What's in Store This Week

Hope everyone had a fabulous Turkey Weekend! Missed us? Don't worry, there's plenty going on this week.

The Marketing Society's Holiday Food Drive

Bring a canned good to any event this week to help feed the needy this holiday season. Members who donate to the food drive will receive one mktsoc membership point!

Mr. Youth

Wednesday, December 2

12:30pm

UC-19

Through experiential, word-of-mouth and social marketing, Mr Youth creates opportunities for consumers to engage with and get excited about brands. Learn about how Mr Youth uses these innovative techniques to bring brands to life.

Environmental Entrepreneurs Panel

Thursday, December 3

12:30pm

UC-25

Come hear about what entrepreneurs are doing to help save the environment. Speakers include the owner of Think Coffee and the founder of GreenMap.org!

Forgotten Ads: When An Advertisement Lasts Longer Than The Product It Advertised

Hey guys,

This is my first post as a guest blogger and I wanted to make it special. While trying to decide on a topic I remembered something interesting I had once seen on 39th Street and 5th Avenue. I was walking around in Midtown and I noticed a plaque on the side of an HSBC Bank building. Curious as to why there would be a plaque there I decided to read it and learned that on that particular spot there used to be a mansion and barn owned by Dr. John D. Wendel (click here for a picture or here for a brief New York Times summary of the house's history). I would never have guessed that 5th Avenue could ever have been home to mansions and barns and I was shocked to see how New York City has changed since the early 20th century.

Remembering this story, I decided to see if I could find any remnants of advertisements from the past that, for some reason or another, have been undisturbed. The way I saw it, Advertisements would be a great window into the history of New York because by looking at ads we can learn about the people that they targeted. My research led me to an amazing website called "Forgotten NY." The Forgotten NY website has an entire section devoted to advertisements that have never been taken down and have somehow survived for years (some even dating all the way back to the 1890's). According to the site, some of these ads have been around for over fifty years longer than the products that they actually advertised.

An old Kodak ad

Kresge's, shown in this picture, was the original name of the popular discount department store Kmart

I would highly recommend taking a look around the site (Forgotten NY), if only to see just how far marketing in general has come in the last century or so. You may even be surprised by an ad for something you vaguely remember from your childhood!

I just want to end off by saying that I hope you enjoy this journey through time as much as I did and stay tuned for more posts in the future.

This Week...

TUESDAY: Seth Godin: Leadership, Marketing, & Making a Difference

12:30pm

KMEC 2-60

Come hear from Seth Godin, the best-selling author of Permission Marketing, All Marketers are Liars, and Purple Cow, founder of Squidoo.com, and renowned speaker on marketing ideas in the digital age. RSVP now at sternEEG.com/godin.

TUESDAY NIGHT: Anonymous Professional Panel

6:30pm 

KMEC 1-70

Ask questions and get answers! Have your questions answered by an anonymus panel of senior-level speakers from some of the most successful companies in the world. The panel will include accounting, finance, consulting and marketing professionals. To RSVP or submitt questions, email uswib@stern.nyu.edu.

WEDNESDAY: Microsoft: Rich Media and In-game Advertising

12:30pm

LC-25

Join us to learn about Microsoft Advertising, a division of Microsoft, which uses innovative techniques to help advertisers reach their target markets in meaningful ways. Find out how Microsoft uses In-Game advertising and Rich Media to help brands get ahead in the game.

Call to Order Your Weezer Snuggie Today

They're not lying. Weezer is promoting its latest album using the Snuggie. Their infomercial, which topped the viral video charts, offers the ultra-soft Weezer Snuggie for just $29.99. As a special bonus, you'll get their new disc, "Raditude," a $15 value, free!

The band mentioned this idea late spring, where it got some buzz on music blogs. The offer debuted at the beginning of the month.

Order yours now!

Search Engine Marketing Event Recap

Event: Search Engine Marketing
presented by:
Caroline McKeon, Rosetta and Sarah Hu, Razorfish
Date: Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Location: UC-19

Reminders:
1. E-Board Buddy Program: If you signed up for it, you should receive an email by tonight
2. Marketing Society Challenge: Participate to receive points towards gold member status!

