TOTAL Perspective
March 2008
The Buzz Word Now Is 'Integration'
Integrate: mixing, incorporate, complete (imperfect thing) by addition of parts; combine (parts) into a whole; indicate value and total sum of.
The 'now' word on every Marketeer and Advertiser's lips is 'integration' ...in particular, media integration.
There are many industry reasons and issues as to why this term is at the forefront of every marketing brief.
The major drivers are:
- Increase of media channels and audience fragmentation. One example of this is the launch of High Definition TV which has created more choice and therefore, further fragmentation of the FTA TV audience.
- The traditional mass media broadcast is being replaced by 'media for me'.
With new technologies such as Foxtel IQ and PVRs (Personal Video Recorders ie. TiVo), audiences can control what, when, how and where they consume their choice of media. - Clutter and efficacy. Media consumers interacting with more than one media channel at the same time, the use of DVR units (Digital Video Recorder) plus the sensory overload of different communication messages across many different advertising platforms, means that advertisers must 'engage' their audience rather than disrupt or intrude.
- A greater emphasis on media accountability and focus on ROI (Return On Investment).
- Market demand, from agencies and clients for better integrated media and campaign solutions.
- Consolidation and capitalisation of assets by media owners. With the increase of internet usage and the slow decline of FTA TV, radio, newspaper and magazine consumption (see YOY media consumption comparison chart below), media corporations such as PBL and Yahoo7/Pacific Magazines are consolidating resources. This enables them to offer an integrated platform across all available assets to secure advertising dollars rather than potentially losing out across their individual holdings.
By definition, an integrated media strategy will use several layers of activity and creative concepts. To execute an effective integrated campaign, a media agency needs to work closely with their client and the media, with the sole objective of 'engaging the target market'.
Following, are two examples of an integrated campaign which delivered an effective result for the client.
1. The Soul Surfari
SOUL Communications were looking for a creative media solution to drive brand awareness, while providing much needed cut-through in the cluttered telecommunications category.
A promotion was created which offered consumers the chance to win an all inclusive week-long surfing trip to the Mentawai and Balinese islands when they signed up to SOUL.
This promotion was advertised via Magazines, TV, Internet and Retail Point of Sale.
A TV Presenter and crew filmed the winners on the SOUL SURFARI, providing SOUL with an hour-long documentary which was screened on Channel 9, Fox Sports, Fuel TV, Virgin Blue In-Flight and SOUL In-Store TV.
This integrated campaign meant that the SOUL brand was delivered across multiple levels; SOUL naming rights throughout the documentary, SOUL branding throughout the filming on the presenters clothing, surf boards, mobile phone stickers, the SOUL jingle sung by Balinese kids, SOUL logo incorporated in the graphics and advertisement breaks.
The SOUL SURFARI concept was developed to engage SOUL's target audience (All People 18-35 years) and reinforce the brand character of 'young, fun' and a 'passion for life'.
Brand cut through was delivered through the use of multiple levels of activity and achieved substantial results for SOUL Communications.
2. Freedom Air Kiwi Film Festival
Freedom Air, the low cost airline of Air New Zealand, was seeking advertising opportunities to generate ticket sales while maintaining sale profitability.
Realising that the audience's relationship with Freedom Air was more about the destination than the journey, opened an opportunity to create an event which attracted the target audience rather than seeking the audience through traditional media channels.
So, the three day 'Kiwi Film Festival' was conceived and created. Logan, a satellite city of Brisbane was chosen as the location following research which identified the city as having a large number of ex-pat New Zealanders and strong family profile.
Freedom Air branding was integrated throughout the event which included a specially created retail element - an on-ground live Freedom Air booking office. Bookings for Freedom Air would normally be made on-line however the presence of a booking office at the event capitalised on the mood of the Festival goers and turned nostalgia into concrete bookings.
A partnership with the local station 92.5 GOLD FM, was organised to assist with raising awareness and drive attendance to the festival. This partnership also reinforced the Kiwi nostalgia theme with a competition which tested listeners' New Zealand music knowledge and a chance to win a return trip for two on Freedom Air, $200 cash and a Kiwi food basket.
A month prior to the event, 50,000 flyers were distributed throughout the Logan area via letterbox drops to homes, community clubs and sporting groups, local Kiwi businesses and promotional staff hand outs at selected shopping centers.
