You’ve all seen the commercial. I’ll admit it – slightly ridiculous and quirky, but a brilliant campaign nonetheless.

For those that haven’t seen the commercial, Volkswagen recently launched a new campaign in the United States for its Routan minivan. Brooke Shields is the ad spokesperson. Volkswagen wanted to create a new spin on the traditional “soccer mom mini-van” concept and felt that this type of ad campaign would challenge traditional conventions about the mini-van. It certainly succeeded.

Throughout the series of ads, Brooke Shields urges viewers to “have a baby for love, not for German engineering.” Volkswagen’s newest ad actually discuses the “Routan Boom” (comparing it to the Baby Boom) – and depicts mothers, families, and children in this clever ad.

This ad campaign nailed its mission. Its marketing is flawless. Volkswagen capitalized on a missing niche in the marketplace – mothers that need a reliable, reasonably priced minivan, but still wanted something classy, and well designed. Volkswagen even took it to the next level by inventing the “Routan Babymaker 3000” which is an online program for mother’s to upload their photos and see what they would look like in their new Routan.

The best way to market a product/service is to first and foremost evaluate why you are entering the marketplace, and define what your goal is. Volkswagen identified a need for their product and filled that niche void in the marketplace. They built a strong product. They used a celebrity to endorse the concept. They used facts about the baby boom and broke the traditional construct of a “mini-van” to provide leverage for the product. Volkswagen even went the extra distance to personalize the product with its Routan Babymaker 3000.

Marketing is not a quick fix process. It takes time, planning, and smarts. Kudos to Volkswagen for understanding that an ad is not just an ad – it is an intelligent idea, backed up by research, knowledge, good marketing, and a solid product.

Still interested? Check it out: http://www.vw.com/routan/en/us/#/video/

-Samantha

Consumers are in an uproar after discovering that certain Hershey’s milk chocolate products now are made with artificial chocolate flavoring. Products such as Milk Duds, Mr. Goodbar, Krackel, and Kissable’s have had their cocoa butter replaced with hydrogenated oils. The reasoning behind the ingredient switch is allegedly because cocoa butter is expensive; using hydrogenated oils allows Hershey’s to manufacture their popular candy lines at cheaper costs. Hershey’s thought they were being smart by providing a cheap product to consumers during this economic downturn. Yes, it is cheap in the monetary sense, but it’s also cheap in taste and quality. And a large number of consumers are demanding the real chocolate back.

The FDA says that companies can’t use the words “milk chocolate” on products that don’t contain cocoa butter. So naturally, Hershey’s had to alter packaging to comply with FDA regulations. Packaging on several products now reads “chocolatey” or “made with chocolate.” The word “milk” has been eliminated. To add insult to injury, Hershey’s never informed the public of the ingredient change until after the fact. They believed it was better to let them figure it out on their own. So, many consumers now feel cheated from a “trusted” brand they have become loyal to. Was this a wise move for the company?

Hershey’s has been an American icon for many generations. To be quite honest, the idea of them compromising the quality of their product for better profit is a let down. It seems they are hopping on the cheap ingredient bandwagon like so many other brands today. However, the company claims that many consumers are happy with the ingredient change. They say they are satisfied with the flavor and think the artificial flavor tastes better than the real thing.

How will this change impact the consumer relationship in the long run? Will those faithful Hershey’s chocoholics remain brand loyal? Will the change attract new consumers or continue to drive them away? For a company founded on the idea of producing high-quality milk chocolate for the American people, its current behavior certainly indicates otherwise.

Once a brand loses consumer trust, it’s tough to earn it back. Brands are built upon how consumers feel about a company, so naturally when consumers feel they can trust a company and find value in its products, they become brand loyal. But when the consumer relationship is damaged, the brand loyalty is at high risk for being lost. Hershey’s clearly didn’t have enough confidence in their consumers to buy in this economic downturn without cheapening their products — and that’s a shame.

This move is reminiscent of the Coca Cola reformulation in the 1980’s ­­­­— fortunately the company realized what a ridiculous move it had made and quickly brought back the original formula, labeled as Coca Cola Classic, to gain back consumers driven away to Pepsi and competing brands. They spent millions of dollars on another rebranding campaign to fix the damage from the first one — which brings up the age-old question: why fix something if it isn’t broke in the first place? Why does Hershey’s need to ruin good products?

Real brand loyalty lies within a combination of trust, quality, and value. Many Americans will spend a few extra dollars for their favorite brand because they know they’re getting quality. Is it worth is to save $.10 on a Mr. Goodbar, but know you’re not getting the real thing? No, that’s not building brand loyalty. That’s providing cheap candy for cheap prices, like countless other manufacturers out there. Hershey’s should want to maintain high standards and be proud of their quality — everything Milton Hershey set out to provide back when the company was founded.

In the long run, Hershey’s had better reevaluate their actions and implement a strategic plan to fix this mess, otherwise the brand will lose out to stronger, quality competitors.

