Tracy Tuten's List: ECUAdvertising

• Category: Best Use of Social ($2 million - $4 million)

   

    Few marketers, especially beauty brands, have made it their mission to improve their consumers' self-esteem. That's what Unilever brand Dove has done, making inroads since 2004 with its "Campaign for Real Beauty." But a lot can change in a decade. "In 2004 women were fundamentally benchmarking themselves against the images in a magazine," says Cindy Gustafson, managing director of the invention studio at Mindshare. "And in 10 years there's been an incredible seismic shift because of the advent of social media and technology. The fact is this is where women are now taking their self-esteem cues from."

   

    Mindshare analyzed 18 million tweets and found that a third of them contained negative beauty or body image content, and women were 50 percent more likely to tweet negatively about themselves. Dove decided to change the conversation and partnered with Twitter for the #SpeakBeautiful campaign, which encouraged women to use social media as a tool for body and beauty in a positive way. Given the image-conscious nature of awards shows, Dove launched #SpeakBeautiful during the Oscars' Red Carpet and published tweets every 30 minutes. It also sent 800 personalized messages to women during the event, hoping to inspire them to send positive messages.

   

    The results were impressive: The campaign scored almost 6 million tweets, over 800 million social impressions and reached a unique audience of 13 million. Compared to the Oscars in 2014 there were 30 percent fewer negative tweets and 69 percent more positive tweets about self-beauty. It helped Dove's brand perception, too. Among people who engaged with the campaign, 27 percent had a higher intent to purchase Dove products, according to Nielsen; brand sentiment also increased 17 percent, according to Twitter. —Kristina Monllos

• Category: Best Use of Branded Content/Entertainment ($500,000 - $1 million)

   

    Subaru's claim to fame are its top-selling crossover models: the compact Forester and the midsize Outback. So, when it was time to roll out its new midsize model, the 2015 Legacy, Subaru had a challenge on its hands. To prove the Legacy shared DNA with its popular cousins, agency Carmichael Lynch enlisted the auto experts from Roadkill, the most popular show on Motor Trend's YouTube channel, to kick the tires.

   

    The Roadkill crew tested the Legacy's symmetrical all-wheel drive against three of the auto enthusiasts' most famous project cars: the 1968 Ford Ranchero, the 1968 Dodge Charger "General Mayhem," and the turbo Chevy-powered '71 "Rotsun" 240Z. The Legacy challenged these cars at a figure-8 obstacle course, the DirtFish Rally School and through a post-apocalyptic neighborhood.

   

    The 47-minute video (Roadkill's longest) generated more than 2.2 million views, which topped its expected episode viewership by 69 percent. It has received 16,000 YouTube thumbs-ups, a 96 percent positive sentiment rate and over 35,000 likes on Facebook alone—and even a brand-friendly thread on Reddit. The video contributed to a 72 percent increase in monthly sales of the Legacy from prelaunch levels. —Tim Baysinge

• Category: Best International Campaign ($1 million - $5 million)

   

    No one can dispute the success or ubiquity of Coca-Cola's "Share a Coke" campaign, which substituted the iconic Coke logo with people's names in a bid to personalize their carbonated experience. But how to keep it bubbly?

   

    Coke and MediaCom U.K. planted the flag for Year 2 of the campaign in England, giving viewers of Channel 4's 4oD digital catch-up TV platform (now called All 4) a chance to see their own names on bottles—a potential reach of 11 million. Led by Chris Binns, managing partner and head of engineering, MediaCom U.K. latched onto 4oD subscribers' sign-in names to create personalized ads for each viewer, ending the messages with the tagline "Share a Coke With …" followed by the viewer's name on the bottle. In total, the effort generated 4 million dynamically generated, highly personalized TV ads. And 4oD subscribers carried the effort one step further, with many taking to Twitter to register their happiness at seeing their names on the small screen. ("How did the 4oD Coke advert know my name and put in on a can? I'm so confused and happy!" tweeted @remzitomlin.)

   

    The effort, says Binns, "delivered that moment to millions of consumers in their own homes, in a natural way while they were doing something they loved [watching TV], rather than … hoping that they would find their bottles on store shelves."

   

    Furthermore, campaign awareness in the U.K. rose 17 percent, while ad recall jumped 71 percent and purchase intent gained 24 percent. —Michael Bürgi

• Category: Best International Campaign (less than $1 million)

   

    To give fashion fans a sneak peek at the Alexander Wang x clothing collection at the department store H&M, media agency UM turned to Twitter as "the key to unlock the mysterious box of Wang." The IPG shop aimed to show fashionistas around the world that its client had the most exclusive apparel from a leading designer, and it built buzz (while downplaying competitors' campaigns) by focusing on bloggers and social media influencers in the high-fashion vertical.

   

    First, the client created a literal box that appeared in London's St. Christopher's Place. Curious fans could only view the fashion-forward contents of the box by tweeting the campaign's hashtag, and H&M followed by sending both personalized tweets and images/videos of the Wang items in question to these aficionados. Using this strategy, UM was able to create significant hype around the collection's release, despite having a smaller budget than previous campaigns. UM creative director Marcia Siebers says the campaign was "a direct consequence of our unique relationship with H&M," adding that the live personalization "built anticipation for everyone who got involved" and delivered a unique experience to both those who visited the physical site and those who watched online with "the speed that our fashionista customers demand."

