Outdoor Advertising Trend in Lebanon

What's up with advertising copy cats in Lebanon? As soon as one advertisement catches on, the whole advertising industry follows its footsteps.

Can someone PLEASE explain to me what's the message behind a fashionable woman shopping for ... groceries?!

We have seen it for Eatalian ("fashionable modern cuisine", is it?), C & F (perfumes and cosmetics) with the message "live out loud", and for yet another Italian fashion brand *which name I cannot recall* (the unipole was located around Sin el Fil- Baouchrieh).

Did anyone else pick this trend up?

The Creative Work's Effect on Ads

Mike Bendixen, in a research entitled "Advertising effects and effectiveness", argues that the creative work has no effect on the magnitude of an advertising campaign; as the latter is only affected by the frequency of use of the medium in question.

As I stop to assimilate his research findings, I cannot help but pause thoughtfully. If indeed creativity does not in any way compensate on frequency; how can smaller campaigns, at times, get better response?

I would have to disagree in parts to the way the finding is presented. "Magnitude" by definition refers to the size. Thus obviously we are talking about frequency and reach. However, the way I see it, good creative work helps support the campaign in magnitude too, and is not merely a tool that dictates the efficiency of the campaign, as Bendixen seems to put it.

How? A good creative work stimulates the brain. It can be humor, it can be shock, simply beauty or even creativity. Whatever it is, it increases the magnitude exponentially as it is bound to create word of mouth.

Thus, I would not go against what has been stated by Bendixen. The magnitude within the medium in question is not affected by the creative work. Yes. The same medium will not multiply simply because the work is good. However, the medium will shift to incorporate other mediums which consequently would create a greater magnitude.

There, lies the beauty of marketing, the art of efficiently allocating budgets to maximize return by juggling not only the financials but also the qualitative.

*food for thought*

21 December 2012

I am extremely amused and I want to share the fun!!

I don't know if you are yet familiar with the whole propaganda surrounding the end of the world... Here's the scoop. Rumors are spreading on the world wide web that the end of the world is coming on December 21st 2012.

This propaganda coincides with a movie being launched that revolves around this topic... and yes, I don't believe in coincidence.

Do you remember the Blair Witch Project's marketing stunt? They filmed a trailer that seemed so real and fooled so many that it spread like fire over the internet. The entire marketing strategy revolved around cheap and fake publicity which made the movie extremely popular.

Back to the new movie launch: "2012".

The end of the world concerns everyone. What better message can create word of mouth, and what better medium to spread false rumors than the undictated web?

A great stunt of "mischief marketing" as Ray Simon would put it, and I would argue that it is more successful than the Blair Witch Project... With 8 million viewers so far, the "December 21 2012 THE END" is not doing so bad on youtube.

Rules of SEVEN

Hands-off marketing if you are not a marketer!

You won't see an sportsman working on accounting, or an accountant fixing the television. Why the hell does everyone feels he can get involve when it comes down to marketing?!

Things CAN and DO go wrong! In the name of all those who have to sit quiet and watch their campaigns get smashed by the decision maker:

GENERAL GUIDELINES

1-Make use of white space. It makes the eye more at ease and your ad more attractive.
2-Let the borders breathe. Always leave a margin.
3-Beware misspellings in the text.
4-Beware misinforming the public.
5-What is a beautiful piece of work without an audience? The medium is key.
6-Use integrated marketing communication; convene the same message, with the same soul.
7-Present the logo properly, always follow the guidelines set for its identity

OUTDOOR

1- Outdoor bookings should be done early on. NO you cannot wait for a better price, unless you're ready to deal with the worst locations.
2-Locations are to be chosen wisely, avoid locations in the middle of nowhere, avoid advertising clutter, avoid that tree blocking the view but mostly avoid the panels that are parallel to the road, they need to have a minimum tilted angle.
3- PLEASE outdoor advertising cannot handle a three paragraph text, in fact, it cannot even fit a three sentence text!! You want your ad to reach the audience? Try three to seven words; and that's that.
4-The logo HAS to be big enough. What is visible on your pc is not necessarily visible on the roads. No general rules. It all depends on the logo's font and recognition ratios.
5-Too many items in the picture might seem to offer a better understanding of your goal; do NOT be fooled, too many items in the picture equal no picture at all to the passers by. Keep it clean and simple, use a human character if you can, otherwise make it a very intriguing picture.
6- DO use sans serif fonts. Those like Times New Roman are less readable from distance.
7-Consider the use of eye catching colors like red, orange or yellow for the background. (However, the effectiveness of these colors is highly dependent on the surroundings)

DAILIES

1- When booking in a newspaper, choose your ad location wisely. You don't want a festive ad next to the picture of a mourning woman.
2-A quarter page size is ideal in terms of value. GO for it when possible.
3-Better one ad in the front or back page than three in the middle.
4-Write concisely, and make it informative.
5-Consider the low resolution and bad printing quality, text and logos should be big enough and do not put 2 layers of the same color and expect it to be visible!
6-Use serif fonts, as they are more readable up close.
7-Always include a picture. It makes the ad more attractive.

TELEVISION

1-Some colors look better on TV, like purple and blue. Take this into account.
2-When it comes to animation, go slow enough to make the information graspable but fast enough not to make it boring.
3-Cut, cut and cut. It helps the eye keep its focus.
4-The brand should be mentioned prominently enough to be remembered; especially of the ad includes a lot of fluff and talk. In that case, increase the frequency.
5-Music is core. Make it relevant.
6-The choice of medium is very important. Take a keen look on the viewership ratings and assess your investment accordingly.
7-Choose your timing wisely, for a maximum viewership aim for news-time.

