Current Events
Online campaign influences Mattel to produce bald Barbie for cancer-stricken youth.
The evolution of the Barbie Doll has been drastic since it first hit the children’s toy scene in the late 1950s. Since its launch, Barbie has had to combat multiple lawsuits and negative press about the unrealistic body image the dolls could be inflicting on young girls. Even with these public relations issues, the doll is one of the most successfully marketed children’s toys in history with hugely successful campaigns like its 50th Birthday in New York Fashion Week and the viral Ken and Barbie break-up social media campaign that had the whole world waiting for them to be reunited. Barbie was even listed as one of Time Magazine’s 100 All-Time Greatest Toys.
Mattel and Barbie are now taking another step forward in strategic marketing and more importantly, in promoting a positive self-image for children who need it most. Mattel announced on March 27th on their Facebook page that in 2013 they will be producing a bald friend of Barbie. This announcement comes off the heels of a parent-organized campaign on Facebook and change.org to produce such a doll to help young girls cope with their loss of hair from cancer treatments or other diseases, which some doctors have said can be just as traumatic as the diagnosis itself.
With over 157,000 fans on Facebook this campaign caused quite the stir and eventually caught the attention of Mattel executives. An excerpt from their announcement states, “Play is vital for children, especially during difficult times. We are pleased to share with our community that next year we will be producing a fashion doll, that will be a friend of Barbie, which will include wigs, hats, scarves and other fashion accessories to provide girls with a traditional fashion play experience.”
These dolls will not be available in stores, but with Mattel’s partnership with the Children’s Hospital Association they will be given directly to those girls who are most effected by hair loss. Although Mattel will not be directly profiting from these dolls, as a marketer I can imagine the positive press Mattel will receive and the huge impact this will have on Barbie’s, sometimes debatable, image.
As a company who has been directly affected by cancer and works to raise money for cancer treatment efforts, we hope these iconic dolls can boost the confidence and brighten the attitudes of the brave young girls fighting this fight.
Celebrating Michigan Stem Awareness Week.
Did you know that March 25th is the kickoff date for Michigan STEM Awareness Week? You’re probably wondering what is STEM and what does it have to do with me? Well, STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. It turns out that STEM occupations are the highest paying, fastest growing, most influential jobs of the future to drive economic growth and innovation. Which we all know is important for the State of Michigan. Michigan STEM Awareness Week is being sponsored by the STEM Alliance of Michigan (SAM). I had the pleasure of working with these forward thinking folks on a TV spot to promote STEM education awareness. Working with the kids featured in the spot was too much fun, they were spontaneous, charming and hilarious. It’s times like this that I love my job. A job I couldn’t do without my MAC and technology. So learn more about the good stuff going on during Michigan STEM Awareness Week, March 25-31. How will you build STEM awareness? Start by sharing the spot with your family, friends and social networks. I did.
Celebrating International Women's Day.
When marketing to women it’s important to understand their influence when it comes to decision-making. Today is International Women’s Day, so we’re taking time to acknowledge and celebrate the accomplishments women have made around the world.
2011 marked a huge step forward for women professionally. For the first time in history women hold more than 1 of 10 board seats internationally. This may sound like a small number, but it was less than a century ago that women didn’t even have the right to vote. What does this mean for marketers? Now, not only are women a powerful audience to target for purchase decisions in the home, but they are becoming a growing target as business decision-makers as well. Also, women are now in the position to overtake men in the American workforce. With statistics like these it’s only a matter of time until women hold even more of the boardroom influence.
Personally, I’m proud to work in an era that offers opportunities for women to thrive and grow in our careers. And remember, next time you're working on a new campaign or business pitch to keep the female perspective in mind, as there may be a woman sitting on the Board of Directors.
Brogan & Partners featured for our mistake of the month.
I just finished reading “Start Something That Matters” written by founder of TOMS shoes Blake Mycoskie. I picked up the book after learning that Brogan & Partners was featured in a call-out box. Blake recognized us for our long-standing tradition of honoring mistake of the month with a $50 reward. Each month at our agency meeting, while celebrating our hero of the month and our BVP (Brogan Values Perfectionista), we also share the mistake of the month. The only rule—you have to nominate yourself. Celebrating mistake of the month has helped contribute to our open and honest culture while also helping others to avoid making the same mistakes.
