And Now for the Finale!

Blogging over the course of the semester has been quite an experience. At first it was probably one of the most annoying assignments I had for all my classes. As the course of the semester went on it became more interesting and appealing to me. Learning about Guerilla marketing and Word of Mouth advertising has really opened my eyes to the exciting part of the integrated marketing. It bring out the creative side of a company which is what is needed today to break through the clutter.

Through this semester I discussed everything from beer to online communities. This would be an extremely long blog to get into detail about everything that I have covered over the semester, so I decided to choose my favorite parts and talk about them.

MINI Cooper: When I found out about the the new type of advertising MINI is doing, I thought it was histerical. Making up a few short movies with their product being a sidekick is just a great idea. It gives them a lot of viral potential which is definitely a good idea when it comes to sparking more interest in their company and what they have to offer. Not only did they have a fun idea but they made it interactive for potential customers who came across their sites. The viewers could enter their name and be given a super hero name which makes each and every person that comes across it feel important because each name given varies from every person.

Careerbuilder Monkeys: The commercials for careerbuilder that involved monkeys were just histerical and everyone knew them when they were on the TV. To add to the success they made a site with the monkeys where you could send your friends, colleagues and anyone else you wanted a funny email with the monkeys which spreads the word about the brand name even more than the commercials could.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Probably the funniest word of mouth advertising of the year would probably have to be the guerilla marketing that Aqua Teen Hunger Force tried to successfully pull off. This didn't work very well but that was due to fact that many Boston citizens though these little characters looked like bombs. Though it didn't help that they were placed in very strange places such as under bridges. The word spread very quickly but in a negative way. They still gained an amazing amount of publicity. Many thought it was made to come out that way and other's thought it was an accident. Either way it made headlines and people know a lot more about the show now then they ever may have if this didn't happen.

All in all, word of mouth advertising is pretty impressive. It doesn't take much for people to talk about your product. Inviting people to interact with your brand already gives you a step up. If you don't want to be interactive then just being creative can get your point across just as well if not better. If you have a great idea then you are going to be talked about. It's amazing how a company can implement a new advertising campaign and then wait for someone to take interest. A great advertising campaign is like a rain puddle. If it's big enough and people can't avoid it, its bound to get moved around. Pretty interesting how such a huge audience can be targeted with a simple advertising campaign.

Now looking back on it, I'm happy it was a required part of the course to keep a blog. It forced me to look at different strategies companies use to promote themselves. I probably won't have been as in detail with my searches if it didn't have to write something about it every time. I really appreciated the opportunity to broaden my horizons on word of mouth marketing. :0)

I Lost My Keys!

Nissan, just having released the new 2007 Altima, with push-button ignition has decided they need to promote their new product better. How to do that better you ask? Well, by dropping 20,000 key rings in bars, concert halls, sports arenas and many other public places. On the ring there are of course, keys, three to be exact. There is one car key, two house keys and two tags. This makes it look more realistic, as if someone at that public venue, actually did lose their keys. Oh, how clever!

Here is where they get into the actually advertising. One of the tags says, "If found, please do not return. My Next Generation Nissan Altima has Intelligent Key with Push Button Ignition, and I no longer need these." The other tag directs the finder to enter into a sweepstakes at www.altimakeys.com. To enter this sweepstakes you can either go to the site or enter via text message, right on the spot, so those people at the bars don't forget in the morning.

This is such a great guerilla marketing idea for the company. It is not a brand new idea but how they are going about it is very classy. Dropping keys for people to find at various venues, is such a great way to spread the word that this new Nissan Altima has some new technology and we should check it out. It also makes it exciting for the person who finds the keys. They get to enter into a sweepstakes and possibly win something. That's the fun part, you have no idea what you are going to win. It could be a car or it could be that you just walked away with those fabulous keys you found at the concert. Either way it gives the perspective customer something to take with them. Of course, they will also tell all their friends what happened and right there is more word of mouth.

