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November 29th, 2011

Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Holiday Retail Sales

2011′s Black Friday and Thanksgiving weekend brought a record 226 million shoppers to stores. Spending rang in at $52 billion, which was 16% more than last year according to the National Retail Federation. A complete look at the last six years of shopping activity is below (click to enlarge):

A couple of random retail notes about last weekend: Men purchased more than women with an average spend of $484 versus $317 and, on average, US shoppers visited 3.1 stores per shopping trip.

Online spending over the weekend was up 26% per comScore to $816 million as 50 million US shoppers took to the web on Black Friday, 35% more than last season. Amazon led all sites with 50% more visitors than any other retailer.

How much did each shopper spend online? According to IBM Coremetrics the average order was $190 for 6 items–interestingly, both of these figures were slightly lower than last year*. But overall a jump of 26% in online spending is good news considering that last season online spending rose only 9%.

There were also a notable amount of consumers looking online for offline deals, further supporting the idea that advertising online does indeed sell stuff offline. For example, TheBlackFriday.com had 3.2 million visits last weekend up 137% from last year.

Mobile shopping was another area that saw significant growth this season with PayPal reporting a spending increase of 516% over last year courtesy of four times as many people shopping Black Friday sales on their mobile phones.

Most reports cite three key reasons for the holiday weekend upsurge:

- Pre-Midnight Openings

- Positive Strong Merchandising

- Competitive Price-to-Value Relationships

This is probably true as yesterday’s Cyber Monday (a phrase coined in 2006) continued the positive sales momentum. Online traffic yesterday was up 43% from last year with online sales up 18% (as of 9pm last night). Electronics were the most popular item purchased, up 26%.

Moving into December the National Retail Federation has estimated that holiday sales will increase to $465.6 billion this year, up about 2.8% versus last season.

Yet while all of these numbers are strong, and publications like Reuters are posting headlines like holiday shopping is off to a solid start, it doesn’t necessarily mean this holiday season will be breaking records. RetailSails provides us with a good historical reminder…

“Black Friday weekend has historically not been a very good predictor of overall Holiday retail sales. For example, both the National Retail Federation and ShopperTrak saw record spending over Black Friday weekend in 2008, but overall that Holiday season saw by far the worst performance on record as overall sales in the November-December period tumbled 4.4%.”

Additionally, with 84% of American households saying today that they will spend the same amount or less than they did last holiday season we should look for retailers to continue their aggressive approaches all month long with some doing exceedingly well at the expense of others.

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November 4th, 2011

New Brands, New Work

The cooler weather and quickly approaching winter outdoor activities have us reflecting on some recent late summer and fall additions to Drake Cooper…

First, we welcome several new client partners aboard: St. Luke’s Health Systems, the largest health care system in the state, and Jacksons Food Stores, a leading Northwest convenience store retailer. These are two of Idaho’s best brands and we are most excited to be working together with both organizations on their marketing.

For St. Luke’s Health Systems, we’ll be engaged in brand building work, campaign planning and future marketing message development. For Jacksons our duties will include marketing strategy, advertising, social media, online marketing, media planning & buying and packaging design, such as this:

DC has also been working with the PSAMA, Puget Sound American Marketing Association, who recently launched an annual awards show celebrating marketing results. We believe there needs to be more shows solely about results so we were honored to be tasked with naming this new show, creating the brand, designing the award trophy and more.  The Pulse Awards are for Seattle-area organizations and took place in October.

A snapshot of the brand can be sampled in this video that played during the show…

Click here to see the PSAMA Intro Video Loop

And all the category winners took home this trophy…

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November 2nd, 2011

Jewels on the Small Screen

Jensen Jewelers: “A Backyard Proposal”
We’ve worked with Jensen Jewelers for many years now, and over that time we’ve had the opportunity to concept and develop TV, radio, signage, and collateral for some fun and effective promotions, including their “Bright Sale,” “Any Old Ring,” and “The Great Heist.” Most recently, the jeweler made the leap to the small screen and tasked Drake Cooper with concepting and producing their first live-action brand/image TV spot.

Buying a diamond engagement ring is a big step in any person’s life. Not only does Jensen offer the expertise of over 50 years in the jewelry business, a hearty understanding of diamonds, gems, settings and styles, but they understand that you’re buying much more than precious materials. Along with this purchase comes hope. A promise. A future. And ultimately love.

“Authentic Moments of Love” is the brand strategy behind the Jensen SHINE brand. This TV spot was concepted from that emotional capture; like those simple moments that might not represent fireworks for anyone other than the two involved, the surprise note found in a pocket, a wink from across the room. While most women and men don’t endeavor to wear the jewelry of a duchess or that of James Bond, we do want to wear something special given by someone who sees the magic in us.

Big Shout Out: Dennis Budell, Cale Cathey, Dylan Amundson, Karma Jones, North by Northwest, and Sean Young.