This is just one of the many traditions that makes our company truly great. When I walked in the doors 18 years ago, I never dreamt that I’d be working for the same company today but what I’ve found inside our walls is a spirit and an energy that inspires me every day. Whether it’s helping a company with a branding reboot, building a snowman for the Friendship Circle, raising money for breast cancer, walking for the Rainbow Connection or holding a party to benefit FORCE, our Board of Directors and employees are continuously thinking about how they can make a difference in this world. In our day to day worlds, we are working with our clients to make a difference in their companies—some of which we’ve worked with for over 20 years. This year we celebrated our 27th year in business and we are looking forward to the next 27 years. Big thanks to our clients, friends, neighbors and employees who are the reason we are able to continue doing great work. Wishing all of you much success in 2012 and beyond.
Using social media to cut through Christmas chaos.
This time of year is all about tradition. Pulling out your heirloom ornaments and tree. Making batch after batch of your mom's beloved Christmas cookies or your grandmother's famous potato peirogis.
And let's not forget the traditional poring over your to-do list or standing in line at the post office. The menu-making and scheduling, the decorating, angsting about gift choices, and baking.
Of course, part of what's magic about this time of year is the old-fashioned, high-effort "homemadeness" of it all. So, if you and all your forbears have always made (and chilled and rolled and cut) your own sugar cookie dough, by all means, do it again this year.
But when it comes to some of your other tasks, using social media can help you break with tradition -- and give yourself a break with some (classy) hoilday helpers.
The first that leaps to mind comes from one of our clients, The HoneyBaked Ham Company. Being the youngest of three, I've never actually had to host my own holiday dinner, or make my own ham, but why would I? HoneyBaked is a win-win timesaver. Not only is the ham made for you, it's a venerable brand that has become its own tradition. So you can serve it without a twinge of guilt (and send your husband to pick it up!)
What's another high-maintenance holiday staple? The gingerbread house. That's a lot of candy-gathering, baking, and building for something you're not even going to eat. But buying a pre-fab kit can feel a little lame.
The solution? Google your local cooking schools for a house-making class like this one. You get all the fun of building the house with your child and bringing it home, while the instructors assemble the supplies and clean up the mess afterwards!
Finally, there's the shopping. By now, we're all weary of both the shops, the parking lots and the endless internet. (Do I really need 1,130 choices to buy my sister a nice clutch purse?)
That's why I've begun to let the internet do the shopping for me. In addition to Pinterest which we've mentioned here before, there are a growing number of websites that not only curate a small collection of high-end gift chocies for you, they also offer deals. Here are just a few of my favorites:
And by the way, if all this inspires you to ditch those DIY sugar cookies, I've got just the thing for you -- pre-baked and ready for a photo-op-worthy decorating session.
Have you found online routes to cutting corners without cutting the class this season? Share your intel in the comments!
Is Spirit Airlines a winner or weiner?
The holy grail of marketing is going viral. But to go viral are companies willing to sell their souls, common sense and sell off the audience that could most likely make them money? It seems that is Spirit Airline’s marketing strategy. And it sounds like a weiner of an idea to me. A co-worker of mine recently got their “Want to see our weiner?” eblast campaign. She was shocked and offended. So was I. Capitalizing on “Weinergate” it looks like Spirit was trying to nab some keyword searches and capitalize on this recent Capitol Hill sex scandal. But what I found more scandalous was that Spirit has a long marketing history of being sexist, sophomoric, insensitive and inappropriate with a M.I.L.F campaign and Gulf Oil Spill campaign (their humorous twist of turning an environmental tragedy into suntan oil on a woman’s well-endowed breasts.) And even funnier to me, is that Spirit would overlook the fact that 70% of travel decisions are made by women according to a travel article highlighting Mary Beth Bond, a leading travel expert. Looking for online outrage or at the very least backlash, I was also surprised that Spirit Airlines is barely on Facebook (are they afraid of a real conversation with consumers?) But I did find a Boycott Spirit Airlines fan page. So I guess if frat boys and male bloggers are your target audience, they are on target. I just don’t understand how that will fill seats on an airplane? So as an advertising creative director, I am confused. As a woman, I am offended. And as a consumer, I’m not buying Spirit.
Innovative social media being used for the greater good.
