Beschrijving stage
Als deel van de master na master opleiding Meertalige Bedrijfscommunicatie werkte ik 2 stages af.
De eerste stage liep gedurende 8 weken, van maandag 28 april 2008 tot vrijdag 20 juni 2008. Deze stage vond plaats bij het reclamebureau Famous (vroeger LG&F Group) in Anderlecht (Brussel). Verder in deze scriptie vindt u een uitgebreide voorstelling van het agentschap Famous en een analyse van mijn bevindingen ginds. Daarnaast worden ook mijn taken binnen het reclamebureau uitvoerig toegelicht. Die bestonden eigenlijk uit 2 delen aangezien ik de eerste 6 weken van mijn stage deel uitmaakte van het strategische departement en de laatste 2 weken het online departement heb versterkt. Na mijn vooropleiding als Industrieel Ingenieur Informatica leek de periode in het online departement me de uitgelezen kans om ervaring op te doen die zich situeert op het kruispunt van beide opleiding. De combinatie van informatica, in de zin van webontwikkeling, en marketing heeft me immers steeds geboeid en was ook één van de drijfveren om Meertalige Bedrijfscommunicatie te gaan studeren.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 1 De tweede stage vond plaats bij het communicatiebureau Hill & Knowlton in Brussel, deze stage begon op maandag 30 juni en eindigt op vrijdag 29 augustus. Bij het schrijven van deze scriptie loopt de stage bij Hill & Knowlton nog steeds. Enkele kleine verwijzingen buiten beschouwing gelaten zal de scriptie dan ook uitsluitend de eerste (reeds afgewerkte) stage behandelen.
Toch wens ik ook nog even Hill & Knowlton aan u voor te stellen en mijn taken ginds heel kort toe te lichten. Hill & Knowlton Brussel maakt deel uit van de internationale Hill & Knowlton groep, deze bestaat uit 73 afdelingen in 41 landen. Hill & Knowlton Brussels is gespecialiseerd in 3 grote vakgebieden: • Belgian Public Relations Bij Belgian PR werkt men voor klanten als InBev, Douwe Egberts, Iglo, Logitech, TomTom, … • Corporate Communications Het agentschap in Brussel richt zich daarbij op het EMEA niveau, dit wil zeggen Europa, het Midden Oosten en Africa. De voornaamste klanten zijn hier HP, Coca Cola, Intel, Boeing, … • Public Affairs In het domein van PA bedient Hill & Knowlton klanten zoals de Wereld Gezondheidsorganisatie (WHO), European Brain Council, Rollback Malaria, …
Hill & Knowlton Brussels startte in januari 2008 het Digital Practice departement op. Met dit departement wil Hill & Knowlton inspelen op de vraag van zijn klanten door ook blog en website audits aan te bieden. De taken tijdens mijn stage waren voor een stukje gesitueerd in het Belgian PR departement, maar voor het grootste deel heb ik meegewerkt aan de uitbouw van het Digital Practice departement. Vaak ging het daarbij om research naar de word of mouth die bepaalde klanten genereren binnen het domein van de social media (blogs, fora, video sharing sites, …). Anderzijds heb ik ook enkele kleinere webtoepassingen ontwikkeld in het kader van zowel Belgian PR als Digital Practice.
Een korte samenvatting van beide stages vindt u in onderstaande tabel.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 2 02/737 95 00 95 02/737 Brussel1000 Box 8 118 Cortenbergh Avenue de Brussels Knowlton& Hill 45 35 02/411 (Anderlecht) Brussel 1070 68/70 Gespstraat Famous Bedrijf Peter Otten Peter Simon Bergulf Els Raemdonck Henk Ghesquière Stagebegeleider department practice Digital department PR Belgian Online creation department Strategic Afdeling mini websites voor eventsvoor websites mini vanopzetten coördinatie, event blogaudits, brainstormsessies, persberichten, van Schrijven vertalen en Hoegaarden aanpassingen website Famous website, (NL), Brainstorming positief blijf website Ontwikkeling department online hetweken2 in ramingen voorbereiden, ROI pitches analyse (on offline), & department strategic hetweken6 in Taken : : concurrentie : (in mindere mate) (in mindere Frans Engels Nederlands (in mate) minder Engels Frans Nederlands Talen Juni – Augustus 2008 Juni2008 – Augustus – Juni April 2008 Stageperiode
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 3 Word of thanks
First of all, I would like to thank the entire Famous team for their flexibility. They have offered me the chance to be part of their agency during eight weeks, while being kind enough to give me a few days off to study for my exams.
Thanks to Famous, I have learned a lot during these very challenging weeks. I had a taste of their entire scope of activities: from interactive advertising campaigns, over brainstorm sessions, to briefings with several clients. All of this gave me a clear view of a strategic planner’s occupations. I will always remember these weeks in the strategic department, the so called ‘lab’. Day in day out I was stunned by the strategic team, they prove to understand advertising on a level far beyond my imagination. During this master in Multilingual Business Communication I developed a genuine interest for marketing and advertising, looking at each commercial or stunt to find the underlying intentions and strategies. Compared to the clear analyses flying around in the lab, I realised that I’m not even noticing 10% of a campaign’s goal. Steeped by their work, yet feeling the breath of society, Famous’ strategists are part of an exceptional specie that combines creativity in judgement of human nature and discernment. This amazement triggered my interest to write my theoretical framework on strategic planning. Besides the strategic planners, I would like to thank all former Snow employees, since I have learned a whole lot although I have only worked with them for a week.
During this year I had the chance to taste a number of specialisations which I have always been interested in, but which had never been topics during my first education as an Industrial Engineer, this internship was the crowning of that year. Meanwhile it was a year in which I had the chance to get to know a lot of people. Hopefully I’ll see a lot of them again.
I would like to keep thanking the entire team of coordinators, professors and mentors investing their time and energy in this wonderful educational programme. You offer any person who is eager to learn and willing to work a year that teaches us a number of additional competences through an outstanding combination of theory and practice.
Personally I owe the chance to be part of this to my lovely parents. I would like to thank them for supporting me throughout all my decisions. Besides my parents, there is someone else who encourages me; the differences in age and character cannot wipe out our passion to learn and talk about what we have learned, the willingness to help each other and the deep respect we show for one another, I’m lucky to have my brother as a friend.
Despite all that, the most important person this year was my classmate and now girlfriend, Sophie De Meyer. She supports me no matter what, she helps me, relaxes me, she’s everything I hope to be for her, hopefully for long.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 4 Index
Foreword 7
Chapter 1: Presenting Famous
1. Famous history 9 2. Structure of the company 12 3. Corporate identity 18 4. Product presentation 20 5. Clients and client profiles 22 6. Competitors 24 7. Extracts from the interviews 27 8. SWOT analysis 29
Chapter 2: Strategy in advertising
1. Why this subject 32 2. An introduction to account planning 32 3. Brand growth 35 4. Brand Foundations 36 a. Focus 36 b. Broaden the horizon 38 c. What do you offer? 39 d. Target marketing 41 e. Getting true insight 43 5. Brand Tactics 46 a. Divide et impera 47 b. Understand target audience decision making 48 c. Positioning 51 d. Developing a communication strategy 56 e. Setting a media strategy 59 6. Brand action 63 a. Seeping through the consumers’ mind 63 b. How to say it 64 c. Channel strategy 66 d. The creative brief 72 7. Conclusion 74
Chapter 3: The actual tasks
1. Introduction 76 2. Klara a. The campaign’s origin 76 b. Briefing 79
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 5 c. Buzz analysis 79 d. Research and insights 81 e. Evaluation 83 f. Intermezzo: Social Media 83 3. Het Nieuwsblad a. The Pitch 87 b. Briefing 87 c. Approach 87 d. Evaluation 89 4. Week van de Goeiedag a. The campaign 89 b. Briefing 90 c. Approach 91 d. Evaluation 92 5. Jupiler a. Campaign 93 b. Briefing 93 c. Approach 93 d. Evaluation 94 6. Kinepolis a. Briefing 95 b. Approach 95 c. Evaluation 96 7. Other a. Proximus 96 b. Online Department 96 c. Hill & Knowlton 96 8. Conclusion 97
Chapter 4: Conclusion 98
References/Bibliography 102
Glossary 105
List of figures, tables and diagrams 107
Content of the attached CD 108
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 6 Foreword
Immediately after hearing the briefing about the internship, I decided to start looking for a project that requires a rich mixture of competences, combining both the acquired marketing and advertising skills as well as my technical background, provided by my previous master degree as an Industrial Engineer in Informatics.
An agency that had always triggered a certain interest in me was the Antwerp based team of Design is dead, which is part of the Emakina group. I first encountered them a few years ago since they develop the website for Rock Werchter. Despite my enthusiasm I did not want to bet on just one horse, so I wrote to Duval Guillaume e and Famous (back then still LG&F) as well. During the interview at Design is dead I told them I wanted to wait for an answer from Duval Guillaume and Famous. Completely in line with the entire style of the agency, people at Design is dead told me very honestly and humble that I would probably be able to learn more (in terms of advertising and marketing strategy) in a bigger agency. Since Design is dead was just starting to develop strategic and analyst teams, they recommended I would await the answers of the bigger agencies first.
A few weeks later I had an interview at LG&F, it turned out to be one that convinced me from the second I walked in. Besides their relaxing atmosphere, they could offer me an internship with a wide mixture of experiences. In all my activities, whether they are professional or personal, I really like to be involved in every little step of a campaign, trying to understand how each aspect influences the result. Since the LG&F group (now Famous) is specialised in direct marketing, above and below the line marketing as well as online advertising, this internship would provide the chance to taste every aspect of advertising. This explains why I started of in the strategic department, to switch to the online development team later on, thus getting in touch with strategists, accounts, return on investment experts, taking part in brainstorm sessions and developing websites. From my point of view, the strategist is the person involved during the entire project. He or she is the person who gathers information from the client and puts it into a new perspective. This is creativity on another level, not the creativity to create an image or a video clip, it is the top layer of creativity where people stick close to real life consumer insights and approach that consumer base in an original way. It is a subject that has caught my attention and the one I chose to research and write my theoretical framework on.
There was another student in Multilingual Business Communications, Muriel Pessinet, who was also part of Famous’ strategic department. She started her internship one week earlier and stopped three weeks earlier. During my first four weeks, most of my tasks were in cooperation with Muriel. This is why you may find an overlap in chapters one and three. On the other hand this might be very interesting since we will certainly emphasise other accents of our experiences.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 7
Chapter 1: Presenting Famous
1. Famous history 9 2. Structure of the company 12 3. Corporate identity 18 4. Product presentation 20 5. Clients and client profiles 22 6. Competitors 24 7. Extracts from the interviews 27 8. SWOT analysis 29
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 8 1. Famous history
Famous is the merger of 3 companies within the LG&F group. To understand how Famous was founded a profound understanding of the LG&F group’s development throughout the years is necessary.
LG&F itself began in 1997 with the breakaway from Lowe Troost by client services director Marc Fauconnier and one of the top creative teams: Luc Libens and Christophe Ghewy. None of them had ever ran, let alone set up, an agency before.
LG&F’s business plan was simple: to expand the agency's reputation through the quality of the work and the creativity of the campaigns. Slowly but surely, that's exactly what happened.
Libens, Ghewy and Fauconnier became an icon for smart campaigns that stood out, created an impact and simply made their brands and products more relevant to their audiences. The formula was first tested on smaller brands, companies who didn't want to be crowded out by bigger budgets. Eventually those bigger budgets themselves came running.
In 2002, The LG&F group founded a new brand, I Do was set up to specialise in Direct Marketing. I Do took its first steps by working on the LG&F client portfolio. The scoop was for AXA, later on clients like Toyota and SN Brussels Airlines followed. LG&F’s and I Do’s activities provided a perfect synergy of below and above the line advertising.
In November 2005 LG&F extended its expertise towards online advertising, Snow was the LG&F brand extension meant to conquer the online market. Snow was a cell specialised in guiding the classical advertising approach towards the appropriate online media. Jonathan Detavernier and Carl De Mey, former These Days employees, became Snow’s directors, while other LG&F strategists and creatives supported the online flakes. The philosophy: Snow should, exactly as snow does in wintertime, cover all LG&F disciplines with an interactive layer.
Meanwhile Ann Maes started a PR agency (PR ide) under the wings of the LG&F Group. Despite the fact that Pride was part of the LG&F group, both client portfolios remained rather different and the synergy never reached unknown heights. In March 2008 Pride decides not to take part in the merger forming Famous. 2 months later, in May 2008 Pride becomes part of the Belgian TBWA Group.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 9 In September 2006 LG&F opened a second branch in Amsterdam. It was the first time a Belgian or a Dutch agency opened an agency in the neighbour country. LG&F Amsterdam has a Dutch management committee and is now named Rich, synergising into Rich & Famous.
Between 2002 and 2006 LG&F was awarded the title of Belgian agency of the year three times (by MediaMarketing), that is three times in four years! Meanwhile I Do had won a Grand Prix in Cannes, for the first time in years this price was won by a Belgian participant. Furthermore the LG&F Group won several Effie’s, 43 CCB awards and another 1 golden, 5 silver and 4 bronze lions in Cannes. By the year 2007 they were considered to be the most creative independent advertising agency in Belgium.
In April 2007 LG&F started negotiating with DDB, together they would become the biggest Belgian advertising agency. After 6 months of running back and forth, the LG&F board decided to pull the plug. One of the problems was that DDB belongs to a bigger group named Omnicom, which means that every contractual matter had to pass through the hands of the Omnicom board, which took a lot of time. Furthermore DDB used every opportunity to lower their bid, which showed, according to LG&F’s CEO Marc Fauconnier, a lack of respect for what LG&F had built up over the last 10 years. (De Standaard (20/10/2008), De Tijd (20/10/2008), Annex Collection 1)
“During these merger negotiations” says Famous’ CEO Marc Fauconnier, “We were no longer focused on the relationship with people, internally as well as externally towards clients or partners. During such moments you are caught up by other things and start neglecting upcoming problems. Eventually, in October, we have decided not to agree with the proposed acquisition, since we were convinced we would be happier without being part of an international group. In our opinion, declining this offer was not the right foundation to simply return to our daily activities. We took a moment of reflection since we had been working for 10 years using the same approach. Meanwhile the market has changed, the media have been changing, consumers have changed, clients have and our agency has changed as well. All these changes implied that it was no longer advisable to function like a 20th century agency.” (Interview Famous CEO Marc Fauconnier, Annex 1 Collection 2)
During this period of reflection the main idea was to change the organisation’s structure. Instead of having different subdivisions (LG&F itself, Snow, I Do and
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 10 Pride) that are organised around their own channels, the LG&F Group board wanted to create an organisation that is able to provide a 360° approach. This means that the clients’ demands remain central, while the appropriate channels are only selected afterwards. Thanks to measure, the organisation would no longer suffer from internal competitions between regular advertising (LG&F), direct marketing (I Do) or online marketing (Snow). An elaborate overview of the new Famous structure, which LG&F has eventually put in place, will be presented in the next chapter.
On top of the changes in structure there is another differentiating factor between Famous and its ancestor, LG&F. The point was to baptise Famous and meanwhile announce that the agency would no longer participate in award contests. But, to take part in the CCB awards contests, agencies have to subscribe by the end of December. Since LG&F was taking the time to consider everyone’s arguments on the new Famous structure, their non subscription for the award shows had to be announced earlier and therefore separately.
At the end of December the first press releases were sent out, they hit and caused a shock in the advertising branch. Despite a few insulting reactions by LG&F’s competitors, the agency kept a clear focus and motivated its decision as follows. “Winning prices has become the focus, says Christophe Ghewy, creative director at LG&F, when I started working in advertising people did so to write great texts or make up smashing sketches with only one priority: selling the product. We made effective campaigns for our clients, campaigns that were only afterwards sent in to try and win an award. Nowadays it works the other way around, the system got off track.” (De Tijd (09/01/2008), Annex Collection 3)
While asking his opinion CEO Marc Fauconnier provides us with a similar answer. Famous wants to put everything in function of the client, instead of using the client to win awards. Producing the right campaign in every detail is more important than pushing a mind blowing creative idea in order to win prices with it. Despite the generous, client oriented, transparent and honest approach there are some pitfalls in using this strategy. Since most of the creative teams tend to build up their portfolio and curriculum based on the awards they have won, LG&F is considered to offer them fewer chances to grow inside the business. The choice to skip awards might eventually turn against Famous in terms of recruitment on one hand, and in terms of keeping the right people in house on the other.
Famous now tempts to make up for the awards they are missing by trying to draw a lot of attention to their campaigns. As I will prove in chapter 3, Famous uses quite a few of its campaigns to invoke complementary attention for their clients, for the agency itself and most importantly for its creative teams. In doing so they hope is to provide an alternative for the creative awards.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 11 2. Structure of the company
Normally this would have been a subject that could be briefly discussed, but since Famous has been going through structural changes right before my internship started, I would like to sketch them up briefly summarise how these changes were implemented.
As I have mentioned, the reason for LG&F’s change of name and structure to Famous, was the failed merger with DDB. After pulling the plug and taking a period of reflection, the board members of all subdivisions (LG&F, I Do and Snow; Pride is not taking part in the Famous expedition) had a vision, a company ideal, an agency structure aimed for another 10 years of success.
The basic idea was to install an agency with media neutrality. Instead of developing different specialities inside subdivisions, all struggling to get the best clients and the biggest budgets, Famous wants to be an organisation that can tailor its marketing mix to best fit the clients’ needs. (De Standaard (18/03/2008), Annex 1 Collection 4)
Based on these new insights LG&F has solicited its stakeholders, personnel as well as clients, to provide their opinion. Through brainstorm sessions and workshops amongst these stakeholders, all aspects of the new agency’s culture were defined, resulting in the launch of a new generation agency named Famous.
Marc Fauconnier describes Famous as follows: “LG&F has evolved from an organisation based on channels and disciplines to an organisation based on its clients. This means that the organisational structure no longer shows divisions but puts its clients in the middle of the attention, even physically. Physically, meaning that we have installed 9 brand rooms, the playground a team of people dedicated to a specific client, which is a rather revolutionary approach in advertising.” (Interview Famous CEO Marc Fauconnier, Annex 1 Collection 2)
On the 18th of March 2008 Famous launches its new vision on advertising. An advertising campaign, as shown in image 1.1, drew attention to the new name, while the website provided the necessary explanations. Famous.be’s hits skyrocketed from 100 visitors a day to 2.600 during this campaign. Press Releases and a lot of free publicity (see Glossary) followed soon afterwards. (Articles can be found in Annex Collection 4). To inform clients, partners and other stakeholders (such as interns) a booklet was made to present the agency’s new style. The booklet can be found in Annex 5.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 12 Image 1.1
So far I have enlightened the new structure of the advertising agency and how it has been developed and communicated. Time to return to the actual subject of this chapter, what does the structure look like? Diagram 1.2 shows a simplified structure of the theoretical agency model.
The model clearly shows how the brand (client) is at the centre of all operations. Each brand has its own brand team. This means that each team will constantly work for a number of brands, which remain the same ones for longer periods of time. This way the brand team can really get in touch with the brand’s identity and positioning. Besides the brand teams Famous has several experts in a distinctive number of fields. Each of these experts can be called Diagram 1.2 in to assist a brand team.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 13 Diagram 1.3 shows the composition of such brand teams.
Diagram 1.3
At the core of each brand team there is a creative team. This creative team usually counts 2 people, an art director and a copywriter. Nowadays they both combine writing skills with graphical skills, meaning that both fit to the function description of an art director but might just as well come up with a nice tag line. Famous has 9 brand teams and each of these teams has its own brand room and a collection of clients they constantly work for. At Famous the brand teams are directed by 2 creative directors, being Christophe Ghewy (the G in LG&F, one of the founders) and Paul Wauters.
Furthermore there is an account executive and/or an account director for each client. Traditionally this is the go between between the agency and the client. This is the person who usually takes the client’s briefing and then talks it over with the right people throughout the agency. In addition to this, he or she is in charge of the practical side of the campaign: making sure deadlines are respected, presenting campaign drafts, taking feedback, … In Famous’ model clients get the chance to talk to the entire brand team as well. Instead of just briefing the account, they can talk to all stakeholders of their advertising campaign, this can be useful in case of bigger projects.
Similar to the English model, where every account has a strategic planner by his/her side, Famous adds a strategic planner to these brand teams as well. The only difference is that accounts only work for 1 or 2 clients, while strategists work
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 14 for several more. The strategic department at Famous, named Lab, consists of 4 people: Els Raemdonck, Henk Ghesquière (my internship mentor), Pascal Tack and Luc Libens (the L in LG&F, one of the founders) who is in charge of the strategic department.
There’s also a fourth section which could be taken into account when discussing brand teams. Although they aren’t really taking part in all brand team activities, the people working in the studio do have their value for the clients. The studio consists of 6 people who take smaller (mostly print) campaigns upon their shoulders. They are not assigned to one specific brand and therefore can’t be considered as being part of the brand team, although they can take some weight off the creative team’s shoulders.