Another great thing this addresses is the idea of lost keys. This is just a way to relate to the customer about it. It is such an agony but everyone has been their and it's just an interesting way to get people's attention. If you found car keys in a bar, you probably won' just leave them their and hope the person comes back. You would give them to someone in charge to hold themn for when the person comes back. So, the idea of curiosity is also in play with this sweepstakes.

Good luck and let me know if you find some keys!

source:http://www.womma.org/womnibus/009369.php

Beer Enthusiasts Unite!

Anheuser-Busch, has decided to start a campaign called "Here's to Beer" which will unite people who are huge beer fanatics and love to enjoy themselves. How to do this? Well they paired up with a social niche marketing site called www.minglenow.com to gain attention and Anheuser-Busch is sponsoring it. The good thing about this campaign is that it's not only focused on beers owned by A-B. It is actually a campaign for the beer industry as a whole and not one specific company.

What they have done, is made it a small photo shoot for people at the hottest parties and events. At the event the people who have been invited, take pictures of themselves, friends and others with beer glasses in their hands having a good time. These people can then upload the photos (even from their cell phones) and tag them as "Clinks" which is what they are calling this part of the campaign. Why Clink? Well, as I'm sure most of you know, this is the sound the glasses make when people do a toast or a cheers. How perfect! This is campaign has a lot of viral potential and another great way to spread word of mouth. Who doesn't like to see pictures of other people!

One huge issue this campaign can run into is the legal issues. Today there are so many problems with minors getting into bars with fake ID's and I'm sure this is also very hard to monitor and that Anheuser-Busch does not want their name tagged to underaged drinking. So by sharing photos that are taken inside the pub and the pub's they are in are strict with admission this largely cuts down on the participation of minors.

Overall, I think this is a great idea. They are covering themselves with knowing the pubs and bars being used so they do not get themselves in trouble with the law. Besides that, what a good way to reinforce the beer industry. No one ever forgets about beer but why not go out and promote it a little more through pictures of people having a good time with your product.

source: http://womma.com/womnibus/

Dell and the Online Community

Dell has recently come up with a new site where pleased,angry,enthusiastic people/customers can come to talk about Dell. This is a place to share ideas about Dell, their products and anything else about their company they find great or not so great. The site is called www.dellideastorm.com. When people put ideas out on the table other people, who have accounts of course, can vote on what they think are their favorite ideas and eventually the Dell employees put that idea into effect. Of course, any idea they put into play is for product improvement beause they want to be the best in the computer business.

The site is brand new as well. It launched on February 16 and by February 27th the members had contributed 2,251 ideas and there were 4,477 comments on those ideas. But this site isn't only for ideas and comments. It is also for downloading videos to demonstrate how to use various Dell products and components. The campaign to better the customer relationship with the company and so far, so good. This is also an attempt at increasing the potential customers of Dell and their many product lines.

I think this site that Dell has introduced is a great idea. Dell does a great job at keeping themselves at the top of the list when it comes to computer sales. Now the up and coming Apple company is moving full steam ahead. Apple has done great with the Ipod product line and now their knowledge of computer technology has progressed immensely within the past couple of years. With there histerical commercial campaign, placing themselves versus the PC, their immaculate packaging and beautiful product designs, theyhave perfectly positioned themselves to pull ahead of Dell very soon. This is just one reason why Dell creating this new information site is a fabulous idea. They must keep themselves ahead of Apple if they want to stay number one. Keeping up with this type of publicity will help their image and of course their popularity with their customers as long as they keep up with the comments and remarks. Good move Dell! Two thumbs up.

source:http://www.womma.org/womnibus/009347.php

Twitter-ers Welcome!

Are you someone who loves to know what other people are doing every minute of the day or do you like to tell people what you are doing all day? Maybe you are just that person who loves technology and loves to be extremely up to date. Well then, www.twitter.com is just what you are looking for! This new social media craze has people sending the site what they are doing every minute of every day. A person can sign up and start their own account and post as much as they want. They can also post from their cell phones and through IM's. Sounds crazy, huh? Here's the catch...you are only allowed 140 characters everytime you post. I guess that makes it a little better?!?