– Alisia Leavitt

Being ethical in your business and marketing practices – a no brainer, right? Well, one would think so.

As a business, your main responsibilities include: pleasing your clients, producing great, irreplaceable work, and being profitable. The question is, how does ethics come into this? The trick is to fulfill the above three goals all while being ethical and fair. A common myth is that a business cannot be profitable without taking their clients for a little bit of a “ride” or billing for costs that never occurred. Yes, this does happen – but doesn’t happen with businesses that “get it” – businesses that realize they can be profitable while selling their services for what they are worth. A business is profitable when they offer a fair price for a product or service that they are certain can/will help their client’s bottom line.

Let me clear up this profitability myth– an advertising firm can actually be MORE profitable if they are ethical and take corporate responsibility, because in the end, clients will notice that the business is fair and trustworthy, and in turn, will give them more work and trust them as a resource and partner – not just as a vendor.

Let’s take Enron for example. I know. I know people are sick of talking about Enron - it’s the most commonly used example. However, I must say, it’s a good one. Bottom line: corporate greed ruined an already profitable company. So what happened? Enron believed it could fool the public through accounting fraud– and it did, but for a limited time. What is the simple lesson learned from Enron? Ethics will always win. And when it doesn’t immediately, it will in the long run. The truth will always arise. Enron was not confident enough in its ability, which lead to its insecurity, fear and greed. A business must believe in itself, and prove to its clients what its services are worth - all while being fair, keeping a good reputation, and considering clients best interests.

Let me add to my original statement. As a business, your main responsibilities are to please your clients, produce great, irreplaceable work, and be profitable – all while being fair. While profits are a huge concern (especially in terms of company survivability), it should not be a company’s only concern. Instead, if handled right, it will be the large bonus that is waiting at the end of the tunnel after your business has completed the task at hand. It will pay off when your clients come back to you for advice, additional strategic work, and are willing to pay you for your business’s one-of-a-kind, reasonable, smart, and ethical services.

-Samantha

Companies seeking a fresh perspective on their brand regularly approach us to talk about their options. Typically, we are asked to scope and price a rebrand initiative pretty early on – maybe even before we meet face to face.

Of course, being branding people, opportunities to develop new brands get us excited. And the prospect of working on a blank (or nearly blank) slate gets our creative team excited. But wait! We’re business people too, which means we won’t pursue anything that doesn’t have a sound business rationale and isn’t aligned with a clearly articulated business strategy.

Prospective clients usually tell us they want to pursue a rebrand in order to differentiate from competitors and to become or remain competitive in the market. To most, a rebrand includes changes to brand identity – logo, name, tagline, color palette, typography and the like. To us, an effective rebranding initiative is much more comprehensive and involves research and analysis, positioning and messaging, and LOTS of collaboration with the client company.

As a marketing executive who spent years as a management consultant with global firms, I am an advocate for process and for methodically laying the foundation for a brand prior to jumping to the brand identity piece, which usually proves to be quite fun for agency and client alike.

Our branding process is customized for each engagement, but typically includes the following elements:

Internal and External Research + Analysis – This may include a brand audit, competitive analysis and external market research, internal briefings with key stakeholders, employee focus groups. The output from this process provides the core material that we work with in the positioning process.

Positioning – This may include one or more facilitated sessions with corporate leadership team and/or other key decision makers (Board resources, key stakeholders at all levels of the organization, funders, etc.).

Messaging – Using the output from the positioning process, typically a positioning statement, the messaging process includes the development of primary and secondary messages that inform all work done on brand identity, be it a brand refresh or a rebrand.

Rebrand or Brand Refresh – This is typically viewed as the “fun” part, is the portion of the process that includes changes to brand identity, namely logo, name, tagline, color palette, typography and the like.

We’ve used this process for our work with brands large and small. What’s almost magical about it is that once we get to the rebrand process, we’ve already got buy-in from key stakeholders, we’ve socialized the process at the right levels, and we have the research, positioning, messaging and strategy that enable us to develop a brand that achieves the goals and objectives articulated at the start.

I’d welcome a conversation on your brand and how this process might be customized for you. Drop me at line at mbove@mccabe-duval.com.

- Meredith

As “problem solvers” first and foremost, we’re fortunate to be positioned well in these challenging times. Though industry leaders forecast a grim period for the ad business (see AdWeek’s article, “Outlook for Ad Business Grim“), we’re taking the opportunity to connect with clients and partners in deeper and more creative ways.

For some clients, it’s business as usual — continuing to execute on programs or initiatives that already exist. With others, it means we’re working together to take a fresh look at their pain points in the context of the market and getting really creative on how to do more with less. For others still, it means outsourcing a tangible piece of their marketing function to us (direct, SEO, event marketing, etc.) due to staff shortages.