Besides these brand teams Famous has several experts walking around. These are the people who have a specific knowledge in one or a few areas of advertising. Diagram 1.4 shows their different specialties.
Diagram 1.4
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 15 Starting off with the disciplines that were formerly part of one of the LG&F Group’s subdivisions, we have to take the interactive and brand activation experts into account. The interactive specialists were formerly part of Snow, this expert department housed 10 people: 4 designers, 2 developers, 2 project managers and 2 directors. Carl De Mey is the technical director, while Jonathan Detavernier covers the marketing angle of this expertise, both have worked for These Days, a web design agency. When talking to clients or taking part in brainstorm sessions Jonathan is the expert, he is the one to call upon when an interactive perspective is needed, Carl De Mey comes in when the interactive campaign has to be developed and coordinated.
The Brand Activation and Direct Marketing experts are the founders of the former subdivision I Do. Both Johan Verest and Laurent Van Loon are frequently taking part in brainstorm sessions and discussions to determine the right marketing mix.
Pascal Tack, who is part of the Lab and does indeed take up some work as a strategic planner, is also responsible for CRM/CEM (Customer Relationship Management / Customer Experience Management, see Glossary) and Return on investment (ROI, see Glossary) calculations or estimates.
Furthermore there are 2 people with a special expertise. Myriam Maes is head of the FBI (Famous Business Ideas) which investigates whether new techniques beyond advertising are feasible for certain campaigns. Steven Janssens takes care of clients’ media planning and screens media for special offers: top topicals (see Glossary), outdoor cutout waves (see Glossary), …
To work efficiently and effectively a proper support base is needed. At Famous the organisational structure is not considered to be a hierarchy, this explains why I have not used a tree structure to describe the organisation. It is a matter of layers working in function of one another and eventually working together to make the clients famous. In my opinion the outer layer is the support layer, as shown in diagram 1.5. This is where we can find the CEO, Marc Fauconnier and the Managing Director, Carola Michiels, who both try to keep an overview of the agency’s activities and clients. Another support department is more financially oriented, it is the accounting department under the guidance of Famous’ CFO, Ria Dreelinck. Last but not least there is the PR department, Inge Van Der Haegen is Famous’ PR Officer, she makes sure that every article (on and offline) that refers to the agency or a client is clipped. Furthermore she tries to generate free publicity for the agency, its clients and most importantly for its creative teams. The aim is to allow creative teams to get famous through free publicity and by turning campaigns unforgettable, as discussed earlier.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 16
Diagram 1.5
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 17 3. Corporate identity
One of the first things that catches the eye when entering the Famous offices is the use of glass. The brand rooms are literally transparent, there are no walls or separation panels reaching towards the ceiling. Every brand room is like a little aquarium where you can see creative sparkle. This enforces the feeling of having everyone within reach, you can see the experts, see other creative teams. This openness is further stimulated by the use of extra chairs. Each brand room has five extra chairs, organizing brainstorm sessions or debating a client’s campaign takes nothing more than just going to the right brand room and have a seat. Another, rather technical, aspect of this open floor culture is presented by the Apple computers that are all linked to the Airport, a wireless router (see Glossary). This implies that no one is connected to the internet a cable, all internet connections are wireless. Showing someone your latest findings or creations, asking someone a documented question, it is only a matter of picking up your laptop and taking it to the right that person. This structural and technical approach creates a flexible environment where questions are dealt with without any delay.
Another advantage linked to this open atmosphere is that visitors are provided an overview of the work floor. They can meet the creative team devoted to their brand, while seeing other creative teams at work but without disturbing the entire workforce. Famous actively uses these assets by inviting clients in for breakfast meetings. During the first weeks after the launch of the Famous concept every client was invited to get a brief overview of the new Famous approach and to meet its dedicated brand team. This motivates both the client and its brand team, and even other brand teams since they can all see the client’s interest without necessarily being pulled out of their ‘aquarium’ and losing concentration. It was marvelous to feel the enthusiasm and dynamism flow through the agency when the head of the BOIC (Belgian Olympic and Interfederal Committee) walks in to see his brand team for more than 2 hours. Another fabulous moment was when Mark Fauconnier, the CEO, was guiding around a group of 4 young women, without any hesitation all male creative teams were staring and wondering who the new ladies were, eventually being very disappointed because they were part of the Radio Donna marketing department.
Famous also sprinkles its transparency policy towards the outside. As part of the HR department every first Friday of the month is devoted to talent scouting. On these days, named Famous Open Fridays, everyone can come in and take a look inside the Famous offices and have a chat with the employees. Another mean to recruit high potentials is by providing projects to the Brussels art school Sint Lukas. But despite this transparency and openness, Famous has certain difficulties to find new creative talent and even more to attract a top creative team. (Interview Famous CEO Marc Fauconnier, Annex 1 Collection 2)
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 18 The entire investment Famous makes to be transparent and open is enforced by the interest the management has in its teams. Not a day goes by without having the managing director or the CEO himself over to see how things are going. And even on a lower scale, in the lab or strategic department, where I did my internship, it seemed like there was a constant brainstorm session going on. Brands and campaigns, even competitors are constantly analysed and discussed by the strategic planners, seeing whether something is worth acting upon or trying to get feedback on new ideas.
This is in contrast with the agencies internal communication which, in my opinion, does not always function the way it is supposed to. During the 8 weeks I have worked at Famous there has never been a meeting or a Powerpoint presentation or just an internal newsletter to provide an update in terms of business and/or new clients. While the strategic department takes care of most pitches (see Glossary) and we (Muriel Pessinet and I) were indeed involved in the brainstorm sessions, we were sometimes kept in the dark on the actual results of the pitch or whether they had found our input useful. The internal communication at Famous could be considered a weakness. Fortunately Famous is currently working on an all embracing intranet which should solve most of these difficulties. The intranet is predestined to collect all the agency’s work and all inspirational sources gathered over the years and found day by day. Despite the huge amount of work to bring this intranet to the point where it is up to date, so it contains all former campaigns, this base of knowledge will prove its benefits. Moreover it will allow brand teams and accounts to share their latest work with all colleagues, thus omitting that a Famous employee discovers late at night that one of their clients is running a new TV campaign. The employees will get all information to be the greatest Famous evangelists. Despite this effort, I still think Famous should work on an internal newsletter or a weekly ‘update meeting’. Just to inform everyone on how business is going with existing clients and which pitches the agency is participating in.
Up till now I have only briefly discussed the HR difficulties Famous faces, especially since their activities are based in an environment with huge turnovers. Moreover Famous’ creative teams are no longer competing to win awards, thus having a hard time to increase their own market value. To attract and keep the right people, Famous has an HR manager, which is revolutionary in an advertising context. But Famous does much more. They have an inspiration room, with books, magazines and even DVD’s where anyone inside the agency can have a break, recharge batteries or just have a brainstorm outside of the daily work environment. Another asset is Famous’ balcony, where employees go to have a smoke, during summer to have lunch or even to have a meeting in the open air. The view over the city provided by the balcony gets its own little advertising events, to create a certain awareness Famous offers ‘Famous food’ on it during summer. The philosophy "mens sana in corpore sano" drove Famous to start serving healthy specialties from all over the world. During the entire week all Famous employees enjoy a free salad bar, but on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s Famous takes it to another level, named Famous food. These 2 days are reserved for high quality meals, which menu’s are probably as creative as most of Famous’
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 19 campaigns. This healthy haute cuisine is served in some sort of restaurant behind Famous’ offices or, as I said, on the balcony.
In taking care of its people Famous never stops, they have prolonged their lunch break to make sure employees have enough time to go jogging in the park, which is right next to the offices. They have installed showers and are now having 1 hour and 30 minutes lunch breaks. Sporty people who really can’t get enough of it are certainly looking forward to the gym which will be installed in the former Pride offices.
There’s one last aspect that shows Famous’ HR investment, the flexibility they show inside the brand rooms is rolled out towards the outside as well. Famous allows its employees to work from home for the first few hours in order to eliminate the chances of getting stuck in traffic. This flexibility is often used and is enforced by the internal mailing system which really allows people to access all office affairs from home. During my internship at Famous there was a strike at the NMBS. Traffic jams were forecasted and the upcoming tragedy was all over the news a few days before the actual strike. As a result three quarters of Famous workers staid at home to work, there was not a person who had any problem with this way of dealing with the situation. At the summit of the atmosphere Famous attempts to create, there is this ‘feel good vibe’ amongst the colleagues. They organise Famous parties in their restaurant and give every employee who works at Famous for five years an additional month of paid leave. But the employees contribute as well since everyone’s birthday is celebrated and the birthday boy or girl even buys goodies for the entire office. I must say that being part of such an organisation has left quite an impression of the advertising atmosphere, one I will never forget.
4. Product presentation
Since Famous is not a manufacturer, nor a producer of any actual goods, it is difficult to describe the entire scope of end products and services delivered to get to this end product. Therefore I will start off with the channels Famous uses in its advertising campaigns and then slide towards the supplementary services they deliver, which is mainly done by the experts whose activities were already briefly discussed in topic “2. Structure of the company”.
Diagram 1.6 shows the different channels Famous uses in its advertising campaigns. This diagram will return in chapter 2, when presenting the different channels a strategic planner can use to communicate the brands’ messages. In this diagram all channels that were mastered by LG&F, Snow and I Do are present.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 20
Diagram 1.6
There is the internet, the world of interactive media, which is the section Snow was dedicated to. Nowadays interactive media can be part of the entire media mix, since Famous offers 360° advertising. Direct mail at the other end of the diagram was I Do’s specialisation, as a below the line advertising extension to LG&F. LG&F itself has always created advertising campaigns for Radio and TV (with extensions towards the cinemas) besides their activities in Print and Outdoor advertising. Famous even has dedicated experts, specializing in print or outdoor media. There’s the media specialist, who’s more into print advertising waves, but there’s also an extension to the account work which I have not yet discussed. Famous has two in house experts who are taking care of what they call the ‘Production of advertising’. They have a certain expertise in the most recent outdoor advertising options and technologies, furthermore they contact suppliers and take care of the orders in case of point of sales campaigns or when gadgets are involved.
On top of these channels Famous offers counselling as well. As I have said Famous can involve specialists in Brand activation, ROI, CRM or innovating business ideas whilst developing a campaign. Another important facet of their products or activities is the strategic department. Famous is one of the few Belgian based agencies that really invests in strategic planning. Clients can call in their aid at any time and during every phase of setting up a new marketing communication plan. The strategic department also monitors their clients’ competitors’ positioning and value proposition in order to track how the market is sliding towards one way or another. Despite this added value, my impression was that the strategic department is mostly preserved for bigger clients, probably since they are in a better position to see the benefits of having a planner involved.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 21 5. Clients and client profiles
Famous’ biggest clients are the ones I have mentioned up till now and will be using as my examples further on in this document. Their major budgets are Proximus, Jupiler, the National Lottery and AXA Bank and Insurance. Other major clients they have had are SN Brussels Airlines and Toyota Belgium.
One of the key issues in advertising is that each agency can only have one brand in each sector. So imagine Famous creating campaigns for Toyota, they can not pitch or create advertisements for another company inside the automotive industry. Considering that they would participate in a pitch to represent a brand in a sector that is “locked”, it will certainly be a pitch for a bigger brand, to ensure higher budgets or more creative flexibility and independence, since they would have to let go of the smaller client in that sector.
Famous will only participate in pitches when they cover 2 major aspects: the creative and commercial opportunities on one hand and the respect shown for the participating agencies on the other hand.
As CEO Mark Fauconnier says: “We are not going to work for monkey nuts, but in this stage, in this phase of the agency’s existence, it is crucial to find clients with a giant creative potential. They will contribute to motivate and enthuse our people to create the best work. Not every client enables us to create good advertising work, some clients just don’t like that. Of course that pops the question whether these brands would prefer to work with Famous after all, since we have a rather creative image.” (Interview Famous CEO Marc Fauconnier, Annex 1 Collection 2) This point of view combines both the HR aspect of internal motivation, as well as the eagerness to jump out of the bigger picture. This is a feeling that is carried out throughout the agency, it is not something that is limited to creative people. I think one of the agency’s strengths behind all of this is that the directors, the board and the managers are all familiar with advertising and still passionate about it. They are in it for the rush, the creative high, not just for the money and that’s what makes them special.
As I mentioned, there’s also the aspect of respect towards the agencies during a pitch. Often brands tend to ask as much agencies as they can when organising a pitch. This approach means that all these agencies invest a lot of money to present their first creative ideas. Since the ACC proscribes pricing rules for the agencies, which are respected by almost all big advertising agencies, the only field to compete with each other is the creativity and the appeal of their presentation for the potential client. Therefore the agencies invest lots of money and time to get a clear insight and develop a bright idea of how to service the brand. When a pitch accepts or invites a lot of agencies the chances per agencies to win the business get smaller and after a while the agencies’ investments no longer match up to the risk of losing the competition. This is the second criterion Famous bears in mind when entering a pitch. Bigger societies understand these arguments and they are setting a new trend where they invite fewer agencies and moreover they refund part of the agencies’ expenses.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 22 Besides carefully selecting the pitches they enter, Famous also remains critical to its existing clients. One of the reasons why SN Brussels Airlines has opted to work with Duval Guillaume is because Famous no longer found any creative potential in working for SN. Although they have had fabulous campaigns, remember the one where a whole bunch of giant pacifiers were dumped all over Belgium to announce the birth of SN Brussels, both partners got a little tired of each other and decided to put an end to their cooperation. Another reason why Famous loses clients is because bigger brands often tend to opt for international agencies providing world wide advertising experience and global campaigns tailored to this specific brand instead of having different agencies all over the world to conquer the local markets. This is the main reason why Famous lost the Toyota budget and more recently why Axa has left Famous’ portfolio after a fruitful cooperation of more then 10 years.
Now, let’s take a look at Famous’ current client base. It consists of several smaller clients and some major budgets. The biggest ones are without any doubt Jupiler and its brand extension Jupiler Blue, Proximus and a few direct mail shots for Belgacom, Radiostations Donna and Klara and the entire collection of scratch card games for the National Lottery such as Keno, Win for life and Subito. Furthermore Famous hosts several smaller clients as well: » Some of these clients are positioned in some sort of charity context. This goes for Plan Belgium and the Africa museum in Tervuren. Another example is the latest campaign for “Boodschap zonder naam” named “Week van de Goeiedag” which took place in May and was a pro deo project. This will be further discussed in chapter 3 since this is one of the projects I have worked on during my internship. » Another range of clients is based in the media sector and consist of several women’s magazines and magazine extensions published by Sanoma Magazines. Amongst them one can find Flair, Flair Mobile, Libelle Mobile and Femmes Mobile. This combination does not conflict with the rule of representing only one client within a sector, since all of these magazines belong to one company. » The same thing goes for InBev. Following a great collaboration between Famous and the Jupiler brand team, InBev became a partner for brands such as Stella Artois and Hoegaarden as well. Both Stella and Hoegaarden first consulted Snow for its interactive solutions but nowadays both are counting on Famous for its direct mailings and some above the line campaigns. » In the liquor branch Famous serves clients such as Bacardi, Martini, Fiero, William Lawson’s and Eristoff. Other drinks are Chaudfontaine and Aquarius which are both products of the Coca Cola Company. » Remarkable campaigns (mostly Radio) are also produced for Hebbes, which is part of the Concentra group, one of Famous’ clients. » Last but not least there are the most recent developments, the new BOB campaign for BIVV, a new spot for the BOIC to enthuse youngsters to practice sports (this is part of their Olympic Games communication strategy) and a new client: Het Nieuwsblad, which is one of the pitches I have worked on during my internship.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 23 » On the 11th of August Famous welcomes Electrabel as a new client on its website. This was another pitch the lab was working on during my internship. Results will be seen from October 2008 onwards.
Image 1.7 shows Famous’ list of clients as it is presented on their website. The list mentions a few more clients than the ones I have mentioned before, but is not fully up to date …
Image 1.7
Amongst these clients there are several governmental organisations or companies profiting from government grants such as De Lijn, Klara, Donna and the National Lottery. These clients are bound by law to organise a pitch every 3 years, meaning that business in these branches is never really certain.
6. Competitors
In general Famous’ competitors are the bigger Belgian advertising agencies. But since Snow and I Do became part of Famous all agencies specializing in either direct marketing or interactive media should be considered as competitors as well.
In bigger pitches the competition is limited to Duval Guillaume, TBWA and Mortierbrigade. But even on this level there is a certain differentiation. Mortierbrigade for instance is specialised in the ultimate stunts and mind blowing creative ideas, which is not always what a client is looking for. Some clients are just looking for consistency in building up their brands, which is a field where TBWA and Duval Guillaume are the main competitors.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 24 Another set of competitors are the international agencies. They are not omnipresent in pitches for typical Belgian clients, but a lot of them have a portfolio built up in international clients, thus making adaptations of international campaigns and tailoring them to the local market. These are the agencies that take over international brands such as Toyota or recently AXA. The best known agencies in this level of competition are: Saatchi & Saatchi, Air, McCann, Ogilvy, BBDO, DDB and TBWA once more.
In order to sketch the entire spectrum of competitors I will have to take it one few steps further. Since Famous is the merger of LG&F, Snow and I Do, its competitors are the merger of these three subdivisions’ competitors as well. This means that agencies who specialise in interactive media have to be taken into account as well as direct marketing experts. Some of these agencies are part of larger advertising groups, others focus on interactive media but provide solutions in direct marketing or general advertising as well and even others are simply sticking to their core competences.
Former Snow competitors are: » These Days (http://www.thesedays.com): An agency that focuses on web solutions but offers other non interactive marketing channels as well. Amongst their clients we find Mobistar, Nokia, Microsoft, … » LBI (http://www.lbigroup.be): A local interactive media agency, with clients like BMW, Metro, Toyota, … » Amphion (http//www.amphion.be): A local interactive media agency, with clients like I love techno, Coca Cola, … » Boondoggle (http://www.boondoggle.eu): A pseudo international interactive media agency, with branches in Amsterdam, Shangai and Dublin. Amongst their clients we find Volvo, Axion, Atlas Copco, … They were formerly known as I merge. » Emakina (http://www.emakina.com): A European network of smaller companies developing web solutions, with offices in Belgium, France and the Netherlands. They serve clients such as Fortis Bank, Dexia, Base, Proximus, … » Duval Guillaume e: The interactive department of Duval Guillaume has been a competitor for a long time. But since Duval Guillaume has integrated its satellites, just like Famous, this DGE department is now part of the bigger Duval Guillaume agency.
The main competitors for I Do: » Tequila (http://www.tequila.be): A direct marketing agency that is linked to TBWA and agency.com to offer the entire range of advertising specialties. Amongst their clients we find Adidas, Shell, Nivea, …
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 25 » Proximity BBDO / Navajo (http://www.atmosphere.bbdo.be): The brand activation and direct marketing department of the international BBDO group serves clients such as Danone, Dodge, Nokia, … » Ogilvy One (http://www.ogilvy.be/o_one): The brand activation and direct marketing department of the international Ogilvy group serves clients such as Fanta, Ford, Milka, … » Karamba (http://www.karamba.be): A local direct marketing agency. Amongst their clients we find AEG, Tao, … » Markee (http://www.markee.be): A rather small Gent based brand activation agency. They serve clients such as Opel, Stad Gent, … » 7beaufort (http://www.7beaufort love machine.be): A smaller advertising agency with a focus on direct mailing. This agency is only competing with Famous on the beer brands belonging to the InBev company.
The list of competitors I have drew up went from direct competitors for Famous towards niche specialists nibbling at the corners of Famous’ client portfolio. This structure could be seen as moving from direct brand competition to generic competition. Eventually there is one last type of competition I have not mentioned, the competitors who fill those parts of the marketing mix Famous does not offer. In doing so they can steal some of the budget that would have gone to advertising campaigns. Amongst them we can find PR agencies, event marketers, supermarkets and the brands sales department when doing promotional activities, agencies specialised in design and packaging, …
Diagram 1.8 clearly summarises the competition levels and the most important players within each layer.
Diagram 1.8
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 26 7. Extracts from the interviews
Since Famous’ structural changes have already been discussed, a lot of quotes on the agencies goals and values have been used up till now. Most of the information used in the above description is based on personal experience but also on both the interview with strategic planners Els Raemdonck and Henk Ghesquière and the one with Famous’ CEO Marc Fauconnier. Both interviews can be found in Annex Collection 2.
They have provided a good insight in the entire process of merging the different departments into Famous and why the agency is no longer taking part in creative award competitions. This covers most of the brands identity at this time and reveals its strategic and future perspectives.
CEO Marc Fauconnier describes the operation as follows: “In the end, every agency has its ups and downs. After working in the same way for 10 years we had the feeling that we had gotten everything out of this structure and approach, LG&F might even have been a little bit on its way back. Famous is our attempt to jump to another up, thus omitting the course downhill. Until now, I have the feeling that we will manage just fine.”