Search Engine Marketing 101
How does SEM fit into marketing mix?
• Because SEM is still a relatively new technology, companies often overlook the value it can add to their overall marketing programs. However, they are slowly starting to realize how targeted SEM is, and are willing to invest more funds in it!
• Business media mix can include display/SEM, print, social media, and TV.
What is SEM/Pay per Click?
• A method of advertising on the web by bidding on the terms and purchases that define one’s product or services. If the bid is accepted, the advertisement will be displayed in the sponsored listing portion of the SE result page.
Why invest in SEM?
• BETTER CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE! HIGHER RETURNS! ABILITY TO QUICKLY REACT TO CONSUMERS’ BEHAVIOUR!
• Targeting: Ads are shown only to people who want your product/service
• Messaging: Relevant to queries; ability to quickly update based on performance
• Redirecting: specific landing pages based on their search; leads to higher conversions
• ROI: only pay for ads when consumers click; higher conversion rates due to targeted copy; landing pages; better return on investment
• Feedback: know what consumers deem attractive based on ad copy performance; view user’s search queries to determine search behavior; react quickly to change promotions
• Positioning: Display your ad at the top of the search results page; determine how consumers view your company when competitors are present
How does SEM work?
• Develop a list of keywords that users might search for
• Organize similar keywords into ad-groups
• Group like ad-groups together into a campaign to control the budget & set targeting options
• Keywords / Text Ads / Landing Pages
• Keyword bid + Relevancy
Ad copy testing
• Helps identify the edge that will drive more qualified clicks and conversions from search engine traffic
• Advanced techniques, like dynamic keyword insertion, and strong calls to action help drive strong CTR’’s and often help reduce overall click costs
Geo-Targeting
What do SEM associates actually do each week?
• Spend about 60% of the time dealing with client requests and only 40% on actual campaign optimizations
Why they love their jobs
• Client interaction at a very early stage
• Ability to control & spend millions of dollars by ourselves
• Seen as a “subject matter expert” by those around you, and get to field questions from all levels
• Because the industry is still small, you get to meet/know a lot of people

For speaker contact information please contact us mktsoc@stern.nyu.edu

The Art of the Trench

As an advertising intern for Louis Vuitton, I constantly recognize the relevance to and significance of print advertising for the luxury fashion sector. Nonetheless, I am always intrigued by the newer, alternative marketing strategies presented by members of this specific industry.

There's been a lot of press coverage (every publication from NY Times, which focuses heavily on current Burberry financials if you're interested, to Wallpaper Magazine to personal blog networks) about the new online campaign Burberry launched today. Art of the Trench which includes the microsite artofthetrench.com and social networking applications like Facebook connect focuses on Burberry's origins and ultimately differentiating product (the Trench).

Visitors are greeted by an artfully arranged collection of images of people in Burberry trench coats which they can then filter through depending on their viewing preferences (such as Popularity, Gender, Styling, Trench Colour, Weather, etc). The first of the series was photographed by Scott Schuman, aka the Sartorialist.

But the marketing experience isn't purely about looking. You're welcome to submit your own photo, comment on other photos and connect with Facebook. This reflects a growing trend towards digital social engagement among larger brands and companies. Blackbook Magazine actually acknowledged the "limiting" nature of it, bordering criticism. While featured product and user engagement could be increased, I think Burberry's focus on its key differentiating product was a wise choice.

The microsite also includes a thorough and informative section on the History of the Trench, complete with vintage Burberry ads, educating consumers about the timelessness of the product. This could not have been provided so well through any other medium besides online. Not only digital but allow one more visual flexibility at a lower cost, but it also provides greater ease of use and more accessibility/reach.

In addition to being both beautiful and educational, the overall campaign seems to execute a well orchestrated balance between luxury aspiration and inclusiveness.

The campaign is accompanied by a YouTube video spot:



Share your opinion on luxury brands and social networking by responding/commenting here for The Marketing Society challenge!

Twitter, Brands, Search Engines

We've all become aware of the power Twitter has in creating brand value. After all, 1 in 5 tweets mention brands and products (Fast Company, 9/15/09).

So in addition to being increasingly more popular as a social network site, Twitter is also dominating the branding world. But let's add another marketing layer to that--Search Engine Marketing.

A study released Thursday [11/5/09] found that nearly half, 48 percent, of people who saw a brand’s name on Twitter went to a search engine to look for the product, compared to 34 percent on any social network, according to MediaPost.
The study was performed by Performics, the marketing arm of Publicis Groupe's VivaKi Nerve Center, and ROI Research, an analytics and technology firm. Performics Marketing Senior Vice President Michael Kahn will present the findings of this study at Ad:Tech today.

Clearly Twitter is not only proving relevant to brand invigoration, but also in driving people to search engines, where consumers are left to be marketed in another way. People visit search engine sites fairly frequently as is. This, fueled with the additional influence of Twitter, reveals the dominance of search engines, and how their power cannot be ignored. I'm looking forward to learning more about the role search engines play in marketing at Wednesday's speaker event (see the previous blog post for details!).

