TribalWorks

As usual, our issue of Marketing magazine came stuffed with inserts and goodies. One insert that caught us by surprise was the premier issue of Vita magazine. What was surprising was that this magazine was targeted to a completely different demographic. Vita is targeted to:

• Women
• 40 years +
• Francophones

By getting all 3 parameters wrong, leads me to wonder if:

1. There is a bug in Marketing magazine’s database which caused them to send Vita to the wrong segment OR
2. Marketing magazine used a shotgun approach and put Vita in with every magazine shipped

Either way, it should be something that is addressed.

When I saw a TV spot promoting Dove’s new interactive romantic comedy called Waking Up Hannah (WUH), I was excited to see how it would come together.  After all, around our office, the Dove Campaign For Real Beauty (CRB) is considered the epitome of a well thought out Tribal Strategy. 

Unfortunately I was more than disappointed.  While CRB connects with real women with real lives and helps women deal with self-esteem issues, WUH seems to be focused around a 20-something who thinks the world revolves around her.  While CRB helps women connect with each other and makes them feel good, WUH isolates Hannah from the world and makes her seem more important than anyone else.

According to Barbara Owens, brand building manager for Dove skin cleanser:

“Girls in their 20s are often dealing with a lot of pressure and forget how beautiful and amazing their lives really are… It’s really about helping [them] wake up and get a fresh perspective on what’s going on,”

Unfortunately, the WUH site does not convey those messages in a positive manner.  In my opinion, this site is completely misaligned with the brand image Dove has successfuly built.

On a side note, according to this article, most 20-somethings are probably more worried if they will have a job in the next few months.

As a part of the Weber Ultimate Tailgate Giveaway , Weber will be hosting free tailgating parties at the first four home games of the Chicago Bears. 

Fans will be able to enjoy music, check out the latest tailgating and grilling necessities from Weber, receive autographs from Bears alumni players brought to you by Jewel-Osco, compete in a variety of football skills competitions, receive free samples of great-tasting Eckrich products, check out the latest offers from the Chicago Tribune, get their blood pressure screened in the Novartis Blood Pressure Success Zone and purchase beverages.

All attendees will have the chance to enter to win the “Weber Ultimate Tailgate Giveaway.” One giant prize package will be given away to one lucky fan per event. The package includes but is not limited to: Weber Q Grills, Jewel-Osco Gift Cards, an Eckrich gift card, Chicago Tribune Commemorative Framed Newspaper Covers, a U.S. Cellular Prize Pack, Comcast Tailgating Chairs, a gift card courtesy of the Novartis Blood Pressure Success Zone and XSport Fitness Gift Packs.

I think this promotion is a very good way of strengthening both the BBQ Tribe, which Weber has been successful in tapping, and the Chicago Bear Tribe:

• Tailgating is one of America’s most beloved activities - Weber helps bring friends-family-fans-football together
• Similarly, BBQing connects friends and families

Thus, the Chicago Bears are providing value by delivering an enhanced game-day experience.  In the end, all stakeholders win.

There are opportunities out there for marketers and brand managers from various categories to find the intersection of multiple tribes from two complimentary products/services.  Finding them and building upon existing synergies is a cost effective way to build your tribe.

A recent article spoke about the prospect of a second NHL team locating in Toronto.

Two more NHL governors said the league should put a second team in Toronto, although one of them said it should be by relocating an existing franchise rather than expanding.

“I don’t think it can be an expansion team,” a governor said. “We can’t expand because we would be the laughingstock of professional sports.

“We’ve got too many troubled franchises. We’ve got to look at relocating a couple of them. These franchises were troubled long before the economic downturn and next year is going to be worse on them.”

Despite what people may say, Toronto is not a sports town, if it were, then the Raptors, Jays and Argos would be all hot tickets regardless of performance.  It is not even a hockey town, otherwise we would see the Marlies and local OHL  teams selling out.  It is Toronto Maple Leafs town period. 

So why then do I think a 2nd NHL team would be successful? 

Because, almost an entire generation of Leaf fans in Toronto have been patiently waiting to win another Stanley Cup without much success.  Life long Leaf fans are starting to feel that the organization they are loyal to is not doing enough to earn their loyalty and are not serious about contending.  The feeling of animosity towards the organization they once loved may grow stronger if the Leafs once again fail to make the playoffs or worse, finish last in their conference. 

This could be a ripe environment for a prospective new owner to move in to the Toronto market and help nucleate the anti-Toronto Maple Leafs tribe.  Make no mistake, this anti-tribe is hungry for something different.  Thus, the model of expensive tickets and low performance that we are seeing now will not be tolerated.

Anna Maria Virzi wrote a good article today discussing a talk Stephany Cavatoni from The Active Marketing Group gave.  Cavatoni provided six factors which determined if a tribe existed or not.  They were:

• Rituals
• Rites of Passage
• Symbols
• Adornments
• Norms/Values
• Leaders

On the whole I think these are some good indicators.  However, in addition to knowing whether or not a tribe exists, I think it is important to know what state the tribe is in.  The state will enable you to to know what strategies to use and what tactics work best.