Internally most colleagues were enthused by the changes at stake. Everyone had the feeling that LG&F was no longer the innovating agency it had been for the last 10 years. People must have seen that the trend setting image had to get a new coat. The advertising world on the other hand, had mixed feelings: “I have received several positive responses. But a few agencies have not reacted upon our reincarnation, which makes me think that they were not very pleased with it. Even then I would have appreciated it if they would have given me their opinion. Rather that then raging in the newspapers like Jens (Mortier) did. That was completely opposite to Guillaume’s (Van Der Stichelen) rational approach. I cannot remember that any agency has ever been so rude about a fellow agency in the press.” Marc Fauconnier hereby mentions the article in De Morgen on 11/01/2008, which can be found in Annex Collection 3.
Despite these reactions the CEO says: “To me, Famous was the next step, I wanted to offer the clients a physical reality where their interest has an absolute priority and their brands are at the centre of our professional life. Within 5 years I would love to present great results, in cooperation with this nice team of colleagues and this set of clients, maybe with a few more clients added. But growth is not our priority, since we are currently working at a relatively high level. If we can maintain that level and in addition preserve the financial turnover, I will be very happy.”
Strategic planners Els Raemdonck and Henk Ghesqiuère testify that things are changing since Famous has been put in place. Until the merger their main tasks consisted of checking and fine tuning a brand’s positioning. Since the merger they really get the chance to build bridges between trends in society and how brands can interact and profit from them. “Famous now tempts to explore more
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 27 creative marketing channels. There’s this stunt for Klara with Tuymans, but also the pacifiers we have dropped for SN Brussels Airlines. In the beginning most clients are rather sceptic when we propose such a campaign, but they change their idea when we can present them a case. For us, planners, it is interesting to be part of this broadening of the advertising scope.”
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 28 8. SWOT analysis
The SWOT analysis hereby presented accounts as a conclusion for the presentation of Famous. During this chapter I have been looking at the agency from several points of view, each of them presenting new insights and therefore new strengths or weaknesses, opportunities or threats. Summarizing all of them once more into an actual SWOT analysis should offer you a good insight in the agency’s identity.
STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES » Management » Human Resources The entire board is passionate about Inside the advertising community there advertising and enthuses both clients and is a lack of respect for its co workers. colleagues with their exuberance. People are recruited on a very superficial Marc (Fauconnier, CEO) and Christophe basis and get the feeling that they are (Ghewy, Creative Director) show a strong perfectly replaceable. Famous does winners attitude. They always want to be invest in another mentality but it still the best both in competitions and when remains a weakness. working for a client. It sets a high There should be more time spent on standard. coaching and internal and external » No paralyzing tranquillity training sessions. This enables everyone There’s this constant struggle to stay at the to reach a higher level and co shape the top. Every change, every extra effort is done agency. to avoid the agency’s depravation. » Pressure » Creativity Clients tend to expect more and more from Famous (and LG&F) has always been about an agency, while the agency is not refunded making creative masterworks. Most for these services. Since there is no financial advertising agencies focusing on creativity margin to hire more people, the current have difficulties finding bigger clients. But workforce has to take up these demands, Famous has always been capable of selling which results in a lot of pressure. its creativity to bigger clients since all creativity is combined with successful branding for the client. » Creative awards Most clients like it if the advertising campaigns for their brands win prizes, but their core interest is in their brand, not in the prizes. That priority setting is what Famous offers them. » Fast Thanks to the flexible office setting it is easy to consult the experts or a brand team. This interaction is a key resource in Famous’ activities. » 360° Certain clients might be pleased with the 360° marketing mix Famous can offer.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 29 OPPORTUNITIES THREATS » HR » Losing valuable people, mostly because of Famous has been working on restoring the HR weaknesses listed above. work life balance with its Famous food » Clients and the restaurant. Famous will also work A lot of Famous’ clients have been their on this in the future with the fitness room clients for years and years. Agencies have to and a bar. But more initiatives will always be aware of the fact that a client will get be necessary to find the right balance. tired of the agency eventually. If Proximus Since the merger of Famous the agency for instance would leave Famous that would tries to please its workforce and that is be a giant shock, since Proximus’ budget absolutely necessary since the entire represents almost 25% of Famous’ turnover. potential of an advertising agency is in its » 360° employees. Famous should bet it all on The integration of all LG&F’s departments keeping the right people and attract high could scare clients as well. They might get potentials. the feeling that Famous will push them into » There are certain domains that will have to a campaign where each marketing channel, be investigated and conquered, such as each Famous discipline, will be used, without digital TV and social media. them actually needing such a marketing mix. » Since Famous is no longer taking part creative award shows, creative teams might leave the agency because they can not build a nice curriculum vitae. The same goes for recruiting new creative teams, who might not want to work for Famous. Table 1.9
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 30
Chapter 2: Strategy in advertising
1. Why this subject 32 2. An introduction to account planning 32 3. Brand growth 35 4. Brand Foundations 36 a. Focus 36 b. Broaden the horizon 38 c. What do you offer? 39 d. Target marketing 41 e. Getting true insight 43 5. Brand Tactics 46 a. Divide et impera 47 b. Understand target audience decision making 48 c. Positioning 51 d. Developing a communication strategy 56 e. Setting a media strategy 59 6. Brand action 63 a. Seeping through the consumers’ mind 63 b. How to say it 64 c. Channel strategy 66 d. The creative brief 72 7. Conclusion 74
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 31 1. Why this subject?
During my internship at Famous I was part of the strategic department for 6 weeks. This experience pointed out what humble role this department plays in the development of an advertising campaign. This conclusion was rather devastating since Famous is one of the few Belgian advertising agencies that actually does invest in advertising and brand strategy.
Most of the clients just brief the account, who then gathers the creative team and provides them with a clear briefing for the desired campaign. The strategic department only comes in when bigger clients specifically demand their insight (at Famous those clients are: Proximus, Win for life, Jupiler, …). Furthermore the strategic department specialises in taking part in pitches; a pitch is a contest where several advertising agencies compete with one another whilst trying to win the business to represent a product or client.
In my opinion a brand’s strategy is the area where the advertising agencies’ strategic planners should go hand in hand with the clients’ brand marketers. This is why strategic planners should join the accounts as go betweens between the client and the creative team, thus being able to guard the consistency of a brand’s positioning and counsel on the communication strategy.
In Belgium part of this strategic work is conducted by the accounts, especially for smaller clients. Therefore the actual strategic department is in most cases focused on channel strategy. Famous does elaborate further with its brand revisions where they analyse the positioning within an industry, which results in a comparison between the client’s and its competitors’ advertising strategy.
Contradictory to the Belgian advertising agencies, the English account teams consist of an operational account and a strategic planner, which they call an account planner. It is in this context that I will try to describe what the role of account planners could be, while clarifying the distinction between both the English and the Belgian way of working.
2. An introduction to account planning
“A planner should be so in tune with the consumer that he or she can help with packaging, promotion, product development and even acquisitions, anything the client needs. In a fast-changing category, the planner’s very up-to-date knowledge of the consumer can help the client to keep in touch and stay ahead.” (Newman, 1998)
This quote proves that account planning is a very large domain with several specialities and interpretations. The planning discipline stretches out from advertising campaigns over promotion and packaging to actual brand issues such as positioning, brand structure and the brand’s acquisition policy. One of the founding fathers of account planning, Stephen King (King, 1968), argues that the
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 32 one end of the scale is reserved for the ‘grand strategists’ – intellectuals, perhaps verging economists, seeking to rise above the fray and see the broader scheme of things. At the other end there are the ‘ad tweakers’ – more qualitative researchers; analysing advertisements, handling group discussions and justifying the work of the creative team to the client.
Three decades later it was M.T. Rainey from Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe/Y&R (Rainey, 1998) who drew up three caricatures of planners: » Ad tweakers: planners whose skills lie in helping their agencies develop and sell increasingly entertaining, unexpected and colloquial advertising that appeals to the sophistication of the consumer. » Storytellers: planners who focus on the front end of the process, giving the fullest possible picture of the product and the consumer in the belief that the secret lies in some quirky detail that will inspire the creative team to create even better advertising. » Planners: who are knowledgeable about the brand, its competitors and its market structure, who have a close relationship with the client (who considers them to be the fount of all wisdom), but who are strangers to the creative department.
These different aspects of the strategic spectrum presented themselves during the internship at Famous as well, since every client has different expectations towards the strategic department.
Smaller clients consider the account planners as being reinforcements to the account team. In this case the planners are meant to guard the brand’s consistency. Another aspect is to stimulate creativity within the agency by targeting new perspectives and inspiring the creative teams with new insights.
The biggest clients, such as Proximus, even look for advice concerning their brand structure. When Proximus decided to aim for a larger market share amongst youngsters and young adolescents for instance, they turned to Famous. Together with Famous (which was still LG&F at that time) they decided it would be the best strategy to launch Pay&Go Generation, which is a brand extension to target that particular young audience.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 33 This brings us to the following diagram, presenting all stakeholders in the planning process.
Diagram 2.1
Every aspect of the planners input towards the agency, the client or brand, the account team or the creative team is based on consumer insights. According to Staveley (Staveley, 1999) account planning emphasises the importance of the target consumers: understanding them, finding advertising strategies that will best fulfil the client’s marketing objectives in terms of attitudinal or behavioural response, and then evaluating the advertising developed on this basis, by pre and post testing, long term tracking, etc. So instead of mirroring the client’s marketing strategy and goals the agency provides a complementary expertise.
To provide this expertise and understand the target audience account planners need to gain a lot of insights, to obtain these, they use a variety of research methods: both qualitative research (focus groups, observations, one to one interviews, competitor reviews) and more quantitative data such as demographic profiles of current or potential brand users. This paints the picture of an actual researcher or a market analyst, which is only a portion of the planners’ competences. The complexity of their task was tackled by Nick Kendall of Bart Bogle Hegarty (advertising agency) in London: “The thing about advertising is that it is completely imaginative and completely logical, totally subjective and totally objective, perfectly number based and perfectly emotion based all at the same time.”
In order to oversee these contradictory aspects, Jon Steel (Steel, 1998) stresses the importance of people working in planning having very different views on the world and different approaches to problem solving. In building a planning department in an agency, it is essential to recruit for such diversity. This diversity guarantees to bring in fresh perspectives throughout the entire process, which is one of the corner stones of account planning.
To dig deeper into the role of account planners or strategists I started looking for a framework that covers all aspects of their job. I could limit the overview to the production of advertisement campaigns which focuses on choosing the right channel and inspiring the creative teams. This approach would narrow down the
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 34 subject too much and thus dishonour the variety of account planning skills. To determine the right starting point I tried to plug into the mind of the client. As we have seen, a client of an advertising agency can count on the account planners to determine its positioning, its brand structure, an original approach for the newest campaign, the core values of its communication message, etc.
I concluded that the account planner’s consumer insight is relevant in every stage of a brand’s marketing strategy. Moreover the strategic input of the account planner can provide an external insight to drive the clients’ marketing efforts to maximum effectiveness, thus resulting in brand growth. The range of specialties covered by the term ‘branding’ provides the largest scale where account planning is applicable.
3. Brand growth
“Winning teams use ‘the brand’ as an organisational blueprint for the growth that is led from the very top of the company. The full potential of branding to drive growth is only realised when it is used to engage and align the resources of the company in delivering value for consumers and shareholders alike. To truly lead the business, brand strategy needs to influence all day-to-day activities, whether a high profile advertising campaign or the ways in which helpline teams answer the phone. Top-level management support is obviously essential if a brand-led business approach is to have any chance of success. Managers need to view key business decisions against financial criteria, but also against the brand promise.” (Taylor 2002)
In this first paragraph David Taylor, author of ‘The Brand Gym: A Practical Workout for Boosting Brand and Business’ (Taylor 2002) claims that a comprehensive branding programme should cover three key stages for growth creation: • Brand foundations • Brand strategy • Brand action
First of all he says that a brand, whether it is a new one, or an existing brand, should invest its resources in products people can use and activities which could be supported by existing or future stakeholders (banks, shareholders, personnel, …) thus anchoring strategy on real business needs. The second step is to generate powerful insights within the industry and the consumer base, preferably quickly and cost effectively. This ‘Brand foundations’ stage should be a research stage before investing in a new brand or new brand extensions. New brands or starters often conduct this stage in house, while existing brands with connections inside the advertising agencies use the account planners’ insights as an external opinion to provide a better overview on the consumer base and its needs (cfr. The Proximus Pay&Go Generation example in “2. An introduction to account planning”).
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 35 According to Taylor, the strategy stage serves to position the brand in such a way that it influences our consumers during their day to day activities. The brand has to be positioned in terms of values, services, products and a target audience. This strategic phase is a pragmatic approach to brand portfolio strategy, visioning and positioning.
The planning of the first two stages will result in actions, whether it is training for your helpdesk personnel, an advertising campaign or writing the monthly newsletter, … The aim is to drum up a compelling and differentiated brand mix, including aligning and energizing people inside the business.
4. Brand Foundations
a. Focus I’ll start off with an example found in the book “On Target – The book on Marketing Plans” (Berry & Wilson, 2001):
1993: Scientists in Japan have launched the assembly line, they are producing an expensive, shoe sized computer with limited functionalities. The first computers are ready to be sold, so the time comes to drum up a marketing strategy. While looking for the appropriate target audience, they can only come up with rich limousine owners or multimillionaires who might want to give it a shot.
For years later, 1997: Thousands of people ordered them, hundreds are still standing in line to buy one. The newest Personal Digital Assistants (PDA’s) are about the size of a card deck, their navigation looks familiar and prices became affordable.
Marketing is all about focusing. A lot of companies have made, are currently making and will probably make the mistake to ignore customer needs. They develop and produce new fashionable or state of the art products and services. When it comes to the actual launch of their products they get caught in a marketing process that begins with what they need to sell, then wondering who they might sell it to and where to get it sold. While they actually should focus on the need for a product before digging further into it.
In 1993 there was no need for a handheld computer the size of a shoe, not even for extremely rich people. When 4 years later, another company launches a similar product, it consisted of smaller parts and could be produced at lower costs. Thus filling in an actual consumer need and selling a whole lot more than its ancestor in 1993. A perfect example of waiting for and working towards the crucial tipping point,
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 36 “that magic moment when an idea, trend or social behaviour crosses a threshold, tips and spreads like wildfire”. (Gladwell, 2000)
The first Japanese company from our example made a crucial mistake. Successful marketing plans always act on existing consumer needs. Marketing does not work the other way around, you cannot force a community to need something. Brands can act on the audience’s desires, their wants or needs, and they can generate a lot of attention and interest for a certain product, but it will never sell if people can not use it. A company’s entire marketing strategy, from the product development stage on, should be based on fulfilling that customer need better than any competitor.
Diagram 2.2
This diagram shows the approach for successful marketing plans (Berry & Wilson 2001, p. 49). Start with the customer need and then design a solution for that need, not the other way around.
There are a few basic input channels to search for and determine these customer needs: » Communicate with your customers and find out how you can satisfy their needs better. » Establish ways to record and interpret customer feedback. » Use this information when making important decisions about marketing, buying, merchandising and selling. » Gain the advice of your advertising agency’s strategic department » …
In this stage a company has to live in its own little bubble floating over the (potential) consumer base. In order not to restraint creativity and flexibility in a later stage, every valuable input for customer needs has to be taken into account. In terms of Roger Von Oech’s description of how to get creative performance into high gear, this stage would be called the explorer phase: “You look for materials in unknown areas, pay attention to unusual patterns, and seek a variety of different kinds of information.” (Von Oech 1986)
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 37 b. Broaden the horizon In this stage a company has to get out of its vacuum, the trick is to distillate the right service or product to fill in the customer needs we have acquired in the first stage.
Using Roger Von Oech’s approach to creativity this stage is a mixture between the artist and the judge. (Von Oech, 1986) The first thing to do is: “rearrange things, experiment with a variety of approaches, ask what if questions and look for hidden analogies”. It is the phase where the collection of customer needs, remarks and wishes service as the data source in order to distinguish the characteristics for the future product or service. At that point the judge comes in: “you carefully weigh the evidence and run risks and question your assumptions”. Basically this means that the company will need to check whether the product they have come up with, has a chance to sell.
In order to convince the brand or product manager, a credible forecast will be necessary. Just like the weather forecast, the chance your product will sell should be a professional guess, based on a wealth of knowledge, some good judgement and common sense. There are no magic forecasting methods that always work. The art is to make a good guess, and the best guesses are the educated ones. Marketers and product developers should look at as many angles as they can, consider past trends and new developments, bear in mind anticipated circles and anything else that gives a hint of what is to come.
A first directory of information is the demographic spread of the regions they want to conquer. A second option is to build on past data, to acquire this data, brands can turn to similar products, other countries or general trends in product retail. Another important amount of information can be gathered by checking out the competitors.
The process can be supported by two kinds of market research. » Primary market research is research that's tailored to a company's particular needs. This can be done through various means: o Focus groups o Customer surveys (for existing or potential customers) o Field tests o Digging into your competition’s solutions, technologies and niches o The account planner’s insights can be seen as primary market research as well because he or she is plugged into the mind of the target audience. » Secondary market research is based on information gleaned from studies previously performed by government agencies,
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 38 chambers of commerce, trade associations, and other organisations.
In this stage most companies are better of with secondary market research to support their forecast. Despite that, brands have to bear in mind that Secondary, Syndicated and Desk research provides ‘open’ directories of information, meaning that your competitors have access to the same resources of data.
Primary market research can be used in several ways. It could well be finished at this stage, since primary market research is often used to get a hold of customer needs, which makes it part of the first ‘Focus’ stage. On the other hand market research is often used to check which features of a product are most likely to sell, which fits it into this stage of broadening the horizon. Companies can check this by confronting their customers with the benefits of their new products. These benefits are determined in the third and last phase of our marketing focus, presented in Diagram 2.2.
c. What do you offer? After developing a clear idea (and a convincing forecast) on the service or product, the time has come to market it. In some industries it is common to market a product by means of features. In the automotive industry it might be a good idea to highlight the car’s performance. This marketing strategy is most effective when it is directed towards engineers or mechanicals that are acquainted with the technology.
When marketing products or services to a broader and less specialised public, it is more appealing to talk in terms of benefits. An example for a hypothetical automobile (Berry & Wilson 2001, p. 50):
Features Benefits » Six cylinders » Power » Four cup holders » Convenience » Stereo system » Entertainment » Leather seats » Comfort » Airbags » Safety » 25 cubic foot trunk » Storage » Reclining seats » Sex appeal » On board GPS system » Reliability » Cell phone » Prestige Table 2.3
Looking at the table one can distinguish the difference between features and benefits. Features are characteristics of the product or service, while benefits are positive values for the purchaser. Product engineers design features, but people buy benefits. This is why
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 39 features can be used to target an audience with a technical background or gadget oriented buyers. Specialists are keen to know all these specifications. General consumers however, will be far more convinced by the future benefits of a product or service. This is why good marketers understand features but emphasise on benefits.
The final stage to market benefits is in delivering a value proposition. The aim is to state your business in terms of the benefits offered, the target market group and relative pricing. Again this process takes 3 stages to be successful; these are shown in Diagram 2.4.
Diagram 2.4
First, the marketers need to understand the value proposition in all three parts: the consumer benefits, the target customer and the pricing. Key problem in this stage is to determine which product benefits will appeal the most to your target audience. Again this can be a field where the account planner comes in, since he is one of the people who should understand the target audience in depth. An important issue when emphasising on these benefits is to guard the brand’s consistency. The benefits should match with the brand’s image and with the other products offered by the same brand. If this can not be done it might be advisable to consider a brand extension or a sub brand to launch this particular product or product line.
The consistency of a brand offers universal meaning among your target audience and often creates standout; what makes the brand different from all others. The brand’s core values should be sustainable and provide the chance to be further developed over time. Sometimes these key values become (one of) a brand’s competitive edge(s). The most classic of the competitive edges are those based on proprietary technology and protected patent, on an algorithm, but even deeply
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 40 entrenched know how can be a solid competitive edge. Sometimes market share or brand knowledge and brand acceptance are just as important. As in the case of Hewlett Packard whose competitive edge is based on the relationship with engineers and technicians.
The second stage is to communicate the value proposition. This means that every message towards the outside world should be in line with the brand’s value proposition. This way the brand builds up universal meaning and standout as we discussed earlier.
The final stage of marketing the benefits is to fulfil the promises made to the consumers. Companies building a sustainable business have to create a base of consumers who are satisfied with the products. If people are not, the brand loses its credibility and the value proposition becomes useless, thus deteriorating the brand’s value. There is one exception to this rule, some brands just aim for a one shot success. They go through the same steps of marketing their value proposition in terms of benefits, but they do not fulfil the promise. The value proposition creates giant expectations, the consumer base buys the product but is left unsatisfied since the product does not fulfil its promises. This way the company gets its one shot success and takes the profit but it will never be able to aim for the same consumer base again. Since this is not the sustainable development of a product range, a consumer base or even a company, we can not consider this practice as an act of ‘branding’. Despite all that it can be part of an account planner’s job, since it is necessary to tap into the consumers’ mind and convince them to buy the product once.
d. Target Marketing “I don’t know the secret to success, but the secret to failure is trying to please everybody.” – Bill Cosby
Target Marketing involves breaking a market into segments and then concentrating your marketing efforts on one or a few key segments. Target marketing is a better use of most valuable resources (time and money) to generate additional revenue. Since once again the key is to know as much as one can about a brand’s consumers, the account planner’s insights might help to enhance the ability to communicate and connect with this target audience.