I always love seeing how different marketing channels intersect and interact.

Wednesday: Razorfish AND Rosetta

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 11

12:30pm 

UC-19

SEM is continually changing the marketing landscape. From search giant Google or newcomer Bing, SEM is crucial to any campaign's success. Some new developments include launching real-time and music search services. Come learn about other SEM trends from these two top agencies and past MktSoc Presidents Sarah Hu and Caroline McKeon!

Frog Design Recap

Thanks to those who came out to our Frog Design event. For those of you who couldn't attend, the minutes are followed below:

Event: Frog Design
Date: Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Location: UC-19

Reminder:
1. E-Board Buddy Program
2. Guest Blogger---email Amy or Alex (check the website for their email addresses)

Branding: recognition, identity, communication
- All about how you can be perceived as the only one that do what you do
- Make competition irrelevant (to compete: “competere” means “to seek together”)

“I want Bob Dylan songs” –Steve Jobs
Bob Dylan songs are associated with counter-culture and longevity
Led to the development of Apple Macintosh

Markers need to learn the language of design

1. Brand as business concept
“Over time, certain brands came to connote quality. They provide a measure of insurance.”
Success is no longer being determined by name, but rather by performance of the business concept

Brief History
1770: Josiah Wedgwood
Catalog of pots; people know exactly what they want -> quality control becomes necessary
Led to Specialization
1893: Aunt Jemima
Personality was associated with brands
1908: US Industrial Revolution
Focus on product functionality
1940s: General Electric & General Motors
1965: TV
Marketers could reach 85% of viewers through three channels
1984: Apple Computer
1988: Philip Morris & Kraft
Brand was linked to the financial value of companies
Philip Morris paid 6 times the book value of Kraft
Late 90s: Starbucks
The experience
Early 2000s: Bugaboo
Performance of the product
Early 2000s: Apple iPod
The product sells itself
Late 2000s: Apple
Marketing success of a product needs to be built into the product development phase
That’s why you need to think like designers when you’re designing a business model
“The entire business concept is the starting point of brand strategy, rather than a product or service itself”
2007: Monocle
Multi-platform magazine
Pay double for subscription: WHY?
-You pay for premium content that other people don’t have access to
-Team up with manufacturers of high-end products
-Specifying the quality standards

2. The expectation gap
Ex. Darth Vader, Shining
Turning point/ Punch line: unexpected yet logical because it links back to where the joke started
Creative insight works the same way (linear narrative)
“You can’t dig a hole in a different place by digging the same hole deeper

3. Design tools

Conclusions:
Our focus needs to be at the business concept/model. Marketing needs to start at new product development. Marketers must be designers.

Coming Soon to a Deli Near You

It’s impossible to avoid advertising. Walk down the street, and you’ll pass a few billboards. Hop in the subway, and you’re surrounded by walls of ads. Advertising is there whether you’re watching television, reading a magazine, listening to the radio, and soon—when you grab that deli sandwich for lunch.

Mediacy, a Print and Out of Home agency has just launched a new division-- "Brandwrappers" where companies can advertise on sandwich wraps and the like. Apparently the cost is rather low-- less than 10 cents per wrap. Of course, one should also consider how many people these ads are reaching. Unlike the coffee sleeve which seems to have more of a public visual presence, the brandwrap's life span and capacity for impression is still a little unclear. I'll be looking out for ROI for this type of media buy and how popular this out-of-home advertising becomes.

In the mean time, grab yourself a sandwich and enjoy your ad-free wrapper while you can.

Want Your Thoughts to Appear [Here] ??

Become a Guest Blogger!

Spot a great ad? Want to share insight on the industry? Have an international perspective? Talk about it on this blog!

Email Amy or Alex if you''re interested.

This Week: frog design!

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4
12:30pm
UC-19

Come learn about Frog Design, the first design company for Apple Computers, and how design plays a huge role in the marketing of products and services. Learn more.

Kentucky Grilled Chicken

I was in Times Square the other day and spotted these billboards for KFC...or should I say KGC.

I guess KFC is picking up the whole "healthy eating" thing. The campaign encourages consumers to "Unthink" and join the KGC (Kentucky Grilled Chicken) Grilled Nation Movement. The billboard in Times Square has a ticker keeping track of the number of KGC members. Check out the KGC website and connect through Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

Can I get a biscuit and some mashed potatoes with that?