Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Video postcard campaign brings back Chicken of the Sea jingle
As written by Karen Bannan and published in BtoB Magazine's Special E-mail Marketer's Issue, Sept 24, 2007.
By Karen J. Bannan
Story posted: September 24, 2007 - 6:01 am EDT
Video is a tough sell for e-mail marketers. After all, most companies block attachments or executable applications. But Chicken of the Sea needed something to help it stand out from its competitors. The company was one of 400 exhibitors competing for foot traffic at the School Nutrition Association Annual National conference, held in Chicago July 15-18. Getting the more than 4,000 conference attendees—school foodservice directors—to stop by the booth to learn about the company's new products would require some ingenuity.
"The Chicken of the Sea brand launched in 1914, but no significant advertising has been done against it since the early 1970s," said Tara Milligan, Chicken of the Sea's director of marketing. "We wanted to use its jingle, which is pretty famous, to get people to the booth."
Milligan, in conjunction with Chicago-based Performance Communications Group, recorded a video message from Ben Kenter, the company's VP-foodservice sales, inviting foodservice directors to come to the booth to become a "mermaid" for just a few minutes by singing the Chicken of the Sea jingle. Their efforts would be recorded and e-mailed to the singer (or singers), as well as their friends and family. At the end of the conference, people could vote for their favorite mermaid, who would win free admission to the 2008 Nutrition Association Annual National conference.
More than 150 different versions of the song were recorded. They proved to be popular. By the end of the preliminary nominations and voting phase, more than 2,200 postcards were viewed—about 15 brand minutes of messaging per postcard. The post-conference e-mail, which asked the 7,500 conference attendees and exhibitors to vote for their favorites, was sent earlier this month.
While the winner of the contest hasn't been chosen, Chicken of the Sea is already reaping rewards. The video e-mails did exactly what they were supposed to do, Milligan said. They brought people to the booth and persuaded them to stick around for a while. The Chicken of the Sea booth had about 1,000 visitors over a three-day period, up from about 850 last year.
Although it's too early to say how many of those visitors will turn into customers, projections are strong based on the number and quality of leads, Milligan said.
"Based on leads, we could pick up $200,000 worth of sales on Lunch Solutions for use in vending machines; schools have had to convert vending machines to healthy products, a la carte feeding, as well as summer feeding programs," she said.
The company is so pleased with these results that it increased its exhibit space for next year by 35%.
By Karen J. Bannan
Story posted: September 24, 2007 - 6:01 am EDT
Video is a tough sell for e-mail marketers. After all, most companies block attachments or executable applications. But Chicken of the Sea needed something to help it stand out from its competitors. The company was one of 400 exhibitors competing for foot traffic at the School Nutrition Association Annual National conference, held in Chicago July 15-18. Getting the more than 4,000 conference attendees—school foodservice directors—to stop by the booth to learn about the company's new products would require some ingenuity.
"The Chicken of the Sea brand launched in 1914, but no significant advertising has been done against it since the early 1970s," said Tara Milligan, Chicken of the Sea's director of marketing. "We wanted to use its jingle, which is pretty famous, to get people to the booth."
Milligan, in conjunction with Chicago-based Performance Communications Group, recorded a video message from Ben Kenter, the company's VP-foodservice sales, inviting foodservice directors to come to the booth to become a "mermaid" for just a few minutes by singing the Chicken of the Sea jingle. Their efforts would be recorded and e-mailed to the singer (or singers), as well as their friends and family. At the end of the conference, people could vote for their favorite mermaid, who would win free admission to the 2008 Nutrition Association Annual National conference.
More than 150 different versions of the song were recorded. They proved to be popular. By the end of the preliminary nominations and voting phase, more than 2,200 postcards were viewed—about 15 brand minutes of messaging per postcard. The post-conference e-mail, which asked the 7,500 conference attendees and exhibitors to vote for their favorites, was sent earlier this month.
While the winner of the contest hasn't been chosen, Chicken of the Sea is already reaping rewards. The video e-mails did exactly what they were supposed to do, Milligan said. They brought people to the booth and persuaded them to stick around for a while. The Chicken of the Sea booth had about 1,000 visitors over a three-day period, up from about 850 last year.
Although it's too early to say how many of those visitors will turn into customers, projections are strong based on the number and quality of leads, Milligan said.
"Based on leads, we could pick up $200,000 worth of sales on Lunch Solutions for use in vending machines; schools have had to convert vending machines to healthy products, a la carte feeding, as well as summer feeding programs," she said.
The company is so pleased with these results that it increased its exhibit space for next year by 35%.
Labels: advertising 2.0, Internet Secured Application Technology, ISAT, online advertising, Online Marketing, Performance Communications Group
Thursday, September 20, 2007
IAB Lead Generation Best Practices
IAB Lead Generation Best Practices
Released August 15, 2007
These Best Practices have two main considerations:
"1. SECURITY – All lead generation data should be transferred and received in an encrypted format
2. COMMON FORMAT AND SETUP – All lead generation data should be transferred in a common format via common, secure Internet technologies."