This integrated media campaign capitalized on different aspects of a special event, a radio partnership and direct mail which went to the heart of the target market and helped bring in pleasing results for Freedom Air.
"Revenue results following the January promotional period surpassed all expectations with double the number of sector passengers sold from QLD.
Based on the results of this inaugural event, we are definitely considering making it an annual occasion."
Mark Street
Marketing and Communications Manager Australia
Air New Zealand/ Freedom Air
Total Comment
Integration is now a necessity for any marketer or advertiser when seeking to reach an increasingly fractured and discerning target audience.
The key is to 'engage' your target audience across multiple and relevant media platforms to ensure that your brand has cut through in today's cluttered advertising environment. The result is generally a better return on investment.
Advertisers should work closely with their media agency to develop creative media strategies and explore fully integrated media campaigns to ensure that their target market is reached to maximum effect, through their chosen channels of engagement.
Prepared by:
Georgina Black, Business Manager
TOTAL Advertising & Communications
For more information contact:
Barry O'Brien, CEO
TOTAL Advertising & Communications
P: 02 8514 8514, E: barryob@totaladv.com.au
December 2007
AMBIENT MEDIA - The Untapped Channel
Ambient Media includes a diverse range of advertising that is pushing creative boundaries and creating greater public awareness and media recognition across many locations.
So what is Ambient Media?
Ambient Media refers to almost any kind of advertising that occurs in some non-traditional medium outside the home. It wasn't until the late nineties that this form of advertising began to immerge and took on the term 'Ambient Media'. A far cry from the traditional TVCs and print ads, Ambient Media has developed leaps and bounds in diversity and usage over the years.
Types of Ambient...
Urinal stickers, street-theatre-like mock scrums and footwalk chalking are some of the more creative areas of 'Ambient Advertising'.
Car park receipts, items at the bottom of golf holes, on hanging straps in railway carriages, shopping trolley handles, sides of egg cartons, skywriting, hot air balloons, vespas, mobile billboards, walking & talking LCD screens, 3D holograms, coffee cups & lunch bags, pizza boxes, petrol pumps, washroom advertising, boom gates, bar coasters, 50m high images - the list goes on!
Below are some captivating Ambient Media executions:
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Vespas
- Fun and attractive medium, best used in groups of three in the built up areas of major capital cities.
- Vespas can target a specific market in each city by stopping in populated areas.
- Sampling is definitely possible however permits may be required.
- Circulating in the morning or afternoon sessions (5 hours), their billboard trailers are visibly illuminated.
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Mobile Billboards
- Large format 6mx3m on back of trucks
- Drivers can take them anywhere in the 8hr shift & will stop wherever possible
- They can be backlit for evening and night activity
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Vizoo 3D Holograms
- Vizoo is the latest Ambient product - the future in outdoor advertising
- With Vizoo you can create the perfect illusion; a free-floating hologram which looks true to life.
- Clients are guaranteed plenty of attention, publicity and a place in the consumer's mind.
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Fill-board
- Fill-board is a high quality PVC unit that slips over the petrol nozzle.
- The ad has 100% hands-on interaction with the customer at the time of use.
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Aerial Advertising
- Standard sky writing, big-plane beachside banner towing, helicopter banners, and even branded parachutes, hot air balloons and inflatables.
- When you hear a plane you instinctively look up - aerial advertising is an attention grabbing medium that strikes people away from home and work.
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Boom-Ad
- A network of large sized advertising sleeves on the entry and exit gates at selected car parks and toll gates.
- Venues can include; toll gates at major highways, major shopping centres, car parking stations and more.
- Provides branding whilst capturing sales right at the entrance to shopping centres.
Since its introduction into the Australian market over eight years ago, Ambient Media has seen a steady increase in activity.
Lack of research in the early years regarding the accountability of Ambient Media, compared to other mediums such as TV, left some advertisers and agencies in some doubt as to its effectiveness.
However, as the choice and scope of Ambient Media grows, more advertisers are becoming aware of its cost effectiveness and its ability to target 'time-poor' demographics.
John Welch, General Manager, Ambient Advertising said, "It's all about finding the hard-to-finds in their own environment."
