The Undeniable Value Of Branded Utility

Smart brands today recognize the power of BRANDED UTILITY - giving consumers something they actually need without demanding an immediate return. Branded utility is about creating something that people need.  Something that makes their life better, easier, or more efficient - any gadget, wearable, widget, app, or gizmo that the consumer believes extends real, tangible, value (and seamlessly integrates into existing platforms.)

This shift is largely because, for the same budget and energy as we expend on current forms of advertising, we could be making something more tangible, useful, relevant, and reusable that plays a far more integral part in the consumer's life.

1.     Stiegl Beer - Free public transportation ticket on beer bottles

2.     Vodafone – Pocket Power – clothes that charge smartphone

3.     Scrabble – Scrabble sponsored gamified (solve word puzzle) free WiFi

4.     IBM Smart outdoor advertising (curved billboards/poster doubles as seat, ramp, awning)

5.     Brazilian Blood Bank “Donor Cable” donates smartphone battery charge to a friend

6.     Audi Start-Stop app – uses the same start-stop energy saving principle in Audi cars to save battery life

7.     KLM Your Must-See Map – personalized travel map with friends tips

8.     Babolat Play + Connect – a connected racquet that tracks technique and performance

9.     Nike Golf 360 – Nike+ for golfers, score rounds, track stats, compete with friends

10.  Getty Images Watermark Projects – not just the logo on previews, but useful image information

11.  Ray Ban - Bright Light (Concept) – geo-locational app to find sunny spots in your city

12.  Starbucks Early Bird (concept) alarm app that rewards early risers with coffee discounts

13.  Adidas Runbase – branded showers and lockers near Tokyo subways stations

14.  KLM Meet and Seat - stalk people on Facebook and grab a seat next to them on a flight (perhaps not)

15.  Sherwin-Williams ColorSnap – app that produces paint palettes based on photos (Adobe Kuler for interior design)

16.  Clorox Glad – Trash Smart – app from trash bag brand that locates nearest recycling centres

17.  Kodak Picture Spot – real world signs showing photo opportunities (could an AR version of this have saved Kodak?)

18.  Betty Crocker TV – YouTube recipe channel

19.  Delta Bag Tracker – Fedex style tracking of your luggage

20.  Kalles Kaviar Egg Timer app - scan egg for info (provenance, metrics) and perfect cooking instructions

21.  Adidas miCoach – personal training app from Adidas

22.  Asics Marathoner app – personalized messages from supporters on billboards throughout course – triggered by RFID

23.  IKEA pop-up nap station – sleep pods for weary drivers on the autoroute - featuring IKEA beds

24.  Jimmy Fairly – French glasses brand take on TOM’s (buy one, give one)

25.  AT&T phone charging lockerbox

26.  Google wedding planner – uses Google tools to plan, budget, share a wedding

27.  Google person finder – used after Japan quake in 2011, helps people reconnect with friends and loved ones in the aftermath of natural and humanitarian disasters

28.  Nestlé Dessert – Chocolate recipe idea app

29.  Maruti Suzuki – Indian Suzuki car brand hosts second-hand buy/sell/exchange site

30.  MUJI productivity apps – branded calendar, notebook and travel apps

31.  Google Teach Parents Tech – helping children tech-educate parents

32.  Broke Bike Alley – bike shop metal business card that works as a bike spanner

33.  Diageo – cocktail recipe site featuring Diageo brands

34.  Nike+ – iOS running app, track performance and compete with friends

35.  Toms  - buy-one-give-one pioneer – shoes and glasses

36.  Virgin Atlantic taxi2 – app links up people to share cab from an airport

37.  Nestlé – Devenir maman – pregnancy guide app

38.  Puma - clever little bag, replacing bulky shoe boxes with bags

39.  Mini – roadside assistance app for Mini owners

40.  Kodak share button – didn’t save it from bankruptcy, but Kodak's 'share button' cameras was smart.

41.  Charmin -Looking for public restrooms when you are out and about? Search, view, rate, and add bathrooms.   

42.  Johnson & Johnson - Bedtime baby sleep app.

  
[ via Digital Intelligence Today ]  

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Goodbuzz is a digital agency based in Toronto, Canada. We help brands create and capture value from emerging trends in technology, society and the workplace. We prototype the future - and believe the best way to predict it - is to create it.  Follow us on Facebook or Twitter or if you have any questions contact Goodbuzz directly.