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September 2nd, 2011

Idaho Travel Wins at The Mercury Awards

Congrats to Idaho Tourism for their big wins at the National Councils Awards at the ESTO Conference!

The ESTO conference was held earlier this week in Salt Lake City. One of several national conferences held by the US Travel Association, ESTO (Educational Seminar for Tourism Organizations) is a national forum centered around bringing local, regional and state marketers together to learn about the latest trends, marketing tools and global challenges that face the travel and tourism industry today. As a 3-day event, the conference included national speakers, breakout sessions, and several key-note addresses by industry leaders. The event ended with the annual National Councils Awards, which was a celebration of marketing and creative excellence across the national, including the Destiny Awards, Mercury Awards, and the State Tourism Director of the Year.

We are proud to announce that Idaho Tourism won two Mercury Awards:
Best Print Advertising for the Great Idaho Getaway Campaign, which features one great family from Seattle on a 10-day, 2,200 mile adventure of a lifetime through Idaho.

Niche Marketing for Cruising the Loop, which, through a partnership with Harley Davidson, featured a group of female motorcycling journalists traveling Idaho’s Grand Teton Scenic Byway and Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming.

We are so honored to have worked with such a great team and for a great state!

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August 30th, 2011

The Age of the Customer

Forrester Research recently issued a terrific report called the Age of the Customer. I love the way the last 100 years are broken down: from manufacturing to distribution to information to the customer.


And while I find minor comedy in the fact that the ‘ages’ basically decrease by 50% at each stage thereby inferring that this latest age could last a mere 7 years or so I don’t want to dwell there. Because even if that’s the case, the amount of stuff we’ll get done and advance to in that time will probably be fairly amazing.

Anyway.

In thinking about the “Age of the Customer” and brands, consider some research insights from Bain:

- In most categories, strong customer loyalty brands grow twice as fast as the market.

- A 5% increase in customer retention can generate a 75% increase in profitablility.

- It typically costs 6 times more effort to get a new customer than to keep an existing one.

The age of the customer plays out well. So it’s helpful that earlier this year IBM issued a report that talked about the rise of Social CRM and I think it’s a great way to look at the evolution of social today within organizations.

It’s also nice that the pressure is off of marketing to be the sole champion of the possibilities of social within organizations…

So we’re all marketers now. Or, at least that’s the theory put forth by McKinsey who recently stated that in the era of engagement, marketing is the company.

Theory is great. We’re certainly not shy on theory as an industry. What we’re shy on is how—the actual application. Which is why I really liked how McKinsey broke that down into three general tactics that I think most organizations could immediately put to use:

1. Design a great customer engagement strategy and experience based on how people interact with the organization throughout their decision journey.

2. Build an infrastructure that achieves this and consider spreading out marketing teams to other divisions of the company such as service, sales and eCommerce.

3. Assign someone to be in charge of all digital conflict resolution within and across all functions in an organization. PepsiCo did this with the title of Chief Digital Officer.

So we are in the age of the customer. This requires us all to think and act a la Social CRM. And we execute that through design, build and assign.

For as complicated as this is I thought these three documents are extremely guiding. Please click on the links and explore as you like.

And, of course…

[ originally posted on Campaign Planning ]

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August 29th, 2011

September is Idaho Preferred Month

Eat local and celebrate the bounty of our great state!

September is Idaho Preferred month! Idaho Preferred is a program that promotes food and agricultural products grown, raised, or processed in the Gem State, and this coming month is the month to celebrate all the local goodness surrounding us.

In honor of this, Idaho Preferred and Drake Cooper partnered up to create a brand new advertising campaign with a whole new creative approach. TV spots, which feature local farmers harvesting the finest, freshest produce right from their fields, are steeped in the messaging platform “Local Goodness.” The TV spots were created using gorgeous photography stitched together to tell the story of generations of farmers and mouth-watering foods. “Live, Eat Local”
See TV Idaho Preferred TV Spot.

To kick off Idaho Preferred Month, Idaho Preferred is partnering with Walmart to host a healthy snacking event on September 1st at the Walmart store in Meridian from 4 to 6 pm, perfect timing for all those headed back to school as well! To get a free ticket AND a free bag of locally grown produce, not to mention ideas and tips for healthy eating and snacking, just “Like” Idaho Preferred on facebook.

Be sure to participate in Idaho Preferred Month this September!
Big “up top” to Dennis Budell, Sean Young, Bob Rickert, Karma Jones, Mona Teffeteller, Heidy Agalsoff, Leah Clark, Todd Meier, and our friends at NxNW!

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August 4th, 2011

Position This.

“Today’s market place is no longer responsive to the strategies that worked in the past. There are just too many products, too many companies, and too much marketing noise.” (Al Ries and Jack Trout: Positioning; The Battle For Your Mind).

So what do you do to get your message heard and your product recognized? Answer: correctly position your product.

To position your product means to utilize niches and narrow targets, be selective of who your target market is, and employ the use of segmentation.