   

    The campaign led to a 32 percent increase in positive mentions among influencers when compared to the client's preceding launch. It also facilitated a 179 percent monthly bump in Twitter mentions, with 80 percent of users tweeting about the collection more than once. Most significantly, all six London H&M stores sold out of the collection within 24 hours. —Patrick Coffee

• Category: Best Use of Native Advertising ($1 million - $2 million)

   

    No one said it would be easy to talk The New York Times into covering the daily paper with native content. But Shell, in partnership with media agency MediaCom, is on a mission to get consumers to see it as a progressive energy-solutions company rather than an oil giant, and leaned on the reputation and credibility of the venerable newspaper to help sway minds.

   

    Led by Larry Swyer, managing partner and group account director (Shell) and Geoff Campbell, partner and senior director of content, MediaCom worked hand-in-hand with the paper's in-house production unit, T Brand Studio, leveraging its storytelling expertise to create "Cities Energized: The Urban Transition," a print and online experience incorporating features such as augmented reality, documentary-style video and interactive data elements.

   

    The print component included an eight-page section made of translucent vellum wrapped around the paper. Video content could be accessed by users holding a smartphone over native pages and using the Blippar app. Online elements bristled with multimedia bells and whistles that included infographics, parallax scrolling, data visualizations and documentary videos, including one that used a drone to tell the story of Detroit's efforts to get greener. That is ultimately Shell's message, too, as it strives to become a leader in sustainability.

   

    All told, the effort generated 82 million impressions. Brand favorability, according to Millward Brown, surged from a negative score to a healthy positive (from -9.1 in the prior year to +23.5 during the campaign). Trustworthiness also improved (from -0.5 to +28.3). Meanwhile, a YouGov ranking of oil and gas brands found Shell atop the competition, specifically citing the Times effort as an influence.

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• ielsen's upcoming total audience measurement tool—which the company shared exclusively with Adweek on Tuesday—will finally show networks and advertisers how their content is viewed across all platforms. But as the company works with top industry execs to evolve video measurement, Nielsen says its new data will also help buyers optimize their media plans.
• In March, Nielsen acquired data management platform Exelate to help with programmatic buying
• "We're able to bring all our data assets together in one place and create a respondent-level database," said Clarken. Advertisers can carve out segments for audience buying, which Exelate will pull together and then make real-time programmatic buys.
• For more traditional buying plans, Nielsen partnered with Pointlogic to create Nielsen Media Impact, an updated version of Nielsen's agency planning system used by 15,000 agency planners worldwide. Total audience ratings will be sent directly into agency planning systems through the Nielsen Media Impact planning tool, which is currently being tested by several global agencies to simulate plans and campaigns.
• Agencies can select from more than 100 characteristics in Nielsen's TV panel, which is expanding in January from 20,000 to 40,000 households. This will allow planners to create audience target segments and pick GRPs (gross ratings points) by timeframe. Nielsen Media Impact will marry those segments with Nielsen's total audience data, allowing it to create and simulate a plan across all platforms, including broadcast, cable, streaming, Internet, mobile and print.
• "It allows you to make share-shifted changes to make a schedule around what you want to buy" and run comparison reports to see how the two plans look side by side, said Abcarian. "You can then export this entire plan and load it straight into buying and programmatic systems."

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• The PR Crisis Management Playbook

   

  The standard PR crisis playbook calls for corporations to:

   

  Follow a previously prepared crisis management plan that defines the decision-making process, spokespersons, outlets to contact, communications channels, and which stakeholders to update.

   

  Act quickly. Quickly disseminating information and responding to media inquiries is essential in crisis communication. The first 48 hours are critical. Silence enables speculation and reflects badly on the brand, as media outlets will publish stories and the public will reach conclusions whether the company comments or not.

   

  Be open and transparent. Release all the information you have in an open dialogue with the press and the public, using both traditional and social media channels, including the organization’s website and other owned media.

   

  Apologize. Delivering an appropriate, timely and sincere apology is a vital part of responding to a crisis. PR and business executives can learn from previous corporate apologies.

   

  Quickly cut ties with company employees, employees of affiliated firms or celebrity spokespeople accused of wrongdoing.

   

  Make amends. Provide help for any victims and their families. Demonstrate that the company is taking steps to protect the public. Actions speak louder than words in these situations.

   

  Monitor the situation. Employ a media monitoring service to obtain up-to-the-minute reports, identify media mentions that call for responses and gauge the effectiveness of  corporate communications.
• The VW crisis falls into the general PR crisis category of scandals and shenanigans that entail often-shocking revelations about a company. They often implicate specific corporate executives or managers. They can involve any type of aberrant behavior including accounting mischief, safety practices, and sexual activities.

• Other types of crisis include:

   

  Accidents and disasters. These cover terrorist activities, plant fires and explosions, vehicle crashes, disease outbreaks, and other man-made catastrophes or natural disasters. Corporate crises in this category can be “no fault” for the company or the organization may bear full responsibility. The BP oil spill on the Gulf of Mexico is an example.

