Have You Heard

This is quite funny. Or not. Depending on who you are. But either way this bit of new years advertising for a gym in England got the whole country talking.

The public were in an outrage and found it very offensive (even those that are not overweight).

So the question is - was it worth it. In this case I don't think so even though anyone with a sense of humour will giggle. I think they upset their target market (the fatties) and have potentially ruined their image.

However, if I was involved, I would look at how to turn all this negative attention into a positive (because now the whole country is watching you). I would retract this message and put an identical looking billboard up with a message that read something along the lines of "We were wrong and we are truly sorry. The aliens also apparently like the skinnies - so we are all screwed:) Join up and receive a free starter pack. Sense of humour not included but new body guaranteed."

Anyone else there got a better idea? I will publish the best response so send us your thoughts.

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We know you love clever advertising - doesn't everyone. So take a look at a list of the 50 best billboards that are sure to get people talking. These are my two favourites. Clicking on either image will take you through to the site.

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In Andy Sernovitz's third example of create brand stories, we look at where it is from...

"As consumers grow more and more conscious of where their stuff is manufactured, whether or not it's local, and how it got to your shelf, it helps to show them where it's from. Stone-Buhr -- which touts itself as the first certified flour from sustainable farming -- has created what they call, "Find the Farmer." It's a website where you can enter the lot code from your sack of flour to find the exact small group of farms that contributed to making your batch, where they're located, and even links to learn more about the farmers themselves. Try a simpler version of showing where it's from by creating a simple booklet to include with orders showing the communities in which your products are made, or by reminding customers that you're a local by including stuff that they'll appreciate in your publications like area news or local history.

The Lesson: If you've got the advantage of being locally made, or your business supports a worthy community, show it off whenever possible."

Click on the image to view the site.

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In Andy Sernovitz's second example we look at the story behind the story...

"Make it more than just another sale by sharing the history and the inspiration behind your stuff. Bruno's Chef's Kitchen in Eugene, Oregon is loved for its personal, friendly nature. Founders Tom and Bessie Bollag have built their business on word of mouth and make a point of putting their love and passion for what they do on display -- including devoting a detailed section of the restaurant's website to how they met, how they got started, and why they do what they do. You could show your fans who made it by putting your CEO or founder on the front-lines, by putting your regular employees on stage, or by hosting "open house" events where customers can meet the whole staff.

The Lesson: To see how contagious passion can be, make it easy for your founders and dedicated employees to share their love for what they do with customers." Click on the image to check out how they do it.

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Over this week - I will be posting a series of interesting articles, courtesy of Andy Sernovitz, highlighting how brands   have created 'conversational currency' and stimulated positive Word-of-Mouth around their brands.

"Your biggest fans love to see how your stuff is developed, tested, and manufactured. Take them behind the scenes by trying what Nokia does and put a bunch of your tests on tape to share on your blog, website, and YouTube. In Nokia's series of videos and blog posts focusing on "a bunch of guys who break phones for a living," they showed their engineers using elaborate machines to test phones in extreme temperatures, against repetitive button mashing, and undergoing some serious abuse. Options for showing off your testing and manufacturing process include opening up your facilities for tours, letting customers join in on trying out new products, and sharing a few photos and videos from your research facility.

The Lesson: Put the quality of your products on stage and share all the dorky details that true fans love by showing them how it's made."

Click on the Nokia Logo to check out their site/ video's and content.

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He once cleverly said, something along these lines:

If you tell me, I may forget. If you show me, I may remember. But if you involve me, I will understand.

Well here is some science to back up his wisdom.

The important learning here, is that if you want to break through to your target market - you need to create Full Engagement. Don't just push messaging out to consumers, create platforms for them to interact, touch, feel, talk, listen, share and more. The more they can become involved in your brand, and the more you Engage Fully with them, the more Fully Engaged they will be with your brand. And don't forget Full Engagement = loyalty = purchase.

The Return-on-Investment will surely be worth it.

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Could you imagine the levarage a brand could get out of this creative kind of execution within a Shopping Mall - just because of the novely factor! Enjoy the clip, courtesy of Wooster Collective.

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The future of Influence Summit website has some great content on the role Influence plays in marketing/ advertising and I will be posting a few of them over the next few days. I thought I would share this with you as a quick teaser, however.

More specifically, consumers shop quite a bit like their friends and are more likely to respond to marketing messages from a brand a friend uses. How likely? Five times more likely.

Wow - that just reveals how important it is to generate Word-of-Mouth and to leverage recommendations. By doing so, you ensure your current communication plan will potentially be 5 times for impactful and gain 5 times more reach. You can click on the image to read the full article.

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Womma just alerted us to a great campaign by Google, that have acheived the unthinkable - getting people to talk about billboards. Their product being advertised is Google Aps, which they are using to take on Microsoft Office. Their objective was to get employees talking about Google Aps at work, and to start asking for it.

Where they have succeeded is in changing each Billboard message every day, pushing a different reason for people to talk about Google Aps at work with their colleagues. Clever, Strategic and Effective!

Click on the pic to read the full article.

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