The target market actually consists of all people who have the characteristics of the product’s ideal client. In order to identify the target market, companies often start by considering which people will benefit the most from their products or services. Even when marketers do this thoroughly the marketing can result in an unintended consumer base that has never been targeted. Mercedes’ target market for the baby Benz consisted of young independent women while the actual
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 41 users turned out to be couples between 30 and 45 with one or two children. (Pelsmacker, 2008).
Another approach is to start by analysing your current consumer base and determine which people inside this group have the ‘ideal’ characteristics or show the need for your new product. Investigating the competitors or similar businesses in other markets can provide new insights as well. Moreover companies can identify the target markets by using four category areas to collect information: (Weinstein, 1993)
» Geographic segmentation calls for dividing the market into different geographic units, such as nations, regions, states, counties, cities, or neighbourhoods. While defining these geographic regions, marketers have to bear in mind the size, density and climate zone of these areas. For example, clothing stores sell clothes targeted to their geographic markets. In January, the Gap clothing store sells winter clothing in Belgium. A Gap located in Florida, will sell more T shirts, shorts, and bathing suits in the same period. » Demographic segmentation divides the market into groups based on such variables as age, gender, family size, family life cycle, income, occupation, education, religion, race, and nationality. Demographics is the most popular basis for segmenting customer groups since consumer needs, wants, and usage rates often closely reflect demographic variables. This information is also the easiest and least expensive secondary data to retrieve. A successful example of demographic target marketing was set by Maybelline. The company introduced a new popular line, called Shades of You, specifically targeted to black women. Suddenly a whole lot of other companies have followed this example by launching their own lines of multicultural products. » Psychographic segmentation is the process of dividing markets into groups based on values, social class, lifestyle, product or brand loyalty or personality characteristics. Psychographic segmentation involves qualitative aspects—the "why" component of consumer buying patterns. Therefore, a company must conduct its own research, which can be very time consuming and expensive. Again, this is one of the main fields where an account planner’s insight can come in handy. » Behavioural segmentation divides a market into groups based on consumer knowledge, attitude, use, or response to a product. Many marketers believe that behaviour variables are the best starting points for building market segments. Why does one consumer drink Coke, and another Pepsi, and a third Ice Tea? Demographics and psychographics can provide many clues, but it is often helpful to consider additional factors as well.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 42 Here again we have to pay close attention to the customer benefits. Marketers seek to quantify the value of offering a solution to specific consumer needs. The profit of the product has to be investigated in terms of personal benefits. These benefits are different than the product’s benefits, it is the feeling or the drive people feel when buying the product. People purchase products or services to realise one or more of the following benefits. (Berry, 2001) » To Save o Money o Time o Effort o Resources » To increase o Income o Investments o Future o Personal relationships » To reduce o Expenses o Taxes o Liabilities o Trouble » To improve o Productivity o Abilities o Confidence o Appearance o Peace of mind
Based on these 4 categories and the potential benefits marketers can build a target market profile. This way target marketing allows you to reach, create awareness in, and ultimately influence that group of people most likely to select your products and services as a solution to their needs. All this while using fewer resources and generating greater returns.
e. Getting true insight So far in the process each step was restricted to “trying to tap into the mind of our consumers”. Some research about our products (and the benefits they offer) has been done and will be useful in this stage. But to gain true insight brands really have to tap into their consumers’ mind and get everything out, trying is just not good enough, they have to take the next leap.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 43 Market analysis In order to gain true insight brands have to get a clear picture of their consumer base. Before getting started they have to make some basic assumptions like the price level of their product, the relationship to substitutes and certain economic justifications such as the total market potential being a stable concept, not changing annually.
Once that is done the analysis phase elaborates on the segmentation built up during the previous chapter. For each of the market segments the market analysis should provide as much information as possible: » Segment description: A basic description of the target segment that includes attributes such as the number of potential customers, the annual growth rate, annual spending, market value, … The more detail you include the better. » Needs and requirements Why does this segment need your product or service? What is going to make them buy it? The trick here is not to get trapped into merely marketing, in this analysis companies have to stick to the identification of a customer. » Distribution channels Brands need to know where its customers go to satisfy the needs and requirements they have an answer for. » Competitive forces Some consumers are more sensitive to price than others, some segments are more concerned about quality than price and some care most about availability and convenience. » Communications How can we target our consumer segment, where do they get confronted with the brand’s advertisements and what are the PR channels the company can use? » Keys to success Key factors will vary between segments and may include price, value, availability, image, features, financing, upgrade and return policies, customer service, …
To get the necessary market information marketers and researchers can search the internet or magazines, since market research firms and industry experts often publish basic conclusions are portions of their findings in trade and business magazines on or offline. On top of that researchers can always find industry statistics and financial results since these have to be reported by law.
Primary research will certainly help as well and can sometimes be rather easy: tracking complaints and problems as a valuable source of customer market information. To find out even more about the consumer base, companies can consider using customer survey
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 44 information or focus groups. The aim should always be to classify the customers into useful groups or segments.
SWOT analysis Based on the insights gathered during this first research phase we are developing a SWOT analysis. A SWOT (Strength – Weakness – Opportunity – Threats) analysis is a useful tool for looking at the present situation and see where you can gain growth or where your growth will be threatened.
Competitive analysis A comprehensive competitive analysis falls apart in two major parts: » Description of the general nature of competition in your type of business and how consumers seem to choose one provider over another » Compare your product or service in the light of those factors of competition.
What role does the account planner play? Some parts of the “market and competitive analysis” phase seem like the ideal tasks to get the account planners involved. According to APG (Account Planning Group, 1999) however, the account planners are practically uninvolved during this analysis process. They argue that in the early 1950s the advertising agencies were the main pioneers of market research programmes. During the 60s more clients became restructured along marketing lines and part of this was the creation of their own market research departments. The effect of this client sophistication was an increased demand for distinctive advertising discipline and a decreased need for agencies as market consultants. This way, planning became to advertising what marketing became to sales in the client companies.
This point of view seems to be contradictory to what we might expect. Each book, article or website handling the subject of account planning claims that strategic planners are meant to have a full fetched insight in the consumer base and how to target them successfully. During the internship at Famous I had the chance to be part of several briefings and meetings with clients. This has proven that strategic planners are indeed involved in every step of the bigger brands’ growth plans, which I have been discussing so far. Although I can understand APG’s claim that market analysis plays a minor role in advertising agencies, I saw that account planners still are involved in the market analysis and research. I have no reason to doubt their stance, since I don’t have a reference of what advertising was like in the 50s. But one can not claim that agencies are no longer involved in market analysis.
Bigger clients, such as Inbev, Proximus or the National Lottery have their own marketing departments who are in charge of quantitative
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 45 research. The data and conclusions gathered are presented to the advertising agency’s account team and account planners. As reinforcement to this research the account planners elaborate on it by conducting some more qualitative research. This is done trough competition reviews and communication analysis. In my opinion the market analysis phase should be exercised in cooperation between the client and the strategic department of the advertising agency. This way they collect both quantitative and qualitative data, providing a synergy of insights to tap into the consumers mind.
5. Brand Tactics
During the chapter concerning the brand foundations I have covered the first steps to write a marketing plan. When existing brands are updating their marketing plan or writing a new one for a sub brand or a specific brand extension the advertising agencies’ account planners can be useful counsellors. Based on the experience at Famous I would say that new brands tend to write this foundations phase on their own, based on their own insights and research, while existing brands who often work with advertising agencies truly see the benefits of having a counsellor with real insights.
In both cases the brand foundations are the starting point for a whole range of company activities. These foundations guide the company in certain directions. The guidelines have an influence on the expense budget, the timing of certain processes, projected sales results and of course the communication strategy. Tim Berry therefore presents the influence of brand foundations by means of a pyramid (Berry & Wilson, 2001). The brand foundations phase which Berry named ‘Strategy’ is at the top of the pyramid, thus setting the pace for every underlying level of tactics and programmes.
Figure 2.5
In order to provide a compelling overview of the account planner’s role I have started off by presenting the strategy, or what David Taylor referred to as ‘Brand Foundations’: the first steps in writing a marketing plan. As figure 2.5 clearly emphasises this is only the top of the pyramid. This means that these first steps
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 46 have driven the brand to pave the ground for a whole lot of business processes. From my experience at Famous I can say that account planners indeed have clients who consult them during these steps. This might even give planners a deeper insight in the brand’s consumer base. Thus providing an advantage later on, since the first part of the marketing plan is the foundation for what is coming. The further development of a marketing plan spreads out over an entire field of specialities and company activities, therefore I will have to narrow down the subject and perspective, since it is not advisable to stretch the sphere of the ‘strategy in advertising’ subject towards all of these activities. Therefore I’ll concentrate on the actual communication strategy which implies that we will stick much closer to the account planner’s daily tasks. This strategic communication planning process is developed by the account planners in cooperation with companies’ marketing departments. Usually this is done through the steps presented in diagram 2.6. Notice that the first step (“Select the target audience”) provides a little overlap with the marketing plan’s foundations phase, due to our change of perspective.
Diagram 2.6
a. Divide et impera In the previous chapter on brand foundations I have discussed target marketing. It might seem that “Selecting the target audience” is just rephrasing the same thing, although it isn’t. As the pyramid clearly summarises the target markets we have selected are the foundations for this phase. But since I have changed perspective from the marketing foundations to communication strategy there is a distinctive approach in this subject. The primary use of segmentation is in defining a target market, this is what brands have done earlier (in the foundations sections). But there is an important difference in approach that is not made very often; in order to communicate successfully, brands need to define a target audience, which might differ from the selected core target market.
The target market has been selected based upon 4 categories: geography, demographics, psychographics and behaviour. Segmentation relevant to marketing communication however must be based on attitude because it is attitude that determines how someone is likely to respond to a message and how he or she behaves. Traditional market segmentation looks at the entire market based on the 4 categories I have described earlier, these could be ‘enduring variables’ that do not change across product categories, or they could be ‘dynamic variables’ such as usage or benefits. (Fill, 2001) What we
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 47 are looking for is groups of people in the target market who hold relatively similar attitudes towards category usage and brands within the category. The target audience is defined by dividing the target market into groups based on loyalty, attitudinal segmentation and purchase behaviour. Understanding the fundamental attitude segments within your target market is key to effective communication. This might seem a little bit abstract, a simple example will clarify things. If I want a larger group of people within my target market to get in touch with our products, I need to target non consumers and therefore study their attitudes. Based on these attitudes the category of non consumers might be segmented once more enabling us to pin point the target audience that will provide the best results at the lowest cost.
It is obvious that the selection of the target audience is derived from the marketing plan. Another important aspect that will generally be specified in the marketing plan is whether the brand is concentrating on new consumers or on repeat business in order to build or maintain the brand. If a market is growing, the brand will usually be looking for new customers; in a more stable market maintaining share or increasing business is more likely to come from current customers.
Based on these attitudes a brand might discover that it is not attractive enough for certain target audiences or even target markets. In that case they can reconsider brand extensions or making changes to their brand models by adding sub brands or co brands. The example that I have used concerning Proximus Pay&Go Generation is probably based on such a conclusion. Again this is off topic since we want to target the strategic steps before creating advertisement campaigns.
b. Understand target audience decision making To understand the target audience decision making it might seem logical to determine who is involved in the purchasing decision, while the information that is actually needed is the role each participant plays in every stage of the process. According to Larry Percy and Richard Elliott (Percy & Elliott, 2002) there are five potential roles: » The initiator who suggests the purchase » The influencer who recommends or discourages purchase » The decider who makes the actual choice » The purchaser who does the actual purchasing » The user who consumes or uses the product or service
The next step is to assign probable communication objectives for these decision roles, as presented in table 2.7. These associations provide a rather universal approach towards decision making.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 48 Role in decision Communication objective » Initiator » Brand awareness, initial brand attitude » Influencer » Brand attitude » Decider » Brand attitude and brand purchase intention » Purchaser » Brand purchase intention » User » Brand attitude
Table 2.7
Notice that the decision roles might be filled by only one person, playing all the roles in the decision. For higher involvement purchases a number of different people play different or multiple roles. This means that messages need to accomplish different things depending upon where you are and what role you play in the decision process, regardless of which individual (not role) is being targeted.
Under some circumstances, especially for low involvement purchase decisions, such as Fast Moving Consumer Goods, the message may be appropriate regardless of the role. In that case all five roles will be influenced by communicating brand awareness and positive brand attitude. For high involvement decisions there is another pattern, deciders must be convinced of their choice prior to purchase because there is a higher risk involved. It is unlikely that a single advertisement for a high involvement purchase will be able to build the brand awareness and positive brand attitude in order to satisfy the initiator and influencer to ensure a positive intention to buy.
Dennis Gensch (Gensch, 1987) conducted some research into how people go about making a buying decision. He claims that the decision process for a car, being a high involvement product, is at least a two stage process. In the first stage potential buyers must like the car, see themselves behind the wheel and feel that this particular vehicle reflects how they want to be seen in the world. This first part is the ‘image’ part of the decision, once this angle is covered they will probably try to figure out whether the car meets their more functional criteria such as: mileage, features, service record, … This means that the car company needs one message to reach potential new car buyers in their roles as initiator and influencer and another one, more fact filled, will be required to convince the consumers in their roles as decider and purchaser. This approach supports the theory that advertisements have to match people’s roles in decision making.
A generic system to tackle this difficulty was provided by Larry Percy (Percy, 1997), his Decision Participant Grid (DPG) allows account planners and marketers to think about which members of the immediate target market might be involved during each of the five roles.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 49 The key is to see that the potential target audience for marketing communication messages could be wider than simply the person buying the product. Another novelty in this grid is the ‘Providers’ column to remind us that, especially for high involvement decisions, various parts of the trade could be involved in the process. Table 2.8 is an example of a DPG developed for a vacation.
Target Audience Role in decision Consumer Provider Initiator Self, friends, family Travel agent Influencer Self, friends, family Travel agent, resorts and other destinations Decider Self, companion Purchaser Self, companion Travel agent User Self, companion, family
Table 2.8
Now it is time to see how these participants and the roles they play relate to the decision making process itself. Elaborating on this DPG model we found the Behavioural Sequence Model (BSM) first introduced by Rossiter and Percy (Rossiter & Percy, 1987), which deals much more specifically with the decision making process. In this model planners use the probable stages involved in making a decision, these stages are replacing the ‘roles’ we have used up till now. The idea of a consumer’s decision process, however, does remain central to the understanding of how consumers make choices. It is important to begin to think about how consumers make decisions in the brand’s category and how marketing communication can influence what brand is chosen. Once these stages have been lined up, the mission is to determine: » Who is involved in this particular stage » Where this stage is likely to occur » When this stage occurs in relation to other decision stages » How each of these decision stages is likely to occur: how is the target market going to behave, what happens to stimulate a perceived need for the product, what goes on when actually making a purchase, …
This last part (‘How decision stages occur’) actually introduces the subject of the positioning strategy because it provides very useful insights in this matter. The positioning strategy will be the next topic in this theoretical framework, after presenting the BSM model for the same holiday presented in table 2.8, the DPG model.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 50 Decision Stage Role in Need Arousal Identify Evaluate Choose Book Holiday Take Holiday Post Holiday decision Possible Options Holiday Evaluation Holidays Decision Self, friends, Self, friends, Self, Self Self, Self, Self, roles family as family as companion as companion as companion as companion companion initiators and influences decider decider purchaser influences
Travel agents Travel agent, Travel agent Travel agent as initiators resorts and as influence as purchaser other destinations as influences Where the Home, Home, Home, travel Home, travel Home, travel Destination Almost stage is friends, friends, agency agency agency everywhere likely to travel agency travel agency occur Timing of 2 4 months Immediately Over 2 4 Within 4 Within one 2 3 months After holiday the stage before after need weeks weeks of week of after booking holiday arousal following need arousal choice need arousal How the Friends talk, Talk with Call or write Compare Call Travel to Tell friends, stage is see adverts, friends, to costs, what is destination, destination; relatives of likely to at travel family, see destinations, offered, when travel agent, experience at experience, occur agency adverts, visit see adverts, is available internet destination reminded travel agency talk with when see friends, adverts family
Table 2.9
c. Positioning The target audience decision making model, as described in the previous step, will now help to identify the likely connection between category need and the brand, along with benefits associated with the brand.
The most important consideration in the development of a positioning strategy is to define the market in which a company or product is competing. The key here is to search for what the majority of consumers regard as substitutes or purchase alternatives for your brand or product. The group of substitute brand or products will determine the market. If the strategic direction is wrong, the communication strategy will be wrong as well, because it will be based upon a misleading definition of the market.
This may sound ridiculous. But one of the problems Famous had to deal with was the launch of the new Jupiler Blue beer, which is a light alcoholic beverage. The market could be the entire range of Belgian beers, the market of beers with less alcohol or even the light alcoholic beverage market including low alcohol wine and other speciality light alcoholic products. This choice is crucial to permit an effective
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 51 positioning for the new brand and its category. When a company positions a new product or brand within the same market as other products sold by the same company it encourages cannibalisation.
In the case of Jupiler Blue, there was the advantage of the Jupiler brand name. However, there was the risk of cannibalisation as well as the risk of deteriorating the brand’s image as provider of beer for males. Since Jupiler Blue could be seen as the weak and ‘less male’ little brother of Jupiler, thus threatening the Jupiler product range’s positioning. Eventually Inbev chose the market of beers you drink in summer and beers you drink to have a break. This way there was no immediate threat for the original Jupiler beer positioning and therefore less risk of cannibalisation. Another strategy they could have followed was launching their new beer under a new name, which would have taken away the advantage of the Jupiler brand name and image.
The most traditional way of describing markets is simply to look at a broad category and then break it down by whatever characteristics of the product make sense. Famous could have broken down the beer market into regular versus lower alcohol beers and even further in regular, premium, super premium, imported and micro brewed brands. Another popular way to describe the market is in terms of their channels of distribution. Both of these traditional ways to describe markets tend to reflect a product oriented approach while we actually need a consumer oriented approach to target our audience effectively.
Another approach is cross elasticity or how the choice of a product can vary based on the pricing. This is a rather economical approach to define the market. A less economically based system is measuring similarities, where consumers can simply be asked to list all the products they use for a particular task or in a particular situation. While a simple method like this does define a market based on consumer behaviour it does not offer a very precise definition. An improved version of this method is the perceptual mapping procedure (Green & Vilhala, 1972) which takes a set of similarity judgements and maps them in such a way that those brands that are considered similar to each other end up close together while those that are further apart are seen as less alike.
Even though this method is an improvement over the simple aggregate method of looking at similarities in terms of usage, it is still not quite as defining as a hierarchy of markets. The basic insight here is that an overall product category can be divided and then subdivided several times into subcategories that define narrower markets, and which will tend to end with consumers making their actual choice. Research has shown that consumers talk about products in terms of four general characteristics:
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 52 » Type of product » End benefit » Usage situation » Brand names The order in which these factors are mentioned depends on the final arbiter of choice for the consumers, thus suggesting different advertising strategies to convince the consumer to switch amongst brands. Switching brands will be easier in the lower regions of the hierarchy since this is where the consumer sees brands as more and more alike.
The combination of both the hierarchy of markets and the perceptual mapping procedure provides the most insight on the positioning strategy. This hypothetical example (Diagram 2.10), developed for Jupiler Blue, shows how. Notice that the perceptual map of the lower alcohol beer market suggests that consumers evaluate these beers in terms of taste and ‘male image’ while regular beers are evaluated by means of taste and price premium.
Diagram 2.10
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 53 Up to this point I have looked very broadly at how various components of the marketing mix influence the overall marketing (and advertising) positioning of a brand. Now it is time to look more specifically at how a brand is to be positioned within this market definition. Basically this is where strategists must identify the optimal way of presenting our brand in advertising and other marketing communication. Two main questions about the brand or product help to define this position: ‘what is it?’ and ‘what does it offer?’. The first one connects the brand to the category need, while the second one refers to the benefits, which I have discussed earlier in our brand foundations phase, and will now be tailored to the specific market.
A brand can be positioned in relation to the product category or the category need either centrally or differentially. The central position usually is preserved for the brand with the biggest market share. The centrally positioned brand offers the primary category benefit and must be able to deliver on all the main benefits in the category, therefore it will be positioned as the best brand. Usually there is only one brand to fill this position, often this is the first and most successful brand. Sometimes this brand even gives its name to the product category, notice how diapers are called Pampers. Although me too brands often try to adopt the same central position, this will only succeed if people can in fact objectively determine that it can deliver the category’s primary benefit, as good as the leading brand and do it at a lower price.