Many of our clients are experiencing slower sales cycles and an increased focus on building internal support for initiatives prior to focusing externally. As a result, we’re doing more and more internal marketing, communications, and organization development work that precedes our work with external audiences. For some clients that means helping them to roll out their strategic plans in ways that resonate with employees at all levels (Intranet, video, events, internal comms plans). For some, it means designing events or ongoing programs that enable the roll out and implementation of those plans. For others, it means we are helping them to hone their market position and come to agreement at the executive and board levels.

Overall, we feel that the downturn has enabled us to go a level deeper in our client relationships — to put our best minds together in a room and come up with solutions that speak to the pain points of our clients’ clients struggling in this market, to continue to have the tough conversations about measurability and ROI, and to continue to stay smart on what is happening in the world — be it financial services, healthcare, energy, or technology. So far, it’s working. Clients feel heard and we feel we’re doing some of our best work ever.

- Meredith Bove

One thing I’ve learned as a copywriter is to get your thoughts down on paper — even if they seem silly. For instance, if you’re working on a list of headline options, don’t edit as you’re writing. Just write! Letting your words flow out is the most important thing. The steam of consciousness style of writing allows you to be innovative, out-of-the-box, and daring. A great resource is the book Cracking Creativity: The Secrets of Creative Genius by Michael Michalko. Take a look at the chapter “Strategy Three: Thinking Fluently.” It discusses how successful creatives:

1. Defer judgment while generating ideas.
2. Generate as many ideas as possible.
3. Record ideas as they occur.
4. Elaborate or improve upon the ideas.
5. Allow their subconscious to generate ideas by incubating their subject.

Don’t be afraid to take risks. By writing your copy ideas down as they emerge, avoiding the temptation to edit until you’re done, and giving yourself creative freedom, you’ll find yourself producing strong, innovative copy. You’ll be surprised at the ideas you’ve generated. And even if you don’t use them for your current project, you can always file them for later. By going with the copy flow, you’re making your writing that much stronger.

- Alisia Leavitt

Our hard work this summer was made easier by our al fresco office space. Check out some of Connie McCabe’s photos (inside and out) to get a flavor of our workspace in the Old Port.

- Meredith Bove

I just read Al Ries’ latest column, “Boost Your PR by Doing Something, Not Just Saying Something“, in Ad Age, just as I was putting the finishing touches (in my head, at least) on a strategy document for a key client. The document is centered around exactly what Ries encourages — when it comes to public relations, it pays to DO, not say. In a crowded PR field, traditional tactics are not likely to yield results with any significant impact. What to do? Get creative and start focusing on getting out there and creating PR opportunities.

Along these lines, we’re working with a number of clients on experiential marketing programs, which focus on connecting customers with brands in memorable ways. These programs range from RBC Bank’s “Giant Acts of Kindness” campaign to enhance visibility and recognition among a recently-acquired customer base, to a mobile educational campaign that enables a utility company to connect with customers in the community around an educational theme. Both have been extremely well received and well covered (not to mention fun to work on!).

As effective as these programs have been, we’re always looking for new ideas and more creative ways of reaching our target audiences. What kinds of programs have worked for your company and your clients?

- Meredith Bove 

Photo Credit: The New York Times

Check out these twenty (clever) questions about advertising, marketing, media and culture in today’s New York Times. They add fodder to the chicken/egg debate and make the case not only for the intersection of marketing, media and culture, but for their entanglement as well.

- Meredith Bove

I am reading a great book by Second Wind Training, called “The Complete Guide to Account Service.” The book is about how to train your staff, how to retain valuable accounts, and how to encourage clients to be more open to agency service. My favorite take-away from the book so far, is how the book outlines the importance of the client and agency relationship – and how to make this a successful one.

My favorite section of the book (Chapter 2) asks a very simple question – but one that is asked often. “Why should you use an advertising agency?” As an agency employee, and a huge marketing advocate this is an obvious question to me. My immediate response is “why wouldn’t you use an advertising agency?”

Ultimately, an agency should be viewed as a partner – YOUR partner. Not as a vendor, or as an “outside company” that charges commissions and reduces your bottom line. Your agency helps your bottom line – and should never be viewed as a vendor. A good agency works with you to ensure that your product or service gets marketed correctly to the public and has value. A good agency just plain “gets it.”

Good agencies must show personal interest in their accounts, must be timely in getting back to a client, and must exceed the client’s expectations (Second Wind). And as I mentioned above, since this is a partnership, clients must have acceptable expectations and full-trust in their agency. As a client, you are paying the agency to make recommendations and make decisions that are in your best interest… trust them! Use them as a resource. Consider them your best friend – the ones that help you look good and have your best interests in mind. Most importantly, clients must believe in advertising, and must see the value in hiring an agency.

Agencies, on the other hand must go the extra mile for their clients, and really work to fully immerse themselves in the client’s industries, competitors, and product mix. A partnership implies a mutual benefit. Agencies and clients need to work together, have understanding and set reasonable goals, expectations and criteria for each other. This healthy relationship will allow both to be more profitable - and more than likely, have a better end product.

I welcome all comments, and am curious to hear your thoughts!

- Samantha Tucceri