 

"The Next Level" – Nike Football's Branded Utility

While Nike had been gaining traction in soccer for years, it had been losing traction with advanced players, who tended to gravitate toward rivals such as Adidas as they moved into more-serious competition. The 2008 European Championships presented just the opportunity to change this perception.  Note:  This campaign is a few years old now, but would work as well today as the day it was launched.  Great ideas are great ideas.  Period.

What resulted was the kind of campaign (by 72andSunny) that proved that it doesn't take a big footprint to do great work that delivers results.  Moreover, this is also exactly what we mean when we talk about branded content and utility - brands creating something that is participatory and useful/valuable to their customers.

The centerpiece of the program was a striking, fast-paced two-minute film directed by Guy Richie, which shows one athlete's first-person view of taking his game to a higher and higher level (first person POV complete with pre-match vomiting and requests for autographs).

Taking the self improvement theme further, an online "boot camp" based on Nike's site provided video-based advanced training and skills regiments. The short film by Guy Ritchie featured superstars such as Cesc Fabregas, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo showing off dazzling skills, but positioned in the context of all the training it takes to get to the next level.

RESULTS
The effort drove 50 million unique visitors to Nike's site in six months, a total that doesn't include external websites such as YouTube, where one posting of Ritchie's film has drawn more than 4.2 million views. Print and outdoor executions focused on specific elite skills, and challenged readers as to whether they had them while also prominently referring them to the Nikefootball.com website.

Samsung’s "Shakedown" - Experiential Online Campaign (Sweden)

It’s a real challenge sometimes to come up with new, innovative ways to showcase products.   Especially in ways that reinforce the product attributes while extending entertainment and engagement.  Samsung (Sweden) had this task, but with their B2100 model.

Samsung’s B2100 mobile phones are both water resistant and built for durability.   Apparently the pack mule of the Samsung fleet, the B2100 seems to accept the premise that while “it may not be beautiful, it definitely works” (even if it takes a beating).

Samsung showcases this premise in it’s simplest form via a new campaign website (in Sweden) where users can win a free B2100.  There are multiple live video cameras filming an elevated surface scattered with mobile phones.  The premise is simple; seventy B2100’s mobiles with vibrate-mode enabled are placed on an elevated surface. If the phone rings, the vibration will naturally make the phone move across the surface.  Users therefore call the corresponding number (on the B2100 mobile) they are attempting to make fall off onto the elevated surface.  There were also strategically placed aquariums to avoid, but if the mobile falls on the concrete floor on the floor the caller won the phone.

This is a fun, innovative and immersive way for users to interact with a brand.  The Facebook integration minimally allowed users to extend to peers.  Just as an aside, a custom application for Facebook here could have really amplified the social activity, however we’re assuming this was all done on a minimal budget, so commend Samsung for the ingenuity.  It’s also buzz worthy so has a high viral appeal both on and offline. 

Check out the Samsung B2100 website and tell us what you think. 

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Goodbuzz Inc. is a Digital Ad Agency that creates social media campaigns that entice consumers to play, create, and share brand experiences. Note: Any / all product names mentioned in this document may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies and are hereby acknowledged.

FORD FIESTA’S HYPER-LOCAL PROMOTIONS MIX SOCIAL MEDIA + EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING

To drive excitement and sales leads for the North American launch of the 2011 Ford Fiesta, Ford has launched a multi-tiered program of events in four Northeast markets (New England, Philadelphia, the New York/Tri-state area and Washington, D.C.)

The Fiesta Northeast tour follows on the heels of the Fiesta Movement, the savvy, award-winning national campaign that put 100 agents behind the wheel of their own Fiesta for six months and had them document the experience on their social networks.

The local program consists of Ford-sponsored events such as Boston Red Sox Fans Days or Philadelphia’s Fiesta Rocks concert in September, sponsored in partnership with Live Nation. In addition, local pop-up events at dealerships, festivals and local businesses take place in each market. At both types of events, consumers can test-drive the vehicle with a FORD product specialist on a closed circuit TV and check out the voice-activated Sync technology. The best part?  Video cameras inside the cars capture the experience and upload content to thefordcast.com, Flickr, Twitter and the brand’s Facebook page.   The results?

The promotion effectively fosters conversation between the brand and consumers while generating buzz and feedback about the Fiesta.

Location-based Marketing

Four personalized Twitter accounts and FourSquare profiles update fans on where the tour is headed and share content. Consumers also are asked to check in on FourSquare or Gowalla and share their experiences via their own Twitter and Facebook accounts.