According to Ries and Trout, Americans consume 57% of the world’s advertising. So what does this mean? You have to strategically postion the product or service so it stands out in the communication jungle.

Focus on the consumer, the prospect, rather than the product itself. Why would they want it? Who would want it? What will it do for them? Focus on what the consumer wants your product to be, not what you think the product is.

Simplify. There is no need to provide long-drone content to describe why your product or service beats out the competition. Keep it simple. With blasts of media and parades of commercials hitting your comsumers’ eyes and ears, it is wise to keep it simple and relevant. Here is a good example:

American: Jack Daniels. Want to dive into the American culture, feel like a true American? Drink Jack Daniels–it’s about as American as it gets.

Simple message, yet satisfying.

 

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August 2nd, 2011

Say It to Me Now.

Writing for social media and the web, takes finesse. 

Marketers use many different tactics to encourage clicks, purchases, likes, what have you, all to create brand evangelists. As a consumer myself (or a human living in the age of the internet), I am aware of how precious little time there is before I decide whether I am being squawked at or being shown a glimpse of something I’d really like to be a part of (like these below).

In her article “Words that Zing,” Colleen Jones says, “Greek rhetoricians defined kairos as saying or doing the right thing at the right time.”

Similarly, when done effectively, this could be the definition for social media and web content. So what turns the squawking into something useful? Into a conversation? How are brand evangelists created?

By clear, concise and transparent copy. By building trust.

This doesn’t mean, though, that the power of persuasion shouldn’t be utilized. In his blog post, “You Should Follow Me on Twitter,” Dustin Curtis found that using a personal command at the end of his blog posts increased his clickthrough rate. I suspect that this also has something to do with the fact that he had been providing thoughtful and useful information in his posts, thus building trust with his readers.

With trust, comes a relationship, which is what I would argue the ultimate goal with social media has become.

And for those who want a little (fantastic and aural) squawking, click here.

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July 27th, 2011

Fueled by Green

It is a word, a phrase, a way of life that most have become either accustomed to or have heard endless earfuls about: green. Companies are playing their part in continuing the green effort, Coca-Cola in particular.

Recently, Coca-Cola, working with the World Wildlife Federation and Momentum Phillipines, installed a 60-by-60-foot billboard in Manila, Phillippines, made of living plants. It is the first plant billboard in the country. This particular billboard is very different than most, it actually helps absorb carbon dioxide, on average 13 pounds a year. The billboard uses 3,600 pots of Fukien tea plants, which are potted in a mixture of industrial byproducts and organic fertilizers. They are maintained by an efficient drip irrigation system called trickle irrigation or micro-irrigation. The “green” effort doesn’t stop there, recycled Coca-Cola bottles were used as pots.

As a part of the company’s “Live Positively” commitment (a commitment to make a positive difference in the world by incorporating sustainability into everything they do), Coke celebrated their 125th anniversary earlier this year with the largest building illumination ever created. Their headquarters tower in Atlanta displayed nearly 1 million lumens of light. How is that green, you ask. The emissions from this event will be offset in support of Georgia’s Valley Wood Carbon Sequestration Project.

In a world of print, digital, tv and radio – advertisers are picking up the green trend. Creativity breeds ways to infuse green into design and into new and developing campaigns; saving the world, one billboard at a time. It goes without saying – but I shall remind you, behind every great idea, is a great agency. Congrats to Momentum Philippines for a job well done.

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July 21st, 2011

How Great Creative Strategies Are Like Great Rock Bands

There are several levels of successful ideas in marketing, ranging from really good ideas to epic ideas. But how do you know if a creative strategy—and its subsequent marketing expression—might be one of those rare epic ideas? Perhaps a key question can help: Does the idea work at different emotional speeds? Can it emotionally upshift and downshift and still be on strategy?

Like this:

Upshift…

Downshift…

It’s a bit like people. There are times when we want energy and excitement, and then there are times that we welcome introspection and caring. If a brand stands for something huge, the same theory should apply. In Nike’s case, standing for “the athlete” is a huge position. It upshifts and downshifts but it’s always about the athlete. Because being an athlete carries a range of emotions. Harley-Davidson has done similar over time. Allstate is doing this now. The Gap did this when their advertising was part of culture.

We see this beyond advertising… we see it in rock bands. The epic groups are those capable of rocking a stadium, then immediately slowing things down, all the while still being, well, them. Consider: there’s “Pride (In the Name of Love)” and then “With or Without You.” “Revolution” and “Let It Be.” “Misty Mountain Hop” and “Going to California.” But no matter what track you’re listening to, it always feels perfectly normal and is unquestionably U2, The Beatles, and Zepplin through and through.

Most highly regarded marketing campaigns get a few great years of run time. But they need refreshing because the audience can start to wain and culture begins to shift, so we concept something new. Very normal. But I always have a fondness for emotional range. And the epic ideas are big enough to represent many different emotions all under one creative strategy, keeping the audience engaged for decades.

 

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