Accelteon has loosely defined 3 Major States of Tribes:

1. Well-Defined & Functional
2. Evident But Not Yet Defined
3. Not Evident

Each state poses its unique challenges, which we will get into with future posts.  However, brands that can put their products/services at the core of a Well-Defined & Functional tribe can benefit the most (think Harley-Davidson or the Green Bay Packers).

TD Insurance recently launched an ad campaign which utilizes TV and print.

The creative uses images of cars, homes and people padded with pillows, bubble wrap and foam.

The TV spot follows a man as he walks around a suburban setting, watching people as they try and keep themselves and their possessions protected. He passes a man on his bike who has strapped a pillow to his head and foam to his arms and legs, and waves to his neighbour who has taped pillows to her car. The man is padding-free however, because TD Insurance protect him. “People go out of their way to feel protected,” says the voiceover. “With TD insurance, you don’t have to worry, because we make it easy for you to protect yourself from the accidents of life. Get the insurance from the people you trust.”

“Our creative exaggerates the need to feel protected, and ultimately explains that there is an easier way,” said Green. “Consumers can trust TD Insurance to provide them with all of their insurance needs across home and auto, credit protection, life and health, and travel insurance by linking the experience that currently exists from TD Canada Trust and TD Waterhouse.”

Previously their advertising focused on direct marketing and branch collateral.

TD Insurance has an opportunity to build a Tribal Strategy which can leverage the power of trust.  For TD Insurance, trust comes in two forms:

• Trust between the consumer and TD Insurance
• Trust between friends and family

With a proper strategy, TD can tap into the second form of trust and make significant gains in market share in a cost effective manner.

I found it quite interesting that PepsiCo, which has been hit by the rising US dollars and lagging sales will refocus its spending from alternative drinks back to carbonated soft drinks (CSD).

PepsiCo announced Friday that it would renew its focus on carbonated soft drinks with a marketing campaign to be launched in 2009. That would be a reversal of its strategy to move away from soda and toward more expensive alternatives, such as sparkling juice, energy drinks and ready-to-drink teas.

Mr. Goodman said the company had been planning the campaign over the last several months as a response to the consistent declines in sales volume in the U.S.

I find this interesting because for years now PepsiCo has invested heavily in ‘Better For You’ products and promoting their Smart Spot initiative. 

The main reason for this shift seems to be economics.

“We’re looking at re-engaging consumers, keeping the ones we have and making sure we’re getting additional consumers into the fold,” Mr. Goodman said, adding that a lot of carbonated soft drinks “are very affordable.”

I am not sure exactly how they will allocate their money.  But from a consumer perspective, they will see more TV spots, in-store promotions and sponsorships on the less healthy CSD. Though this move may provide some short term benefits, this could potentially undo years of work trying to change the image of PepsiCo as a supplier of healthier products.

I read this article and I think one of the key problems with the thinking of marketers today is that they are too focused on media channels rather than on what works best for their consumers.

“Yahoo has a long history with advertisers,” says Russ Fradin, the president of online firm Adify. “They know what works and doesn’t work. For advertisers, there’s a flight to the familiar. If you’re going to cut web spending, you cut the experimental dollars like social media or mobile.”

Rather than responding to the downturn in the economy by cutting spending in ‘experimental dollars’ marketers would be better suited to look at what can they do to support and connect with their tribes. 

Doing so would result in better thought out campaigns that will have a long term benefit for the product/service.  Of course, this in itself embodies the key challenge - how do you get marketers to look beyond the next two quarters.

Accelteon played a big role in promoting the event last year and we are looking forward to doing the same this year.  In part due to our efforts, the 2008 International Bowl saw an increase of about 18% in attendance from the previous year.  The International Bowl is an annual College Football Bowl game played between the Big East and Mid-American Conferences.

The game will be held at Rogers Centre on January 3, 2009 at 12:00 PM.  It is the only NCAA football game played outside of the US.

I attended the Canadian Marketing Association Not-For-Profit Conference today.  The best speaker by far was Michael Johnston from Hewitt & Johnston Consulting.   Some of his key points which resonated with me  are: (my comments are below each point)

• Online & offline need to be in sync
  • Great point, too often a great campaign doesn’t deliver the results because the path to purchase (or in this case donation) is not clear or gets muddied by inconsistent communication across different media  In his words, ‘Campaigns should Hijack the Homepage’
• Donors want more control of giving
  • This is a trend we are seeing as well.  People don’t want to give to an organization - they want to give where they can see results and to people/causes they have a connection with.
  • The example he gave was Kiva, where a person in North American can give a loan to a single entrepreneur in the Third World.
• Virtual campaigns in isolation do not work as well as virtual combined with terrestrial
  • I think this is a key area where organizations forget that tribes exist both in Real Space and Virtual Space.  It is key to build a Tribal Strategy that looks at both.

In addition to Michael, Tara Wood from WWF Canada spoke about how she planned and executed the Earth Hour campaign in Canada- a campaign that had amazing results given the relatively small budget.  A great case study - one I am sure we’ll discuss another day.

On the whole, I would say this event was definitely worth the time.  It is good to see people starting to think around how donors organize as tribes.  For those who couldn’t make it, please contact us (info@accelteon.com) and I will be happy to discuss it in more detail.