To individualize the experience, the tour developed a personality for each of the four markets that reflects the unique target consumer in those areas. Three dedicated vehicles and a road crew of six to eight people travelled to each market.

The Target

Trendy, hipster Tri-State residents who frequent art museums and weekend farmers markets, for example, test drive the Fiesta Lime Squeeze Hatch, Blue Flame Hatch and Tuxedo Black Sedan, which have been detailed with “tattoos” to reflect the personality of this market.  Sporty, spirited, proud Philadelphia folk who jog in the park or escape to the beach on weekends, on the other hand, try out an appropriately decorated Lime Squeeze Hatch, Blue Flame Hatch and the Red Candy Sedan.  New Englanders are casual, fun-loving and outdoorsy types; Washington, D.C. residents are preppy, connected and in the know.

Throughout the tour, Ford is giving away four new Fiestas, one in each market, to consumers who attend an event, support social media or sign up on thefordcast.com.  Props to agency: Mr. Youth based in New York City. While it may be hard for some to get excited about Ford's Fiesta per se, this integrated campaign tries hard to break through with a strong mix of above the line activities/support (TV/Print/Radio) - and more to our interests - a strong hyper-local promotional strategy, automated participatory/social media elements, PR 2.0., Experiential and location-based marketing.    

Solid work all round, however, a few elements would have amplified activities further.  Leveraging emerging technology, adding YouTube UGC/ stronger viral video activity, and most importantly employing (more sophomoric) HUMOUR (perfect for this target audience defined).  Just imagine if FORD had married their campaign with something like Mekanism's work for Toyota ("Your Other You") http://bit.ly/1yJ2qi  Something that would allow users to personalize a Fiesta in a clever, intelligent (and viral way) whereby users want to share the Fiesta with their friends (regardless of the branded content) because it's so cool and fun.   Agency: JWT Team Detroit, Action Marketing Group, Undercurrent.

More on FORD's Fiesta Movement.

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Goodbuzz Inc. is a Digital Ad Agency that creates social media campaigns that entice consumers to play, create, and share brand experiences. Note: Any / all product names mentioned in this document may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies and are hereby acknowledged.

  

Social Media Case Studies [SEPT-GB_V7.0]

NASA is using their blog to feature a contest to choose the playlist for their wake up anthems during their next voyage.  - NASA Blog

The Boston Celtics' discuss the success of the Celtics Facebook application game in growing their e-mail database.  - DMNews

Puma's new social ad campaign features a 60 second spot and a microsite that blends both Puma-created content and user-generated content.  - Puma

Groupon's recent Gap offer proved to be its most successful yet. The campaign utilized Twitter's "Earlybird Offers" special of the day and Gap's Facebook "Likers" to relay the offer.  - ClickZ

AT&T is partnering with game startup SCVNGR to launch a social game-based reward program with goofy challenges that lets users win points for redemption at the carrier's stores.  - MediaPost

Coca-Cola’s Experiential Marketing uses special bracelets that transmit RFID signals and integrates Facebook's "Like" feature in real life.  - AdLand

Quaker Oats' new campaign, "Does your breakfast make you amazing?" teams up with the co-host of NBC's The Biggest Loser, Bob Harper, to engage Facebook fans in a dialog about their breakfast.  - Brandweek

Carnival Cruise Lines is the first in the cruise industry to launch a Facebook application that allows users to engage their social network in their vacation planning when shopping for cruises.  - MediaPost

Hyundai's Experiential Marketing Manager, discusses how Hyundai's "Uncensored" testimonial campaign is rooted in social media.  - ClickZ

Ford's unconventional virtual unveiling of the 2011 Ford Explorer on Facebook resulted in a larger increase of customer engagement than other automakers' top Super Bowl ads.  - MediaPost

Heineken (Italy) punks soccer fans and pull off the perfect mix of experiential marketing, PR 2.0., sophomoric humor and participatory media. – YouTube

IKEA's Facebook "Showroom" Viral Promotion - The mission was to create something engaging that would have the potential of spreading by itself  - YouTube

Zugara's Augmented Reality (AR) & Motion Capture refines Shopping - YouTube

Eurostar Crowsourced Guide to the Continent is an impressive crowd sourced platform that acts as a guide to all the European destinations accessible by their client Eurostar's high speed rail service– Contagious

VAIL launches the biggest thing to hit the SKI industry since bindings and sets new benchmark – Goodbuzz

"Tune Out" The Noise with Altoids new App - Tune Out—an iPhone, Android and desktop application (developed by Big Spaceship) cuts down on the digital noise and lets fans keep up with their favorite friends – and ONLY their favorite friends. – Big Spaceship

Looking for more Social/ Participatory Media Case Studies?  Check out:

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Goodbuzz Inc. is a Toronto-based Digital Ad Agency that creates social media campaigns that entice consumers to play, create, and share brand experiences. Visit Goodbuzz or join the conversation on Facebook.  Note: Any / all product names mentioned in this document may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies and are hereby acknowledged.