In all other areas a differentiated positioning strategy is called for. The difficulty is to identify the best benefit to differentiate the brand from the market leader and other competitors. These benefits can be chosen based on two points of view: user oriented or product benefit oriented. User oriented positioning makes sense when a brand is marketed to a specific segment, satisfying their particulate needs. This does not necessarily mean that a brand positioned towards the user is appropriate only for that specific target audience, this only means that it is positioned that way. User oriented positioning should also be considered when the underlying purchase motivation in the category is social appeal. This works for expensive products like luxurious cars and fashionable watches defining our social status, but it also works for certain other products. By focusing on the users the account planner or marketer tempts to remind them of how good they feel in using and displaying the brand. Returning to our Pampers example, Pampers is a non luxurious brand that does utilise a user oriented positioning. It focuses upon a mother’s (and recently also a father’s) nurturing feeling for her children, positioning Pampers for mothers who really care.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 54 Product benefit oriented positioning, on the contrary, positions the product as ‘the hero’, thus focusing on specific benefits related to the product. In a user oriented positioning the user characteristics are the message, while in a product benefit oriented positioning the message consists of product characteristics. This brings me back to the former distinction between ‘What is it?’ and ‘What does it offer?’ questions. The first one helps to link the brand to the need in the mind of the target audience (user oriented), while the second one helps to associate a relevant benefit to the brand in the minds of the target audience (product benefit oriented).
This is the point where benefits of the product will be picked up and chosen to be emphasised in either of both positioning orientations. The aim is to select those benefits that will best distinguish the brand from its competitors in a way that is important to the target audience, since these benefits will have to reflect the underlying motivations to purchasing behaviour.
Fishbein’s expectancy value model of attitude (Fishbein, 1975) provides a good suggestion to do this. Fishbein suggested that a
person’s attitude towards a certain object A0 is the sum of all the
things they believe about it (bi), weighted by how important each of
those things are to them (ai). Mathematically this means: A0 = ∑aibi. The sum of all these characteristics provides relatively few information, but breaking it apart gives the account planner the products strengths and advantages in relation to its competitors. I’ll provide a hypothetical example for the Jupiler Blue positioning strategy, which I have discussed earlier.
Importance Beliefs (bi)
Weight (ai) Jupiler Blue Maes Cool Beer 3 3 3 Low alcohol 1 3 1 Appealing presentation 0 1 0 Price 0 1 1 Makes you drunk 1 1 3 Male attitude 3 1 1 Thirst quencher 1 3 3
A0 = ∑aibi 19 19
3 = essential 3 = definitely delivers 1 = desirable 1 = does OK 0 = of no importance 0 = does not deliver Table 2.11
This provides an important relative feel for what people’s attitudes are likely to be, depending upon how they perceive a brand. Based on this information planners can decide upon the emphasis of their message. In this case it might be a good idea to present Jupiler Blue in an atmosphere of male attitude since this is a facet of high importance for
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 55 our target audience. Another ambition might be to try and raise the weight of low alcohol in the purchaser’s decision making process, since Jupiler Blue differs from its competitors on this issue.
This list allows us to determine the priorities of our target audience, notice that this is not valid for the total population at large, unless this happens to be the product’s target audience. There are four ways to act upon these factors of differentiation: » Reinforce or build a uniqueness for your brand on benefits that are important for the target audience (= get a high weight in the expectancy value model) » Emphasise on important benefits that your brand delivers better than your competitors » Try to increase the importance of benefits your brand delivers better than others. This can only be done if not already seen as essential. » Try to decrease the importance of benefits your brand does not deliver as well as others.
According to Percy and Elliot (Percy & Elliot, 2002) the marketed benefits can be experienced in three ways: » An attribute which will be seen as an objective component of the product » A characteristic which is a subjective claim about a product » An emotion which expresses a feeling that is associated with the product
The account planner’s job is to address the consumer in such a way that the benefits used to position the brand reflect these fundamental distinctions between purchase motivations.
d. Developing a communication strategy
In this part I will try to describe how account planners tend to select the communication objectives, with a special emphasis on brand awareness and brand attitude, which should be communication objectives throughout every campaign. In the previous part on positioning I quoted Rossiter and Percy (Rossiter & Percy, 1987) to present four basic communication effects: category need, brand awareness, brand attitude and brand purchase intention. The desired effect(s) are key points to set out the right communication strategy. Therefore I’ll discuss them one by one.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 56 Category need This communication effect is based on the target audience’s feeling that it would like a particular product or service in order to satisfy a specific need, thus in general based on a perception and therefore category need can be established by the advertiser. It is the account planner’s job to create a belief in the minds of the target audience that links the product category and a felt need. This way the advertiser can stimulate primary demand for the product category. Despite that, every brand has to bear in mind that establishing or enforcing category need applies to all brands in the category. In order to stimulate secondary demand the advertiser must also influence brand level communication effects such as brand awareness, brand attitude and brand purchase intention. Therefore category need is only used as a communication objective: » When it is necessary to remind the target audience of its need for products. This communication strategy is restricted for brands dominating their category, since smaller bands within a category putting the emphasis on category need will only stimulate sales of the bigger players in the category. » When a need for the category has yet to be sold to the specific target audience. This is a communication objective for all new products and also for established products aiming for new users.
Brand awareness At the product category level consumers have to feel a perceived category need in order to buy, at the brand level on the other hand consumers cannot buy unless they are first made aware of the brand, therefore brand awareness should always be the first communication effect before any other.
Brand awareness is the target audience’s ability to identify a brand within a category in sufficient detail to purchase it. This does not always require identification of the brand name. Brand awareness can also be stimulated by a familiar package or a general stimulus such as a colour.
Within the brand awareness communication objective there are two possible effects to aim for. » Brand recognition is when the brand reminds you of the category need. This happens when consumers decide whether or not they are in the market for something in a specific category while looking over the shelf and spotting familiar brands. » Brand recall on the other hand is when the category need occurs and the consumer remembers brands or products that satisfy this particular need. The main difference is that this
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 57 kind of brand awareness leaves the consumer without the aid of a point of purchase reminder of the brand. According to Charles Larson the first called brand usually represents a favourable attitude and will usually get the business, this is also named Top of mind awareness (Larson, 1989).
When the account planner and his/her client are setting the advertising strategy the key is to assess the most likely decision situation for the brand. Using this information, the choice of recognition or recall will subsequently guide the planners to the most effective marketing mix.
Brand attitude Just like with brand awareness, brand attitude must always be a communication objective. For most product categories consumers are aware of more than one brand. Brand attitude is necessary to persuade a person to purchase one brand rather than another. There are four characteristics determining the brand attitude, each of them determined by the target audience, whose minds have been tapped earlier: » What the potential buyer wants now from the product at this moment, which is basically the motivation that drives someone’s behaviour. » What someone knows about the brand, the cognitive component. » What someone feels about the brand (affect or feelings). The previous (cognitive) part is the collection of benefits offered by the brand or product, the affective component is the consumer’s belief that this brand can offer a certain benefit, weighed by its importance. Basically this is the point where the account planner returns to the expectancy value model presented in table 2.11. » A brand’s attitude is a relative concept. It can be maintained for long periods of time, but a brand can tempt to change or modify its attitude as well. This could be due to a changing attitude among the target audience or because the brand chooses to target another segment of the market.
Brand Purchase Intention The communication effect aimed for here is the target audience’s decision to purchase a brand or use a service, not the actual purchase or hiring behaviour, since that is the final step after communication. The influence of advertising ends with a low level curiosity to try (in case of low involvement products) or a definite intention to buy (for high involvement products) a product, it cannot generate behaviour.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 58 An account planner should bear in mind the roles people play in the decision process as well. The advertising campaign for toys for instance will be aimed at children in their roles as initiators, stimulating a brand purchase intention, but it will be their mother who actually buys the product. Brands could try to generate brand purchase intention but they will have to take all stakeholders in the purchasing process into account.
For some brands brand purchase intention will not be a communication objective. I have used the Jupiler Blue example several times before and it is applicable here as well. Jupiler Blue’s advertising tempts to build an image, a feeling to associate with the brand. Since this is a product with very little risk involved, the purchase intention will almost certainly be delayed. Therefore brand purchase intention should not be considered as a communication objective. Moreover the focus should be on category need in the first place, since the category is relatively new, it should be on brand attitude to create the image and brand awareness. And finally, since it is a low involvement product the focus should be on brand recognition rather than brand recall, since consumers will probably decide to buy at the point of purchase. Notice how Famous has put this theory into practice by adding a pack shot of a Jupiler Blue bottle, with ice cubes next to it, at the end of each TV commercial or by ending a radio spot with the sound of a Jupiler Blue bottle being opened and drunk.
e. Setting a media strategy Based on all the assumptions made and targets set during the four steps I have discussed so far, a media strategy has to be developed. Media strategy is concerned with how messages will be delivered to consumers. By now the account planners and brand marketers should have enough insights in the brands’ target audience and the characteristics of this audience in order to find the right media to deliver the message(s). Some brands may only want ads with the greatest breadth of appeal: the executions that, when combined, provide the greatest number of attention getting, branded, and motivational moments. Others may only want ads with the greatest depth of appeal: the ads with the greatest number of attention getting, branding, and motivational points within each.
Nowadays the media strategy has more or less evolved towards integrated marketing communications, which gathers all possible contact points with the target audience. This means that the media strategy can be very broad and that campaigns can be set up using a mixture of several media. According to Percy and Elliott the most common and influential media are:
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 59 » Advertising The actions that can be taken to communicate through advertising is the subject of our next chapter and will definitely be discussed more profoundly. » Direct Response Media This medium is where brands use broadcast media to get customers to contact them directly. Usually the content of direct response media consists of an offer with sufficient information to make a decision followed by an explicit call to action, before providing one or several means of response. While this kind of message can also be found on the internet and in newspapers they often appear on television, where they are called infomercials. These direct response infomercials differ from regular commercials since they explicitly solicit response instead of just branding a company or product. Home shopping is an extreme offshoot of infomercials. » Events A lot of brands tend to create a direct contact with their target audience. This is a good way to stay in touch with the audience and conduct some secondary research, meanwhile this medium provides a lot of chances to create awareness and enforce brand attitude. A successful Belgian example is set by the magazine Flair, which target audience consists of trendy women. Last year they have organised the Flair Shopping Day at the Wijnegem Shopping Center to get in touch with their readers. » Public Relations Public relations is the practice of managing the flow of information between an organisation and its publics. This means that PR aims to gain a positive exposure to their key stakeholders, while downplaying any negative exposures. They tempt to do this towards the outside world, especially through press contacts, conferences, … as well as internally using newsletters, intranet, mailings, … During my second internship at Hill & Knowlton, which is not discussed in this paper, I was part of the Belgian PR team. » Point of sales communication tools This type of media is not mentioned very often, although it can be very important to the communication strategy. The packaging, the position within stores, cut outs or wobblers to draw attention, … all have their influence in the area of brand awareness, with a specific focus on brand recognition.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 60 Diagram 2.12 (Macrae, 1996) provides a more elaborate distinction of the channels that might be used to communicate a brands value propositions to the right target audience.
Diagram 2.12
Although this overview is more comprehensive than the previous one, Macrae’s channels are not really based on the business reality and certainly not applicable for an advertising agency such as Famous. First of all Famous combines Media Advertising with Direct Marketing experience. Moreover Famous offers internet solutions as well, which is not even in Macrae’s overview, probably because it is already drawn up in 1996. Furthermore we find sales promotion, packaging and design which could just as well be filed as parts of point of sale communication.
Therefore I will stick to the five types of media as they were described by Percy and Elliott (Percy & Elliott, 2002). This model is much closer to business reality where companies specialise in one of these 5 media strategies. When digging deeper into each of these media practices most of them fall apart in several subdivisions or specialties. I will discuss these specialties for the advertising category later on, in the part on Brand Action and specifically while dealing with channel strategy.
In using this approach I am suggesting that a brand chooses its media strategy and in doing so actually defines which company to work with, either a PR specialist, an advertising agency or an event marketer.
It may however work the other way around as well. One of the cases I will discuss in chapter 3 is the launch of the new Klara website, which was a campaign by Famous and purely based on PR (Public Relations) techniques.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 61 This proves that a medium is not completely restricted to companies operating in that specific practice. Another overlap is found in the organisation of events, since both Hill & Knowlton and Famous provide these kinds of services for their clients. Since event marketing is not their core competence they might not excel in setting up giant events, but smaller projects are developed in house.
Besides these overlaps in activities, most of the advertising agencies have additional partnerships with PR and PA (Public Affairs) offices or event marketers for bigger projects. A lot of worldwide players in each of these competences join groups where several marketing specialists are gathered. Hill & Knowlton for instance is part of the international WPP group (Wire and Plastic Products, named after a UK manufacturer of wire baskets, who became the 'foundation' company to build a worldwide marketing services company) which also contains advertising agencies such as Ogilvy and Tagora. Famous on the other hand is still an independent Belgian agency, but encompasses a Direct Marketing department (formerly know as I do) and an online department (formerly known as Snow). Before becoming Famous the LG&F group even had its own PR agency named Pride.
This proves that account planners are not restricted to the world of advertising. It is interesting to see how the margins between these business fields fade. Having made this remark I will further focus on the advertising agencies, since this is an account planners’ playground. As you will see the account planner gets a second round of media choice, within its advertising landscape, this is called the channel strategy.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 62 6. Brand Action
Now that we have seen how account planners gather their insights and how their communication strategy is built upon these foundations, it is time to see what role they play during the creation of advertising messages. I will try to briefly summarise their importance during this phase, since it is mainly a matter of preparing the final steps before briefing the creative teams and providing them a cutting edge input or a few fresh angles to develop original campaigns.
From the interview with Els Raemdonck and Henk Ghesquière I conclude that Belgian agencies often limit the input of a strategic department to this section of brand action. This is of course due to the client’s demands, but also based on the competences agencies have to offer. “Strategists are very different, in Belgium most of them are specialised in channel strategy, meaning they are good at determining which channels to use in order to reach the desired target audience. Only a few others put their focus on brand positioning, while in England account planners are an extension of brands’ marketing teams since they follow the entire marketing communication process.” (Raemdonck & Ghesquière, 2008)
In my opinion Famous is an atypical agency on this area. As I have tried to prove, they do have strategists whose opinion is considered very valuable inside the agency as well as outside the agency, since a lot of customers really demand and appreciate their input. Proximus even has a separate fee just for providing strategic counsel and having an account planner assigned to their campaigns, while other clients just expect the strategic department to be involved.
Let’s take a look at the decisions that have yet to be made in order to create marvellous campaigns.
a. Seeping through the consumers’ mind This is a very huge subject in consumer behaviour. Basically advertisers, including account planners of course, should make a distinction between 2 routes of advertisement processing. As Petty and Cacioppo found out, there is a distinction between the central route of persuasion which is rather cognitive, named focussing by Van Raaij, and the peripheral, emotional route, also named scanning (Van Raaij, 1998).
In the central route consumers go through these steps: » First of all the consumer will pay attention to the advertisement » Secondly the people who have been paying attention will remember certain things from the add and learn more about it » This process is followed by consumers believing what is said in the advertisement and creating associations between the purchase benefits and the brand or product. This phase is often called acceptance.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 63 While the peripheral route is based on the emotions that are elicited by the advertising communication.
Each of these four processing stages can be linked to several of the communication objectives that have been set during the previous chapter. The following table (2.13) shows whether a processing stage is considered necessary for achieving certain communication objectives.
Attention Learning Acceptance Emotion Category Need Yes Yes Yes No Brand Awareness Yes Yes No No Brand Attitude Low involvement Yes Yes No Yes High involvement Yes Yes Yes Yes Brand Purchase Intention Yes Yes Yes Yes Table 2.13
Based on the communication objectives that should be present in the advertisement the account planner can now make assumptions of what the message should sound like or what the image should look like to create the desired effect after the ad has been processed.
b. How to say it? Up to this point the account planner has been focussing on what to say, now it is time to determine how things should be said. Creative tactics deal with the ways in which words and pictures are used in marketing communication to deliver the message.
Once more this facet is based upon the previous findings, because the easier it is made for the target audience to process and understand the message, the more likely an advertising agency is to achieve the desired communication effect. Based on Rossiter’s and Percy’s (Rossiter & Percy, 1997) findings I will discuss these tactics for each of the phases in add processing.
Attention To draw attention to an advertisement, there are a few simple rules.
How to use words and pictures to gain attention Words » Use unexpected words or frequently use letters such as Q, X or Z » Vary emphasis or stress of certain words in headlines or audio content, or use them in unexpected ways » Keep headlines to fewer than 7 8 words Pictures » Use larger pictures when using print » Use colour » Keep visual cuts in commercials to fewer than 20 or 30 second advert » Use pictures that hold attention for at least 2 seconds Table 2.14
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 64 Learning To help the consumer learn from an advertisement, there are a few simple rules.
How to use words and pictures to help learning Words » Use familiar words » Use concrete, high imagery words » Avoid negatives » Be careful with puns (keen ways to play with meaning) since they are more difficult to process » Keep sentences simple » Avoid passive sentences » Suggest a personal interaction with the advertising Pictures » Be certain to use pictures that are consistent with viewers who are included as observers » Use colour unless the only aim is to provide information » Show the product while it is being used » Use high imagery, concrete images or illustrations » Use pictures so that they are seen before the words are Table 2.15
Acceptance In order to create acceptance, the target audience has to remember certain aspects of the brand and associate them with the specific product or brand. The characteristics of these advertising campaigns are more or less in line with the one for learning. Besides the relative simplicity of these ads account planners have to bear in mind that there are certain helpful means to increase memorisation of the advertisements.
Creative tactics for minimizing memory problems Minimizing » Create a unique brand benefit claim link misattribution Minimizing absent » Establishing links in memory to the appropriate category need mindedness » Use distinctive cues which are not likely to be associated with other long term memories » Ensure a consistent “look and feel” over time to encourage familiarity Minimizing blocking » Make sure the link to the category need is well integrated with obvious associations Minimizing transience » Ensure messages are carefully integrated with how the brand is understood » Encourage elaboration of points the target audience might be interested in remembering Minimizing bias » Imply positive brand attitudes are of long standing » Use personal references, especially to positive memories Table 2.16
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 65 Emotion To elicit emotion successfully, creative teams can use several categories of elements: sound, music, written word, pictures, colour and movement. The account planner could suggest focusing on a specific emotional characteristic of the target audience. It is important to realise that some devices to generate emotional response will not be available in every medium. This is why the creative teams, the strategic department and (if present) media planners get in touch to select the appropriate channel(s), which is my next topic.
c. Channel strategy Before really handing over the project to the creative team the account planner has one last thing to do. After having decided on what to say and how to say it, the strategists choose the appropriate channel to actually say it. This is often done in cooperation with the creative team and a media planner, if there is one.
As I have said there are several theories on how to group channels. I have chosen to think in terms of business practices, which means that PR is not a traditional channel to use for an advertising agency, neither is packaging or event marketing. Despite my choice there is a giant overlap in these activities, meaning that PR agencies can use advertising techniques or organise events, but it will never be their core business. What I wanted to show is that brands have a choice in selecting their medium and each medium has a set of potential channels. Since my focus is on advertising I presumed the brand has opted to invest in advertising. But even if it has not, the account planners may still be involved and even suggest cooperating with event marketers or PR agencies. This is why Famous works with companies such as Bananas and Demonstrate to do promotion shots, for instance for Jupiler Blue.
In what follows I will limit the channels to the ones that are specifically used in advertising, diagram 2.17 provides a comprehensive overview.
Diagram 2.17
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 66 Internet IAB/CIM research has proven that internet investments are skyrocketing worldwide. Belgium is not the pioneer, on the contrary, it has been skipping behind other European countries but is currently working its way up. The online investments grew with 64% percent in 2006 in reference to the rates in 2005. In Belgium the world of online advertising was worth 72 million euros at that time and still is the fastest growing medium. Despite that, the volume of money spent on online advertising, in reference to the offline investments, represented only 4% in Belgium, while the UK leads with 10% and France follows with 7%. (Van Boucq, 2007) Meanwhile internet advertising budgets in Belgium have risen up to 170 million euros in 2007. (Van Dorsselaer, 2008)
The reason for this leap in online advertising popularity lies in the speed and cost of this medium. Let us take a closer look at the advantages and disadvantages an account planner should consider.