I had a thought yesterday as I was updating my Facebook status... what does my profile convey to the social media world? All of us with a Facebook or Twitter have some sort of online personality... whether you have 50 or 2,000 friends you have some level of presence, and that presence shows your personality (good or bad, truth or lie). But what about those people or causes whose online presence reaches the masses in order to evoke change or ignite social movements? Look at how President Obama created a sense of connection and engagement by tapping into social networks during his presidential campaign. It was an online movement that created offline behavior; producing youth voter turnout that arguably may have supplied the margin of his victory. Twitter and other social media platforms were flooded with links, images and information about the political crisis in Egypt. Did Twitter play a part in the resignation of Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak? Just last week, an online petition emerged to help save lives in Uganda’s homosexual community after the Ugandan Parliament’s attempt to re-introduce an “Anti-Homosexuality” bill that would sentence Ugandan homosexuals to death. As soon as word broke of this bill, an international community jumped to social media to sign petitions and protest the bill.
Social media started with people writing down their thoughts, then evolved to agencies like ours who engage consumers in a conversation about a product or brand. Now it’s gone even further and is being used to mobilize change all over the world. We realize the influence social media can have on people and how it engages consumers in a way that was never possible before. This is why it is important for a social media component to be part of most media plans. If not, your product, brand or cause may be missing out on a valuable conversation.
When is the last time you took part in an important social media conversation?
The Royal Wedding: Media, Marketing, and Matrimony.
Tiaras, the royal family and a fairytale happy ending fit for a queen (or a future princess in this case); it’s a dream come true for not only Kate Middleton, but for media and marketers alike. In less than 24 hours, the media circus that has been running wild since Prince William’s proposal will come to a pinnacle. The Royal Wedding is expected to break the record for highest ratings in television history, with an estimated viewership of over 2 billion and millions more who will stream the nuptials online. With this attention is it any surprise that marketers are giving their brand’s the royal treatment? Here are just a few campaigns that are all using different strategies to pay homage to the Prince and his bride.
- Kodak’s print campaign uses a play on the future princess’ last name to advertise their All-in-One printer with the tagline, “Say goodbye to Middle tones.” Two other taglines in the campaign are “For richer not poorer,” and “Prints Charming.”
- Post-it took in to account the amount of people travelling to London this week and launched an outdoor campaign for their Super Sticky Note. These ads show an enlarged Sticky Note with the soon-to-be newlyweds’ names, a heart and the congratulatory message, “May you stick together forever.”
- T-Mobile took an even lighter approach. This video, which has almost 13 million views on YouTube, uses royal family look-a-likes busting a move down the aisle to promote their “Life’s for Sharing” campaign.
Have you been following the coverage? Will you be donning an over-sized hat, pouring a spot of tea and tuning in for the royal ceremony?
Non-traditional media at the ballpark.
The first crack of a bat and pop of a glove are sounds coming from baseball diamonds all across America as MLB opening days start off the season. It’s also a big day for some advertisers because they can start monitoring their in-stadium campaigns. What are some of the newest ways advertisers are reaching fans at games this year?
We have seen the amount of exposure a product/service can receive from advertising at a baseball stadium. From the LED panels behind home plate, first base and third base, to the eBlasts and texts that persuade fans to “play this game,” or “check out our Facebook fan page.” But don’t forget about the advertisements that are strategically placed around concessions, on cups, napkins, seat cushions and foam fingers, because really…what’s a game without SWAG?
One of the newest ways to reach fans is by going right to the one thing that keeps them most connected with the world, their phone. To many people, cell phones are like an extension to their body; glued to them at all times making them always accessible. Next time you’re walking into a stadium, look to see if there are any signs outside that say, “turn on your Bluetooth, sign up and win free stuff!” Advertisers now have the option to place Bluetooth deliver devices at stadium gates that scan and pick up any Bluetooth signal. This will send a welcome message that allows fans to download an application to receive exclusive coupons, make reservations, play interactive games to win prizes, buy merchandise or even participate in a charity event. In the Detroit market at Comerica Park, Cedar Point ran a text promotion that played a video on the big screen of people riding a rollercoaster. Fans had to text a number and guess which coaster it was at Cedar Point. The first person who guessed the correct coaster won day passes to the amusement park.
Mobile technology and stadium advertising has opened many doors and given us endless ways to reach a niche consumer on a personal level, even in the middle of an exciting baseball game. By the seventh inning stretch, how many coupons, Facebook pages and promotions do you think you have you been exposed to?
Know a Michigan business that needs a reboot?
Change is good. We all need a good reboot every so often to grow and move forward. Stay tuned to see what Brogan & Partners will be doing to help a Michigan business reboot their brand…