I guess if you don't like the idea of this then you wouldn't bother with it. Many agree that this site is a little too much bombarding you with everyone's messages. The good part of it is that you can invite friends to join or you can just make friends with fellow Twitter-ers. If you have a best friend or significant other that goes away for a long time, this is a good way to know exactly what they are doing all day. This is probably a great site for people with stalker compulsions as well.

Ok, but all joking aside, this site is a great word of mouth site. For many businesses this is a great way to keep tech-savvy customers aware of what is going on with their company and their products. It keeps them posted on everything that goes on and they will never miss a beat. This could definitely speed up marketing and increase sales faster then a normal site would. The only problem that might arise with the site is the issue with ethical disclosure on certain products due to the small amount of characters/words that are allowed per post but, hey, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it!

source:http://www.womma.org/womnibus/009346.php

Chipotle and Word of Mouth

Chipotle, which is a word most people cannot even pronounce, is a small restaurant chain with 573-unit chain across the United States. It is owned by it's parent company, McDonald's. Although, Chipotle does things a little differently than McDonald's, to gain publicity. In fact, according to an article is BusinessWeek magazine, "Chipotle spends less on advertising annually than McDonald's spends in 48 hours." This doesn't seem to bother Chipotle at all, considering they had a 13.7% increase in sales in 2006.

Chipotle does things a little differently compared to McDonald's who throws advertisements at you all day long through, television, magazines, direct mail and more. Chipotle is much more subtle with tons of WOM. The company started in 1993 and vowed that they would do most of there marketing through word of mouth. For example, they shipped free burritos to the Denver courthouse where Timothy McVeigh trial was going on. I don't know how that blew over but apparently everything they have done has given them good publicity. They also host annual Halloween costumes, where people dress up as burritos. As their prizes they will win free burritos.

All these word of mouth strategies are starting to put Chipotle on the map. They are making great progress. Although a few of their ideas are a little off kilter, like sending food to the McVeigh courthouse, they still manage to keep their reputation in good standing. Many people for the East coast are just starting to hear about Chipotle and it seems to be taking off with a bang.

The only thing I would add to their campaign is to target more teenage males and females. Targeting teenagers I think would add a lot more sales growth. To target this group they need to be original and humorous. Like Kraft did, they made up a website where you can send your parents a fun email to ask them to send you some EasyMac. Something similar to target them would probably be the best thing to do to increase sales within this demographic. Hopefully within the next year or two, Chipotle will be a household name just like their proud parents, McDonald's.

source:http://www.womma.org/womnibus/009277.php

A MINI Series

MINI Cooper, is always very witty and simple with their advertisements. I always thought of them as very well-known by the public but I am now assuming they are not happy with their advertising, but I could be mistaken. They are starting a new campaign that has a lot of viral potential.

MINI has come out with a short "MINI" film that will star Hammer and his sidekick 'Coop'. It will be a series of short films that Todd Phillips will be directing. He directed "Old School" and "Starsky and Hutch". Coop will be playing himself, a MINI Cooper who ends up being, of course, the savior and brains of all operations. Not only is this just a short series but after watching the films (or before) the viewer is able to use the "Action Name Generator" which generates an original action hero name for each person which makes it interactive for people watching.

You would think that MINI would try and play off the idea that this is viral marketing for their company but they don't. They blatantly make jokes about themselves and show that they know what they are doing. I think this is a great way to get more publicity and also spread the word about MINI Coopers. The product themselves are so fun that it works out perfectly to tie in a humorous mini series to have people remember your product when it comes to awareness and how high up on the list you and your company.

Check it out! http://www.hammerandcoop.com/#
My action name is JIGSAW GRINDER. What's yours?

source: http://womma.com/womnibus/