Pro’s » All senses Online advertising can consist of sound, images, words, video or spoken words » It is easy to test the market Creating a brochure needs designing, printing and distributing it before finding out whether a campaign is effective. Response or lack of response on the internet is lightning fast. Counters and services such as Google Analytics can provide a thorough analysis tool. » The add campaign is less expensive Since brands don’t have to deal with reprinting and redistributing the overall expense of a change is decreased. » The ad works 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year It’s always nice to know that advertising is working around the clock and around the world, so that customers can view it at their convenience rather than any specific time. » Easily updatable When an online ad has to be altered, no printing or taping is required. Just changing the HTML that created the online ad and the job is done in a matter of minutes. » Consumers can view the ad, shop, and buy without leaving home It’s hard to beat that sort of convenience. Of course the website has to allow this kind of services. » Target the audience effectively The trick is to place ads where the right customers can see it. If a brand sells exotic teas, they might want to place their ads on a site that sells crumpets or cookies, rather than a site that sells motorcycle equipment to bikers. The huge segmentation of internet websites provides a better chance to take the correct aim in targeting the right audience
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 67
Con’s » It’s can be too measurable Some of the click through rates (the number of times people click on the ad divided by the total number of times people see an ad) are low — often 1 or 2 percent or even less. That means hardly anyone who sees the ad clicks on it and visits the brand’s Web site — or buys their product. Currently, advertisers think that the only real measurement of an ad’s success is to count the number of people who actually buy a product. The problem is that because people don’t really understand how the online ad processing really works yet, they collect every possible statistic. But not all these statistics are useful. » Some major ad agencies lose confidence in online advertising. The internet is still so new that the advertising world simply doesn’t know yet which online advertising methods work best. Despite that, few deny that in the future some form of internet ads (perhaps combined with TV) will be both powerful and effective. » Customers are experiencing advertising overload. One problem with online ads is the incredible amount of clutter on most web pages. Every advertiser wants consumer attention, but readers simply have too much information to digest. Often, they choose to ignore ads — and that is what leads to low rates of return.
Print Magazine and newspaper advertisement revenues are slowly decreasing, since the reach of print media is slumping. Moreover this downturn in sales forces them to maintain relatively high advertising fees. Despite all that, the business forecast is that the advertisement budget for print media will grow from 755 million in 2008 to 890 million euros in 2011. This positive trend will be due to new, and highly segmented magazine titles. The list of pro’s and con’s confirms that print advertisements do have their advantages. (Van Dorsselaer, 2008)
Pro’s » Print magazines and newspapers cover the entire demographic spectrum » For smaller ads there is a very low cost per view » Most newspapers are printed in sections that are targeting a specific audience » Chances for top topical advertisements. This is an exclusive concept where advertisements are sold at lower prices if the creative concept is inspired by the current topicalities. » Broad segmentation of magazines offers the chance to specifically target the right audience. CIM rates might help to find the magazine that fits best » When people are really interested in an ad they have the time to check all the details or even get back to it later. Con’s » Newspaper readership has been declining steadily for years » It is a rather expensive medium
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 68 Radio In Belgium radio is the third most important media channel for advertising. Being preceded by respectively TV commercials and print advertising, radio advertising represents a 400 million euro business. Over the last years the number of people that get in touch with radio each week has increased, as well as the amount of time they are actually listing to it. (De Tijd, 2007)
Pro’s » Radio, like television, has the ability to quickly reach a large number of people. It efficiently targets narrowly defined segments of the market » It is relatively inexpensive (both in terms of airtime and production costs) and because deadlines for placing radio advertising are relatively short, it provides advertisers with increased flexibility » Advertising on certain stations can help reach additional audience segments to help expand a firm’s total market capability. » The unlimited array of radio program formats allows an advertiser to focus on any target audience. By advertising in concentrated flights, an advertiser can appear to be much larger than he really is. After several days, listeners will think the company is advertising all of the time » Station personalities have a good rapport with their listeners. If a radio personality announces your commercial, it is almost as effective as an implied endorsement » Radio supports your printed advertising. Messages can be twice as effective by including phrases such as: "See our ad in De Standaard." » Advertising can be purchased on stations whose listener characteristics most closely approximate the profile of your company’s current customers. CIM rates might help to see which station targets the right audience » The advertising message need not be limited to a monologue. Vocal and instrumental music, as well as sound effects of every imaginable type can be inexpensively added, either individually or in combination Con’s » Advertisers are limited to an audio message. There is no visual product or service identification to support it » Listeners may switch stations to avoid listening to commercials » Multiple exposures are usually required for retention and response. Listeners may have to hear the same commercial two, four or even six times or more before the message sinks in » Ad clutter can be high » Exposure to the message is short and fleeting » Radio can effectively sell only one idea at a time. » It can’t be reviewed. Once it plays, it’s gone. If the listener didn’t catch all of the message, he can’t go back and listen to it again » People only listen to radios during certain times of the day.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 69 TV Currently TV still takes the biggest slice of the advertising pie. In 2008 TV advertisements accounted for a budget of 975 euros and a minor increase is forecasted for the following 4 years. (Van Dorsselaer, 2008) A lot of brands are also shifting some of their budget for traditional commercials to product placement. This is also a kind of TV advertising, but rather indirect and therefore consumers tend to accept it better.
Pro’s » Television reaches very large audiences usually much larger than the audience local newspapers reach, and it does so during a short period of time. » Since there are fewer television stations than radio stations in a given area, each TV audience is divided into much larger segments, which enables advertisers to reach a larger, yet, more diverse audience » It has the ability to convey the message with sight, sound and motion, and can give a product or service instant validity and prominence » Easy to target audiences. Children can be reached during cartoon programming, housewives during the afternoon soap operas, and insomniacs after midnight Con’s » When advertising on TV, commercials are not only competing with others, they are also competing with the viewer’s environment as well » Even if commercials are being aired, viewers may never see it unless it is intrusive enough to capture their attention » A minimum amount of airtime provides limited length of exposure and ad clutter. » The message comes and goes, and that’s it! Unless brands buy additional time, the viewer doesn’t see the commercial again. » Multiple exposures are required to achieve message retention and consumer action » No station loyalty; Viewers have little or no loyalty to the station itself especially since cable can bring dozens of viewing alternatives into the home. For example, viewers will watch a given channel for a program they know will be aired at a specific time. If a football game, popular movie or some other preferred form of entertainment appears on another channel, the viewer will not hesitate to switch channels without leaving the couch » During a commercial break the viewer may choose to get a snack, go to the bathroom or have a conversation about whatever they were just watching » Because of a larger "area of dominant influence," the relative cost will be higher both in terms of airtime and production
Direct Mail Direct mail, often called direct marketing, is a marketing technique in which the seller sends marketing messages directly to the buyer. Direct mail includes catalogues or other product literature with ordering opportunities: sales letters or sales letters with brochures.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 70 Since this section has further subdivisions such as e mail, letters, print, … it is very hard to distinguish the real amount of money spent on DM. What we can say is that e mail is the preferred medium to sent direct marketing messages, probably because it is the cheapest one. A major disadvantage is the huge amount of clutter e mails are confronted with, in technical terms this is named spam. The following list tries to provide a general overview of the advantages and disadvantages attached to direct mail. (Pleshette, 2003)
Pro’s » The advertising message is targeted to those most likely to buy the product or service. » Marketing message can be personalised, thus helping increase positive response. » Message can be as long as is necessary to fully tell the story. » Effectiveness of response to the campaign can be easily measured. » Total control over the presentation of the advertising message. » The ad campaign is hidden from a brand’s competitors until it's too late for them to react. » Active involvement the act of opening the mail and reading it can be elicited from the target market. Con’s » Some people do not like receiving offers in their mail, and throw them out immediately without even opening the mail. » Resources need to be allocated in the maintenance of lists, as the success of this kind of promotional campaign depends on the quality of your mailing list. » Long lead times are required for creative printing and mailing. » Producing direct mail materials entail the expense of using various professionals copywriter, artists, photographers, printers, etc. » Can be expensive, depending on your target market, quality of the list and size of the campaign.
Outdoor An international survey by the American MediaEdge agency shows that outdoor advertising is considered the least irritating medium for consumers. Women tend to pay more attention to billboards, while colourful trams and buses grab the male attention more. (MediaEdge, 2004). With 2 major players on the Belgian market (JCDecaux and Clearchannel) the outdoor advertising industry represents about 340 million euros annually. After booming in the 90’s billboard advertising is now declining. A next wave of investments might follow due to technical revolutions in the branch. In the beginning of 2009 JCDecaux will set up a test project with billboards supporting Bluetooth technology, which enables advertising agencies to take up mobile phone messaging in an outdoor billboard context. Users passing by a billboard get a free sms with advertising content. This opens doors for city contests and new forms of advertisements.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 71
Pro’s » Since it is in the public domain, Outdoor Advertising assuredly reaches its audience. People can't "switch it off" or "throw it out." People are exposed to it whether they like it or not. In this sense, outdoor advertising truly has a "captured audience." » Its messages work on the advertising principle of "frequency." Since most messages stay in the same place for a period of a month or more, people who drive by or walk past see the same message a number of times » Particular locations can be acquired for certain purposes. A billboard located a block in front of your business can direct people to your showroom. Or you can reach rural areas efficiently by placing a billboard in each small town. » Outdoor advertising is an excellent adjunct to other types of advertising you are doing. In fact, it is most effective when coupled with other media Con’s » Outdoor advertising is a glance medium. At best, it only draws 2 3 seconds of a reader's time » Messages must be brief to fit in that 2 3 second time frame. Ninety five percent of the time, either the message or the audience is in motion. » The nature of the way you have to buy outdoor advertising (usually a three month commitment) is not conducive to a very short, week long campaign. » No options to target specific segments
Making a choice A lot of agencies have strategists specialising in this kind of channel strategy, determining which medium is best suited to target a specific audience. Trends in advertisement point out that most agencies are looking for creativity and originality which means that they are much more creative with channels as well. This is the actual reason that the media mix consists of several channels and might even be combined with PR efforts or events. At Famous this channel strategy is only partially the account planners’ work, since they are assisted by an actual media planner, who is the real channel strategist.
d. The creative brief All the information gathered and decisions taken, belong in a comprehensive brief for the creative team. Although they may have been involved in previous phases, such as choosing the right channel, it is important to provide them with sufficient input. According to Percy and Elliott (Percy & Elliott, 2002) these are the elements that should be mentioned in a good creative brief. I will turn their overview into a hypothetical brief for Jupiler Blue since this example has been mentioned several times over the development of this strategy.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 72
Key market observations During work or lunch people can not drink that much, since there is too much alcohol in regular beer. Source of business Regular beer drinkers who need a break from stressy activities without the ‘danger’ of getting drunk. Consumer insight They are willing to drink beer, but sometimes it is not advisable to do so. Target audience Men in stressy or difficult situations who want their way out for just a few minutes. Communication objectives and tasks Brand attitude primary objective – create a male attitude for this kind of beer, besides the regular Jupiler attitude Brand awareness secondary objective – make sure people recall the packaging and the product in general when confronted. Brand attitude strategy Low involvement/informational brand attitude strategy driven by finding the balance between having a relaxing break and keeping the right focus. Benefit claim and support Drinking low alcohol beer is more relaxing, because there is no danger in it and it still has the Jupiler taste. Desired Consumer response See that Jupiler Blue is a male product that enables to drink beer at any time without getting drunk. Creative guidelines Tie Jupiler Blue to a solution for threatened typical male behaviour, like shopping with your wife. Requirements/Mandatory content Legal constraints: “Bier drink je met verstand” The amount of alcohol.
This creative brief is based on all the previous steps account planners go through. After the creative brief the planners might be involved in brainstorm sessions to provide new insights or fresh angles to look at things. The rest of the actual campaign development is up to the creative teams and the accounts.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 73 7. Conclusion
The entire overview sketches an image of the account planner who can be involved in the entire development of the marketing communications mix, with an eventual focus on the advertising side of the marketing activities. This is what Famous is asked to do for bigger clients, and what is common in England, which is the place of birth of account planning.
Another approach is to involve the account planners only from the brand tactics phase onwards. Completely in line with the first example where account planners take part in the foundations phase, this approach makes sure the brand tactics (the second phase in marketing communication plans) are developed in cooperation with brands’ marketing departments.
The last approach is the one where the account planners are only taking part in the focus on a brands’ action. This is the phase that is specific for the advertising world, thus where strategists should be involved anyhow.
Eventually the aim of an account planner is to close the gap presented by Martin Boase of the Boase Massimi Pollitt London advertising agency, one of the founders of the account planning discipline:
“I don’t accept that there has to be a choice between advertising that is strategically relevant or creatively original” Martin Boase
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 74
Chapter 3: The actual tasks
1. Introduction 76 5. Jupiler 2. Klara a. Campaign 93 a. The campaign’s origin 76 b. Briefing 93 b. Briefing 79 c. Approach 93 c. Buzz analysis 79 d. Evaluation 94 d. Research and insights 81 6. Kinepolis e. Evaluation 83 a. Briefing 95 f. Intermezzo: Social Media 83 b. Approach 95 3. Het Nieuwsblad c. Evaluation 96 a. The Pitch 87 7. Other b. Briefing 87 a. Proximus 96 c. Approach 87 b. Online Department 96 d. Evaluation 89 c. Hill & Knowlton 96 4. Week van de Goeiedag 8. Conclusion 97 a. The campaign 89 b. Briefing 90 c. Approach 91 d. Evaluation 92
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 75 1. Introduction
In this chapter I will present the projects I have been working on during my internship at Famous. Most of them were part of the activities in the strategic department. The last projects in this overview were smaller tasks I have taken part in.
Since the strategic department at Famous also takes CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and ROI (Return On Investment) upon its shoulders, I have been dealing with those subjects as well. My input in these projects will most often be a mixture of research of strategy and CRM; from a strategic perspective that is looking for trends and insights, while on the other hand I made a few ROI estimates with highlights of CRM. Since there are several bigger projects I will describe my contribution to them and try to enlighten the different tasks chronologically.
2. Klara
This was the first big project I took part in. This campaign enrolled itself during my internship. Although the strategic background was already drawn up in the project development phase there was a second wave of strategic input leading towards the ROI calculations and eventually the CRM aspect of the campaign. Let me guide you through the development of this campaign.
a. The campaign’s origin
During the summer of 2007 Klara and LG&F (at that point) come to the conclusion that their advertisements are rather popular, that the Klara events attract a lot of people, and that most people know Klara is all about classical music. This means that the first message, the repositioning of Klara, as the descendant of Radio 3, has been successful. Despite these positive conclusions, the brand attention and awareness are not translated into actual listeners for the radio station. Klara stands as an island in the sun. It is a radio station devoted to classical music but there is no surrounding environment to support this classical music.
Looking at the value scale in Diagram 3.2 it is the territory they lack. This value scale is a tool that LG&F has been using for several years. With the merger of Famous this methodology has been updated and put in another perspective. The Klara project was one of the first campaigns that was measured using this new method. I will return to this new methodology later on, since I have been working with it in the second part of this project. For now, Diagram 3.1 shows the general definition of all aspects in the old value scale. Diagram 3.2 is the same scale, applied to the Klara brand.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 76 Qualified Closeness
Stature Expertise Attribute Benefits Territory Role s
Name as Tangible Real or driver for features in imaginary the brand the offer universe that the brand inhabits
Area of Advantages Where it fits operation to the in the consumer onsumer’s life
Diagram 3.1
Qualified Closeness
Stature Expertise Attribute Benefits Territory Role s
Klara High quality, cultural Real or imaginary
expertise, producers’ universe that the expert knowledge, brand inhabits? universally accessible, variety of styles
Classical Emotional richness Intense lifestyle, music Beauty of life encountering Pleasure of discovering pure beauty of Vitaminecourse for heart and soul life Diagram 3.2
In this search for a new creative concept and a new challenge to build the Klara brand, both Famous and Klara came to the conclusion that the brand has no environment that supports their brand image. The new mission is to create an environment that focuses on the emotional richness and the beauty of life that can be found through cultural learning and at its summit, classical music.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 77 Only a few months later the VRT (Vlaamse Radio en Televisieomroep) announces their plans to set up a broad cultural platform. This platform has been planned and discussed for several years. The decision has been taken, Klara.be will become the VRT’s interactive cultural portal.
Famous is consulted and comes up with a creative concept to launch this cultural platform. It partially leaves the traditional channels of the advertising spectrum. The campaign will be an outdoor campaign with the intention of being seen and generating free publicity. This is a step in the dark for Famous since it is one of their first cross over campaigns combining advertising and PR techniques. The strategic department at Famous set up a plan that involves free publicity in newspapers and magazines, viral effects in social media and an online banner campaign. The free publicity was not just a step in the dark; since Klara is part of the VRT group, they have a wildcard to get their items in the news episodes on television and radio stations. This kind of high level free publicity would be an aid to generate free publicity on other levels, such as regional newspapers and blogs.
The stunt Famous had in mind was to pull art out of its traditional context. The most respected Belgian painter Luc Tuymans was asked to paint one of his master pieces on a wall in Antwerp. The painting was in a small street, within a non trendy neighbourhood, but with a lot of people passing by. During the production of its masterwork Luc Tuymans remained anonymous. When the painting would be revealed, on the 17th of April 2008, the back wall of the Antwerp based KBC tower would show an expensive and unique painting, but no one would know. With video camera’s Famous checked how many people noticed the painting and took the time to look at its beauty. The experiment had to show what art really means to people when it is plucked out of its regular context.
After 2 days the curtains in the Beddenstraat in Antwerp opened. The Tuymans experiment could start. During the first days 108 of the 2858 people passing by noticed the painting, that is only 3,78%. Famous used the images to create a video reportage which would be aired in Terzake on Canvas. Furthermore they made a little teaser to put on websites and provide to bloggers, hoping to seed the campaign throughout the scope of social media. The information was ‘leaked’ to the press and the painting was labelled as a Tuymans.
The video fragments can be found on the CD rom that is attached to the back of this document. On the disk you may also find a spoof campaign of these video’s made by Nissan to promote the new Qasqai model.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 78 b. Briefing
Now that the campaign was rolled out, Famous was trying to validate the attention the campaign had generated. Pascal Tack, the ROI expert of the Famous’ strategic department asked me to provide him with a comprehensive research of the buzz this campaign had generated, both on and offline. I would be able to find the offline content on Mediargus in cooperation with Famous’ PR officer, Inge Van Der Haegen. The online content would be much more difficult to grasp, I would have to conduct some research on it.
As a second door to this project Famous wanted me to provide a second research phase to see how many people noticed the painting now that they were provided with a framework and an explanation to this remarkable appearance.
Eventually these results had to be poured into a report for the client as part of the CRM process. Famous would then write a press release based upon these facts and figures, which eventually, I ended up writing as well.
c. Buzz analysis
Finding the offline content went very smooth, there were a few waves of attention for the campaign. The first one was on the 17th of April, with articles based on the revealing of the painting and the devastating conclusion that only 4% of the passers by paid any attention to it. The second wave of newspaper articles was situated around the 24th of April, since there was a female Antwerp based artist who had put her painting next to the one Tuymans’ made. This was of course a gift for Famous since it would generate free publicity once more. A selection of the most relevant articles I have collected, can be found in Annex Collection 6, the articles show some pictures of the paintings as well.
To find the online content I had to find one or multiple research tools providing the right blogs, websites, news archives, … First of all I have conducted some research on social media, what it is and how its trends can be tracked. I think this was the biggest challenge and the one I’ve learned most from. To give you an outline of my approach I will sketch my findings and insights in an intermezzo at the end of this part on Klara’s Tuymans experiment. Eventually I have found most of the content by using tools such as BlogPulse (www.blogpulse.com) and Technorati (www.technorati.com). Furthermore I have conducted some research on Attentio’s blog tracking services, which resulted in a managers report and advice on whether or not to subscribe to this service. This report may be found in Annex 7.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 79 After collecting all the on and offline sources mentioning the experiment it was time to validate them. Laurens Sonneville and Steven Janssens, Famous’ media experts, have shown me where and how I could find most of the advertisement fees to have advertising space in newspapers and magazines. Most newspapers sell their advertising space through services like Scripta (www.scripta.be) and ViaFred (www.viafred.be), most others can be found in the MediaMarketing MediaPlan (www.mm.be) although I had to call and e mail a few publishers of very specific magazines, the same thing goes for the Belgian Radio and TV broadcasters. After making a list of all the articles, their dimensions and the page in the paper they were on, I was able to make a full fetched coverage analysis with validation. The value of the entire collection of articles was then multiplied by 2,5, this was done because an editorial article is much more credible and read more often than classical advertisements. The entire campaign had generated an amount of free publicity that was worth more than 400.000 euros. Compared to the cost, around 280.000 euros, this was, in terms of money, a very beneficial campaign for Klara.
To get a clear view on the online buzz the campaign had generated, I drew up a little chart. Diagram 3.3 shows a positive trend for Klara and on the 24th of April both keywords “Tuymans” and “Klara” skyrocket to a new maximum. I need to make one last remark on this chart; since Klara is a word in several other languages and a name in a few countries I had to filter out all the noise in the search result. This means writing a search string with logical operators (AND, OR, NOT) to ensure the results are talking about the Belgian radio station Klara.
Diagram 3.3
The last parameter had to be taken into account to measure the buzz. What was the response of this campaign on the website statistics of klara.be? Since the official Metriweb rates, provided by CIM (Centrum voor Informatie over de Media), are only released one month after date, I had
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 80 to make use of a free service, named Alexa to estimate the rise in popularity of the klara.be website. These less accurate statistics show an increased popularity for the website. In May 2008, when we received the actual Metriweb rates it turned out that the number of unique visitors had increased by 51% in April in reference to March 2008, the number of regular (returning) visitors had even doubled!
d. Research and insights
To get a proper image of the success of this campaign Famous wanted me to dig in deeper. On the 29th of April, the last day the painting could be found on the wall of the famous KBC ‘Boerentoren’, I went to Antwerp to do some research.