Integrating Experiential and Social Marketing Part 2 – Target’s Kaleidoscopic Fashion Spectacular Promotion

Experiential Marketing is all about orchestrating memorable events for customers, and that memory itself (the sensory brand "experience") becomes the product.  As it relates to social/participatory media, many savvy brands are finding novel, compelling ways of integrating social media with live brand experiences. An excellent example is Target’s Kaleidoscopic Fashion Spectacular Promotion.

The Challenge?  How to promote Target’s fall fashion line of clothing in a way where people will take notice?  How to create buzz around the event and share it with people around the world?   All while leveraging PR 2.0 and emerging technologies?

Target teamed up with Mother N.Y. and the resulting event is tonight in New York City at the Standard Hotel.  The event will debut a massive indoor/outdoor spectacular to promote the store's fall line of clothing.  Starting at 9 pm, 155 rooms on the south side of the Standard will become the stage for a massive choreographed light and dance show. 66 dancers will perform in the windows against 156 LED lights, while models strut along an outdoor catwalk on the street below—all clad in autumn threads from Target outfitters like Mossimo, Merona, Converse and Liz Lange

An original soundtrack by Squeak E. Clean, a.k.a. Sam Spiegel, performed by a 30-piece orchestra and 10-person chorus, will accompany the twenty-minute performance. It gets better.  Viewers who can see the show but are not close enough to hear the music clearly will be able to call into a special number (866-500-5046) for the audio.

For those not in New York, Target will be broadcasting the event on its Facebook page starting at 8:30pm EST. There, viewers can also get a taste of things to come with some quirky clue videos (like this, this or this) teasing tonight's show.


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Goodbuzz® is a Toronto-based Digital Agency that creates participatory media campaigns that entice consumers to play, create, and share brand experiences.  This is accomplished by focusing on developing "branded utility" - moving away from interruptive 'push' models towards more meaningful ways of connecting. From simple metrics to actionable insights that enable data-driven marketing decisions - Goodbuzz links social media efforts to business outcomes. Visit Goodbuzz or join us on Facebook. Any / all product names mentioned in this document may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies and are hereby acknowledged.

THE 22 IMMUTABLE LAWS OF BRANDING

1. EXPANSION - The power of a brand is inversely proportional to its scope.
2. CONTRACTION - A brand becomes stronger when you narrow its focus.
3. PUBLICITY - The birth of a brand is achieved with publicity, not advertising.
4. ADVERTISING - Once born, a brand needs advertising to stay healthy.
5. THE WORD - A brand should strive to own a word in the mind of the consumer.
6. CREDENTIALS - The crucial ingredient in the success of any brand is its claim to authenticity
7. QUALITY - Quality is important, but brands are not built on quality alone.
8. CATEGORY - A leading brand should promote the cateogry, not the brand.
9. NAME - In the long run a brand is nothing more than a name.
10. EXTENSIONS - The easiest way to destroy a brand is to put its name on everything.
11. FELLOWSHIP - In order to build the category, a brand should welcome other brands.
12. THE GENERIC - One of the fastest routes to failure is giving a brand a generic name.
13. THE COMPANY - Brands are brands. Companies are companies. There is a difference.
14. SUB-BRANDS - What branding builds, subbranding can destroy.
15. SIBLINGS - There is a time and a place to launch a second brand.
16. SHAPE - A brand's logotype should be designed to fit the eyes. Both eyes.
17. COLOUR - A brand should use a color that is the opposite of its major competitor's.
18. BORDERS - There are no barriers to global branding. A brand should know no borders.
19. CONSISTENCY - A brand is not built overnight. Success is measured in decades, not years.
20. CHANGE - Brands can be changed, but only infrequently and only very carefully.
21. MORTALITY - No brand will live forever. Euthanasia is often the best solution.
22. SINGULARITY - The most important aspect of a brand is its single-mindedness.

  The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding are by Al Reis.