Despite the lack of research and figures in recent years, various clients have positioned offers or forms of consumer interaction as a means of measuring its viability and accountability.
One such client represented by TOTAL is Banana Boat Sunscreen. A key aspect of every Banana Boat campaign is trying to get samples of the product in the hand of the consumer in a bid to obtain trial and re-purchase. For this client, Ambient Media complemented the television and radio activity by accessing strategic street vehicles and mobile billboards which took the Banana Boat product to relevant beachside locations. Over the course of a summer, over 70,000 samples were distributed via this medium.
Ambient Media continues to act as an effective medium when targeting the hard to reach youth market, particularly over the warmer months. This demographic in particular is now more aware of this relatively new channel of advertising and expects to be targeted with bold and clever strategies.
Michelle Jefferies, General Manager, Australian Ambient Solutions, likes to call Ambient Media "the fun part of advertising". Warmer months are a stronger period as more people are out and about, but winter has seen a steady increase in activity for markets such as film, alcohol and fashion labels."
The Future of Ambient Media
Ambient Media has a long way to go in gaining a larger share of Australia's total media spend however, the category is well positioned for strong growth in the future.
Mark Vincent, Account Manager, Ambient Advertising believes "if overseas markets are anything to go by, Ambient will continue to grow and weave its way into the strategies and plans of many more clients in the future".
The following are two case studies which illustrate the power and effectiveness of Ambient Advertising.
Case Study #1 - Red Bull
Distribution in forecourt stores was difficult for Red Bull, with so many other soft drinks on offer. Red Bull wanted to increase awareness of their product, improve forecourt distribution and build sales so, they undertook an Ambient campaign involving 'Fill-Boards' targeting motorists.
The 'Fill-Board' campaign allowed for Red Bull's creative to slip over a petrol nozzle to hit motorists when re-filling their vehicles.
The campaign lasted just over two months. The first month of activity included 2000 sites, with the second month designed specifically to counter one of their largest competitor's, Lucozade. In one month, Red Bull outsold Lucozade and by the second month Red Bull achieved sales parity, despite heavy TV advertising by its competitor.
A test sample of 180 sites was monitored. Only three were existing stockists, their sales increased by 167%, 180% and 530% respectively. At the conclusion of the campaign 152 sites were stocking Red Bull, all by their own choice. In one month Red Bull outsold Lucozade.
Harry Drnec, Managing Director, Red Bull claims, "that advertising on Fill-Board was directly responsible for increasing distribution in the forecourt sector from 4% to 40%."
Case Study #2 - Eurostar
Eurostar (the official travel partner for the movie Da Vinci Code) wanted to simply drive people to the website www.jointhequest.com where they could enter a competition and learn more about Eurostar. They decided to use Ambient Media to achieve greater cut-through and create intrigue and viral awareness amongst consumers.
Both Light Projections and Street Chalking were used together to reach the prospective consumers.
Light Projections were illuminated in several high traffic areas targeting both motorist and pedestrians in Sydney and Melbourne. These were strategically placed where there was a lot of waiting time such as traffic lights.
The Street Chalking campaign allowed for the website to be chalked anywhere with heavy flow of pedestrians. Sites included train stations, bus stops, George Street (Syd CBD), shopping centres and many more.
The campaign was a huge success across both forms of Ambient Media delivering hundreds of thousands of visits on the website.
Ricky Sharma, Eurostar Marketing Manager said "Working with Ambient Media proved to be a smooth and professional experience. We were very happy with the speedy turnaround of quite complex ideas. We're confident that the creative not only achieved cut-through and disrupted the market, but also provided a great deal of intrigue and talkability amongst consumers."
TOTAL COMMENT
The choice and scope of Ambient Media has grown substantially in the past ten years and offers advertisers an increasing number of options for brand recognition.
Recognising cost effectiveness and ability to reach a target market means advertisers are feeling more confident about including Ambient Media in their media schedule.
Following the pattern of growth seen in the UK, Australian Ambient Media is definitely a medium to watch and consider as part of a media schedule in the future.
Prepared by:
Bill Luu, Account Manager and
Prue Ellis, Account Manager,
TOTAL Advertising & Communications
For more information contact:
Barry O'Brien, CEO
TOTAL Advertising & Communications
P: 02 8514 8514, E: barryob@totaladv.com.au