ACTIVATION
1. Talk to your consumers
2. Distribute effective content
3. Be passionate
4. Create great experiences
5. Remain relevant
6. React to negativity
2m
1.5m
1m
OLYMPIC TWITTER TRACKER RESULTS
GENERAL ELECTRIC
P&G
ADIDAS
5 0 0k
SAMSUNG
BRITISH AIRWAYS
0
COCA-COLA
-5 00k
1m
-1 . 5 m
MCDONALD’S
-2 m
-2 . 5 m
About the tracker: The tracker consolidates all social media mentions of the 25 Olympic sponsors that took place on Twitter in the UK.
The performance score for each brand is calculated to measure influence:
Performance score = POSITIVITY of comments x ENGAGEMENT by the people commenting x Potential REACH of those comments.
-3 m
48
W EE K 1
MEDIACOM | BLINK #5
WEEK 2
WEEK 3
WEEK 4
W EEK 5
INFOGRAPHIC
OLYMPIC ANALYSIS
TOTAL
FOLLOWERS
THE HEADLINES
ILLUSTRATION MIKE LEMANSKI
McDonald’s had the largest Twitter following of all the
Olympic sponsors, but was the least successful brand in
our study. There was a consistent, negative conversation
during the games and the company made little effort to
counter it by promoting its positive contributions to
the event.
For Adidas, too, it wasn’t all fair sailing, but its team
worked at it. The brand faced extensive negative
feedback due to its severance pay to Indonesian
workers. At the start of the Olympic period, Adidas
was at the lower end of the rankings, but the brand
successfully used its #stagetaken campaign to redirect
the conversation and positively change the nature of
the discourse.
Similarly, P&G ran a very successful digital campaign
with an inspiring and emotive piece of content entitled
“the hardest job is the best job”. Research showed the
advertisement to be the most shared piece of sponsor
content across all digital channels.
British Airways was another successful sponsor, fuelling
patriotism for the Games and Team GB. It used the
hashtag #homeadvantage, and supported it with a
widely-hailed TV advertising campaign and integrated
digital initiatives.
When successfully managed, such conversation can be
very positive. General Electric was the top-performing
sponsor as a result of direct conversations with fans
attending the Games.
BLINK
BLINK#5
#5 -| MEDIACOM
49
advertorial
festival of media
50
MEDIACOM - BLINK #5
A brief history of the Festival of Media
Celebrating a
world of creativity
The Festival of Media is the world’s first festival dedicated to media creativity
and innovation. Created by C Squared, the event brings together the brightest
minds in media for two days of inspiring conference sessions, exhibitions and
one of the most influential awards competitions in the industry.
Launched in Venice in 2007, the Festival was an
instant hit with the international media community’s
most senior directors. Today, it is one of the most
anticipated dates on the media business calendar.
in Singapore, the event welcomed over 600 attendees, over 40 speakers and more than 50 of the world’s
biggest brands in a region at the forefront of change
and global influence.
“The Festival of Media agenda is designed to address
the challenges we face as an industry,” says Charlie
Crowe, Founder and CEO of C Squared. “We share
insights from global visionaries and reflect on the
new opportunities that enable innovative, effective
media communications around the world.”
In 2012, The Festival of Media Global relocated to
a stunning new location in Montreux, Switzerland,
where it attracted more than 700 delegates from over
40 countries including global advertisers such as
Coca-Cola, 20th Century Fox and HSBC. The awards
competition, which continues to go from strength
to strength, received almost 1,000 entries from
over 50 countries.
After more than doubling its audience in two
years, the Festival moved to Valencia, Spain, to
launch its global awards competition. The Festival
of Media Global recognises excellence in media
thinking around the world and celebrates campaigns that push boundaries and achieve business
solutions for brands – often in innovative and
ground-breaking ways.
Extending The Festival’s appeal, the brand has since
expanded into the world’s fastest-growing regions,
with annual events in Latin America and Asia. The
first of these, The Festival of Media LatAm, was held
in October 2010 in Miami, Florida, to much fanfare.
The inaugural event was a complete sell-out, and
attracted more than 550 industry leaders from across
the Latin American region.
In 2011, the Festival also rolled out in the Far East
with the launch of The Festival of Media Asia. Held
This year, key winners included MediaCom, which
collected six awards including Campaign of the Year.
The agency was also named Global Network of the
Year: its second Network title in three years.
“Winning The Festival of Media’s Global Network
of the Year award is tough,” said Stephen Allan,
MediaCom’s Worldwide Chairman and CEO.
“To do so twice in three years is an incredible
achievement and a sign that the whole MediaCom
network is producing consistently excellent work.
We really value these awards because we know
they are judged by some of the cleverest minds
in the business.”
As The Festival of Media’s reputation continues to
grow around the world, its status as the industry’s
preeminent media event will only increase.
BLINK #5 - MEDIACOM
51
BLINK #5
#5
Media
Trends
Consumers
Published by
MediaCom has developed nine key rules to ensure your
sponsorship activity delivers business results.
the passion issue
be passionate!
(Above you have rule number seven.)
To find out what the other eight are – and to get a lot more
detail on how to put the ideas into action – read our new
white paper, Can Sports Sponsorship Deliver?
the
Passion
issue
And sign up for our Insider programme, which will ensure
you have exclusive access to all of MediaCom’s thoughts
on the issues that matter.
Visit “News & Insight” at mediacom.com to learn more or
simply scan the QR code below.
Pelé
The man and
the superbrand
the brand olympics
London 2012 was the first
social media Olympics,
but how did the official
sponsors fare?
mobile platforms
Why it's the best medium
for passionate people
philosophy of brands
Interview with Professor
of Formal Philosophy,
University of Copenhagen
mass market emotions
Mass market reach or niche
market richness?
Why not both?