   

  Product, service or staff snafus.  These are negative customer experiences caused by employees, usually reported on social media or captured by citizen journalists. The category also involves product defects.

   

  Antagonistic attacks. These involve online or offline actions initiated by customers, competitors, activists or regulators who have a bone to pick with your business.
• While the standard PR crisis playbook can apply to most crises, the Volkswagen emissions scandal is far from typical. It involves intentional government rule breaking, rather than straightforward mistakes involved in other recalls. The wrongdoing almost certainly involves many VW engineers and decision-makers, not just a few people as in many other PR crises.
• The emissions test fraud was one of the most egregious examples of corporate misconduct in recent times, perhaps exceeded only by Enron’s financial fraud in the previous decade. Unlike most other examples of corporate maleficence, the emissions test rigging impacts most everyone in the world by causing more pollution. 
• The scandal strikes an enormous blow to the corporation’s reputation.
• The YouGov BrandIndex, which tracks daily consumer perception, found that Volkswagen’s score in the U.S. as of Monday reached its lowest point since at least 2009, reported AdAge. The automaker’s “buzz” score had been hovering in the 10 to 11 range and now it is at -2 and “most likely to drop even further,” according to YouGov.
• A company that manufactures energy-efficient, or “green,” products like clean-diesel automobiles attains reputational benefits. Those benefits disappear with the loss of trust. The reputation of German manufacturing and the diesel engine product category have also suffered.

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• TV's costliest shows this season are the ones that have a preponderance of live viewership.
• On average, advertisers pay $627,300 for a 30-second spot in "Sunday Night Football," up about 6% from last season's cost.
• It's a trend that's consistent with the last several years -- advertisers are willing to pay more for programming that's watched live as more viewership takes place on a delayed basis.
• CBS's "The Big Bang Theory" is the most expensive entertainment program on broadcast, averaging $344,827. It's consistently the highest-rated comedy, with the one-hour season premiere this week watched by an average of 17.2 million people.
• But the priciest scripted series is actually on cable, with AMC's "Walking Dead" costing advertisers upwards of $400,000 for a package of spots.
• There are several cable programs that challenge broadcast as the most expensive in which to buy commercial time, including ESPN's "Monday Night Football," which costs about $400,000. But it's difficult to compare many cable ad packages to those of broadcast because cable often includes multiple airings and repeats of a show.
• Ad Age's survey is compiled using data from as many as seven media-buying agencies. (See our 2013 TV ad pricing chart here.) The resulting prices should be viewed as directional indicators and are not the actual price that every advertiser pays for a 30-second spot. The numbers are based on a range of agency estimates that can vary depending on the amount of inventory purchased from a network, the inclusion of any nontraditional advertising such as product placements, and the relationship an advertiser and media-buying agency has with a network. Most TV advertising is typically purchased as part of larger negotiations, not on a one-off basis.

• Another newcomer is ABC's "Scandal" at No. 9 for broadcast with an average of $217,546.

    

  Of those returning shows, 21 have seen the cost for ad time decrease, while another 20 have seen increases and 14 have remained relatively steady.
• ABC's "Modern Family" saw a meaningful decline in pricing, down 15% to $239,650 from last season and dropping one spot to No. 7 from No. 6 last year.

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• A study just published in the journal Psychology & Marketing asked: Do ads that use the most elemental human fear of all — the fear of death — make you want to buy what they're selling?
• terror management theory
• refers to the fundamental human conflict of wanting to live but recognizing that you will eventually die.
• Participants were randomly assigned to read either death-related ads or non-death-related ads for the products. The former (for the newspaper) featured a sample front page with a photo of a coffin and the headline "Fallen Dutch Soldier Buried" next to an encouragement to subscribe to the paper; the non-death-related version featured an announcement about road work. The death-related art ad, meanwhile, depicted a skull, while the non-death-related ad showed an abstract painting.
• Through surveys conducted after the ad-viewing, researchers found that volunteers who viewed the death-related ads liked them less but were more motivated to purchase what they were selling — compared to the volunteers who were not confronted with their own impending mortality. The presence of death in ads had no negative effect on mood, however — suggesting that fear of death works "outside of conscious awareness," as the researchers put it. In another experiment, participants viewed ads that actually incorporated their own names, birth dates, and "death dates" (the current year) on tombstones alongside the tagline "How long do you want to wait?"
• It doesn't even seem to matter what the products advertised do: As long as they're triggering the primordial dread of not existing (and offering a materialistic creature comfort to distract and soothe us, to make us feel connected with a brand, or a lifestyle, or with other people who own the same product), they work. The implication that these purchases can be made "for a limited (life)time only!" adds to the ads' success.
• Terror management theory holds that when we fear death, we seek to be a part of something larger than ourselves as individuals. And, for better or worse, buying is one of the primary ways we engage with society. Advertisers who capitalize on this for capitalism's sake may be in ethically questionable territory.

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• Local search marketer
• Link development specialist
• nline reputation management expert
• Sales/business development for search engine and social media marketing
• Display ad sales rep
• Database marketing specialist

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