My first mission was to observe people’s behaviour. Now that some of them should know what the painting is all about; do they look at the painting, do they actually stand still and take their time to inspect it, or do they just walk by? During my observation period I saw 389 people passing by, 110 people take a good look at the painting, some of them actually came in to the street to take a look and just left the street in exactly the same direction where they came from. Out of these 110, 5 people came by to take pictures. 110 people out of 389, that is more then 28%. So in 2 weeks of time, between the 17th of April and my observation on the 29th, the number of people looking at the painting had been multiplied by 7, from 4% to 28%. Just because the newspapers and television channels created a context for the painting its popularity increased drastically. The experiment had clearly not missed its effect.
As I have already said, Famous is currently developing a new methodology to estimate the return on investment in terms of brand image, awareness, attitude, … Their starting point is the following: research has shown that a rise of 10% of a brand's fame, results in an average increase of 20% in market share. Since this is the effect every clients aims for, Famous is constantly optimising its ‘Fame tracker’.
The Fame tracker is a methodology to estimate the results of an advertisement campaign based on 5 criteria. Diagram 3.4 shows the 5 aspects to measure fame presented around Famous’ logo, for once in green, to match with this chapter’s style.
Diagram 3.4
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 81 » Connection: Famous brands are liked, they have relevance and give the impression that they care about consumers. » Talkability: Famous brands are part of our daily conversations, we make a point of bringing them up when talking with friends, families and work colleagues. » Familiarity: Consumers understand what famous brands stand for, through a combination of knowledge and awareness. » Universal Meaning: Famous brands engender a common interpretation of what they stand for across the population at large. » Standout: Famous brands differentiate themselves from others around them.
To measure the impact of Klara’s campaign Muriel and I drew up a list of questions to tackle the effects of the campaign on Klara’s Fame. Based on the course in market research we have tried to create questions without providing a lead to the desired answers. On the 29th of April, during my observations in Antwerp I have conducted 32 interviews with people in different age categories.
These interviews pointed out that the awareness of klara.be was still rather low, with 6,25%. The campaign did cause a lot of talkability, since 53,13% of the interviewees had heard of the campaign or talked about it themselves. In my opinion this campaign was not meant for people to connect with Klara, which explains why the number of people having a connection with the brand represents only 15,63 of the interviewees. People did like this particular experiment, with 40% people complementing the approach. The universal meaning of Klara is clearly situated around the classical music, while its standout is represented by keywords such as: tranquillity, art and culture. An in depth overview of the interviews’ results can be found in Annex 8 which is the document I’ve written on the Tuymans experiment as a report for the agency and the client.
Based on these findings I have written a press release to generate some additional attention for the client and for Famous. Both documents were used both for internal and external use. The press release may be found in Annex 9 and is written following the lessons in English Business Communication, with quotes, lead, boilerplate, …
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 82 e. Evaluation
The fact that this Klara task was my first project shows that Famous really wants a hands on mentality from its employees. From the first day I walked in I knew what to do, they gave me the briefing and there I was. While working in these different stages of the project I found out who to contact for which particular problem. Although I still had to find out a lot on my own.
My eyes almost popped out when I saw the budgets we were talking about. It was very confronting to see how much an ad in the newspapers is actually worth. This changed my way of looking at an ad or reading the newspapers once more, after the courses in Marketing had tickled my curiosity a first time.
In terms of the analysis phase, I think the biggest challenge was to just take care of it. There was no one to constantly keep an eye on the progress of the research. When I had finished estimating the budgets or right before leaving to Antwerp I briefly presented what I had been doing so far to Pascal and he gave me his feedback. It was a challenging project in which I have learned a whole lot. When in the end I was asked to write the press release, it became even more rewarding. I had expected to be doing the research, drumming up all the data, in order for it to be processed by someone else who would go and present it to the client. But I actually got the chance to write the end product, the press release, as well!
f. Intermezzo: Social Media
Besides making ROI estimates, observing and interviewing people and working with the Fame tracker, I have also learned a whole lot about Social Media and the ways to track online buzz. Before making a comparison between Attentio, Blogpulse and Technorati (which can be found in Annex 7) I have done quite some research on Social Media and its analysis tools.
In this intermezzo I would like to present my findings on the very broad collection of social media, since they will eventually become a huge channel in the advertising branch. In fact it already is in the United States, while it is currently growing in Europe and in Belgium. As Famous’ strategists have pointed out, this new channel still has a lot of secrets for them and is therefore an opportunity to win new business and produce creative ads.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 83 The spectrum
Communication Collaboration
Blogs Micro blogs Wiki’s News
sharing
Widgets
Events Social Social Opinion Networking bookmarking sites
Fora
Multimedia Entertainment (Content Communities)
Virtual Online Photo Video Worlds gaming sharing sharing
Game Podcasts Audio and sharing Webcasts Music sharing
Diagram 3.5
1. Communication » Blogs Within Social Media, blogs (short for weblogs) certainly represent a popular slice of the pie. A blog is a (one page) website, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. » Micro blogs After creating an account one can send messages into the ether using e mail, instant messaging or via sms. This way you can let others know what you are up to, twitter and pownce are the best known examples. » Social networks A social network service generally offers its users the chance to create a personal profile, which they can extend with genuine webpages, blogs, chat, messaging services, pictures, … all in order to be easily shared with others. Well known examples are Myspace, Facebook and LinkedIn, in the Netherlands Hyves is rather popular, in Belgium we have Netlog.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 84 » Events These websites provide the chance to add your event to their calendar. You can invite others, and others can inform you that they will attend your event. A lot of social networks also offer this feature. Upcoming is a stand alone example. » Widgets A social network often contains a whole set of social media: blogging, picture and video sharing, instant messaging, event calendars, … These features are added to your profile using widgets. Widgets can also be used on your desktop or even on mobile phone’s. Nowadays widgets are also frequently used as an advertising or marketing instrument.
2. Collaboration » Wikis A wiki is a collection of web pages designed to enable anyone who accesses it to contribute or modify content, using a simplified markup language. Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites and to power community websites. The collaborative encyclopedia, Wikipedia (now counting more then 2.400.000 articles in English) is one of the best known wikis. Wikis are used in business to provide intranets and Knowledge Management systems » News sharing Using these sites users can post interesting links to other articles. They can be linked to the users’ website or to any article they thought was relevant. The news sharing website only shows the title and a short introduction, if one wants to read more they have to click through to the article. Examples: Digg, Mixx and Reddit » Social bookmarking In a social bookmarking system, users save links to web pages that they want to remember and/or share. These bookmarks are usually public, but can be saved privately, shared only with specified people or groups, shared only inside certain networks, or another combination of public and private domains. The allowed people can usually view these bookmarks chronologically, by category or tags, or via a search engine. Examples: del.icio.us and StumbleUpon » Opinion Sites These sites are considered as a type of citizen journalism (or "consumer journalism") review sites. Visitors can read reviews about a variety of items to help them decide on a purchase or they can join for free and begin writing reviews that may earn them money and recognition.
3. Multimedia (Content communities) Content communities are very similar to social networks, however they discuss more specific content. Flickr, Photobucket and Zoomr for example allow their users to share pictures, while YouTube and Vimeo (and Garagetv in Belgium) allow us to dump videos and Imeem shares your music. The similarity lies in the profile you need to have in order to create your own video or picture gallery.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 85 » Podcasts / Webcasts Podcasts are digital media files which are distributed over the internet (enabling the possibility to subscribe to the cast). The aim is to provide video or audio content giving the chance for users to watch or listen to the content on any given time with any capable medium. Despite its popularity in the US, the podcast / webcast is not that popular in Europe.
4. Entertainment » Virtual Worlds such as Second Life » Online Games such as World of Warcraft » Game sharing sites such as Miniclip
5. Forum Internet forums are probably the oldest of all Social Media. An Internet forum is a web application for holding discussions and posting user generated content. Internet forums are also commonly referred to as Web forums, newsgroups, message boards, discussion boards, (electronic) discussion groups, discussion forums, bulletin boards, fora (the Latin plural) or simply forums. The terms "forum" and "board" may refer to the entire community or to a specific sub forum dealing with a distinct topic.
A forum can be considered as a (simple) board where all other social media can be gathered. Forums can be set up for communication purposes, but also for collaboration, file or picture sharing or for gamers to find each other, … its functionality is rather simple and therefore very generic, while a lot of other social media utilities are specialised in one aspect of the web.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 86 3. Het Nieuwsblad
a. The Pitch
During the second or third week of May, a new pitch was announced. Het Nieuwsblad was looking for a new agency to cooperate on its CRM program. Three specialised agencies made it to Het Nieuwsblad’s shortlist: Famous, OgilvyOne and Proximity BBDO.
Just like in most pitches the subject of the competition was much smaller than the actual business that was at stake. In this case the agencies were asked to come up with a few ideas to increase sales amongst youngsters.
b. Briefing
Since Muriel and I are part of the target audience Het Nieuwsblad was looking for, we were asked to come up with a few ideas, conduct primary and secondary market research and finally provide a report that would be the starting point for taking part in the pitch.
c. Approach
We started of by gathering all available data, the phase of secondary research as you might say. The CIM rates provided a good basis to see the newspaper’s reach and compare these to its competitors’. Besides their reach CIM also provides data on the educational level of the audience and their social class. We have compared Het Nieuwsblad with its biggest competitors in Belgium (De Morgen, De Standaard, Het Laatste Nieuws, Le Soir, La Dernière Heure) but we also made the comparison with some magazines like Knack, Dag Allemaal, Humo, …
Based on the reader profiles, which we have deducted in the first stage, we went looking for the newspapers’ promotional activities and whether they match with the readers base interests. We found out that Het Nieuwsblad comes with several different coupons providing discounts for Disney Movie’s, a GPS system, Perfume sets in Paris XL, … Their discount policy represents their readers base indeed, in such a way that it is a little bit of everything. Their readers base consists of both higher educated people and lower class civilians. The paper is right in between Het Laatste Nieuws which is read by lower educated people and De Morgen and De Stanaard attracting business men and the higher educated class. This style is reflected in their promotional activities.
A third part of our research was checking whether these newspapers and magazines have special discounts or promotions for young adolescents. Not only does Het Nieuwsblad offer the lowest discount of all newspapers,
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 87 on top of that, they do not communicate about it at all. De Standaard has a huge button in their subscription section, while Het Laatste Nieuws links to a special student page, and Het Nieuwsblad remains silent.
Based on this information we filtered out our possibilities to attract youngsters. Het Nieuwsblad has to attract adolescents by offering targeted discount actions, lowering their prices for this target audience or maybe even providing tailored content for this age group.
After several brainstorm sessions amongst the two of us and another session with Henk Ghesquière and Pascal Tack we gathered some ideas to solve Het Nieuwsblad’s lack of popularity among this younger audience. We came up with 7 ideas, varying from a permanent discount pass at Ikea, Fnac and several other shops, to receiving the newspaper at a highly reduced price 5 times a week on your student address if your parents already have a subscription or even getting a taxi service or a bike to cross the distance between the station and your student living when subscribing to Het Nieuwsblad.
The secondary research phase was two fold. During interviews with adolescents in both Ghent and Leuven we did some sort of focus group interview to understand what they found important when choosing a newspaper and moreover what they like or dislike about Het Nieuwsblad. As a final part of this focus group questionnaire we presented our own ideas briefly, let them rank their top three using post its and afterwards had a discussion about it to pinpoint the good aspects of each idea and the weaker ones. Again this approach is based upon the experiences gained in the course on market research. We tend to build up our focus group interview from broad to very targeted, since it might kill the honesty and open heartedness if we would start by giving them all the ideas and the results from our former research.
Eventually all data we gathered during the interviews was analysed in both a quantitative and qualitative analysis. The results of our research can be found in Annex Collection 10. As a surplus I have made a little movie clip with the pictures we have taken during the interview in Ghent, this shows the conversation and the phase where our guests stuck their post its to their favourite ideas. This little movie clip was used a teaser during Famous’ pitch presentation to show which efforts they had done. The video fragment I have made using the pictures taken in Ghent can be found on the CD at the back of this document.
In the beginning of June Famous won the pitch and now assists in Het Nieuwsblad’s CRM activities.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 88 d. Evaluation
Just like the project for Klara I was very enthused by this combination of both fieldwork and desk research. Again this project proves that Famous takes our insights and opinions into account. They have faith in our way of dealing with the briefing and provide the necessary freedom to scan all arising possibilities.
It was a true delight when Pascal told me they would use my little video clip as a teaser in their presentation. From the beginning of our focus group research I had this movie in mind, it is fairly simple yet it shows what we had done and provides a little testimonial to prove that the ideas we were presenting really are the ones young adolescents like. To me it was a very nice way of telling me that our work had been appreciated, especially since I had made the movie at home, outside the office hours.
There was one thing about this project that I did not like, which came up at the very end. When Het Nieuwsblad had decided upon the winner of their pitch, it took half a week before I knew we had won this business. This is one of the main reasons why, in chapter 1, I have claimed that there’s a lack of internal communication inside the agency. I think all stakeholders, and why not the entire agency, should be informed right away, especially in case of good news.
4. Week van de Goeiedag
a. The campaign
Each year “Boodschap zonder naam”, which is a Belgian non profit organisation, campaigns for a friendlier and more open minded society. They define a subject and then look for an advertising agency that can come up with a great idea to generate as much attention as possible. The agency then develops the campaign pro deo, meaning they aren’t paid to do so.
This year Famous took this job upon its shoulders, resulting in a very controversial campaign. Famous wanted to get people to talk about the campaign. The intention was to remind people that saying ‘hello’ to someone is an easy gesture which anyone enjoys. To emphasise the fact the people don’t do this spontaneously they had a street campaign named “Week van de Goeiedag” (The week to say hello, basically). To draw some extra attention Famous made a TV spot (which can be found on the CD at the back of this booklet) and a banner for print and online usage, shown in image 3.5.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 89
Image 3.6
During this week Boodschap zonder naam sent out several ‘scouting teams’, who would pay a fixed amount of 25 euros to any person who would spontaneously greet them, each team was accompanied by a bailiff to testify. On top of that, 2 lucky greeters would be granted 25.000 euros.
This approach and the huge amount of free publicity Boodschap zonder naam had lobbied for itself made this campaign into a real hit. (A selection of articles can be found in Annex Collection 11: Coverage Week van de Goeiedag) More than 70 articles were clipped only in Belgium. Articles and news reports were devoted to the subject in Germany, France, Italy, … The fact that such a natural and simple gesture has become so rare that people should devote an entire week of campaigning to it, and even pay for a greeting, gave rise to a whole lot of discussion.
b. Briefing
The week before the campaign I saw Famous’ CEO coming into the office, greeting everyone with so much gesture and enthusiasm that it revealed his whereabouts that afternoon. He had been part of the press conference and the “Week van de Goeiedag” had been officially launched. Later that day I heard interviews with Famous employees and with the Boodschap zonder naam’s president, Piet Jaspaert, on several Belgian radio stations.
Although this campaign was not the same as brand advertising and Boodschap zonder naam was no real client, Pascal wanted me to make a ROI calculation. As thoroughly as possible, based on web and news
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 90 coverage. An untraceable factor was the influence on people’s behaviour, we could not check whether people greeted each other more often thanks to the campaign, since we hadn’t captured any data before the campaign.
This put some restrictions on the scope of the ROI analysis, but there was such an impressive amount of data to work with, that the project did not need to be any bigger. A little more than one week after the campaign, while articles were still being published, the analysis had to be ready to present it to the ‘client’, Boodschap zonder naam. The aim of the RIO? Proving that, even if the client would have had to pay for it, this would have been a very lucrative campaign. Meanwhile making use of the situation to brand Famous as the agency that has elicited this success. The report I have written as a conclusion to my research would be handed over to Piet Jaspaert at the press evaluation in order to invoke the journalists’ curiosity. This report can be read in Annex 12 in the attached bundle.
c. Approach
Before actually starting the campaign I wanted to make sure I could track the website data. As you may remember from the Klara project I had to wait for the CIM Metriweb statistics for almost an entire month. Since the Week van de Goeiedag website was developed in house, we agreed upon using Google Analytics. This is a free full fetched website traffic analysis tool which even allows you to see in which part of the world or in which regions within Belgium the website was most popular. Based on this data we could offer the Boodschap zonder naam crew a thorough analysis later on, whilst having all data within reach to do a quick trend review for a first analysis report.
Tracking the social media sources and newspaper/magazine articles was kind of similar to the Klara project. First of all I did a basic search on the most common social media such as blogs, forums, microblogs, … I listed them by language and tried to track their popularity based upon the number of viewers a blogpost has or the number of comments written on the article. The actual media analysis was rather elaborate as well. Most newspaper and magazine articles could be found through Mediargus, although I had to make several phone calls to get a hold of the articles published in foreign media, such as the article in Corrierre dela Sera, an Italian newspaper that devoted half a page to the Belgian campaign. A selection of the articles can be found in Annex Collection 11. Furthermore we have found several references to audiovisual news items on both radio and television stations. It took quite some time to convince the producers to send it over, or to find a clipping agency that had captured this item. Eventually I ended up cutting the correct news item out of an entire news episode.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 91 While capturing all the articles I started valorising them as well. Once again this took more time than the Klara analysis, since there were much more sources, spread over much more publishers/broadcasters, in different countries. Eventually I ended up with coverage worth more than 810.000 euros, if the coverage had been advertising space. But since the coverage generated was free publicity, meaning editorial coverage instead of advertising, it is worth even more, since people will actually read it more carefully and attach a lot more credibility to it then to any other advertising ad. In general Famous multiplies the advertising value by a factor of 2,5 to get the editorial value. During my internship at Hill & Knowlton I found out that in PR it is common to multiply the advertising value by 2,8. Even if I stick to the factor of 2,5, this campaign generated an amount of free publicity worth more than 2.000.000 euros. Considering that I did not put a value on the online attention for the campaign, which would have been huge as well, this campaign was a great success. Imagine that Boodschap zonder Naam did have to pay for the working hours, production and material, it would have cost them something around 250.000 euros, ending up with a campaign ROI of 1.750.000 euros.
The website was a hit as well, with more than 22.000 visitors during the first weeks of May. That is a good result for a Belgian campaign, although the number of people drawn to the website represents only 2,2% of the Belgian population. This shows that, in Belgium, the interactive side of an advertising campaign is not that popular (yet). Another figure to describe a website’s popularity is the average number of pages visited. On the Week van de Goeiedag website every visitor has an average of 7 page views. This means that people stick around on the website quite long. Often this proves that the website has a good navigation and delivers a lot of interesting content.
Eventually, the report, all video files and all articles were collected on a CD ROM to present the campaign review and ROI estimate. Famous handed these CDs to the different stakeholders of the Boodschap zonder naam campaign, since a lot of captains of industry have partnerships with this non profit organisation, thus catching some valuable, yet free, attention.
d. Evaluation
This task was very similar to the one for Klara. The main difference was the message that resulted from the research. In the case of Klara it was a press release, in this case I had to write a comprehensive, yet short, management debriefing of the campaign. On top of that the research was ongoing while writing the report: every day I had new articles to include. This continuous updating, until the last moments before handing over the report, invoked quite a lot of stress and pressure.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 92 5. Jupiler
a. Campaign
I have taken part in 2 aspects of the Jupiler campaigns for the summer. After a briefing, which took an entire afternoon, both Famous and InBev’s Jupiler marketing team were convinced that the brand needed to target young people with a fresh campaign to enliven the Jupiler image amongst people in this age group. The second conclusion was that Jupiler Blue needed a campaign to enforce the idea of men needing a break. The proposition is that men no longer know how to behave, what type of men is ‘in’ at the moment, whether being rough and self assured leads to success or if being the new man guarantees the desired results. Therefore men need a break …
b. Briefing
Jupiler Red (the regular Jupiler pilsner beer) wanted to dig into the perception of the brand amongst adolescents. Based upon these findings the marketing team was looking for a revitalising campaign linked closely to their target audience and the Jupiler brand’s proposition of friendship and sports.
A second part of the briefing was for Jupiler Blue, the low alcohol brother of Jupiler Red. Famous had been struggling with the production of TV spots based upon the successful radio campaign for Jupiler Blue. The entire proposition of Jupiler Blue is meant to extend the male attitude of Jupiler and refresh this aspiration. The problem is that this low alcohol beer is considered to be a lot less male by the general public. When dealing with voices this is not such a problem, but remanufacturing the idea for television is a lot harder. Muriel and I were sent out to pretest 2 of Famous’ video spots for Jupiler Blue.
c. Approach
I started of by doing a blog audit for Jupiler and its main competitors, cheap pilsner beers such as Cara, local beers such as Christal and premium beers such as Duvel. The blog audit focussed on both a quantitative side, counting the number of blogs mentioning a beer brand, and a qualitative aspect, scoring the articles based on their content. The conclusions were valuable both to Jupiler in general, as for our research on youngsters’ attitude towards Jupiler, since a lot of bloggers are adolescents. Besides a listing of the most fascinating blogs, the main conclusion was that Jupiler is often used as a synonym for pilsner. Duvel is considered to be the best one of the beers in the audit.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 93 Because of my findings and some further research on Jupiler’s competitors I was allowed to take part in a brainstorm session with Jupiler’s brand team and several experts. The idea that came out was to build a pool using beer crates in several big Belgian cities. The campaign would be an outside campaign with billboard advertising and an interactive website. Just today, while writing this section I saw the billboards at the bus stop and visited the new campaign website www.jupiler.be. The blog audit can be found in Annex 13.