RADIO

1- Balads work greatly
2- Make the information concise so as not to lose the listener
3- Manage frequency effectively for optimum results
4- Music is crucial
5- Beware the pace of the speaker, leave room for breathing
6- Chose the right language to reach your audience
7- For optimum reach aim for rush-hours

MIT Arab Business Plan Marketing Campaign

The MIT Arab Business Plan campaign was a broad regionally-spread marketing effort to incite people to participate in an entrepreneurial competition. Thus the marketing message was action-oriented: register online. The participation is free of charge, thus it eliminates the pricing factor on the measuring of campaign effectiveness.

Yet, I was shocked to realize there was only 1,241 completed applications, better yet, of which only 266 qualified for grading? OK, so if you do not live in the Middle East, I understand that you are bedazzled at my surprise. However, you must understand that this campaign ran on a top national TV for months, was featured in newspapers, it was even paralleled with a television program and was supported by direct mailing and facebook targeted advertising.

Bad marketing?...

Real-Life Product Placement

"Product placement" is a term generally used for the act of paid brand visibility featured in a movie or TV series. However, the consumer is becoming more and more aware of this practice which makes it lose its effectiveness. The latest Jim Carrey movie "Yes Man" seems to have carried the Red Bull product placement a bit too far plotting the script of an entire scene around it, and mentioning the brandname several times in a row... OK!!! We understand it was paid for!!! Now STOP!!
That said, what consumers are less conscious about is the real-life product placement. I have noticed it, because, well, I am a marketing freak. However, this marketing is as subtle as effective.
In my opinion brands like Rolex have it down to an art: from placing their brand and retail stores in the most fascinating city streets (in Paris, Geneva, Milan...) to associating themselves to monumental items and high-end activities. What actually generated this article is the watch in the middle of down town Beirut. It has a big fat ROLEX logo on all four sides, and this was not the first time I notice a real-life product placement for this brand: at the golf center in Grenoble they had a big branded Rolex watch too. Of course, they also had Evian bottles (and I was wondering, since this was a mutually beneficial association, how discounted the products were).
This got me thinking about the advertising function. The ultimate aim of ads is to make you familiar with the brand and communicate a positive intuitive attitude towards it. The essence of this would be the strength of the brand recognition factor on our decision making process. This leads me to consider brands like Siemens, which are widely known, but not specifically for one industry. They've spread out on so many levels. The common ground? A brandname. This big product and services distribution network, although spread on different items, remains, in my opinion, the best marketing strategy. It provides an unintentional real-life product placement. The brand is familiar. It is recognized. The idea might be ambiguous as to what it represents, but the message and recognition is there. They mass-branded and generated a branding economies-of-scale effect not by production, nor by cost reduction, but rather by a shared branding initiative. By seeing the brandname and experiencing it, the public is more likely to remember it. The down side is: one bad experience with any of the related products would affect the opinion on all the lines. Thus, I suppose it takes a quality-oriented German engineering firm to pull this off. Kudos.

Google, eBay and Microsoft jump into cost-per-action sales

2008- the digital world was met with an escalating interest in pay-per-action advertising modules. The Internet big names are fighting for the web dollars. Google, eBay and Microsoft all embarked in this challenge. The news created shock-waves that promised to change the online advertising industry for good.
By the end of the year Google had retreated from it's pay-per-action plan while it was still in its betta version. Two "substitute" programs were introduced; none that equates or nearly replaces the initial plan.
Did they meet with failure? Perhaps, an obstacle that the world's top search engine was not able to defy? or were they scared to hamper or impede their current stable advertising revenue? Surely, shaking the industry in which you're on top could generate some odd repercussions on your company; had this risk suddenly come to surface?
The race is still on, as the cost-per-action plan is yet to reach utmost optimization and conquer the web. My say is: this is the future.

Play God

All the hype around Web 2.0 and interactive marketing is making me wonder: How good is this in building goodwill? It might generate word-of-mouth, possibly brand awareness... but what happens to the brand name?

If you're already big in the industry then this could be a good solution for you; but can smaller or medium sized companies resort to this marketing means effectively? Contrary to what the experts are saying, I think not.

A brand needs to be seen as an unaccessible superior power of some sort. To create a brand name, you cannot go to the consumer on a one on one basis. You should not come up as "human". Humans make mistakes.

However what the web 2.0 can actually provide is an all-knowing and all-seeing omni-potent presence to the company, that was never there before. Companies can now monitor their environment closely. Knowledge... that's what this information era is all about.

The industry lacks experience with new technologies, and I am afraid that many have gone wrong. Spamming is one offensive and detrimental mean that has previously been used under pretext that it provides measurable results. Pop-ups is another. Those have already been proven to be ineffective.
However, the inclusion of forums on official websites, or the company web logs and personal involvement of the corporation in these are quite demeaning. the brands are being downsized. If such activities are not carefully done, great damage can be caused.

By getting involved, you're making your brand "human"... and thus subject to criticism.

The correct way to deal with interactive marketing is to use it for information gathering, customer monitoring, catering to consumer needs and responding to critics. In two words, play God. Be the good, knowledgeable, capable God who answers prayers not yet formulated.