I could not have done a better job writing this standard myself. Seriously, "secured Internet technologies" sounds very similar to my product line, Internet Secured Application Technology or ISAT. Which, by the way, is secured by design. All ISAT sites, banners, components are secured and have been since we developed the platform in 2002.
http://www.iab.net/standards/lead_generation.asp
Thank you IAB.
Released August 15, 2007
These Best Practices have two main considerations:
"1. SECURITY – All lead generation data should be transferred and received in an encrypted format
2. COMMON FORMAT AND SETUP – All lead generation data should be transferred in a common format via common, secure Internet technologies."
I could not have done a better job writing this standard myself. Seriously, "secured Internet technologies" sounds very similar to my product line, Internet Secured Application Technology or ISAT. Which, by the way, is secured by design. All ISAT sites, banners, components are secured and have been since we developed the platform in 2002.
http://www.iab.net/standards/lead_generation.asp
Thank you IAB.
Labels: advertising 2.0, Internet Secured Application Technology, ISAT, online advertising, Online Marketing, Performance Communications Group
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Mis-sizing Ad Banners
Those that know me, know that one of my major concerns with display advertising is the functional failures introduced through the ad network as it relates to the serving bad code. Bad code in the form of failed redirects, java script errors and serving the wrong banner size. Today I found a great example of a publisher and advertiser deciding that they would purposefully create a mis-sized 'looking' banner that as it turns out contains a hidden expansion. A banking ad on PGATour.com, placed in the masthead, which typically contains a standard banner or leader board. The ad buy is actually a custom expansion ad that seems to be about 800x600, where the expansion state is open and empty. The visible element is a wide skyscraper, 160x600, with a delayed mouse over putting game. Since the banner is isolated in so much empty space, it just looks like a bad placement. If it takes me 5 sentences to describe the visual, you can guess its not going to end well.
In this case, both the publisher and advertiser (agency) are at fault for subjecting 100% of the audience to such a poor advertising integration. In fact, the custom size is so big, that many people will not even see the actual PGATour.com masthead without scrolling down. The expansion did not shrink down after a certain amount of time. Did I say this ad had no close button and was open for everyone? The worst part is that the 'pay-off' is a putt that goes outside of the skyscraper and into the expansion area. A 'cool' effect at the cost of everyones experience and thousands of extra media dollars.
So, who was the advertiser? My screen shots will not reveal the answer as the company logo is not displayed until after a completed putt and messaging animation. So, this branding banner, placed at an extravagant premium, does not even display the bank name and logo until after the user engages the ad for an extended time period to get the putt going and a delayed messaging animation. I'm repeating myself because I'm so stunned at how bad this execution is as I type it. Do I want to move my company banking to UBS?
In this case, both the publisher and advertiser (agency) are at fault for subjecting 100% of the audience to such a poor advertising integration. In fact, the custom size is so big, that many people will not even see the actual PGATour.com masthead without scrolling down. The expansion did not shrink down after a certain amount of time. Did I say this ad had no close button and was open for everyone? The worst part is that the 'pay-off' is a putt that goes outside of the skyscraper and into the expansion area. A 'cool' effect at the cost of everyones experience and thousands of extra media dollars.
So, who was the advertiser? My screen shots will not reveal the answer as the company logo is not displayed until after a completed putt and messaging animation. So, this branding banner, placed at an extravagant premium, does not even display the bank name and logo until after the user engages the ad for an extended time period to get the putt going and a delayed messaging animation. I'm repeating myself because I'm so stunned at how bad this execution is as I type it. Do I want to move my company banking to UBS?
Labels: advertising 2.0, Internet Secured Application Technology, ISAT, online advertising, Online Marketing, Performance Communications Group
Monday, September 10, 2007
New iPod Business Models
Last week's announcement about new iPods should not concentrate on the new devices only. What was also introduced was Apple's entry into both the ring tone business and software distribution business. As Steve Jobs indicated, 600,000 copies of iTunes has been distributed and now today's announcement of 1 million iPhones sold prove Apple's critical mass and credibility. Ring tones are a multi-billion dollar industry worldwide and games and software distribution is also in the billions. I planned on developing a custom ringtone feature within our ISAT Communications Center but could not navigate the licensing and formats.
Regardless another business model to review is the idea that Starbucks becomes a music destination. The iPhone and iPod Touch partnership provides in store commerce with specific store by store demographics. They become a 14,000 outlet radio station in 42 countries.
Regardless another business model to review is the idea that Starbucks becomes a music destination. The iPhone and iPod Touch partnership provides in store commerce with specific store by store demographics. They become a 14,000 outlet radio station in 42 countries.
Labels: advertising 2.0, Internet Secured Application Technology, ISAT, online advertising, Online Marketing, Performance Communications Group