On the subject of the new Jupiler Blue TV spots Muriel and I have interviewed several people. We set up a list of questions and took off to do these one on one (or two in this case) interviews. As we had expected the interviewees did not really like the new commercials. Most of them knew what Jupiler Blue stands for, but while testing the TV spots there was a lot of criticism on the location and featured actors. The radio spots on the other hand were highly appreciated, especially with the closing line: “Bier drink je met verstand, en met nootjes!”. On the other hand, Jupiler proved to have a very high top of mind awareness, almost every interviewee mentioned it when asking for beer brands.
d. Evaluation
Since this was the first time I took part in the entire process of briefing, research, strategy and the brainstorming phase, this was without a doubt one of the most fascinating experiences.
The briefing showed how hard it can be to create a common idea everyone supports, but moreover it has proven that some communication strategies are very hard to create. Every attempt to create a territory of manliness for Jupiler Blue failed, because Jupiler wanted it “more Jupiler”, meaning more male. Eventually I saw the new TV spot for Jupiler Blue on television which is full of aspiration, using pack shots instead of people.
The briefing also showed that Jupiler has a very good idea of their threats and difficulties. They listed and described their competitors almost exactly in line with the conclusions in the blog research, moreover they understand the perception of the population concerning Jupiler Blue, since their conclusion were almost identical to the responses of our interviewees.
Taking part in both the research and especially the brainstorm session was most interesting in my opinion. This was the only project that combined both research skills and creativity, during most other tasks my role was limited to researching and writing a report, while this project gave me the chance to step into both a strategist’s and creative’s life.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 94 6. Kinepolis
a. Briefing
The task for Kinepolis was actually a preparation for a pitch. Kinepolis had shortlisted a huge amount of agencies to market some of their movies. Since most movies are marketed by the production house, Kinepolis had to find new channels besides billboards or TV ads.
Pascal Tack asked me to read a book on movie marketing, describing a marketing study of the first Lord of the Rings movie, named The Fellowship of the Ring. After reading this book and checking some other references on movie marketing, I had to write a paper on the subject of movie marketing. No one inside the strategic department had the time to concentrate on this pitch, moreover this pitch was not a priority, since it was a small budget and there were a lot of agencies shortlisted. All these assumptions created the opportunity for me to actually write a strategic report for the brand activation experts to elaborate upon.
b. Approach
As said I have started off by writing a summary of several books and articles on movie marketing. As a second part there was the actual pitch for Kinepolis. Kinepolis asked all shortlisted agencies to present a marketing approach and communication strategy to market two movies: Bangkok Dangerous and Happy go Lucky.
I tried to gain as much insights and details about both movies from the internet, because Kinepolis hadn’t given any details. It turned out that Bangkok Dangerous was a remake of an Asian cult movie made in the seventies, an action movie. Happy go Lucky on the other hand was a mixture of comedy and drama.
In my paper for Laurent Van Loon and Johan Verest (Brand Activation experts) I gave them a very brief presentation of how the movie marketing segment can influence people and which techniques have been used so far. Furthermore I provided as much insights as I could find on the content and perception of both movies. Based on an internet and blog audit I was able to list a number of websites, blogs and publications that have a movie section or even specialise in this area. My favourite part of this paper was the on where I could list some potentially helpful ideas. After having done most of the strategic work I tried to come up with a few original ideas to market both of the movies. All my ideas and findings on both movies can be found in my last Annex, number 14.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 95 c. Evaluation
Starting of as theoretical project, it became a practical one as well. The briefing was not even limited to strategic work, I was really pleased that they wanted my input and opinion for the creative aspect as well. Most of the time strategists are not meant to come up with creative tips or inputs, because this can narrow down the brand team’s creativity. It was a real challenge to dig into this creative aspect as a surplus.
7. Other
The projects presented up till now are without a doubt the biggest ones. Since I have worked on several other smaller projects I will try to pick out the most important and challenging ones and quickly present them to you.
a. Proximus
Proximus wanted to find out whether a new Generation pack, including an ADSL, a mobile internet and a mobile phone subscription, would be able to seduce more youngsters to turn to Proximus (and Belgacom) for their telecom services. I made a full comparison of all the telecom providers and an in depth analysis of their package deals. Furthermore I have searched for video commercials made by Proximus’ competitors to see what had been done so far.
b. Online department
During my time in the online department I have worked on websites such as www.blijfpositief.nl, www.hoegaarden.be, www.bacardi.be. Even though it was a very short period I have learned a whole lot, mostly in the field of Flash ActionScript programming and Photoshop. I will not further elaborate on my input since that is a rather technical matter and goes far beyond the scope of this paper. Despite that, I was part of the Famous website brainstorm session as well, which was mainly about marketing Famous and Rich in the right way on an interactive level.
c. Hill & Knowlton
Although this document mainly deals with the internship at Famous I wanted to inform you on my activities during the internship at Hill & Knowlton as well. I will just briefly run through the list of activities without much further description. » Grimbergen: Blog audit to find bloggers writing about food and drinks, in particular beers.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 96 » HP: Blog audit to find bloggers writing on environmental, privacy, social investment and supply chain issues. » Dexia: Blog audit to find trends in public finance and potential speakers we had to drum up as part of the pitch process. » Release the press: Layout and send out ‘save the date’ e mail and the actual invitation. Create a mini website where journalists can register as attendees for this H&K press event. (www.hillandknowlton.be/release_the_press/index.html) » Coda: Sending out press releases and contacting journalists to arrange an interview with on of the key stakeholders at Coda. » EasyNet, Kef, Aspria: Coverage analysis » Logitech: Making a trendy mini website to announce Logitech’s press event. (www.hillandknowlton.be/logitech/index.html) » Toyota: Co write press kit for the launch of Toyota’s iQ » LexisNexis InterAction: This is a specific IT task. Hill & Knowlton is implementing LexisNexis’ InterAction CRM system. I am the one in charge of data preparation in order to speed up the importation process. But once again this is mostly because of my IT background. » Layouting: I have done quite a lot of layouting for some of the most important clients, such as: Chiquita, Pfizer, Lundbeck, …
8. Conclusion
I think both internships have given me a rich mixture of tasks in several fields of their activities which enabled me to learn as much as I possibly could. Moreover it was very challenging to feel that they always had the next thing ready for me, in some cases I really had to push myself to the limit to meet certain deadlines. In my opinion both internships were very rewarding and gave me a lot of new insights and valuable experiences.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 97
Chapter 4: Conclusion
My most important lesson was that taking initiative is highly appreciated. During a lot of the briefings I had the feeling that I was able to add complementary research to the field that was actually described in the research. In my opinion it is most important in a learning phase, and maybe even outside the learning phase, to ask whether that specific input could be valuable for the project. A simple example of such initiatives can be found in the pictures I took during the interviews for Het Nieuwsblad, pictures that were eventually used in a movieclip presented during the pitch presentation. Colleagues at both internships really appreciated the interns’ input, since it shows a hands on mentality and a lot of interest in the project. Asking questions and suggesting alternatives or additional facets might be the best way to show your capabilities and prove healthy ambitions.
Another important issue is working in team. Especially at Famous it was very important to listen carefully when people were talking, since each and every one of them has a passion, interest or a certain expertise that might be useful for any of the next projects. Trying to figure out which person is best at what, could help certain projects a great step forward. Despite the valuable lesson I do not believe
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 98 that it should be each individual’s task to get to know someone else’s expertise. Especially with Famous’ expert groups it should be clear what function everyone has and what clients every brand team or account works for. This probably is much clearer for people working at Famous than it is for an intern being part of the company for only a few weeks. Even if this is the case I think a good internal communication could still enhance an agency’s performance, its enthusiasm and motivational drive. Sharing new campaigns, spreading the good news when a pitch has been won, sharing insights and knowledge should be at the centre of an internal communication policy. It is a pity that I did not get the chance to see how the intranet at Famous will be used in the near and far future. It can be a valuable tool when properly maintained: enough content provided, but not a waste bin. The importance of sharing knowledge and having a structured internal communication policy is probably one of the most important insights obtained from the internships.
Another one is the fact that every job has its downsides. Until now I have not met anyone who has a job where every aspect can enthuse him/her day in, day out. There will always be one or another little or mayor task that is not completely in his/her field of interest. During the last 4 months, counting both the internships at Famous and the one at Hill & Knowlton, I realised that it takes these tasks to move forward. This enables everyone to try and find what he or she is best at and what they like to do, being confronted with less pleasant tasks is probably the only way to develop a career path. Struggling though these tasks as good as one can, thoroughly and fast as if it were something you really like, fastens the career path. It is a constant balance of climbing up the ladder while holding tight to your values. I have learned that I do not mind working on harsh and annoying tasks if they alternate with more pleasant ones and as long as people realise that you are doing the dirty work for them. I have constantly felt an urge to prove that I was worth something, even a minor task was important enough to provide a thorough report or analysis. It is this feeling that makes me think I’m ready to start at the bottom of the ladder in a first job, working hard and proving that I’m worth getting higher up, step by step.
Finally the internship at Famous gave me a more critical stance towards advertising. I can no longer walk past billboards or switch the channel when confronted with advertising. After the courses in marketing I started rating them, analysing them and most importantly trying to figure out their strengths and weaknesses. Advertising and PR are publicly available sources of knowledge, I’m very happy to be able to read grasp some of it.
Taking a look at what I have learned on a personal level, teamwork comes up again. Especially during long lasting projects within the complementary MTB year, I thought it was very interesting to see how people naturally become leaders and followers. Some people lead and get followed, some people would like to lead but never get followed and others never have the ambition to lead. Especially during the Dexia project it was great to see how some people behave during meetings and how this behaviour is reflected throughout the entire project. It has reinforced my beliefs that every group needs all these types of people. I think I
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 99 have some experience in this issue since I am president of a political youth organisation for more than 6 years now, but it always is the challenge to get the entire team going down for the cause, all in their own particular way, with their own style and motivational forces. But after all it is this richness that keeps the team going. In this frame I found the lessons by Prof. Van Den Broeck most valuable. While some people might think that he teaches nothing new, I am convinced that he connects ideas and insights that can only make a person more aware of the forces around him/her and teach them how to deal with these. I am sure that I can see and respond to more behavioural factors because of his lessons. To me this is of a mayor importance, especially since I am looking for a job with responsibility, where teamwork and team coaching should be central. Making sure that the right people are working on the right task, motivating them and handling every individual in a way they can appreciate, that’s the challenge and I am convinced that this year brought me one step closer, if not several steps.
Despite that, I cannot really say that there is one particular course that has helped me the most, let alone it would have thought me the most. Every aspect of this year will certainly come in handy, whether it is to successfully communicate internally or externally, to understand certain business processes, to coach a team, … it is the entire collection of insights and understandings that ensures the right mindset. Looking at my internships at Famous and Hill & Knowlton, I have adopted the principles of market research several times, mostly in order to create targeted questionnaires to obtain the clearest results. Furthermore I believe marketing, consumer behaviour and advertising have been very valuable during my internship at Famous. Another important aspect was languages. At Famous I had to speak a little French, but mostly Dutch, while Hill & Knowlton has an English corporate culture, where I even took part in seminars with annalists and developers from Great Britain as a part of the setup of the InterAction CRM package, in total that was 8 entire days. But even when sending e mails or addressing the French speaking people inside the Belgian PR department I have tried to address them in French, although they all understand Dutch. Meanwhile I have found a job in the Brussels area. On the 29th of September I will start working for a Belgian French society, by which I hope to maintain and improve my skills in both speaking and writing French and English.
My confidence and ambition prove that this master after master year has served me with the necessary competences to start working. When attending the entrance exam I knew it would be a very busy year, a lot of team work, a lot of courses, and a lot of projects. After some doubts, my choice was based on the content of the course list, a mixture of languages and business assets. Knowing what I know now I would not have doubted. For anyone who feels he or she is lacking the economical, marketing and communicational background, this is the perfect choice, given that you want to achieve something. Because having the feeling that you lack competences is one thing, being motivated to do something about it is another, both criteria have to be met in order to succeed in this complementary master year. During projects in team, everyone has to feel the drive, everyone has to work in team and individually to succeed. I have really
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 100 enjoyed that combination, there is only one thing that could be improved, in my opinion. I have the feeling that I could never have handed in this document in June. I started my first internship at the end of April, for 8 weeks in my case, but with a minimum of 5 weeks. Imagine I had opted for only 5 weeks, then my internships would have ended on Friday the 20th of May; on the 2nd of June I had my first exam. By that time I might have been able to work on this essay for 2 or 3 days, because the other moments would have been preserved to study. On the 6th of June I would have had to hand in this document, meaning it should have been researched, documented, analysed and written in about a week. Moreover the first, third and fourth chapter deal with the content of the internship and the third chapter should be related to it. In my opinion one can not write a well considered piece of work in the evening while the experience we have to write about is not finished yet. The weeks during the internship are only valuable to read books and search for good sources to base the second chapter on. I might have been confronted with the additional difficulty of commuting to Brussels for both internships, which takes about 3 hours every day. Although I have used these hours on the train to read or even write, I still feel that there was a lack of time. Even though I have spent a lot of evenings and weekends reading, documenting and writing, I am convinced that I could not have delivered an elaborate overview of my tasks, subjects and insights any sooner. On the other hand, my lack of time is partially my own fault, since I am writing a very elaborate overview with a lot of documentation and sources, which costs a lot of time and is mainly due to my choice for a very broad subject in the second chapter. I am not saying I dislike the fact that I have spent much time on the research and analysis of my subject, on the contrary, I have really liked digging into it. I just think that a deadline for the thesis two weeks after ending the internships is not a realistic deadline for a paper of this calibre.
Despite this minor remark, I can only be grateful for the experience and the chances I had to develop both professional skills and personal competences. You have given me a great mixture of skills: soft skills that come by attending presentations, participating in group efforts and some courses like communication and organisational behaviour; competences in the economical or financial aspects of this world; and finally the courses in marketing and advertising. Combining all of these skills with a high level language education was everything my education as an industrial engineer lacked. The combination of both has served me with the right mixture of competences to feel comfortable in a working environment. I hereby wish to thank you for those experiences and insights.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 101
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29. MediaEdge (2004), “Out of home advertising”, http://www.jacques francois.be/fichiers/outdoor report%20belgium final.pdf
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Glossary
1. Above the line marketing Above the line marketing is a type of advertising through mass media such as TV, cinema, radio, print, banners and search engines to promote brands. Major uses include television and radio advertising, web and Internet banner ads. This type of communication is conventional in nature and is considered impersonal to customers.
2. Airport AirPort is a local area wireless networking brand from Apple Inc. based on the IEEE 802.11b standard (also known as Wi Fi) and certified as compatible with other 802.11b devices
3. Below the line marketing Below the line marketing typically focuses on direct means of communication, most commonly direct mail and e mail, often using highly targeted lists of names to maximize response rates.
4. CRM/CEM Customer relationship management (CRM) is a term applied to processes implemented by a company to handle its contact with its customers. Customer experience management (CEM) takes a much broader end to end customer lifecycle view than CRM. While CRM often gets associated to
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 105 software, CEM looks at value delivery throughout the entire customer lifecycle.
5. Free publicity Free publicity is the process of getting your product, service or company featured on TV, radio, magazines, newspapers and online.
6. Outdoor cut out billboards This is a billboard with certain shapes extending its regular dimensions, such as faces, hair, a car, … These additional shapes can increase the billboards flexibility and creativity.
7. Pitch A pitch is a contest where several advertising agencies compete with one another whilst trying to win the business to represent a product or client.
8. ROI In finance, rate of return (ROR), also known as return on investment (ROI), rate of profit or sometimes just return, is the ratio of money gained or lost (realized or unrealized) on an investment relative to the amount of money invested. In advertising it is the return on investment in terms of fame, sometimes expressed in a currency, by means of validations or estimates.
9. Top topicals A Top Topical is a promotional and creative concept developed by the BVDU (Belgische Vereniging van de DagbladUitgevers), commercialised by societies such as Scripta, ViaFred and Trustmedia, who sell advertising space for several of their clients, Belgian dailies. To profit such promotions the ad has to be based on current media topics, this type of advertising is promoted to demonstrate the speed and flexibility of newspapers.
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 106
List of figures, tables and diagrams
1. Chapter 1: Presenting Famous 1.1. Image: Print ad campaign to announce Famous’ new approach 13 1.2. Diagram: Simplified organisational structure of Famous 13 1.3. Diagram: Composition of brand teams 14 1.4. Diagram: Experts interaction with brand teams 15 1.5. Diagram: Organisational support structure 17 1.6. Diagram: Channels in the advertising business 20 1.7. Image: Famous client portfolio from the website 24 1.8. Diagram: Famous’ competitors 26 1.9. Table: SWOT analysis 30
2. Chapter 2: 2.1. Diagram: Stakeholders in the planning process 34 2.2. Diagram: 3 steps to develop successful marketing plans 37 2.3. Table: Difference between features and benefits 39 2.4. Diagram: 3 stages in marketing a brands' benefits 40 2.5. Figure: The pyramid of marketing 46 2.6. Diagram: 5 steps to determine the right strategic communication 47 planning 2.7. Table: Communication objectives in relation to the roles in decision 50 making
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 107 2.8. Table: Target audience in relation to the roles in decision making 51 2.9. Table: Decision stages 51 2.10. Diagram: Hypothetical perceptual map example Jupiler Blue 53 2.11. Table: Expectancy Value model for Jupiler Blue 55 2.12. Diagram: Channels according to Macrae 61 2.13. Table: Processing stages in reference to communication objectives 64 2.14. Table: How to use words and pictures to gain attention 64 2.15. Table: How to use words and pictures to help learning 65 2.16. Table: Creative tactics for minimizing memory problems 65 2.17. Diagram: Channels in the advertising business 66
3. Chapter 3: 3.1. Diagram: Definition of LG&F’s value scale 77 3.2. Diagram: Value scale for Klara 77 3.3. Diagram: Social Media Buzz for Klara and Tuymans 80 3.4. Diagram: Fame tracker 81 3.5. Diagram: Social media map 84 3.6. Image: Week van de Goeiedag visual 90
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 108
Content of the attached CD
» Klara o The Tuymans Experiment – long version o The Tuymans Experiment – short version o Spoof made by Nissan o Articles published o Press release o Research report » Het Nieuwsblad o Movie clip as a teaser for pitch presentation » Week van de Goeiedag o Campaign movies o Report o Articles published
Strategy in advertising – Maarten Raemdonck (2007 – 2008) 109
1. Annex Collection 1: Failed merger with DDB 2 2. Annex Collection 2: Interviews 3 3. Annex Collection 3: No more creative awards 17 4. Annex Collection 4: Launch Famous 21 5. Annex 5: Famous launch booklet 27 6. Annex Collection 6: Klara’s Tuymans Experiment 37 7. Annex 7: Study Attentio.com 46 8. Annex 8: Research Klara 52 9. Annex 9: Press Release Klara 62 10. Annex Collection 10: Het Nieuwsblad 65 11. Annex Collection 11: Coverage Week van de Goeiedag 74 12. Annex 12: ROI Report Week van de Goeiedag 94 13. Annex 13: Blog audit Jupiler 101 14. Annex 13: Kinepolis pitch 112
1 1. Annex Collection 1: Failed merger with DDB
De Standaard 20/10/2007
De Tijd 20/10/2007
2 2. Annex Collection 2: Interviews
Interview Famous CEO Marc Fauconnier
Verschil tussen LG&F en Famous Het allerbelangrijkste is dat de LG&F Group (LG&F: advertising, I Do: Direct Marketing, Snow: Online marketing, Pride: Public Relations) gestructureerd was volgens de kanalen, elk deeltje had een eigen discipline (een eigen kanaal waarin ze zich gespecialiseerd hadden). Die structuur begon eigenlijk het samenwerken van deze verschillende disciplines voor één klant in de weg te staan. Elke entiteit probeerde een stukje het laken naar zich toe te trekken, zijn eigen discipline vooruit te schuiven. Deze ontwikkeling stond de medianeutraliteit van het bureau enigszins in de weg. Omdat wij meer en meer klanten hebben die met verschillende kanalen van het bureau willen werken, voelden we echt de noodzaak om de problematiek van de klanten op een heel onbevangen en neutrale manier te bekijken. We zoeken het probleem of de opportuniteit van de klant en we zoeken een oplossing waarbij de verschillende kanalen op een zo evenwichtig mogelijke manier worden samengebracht. Dat is makkelijker als we dit proberen vanuit een soort geïntegreerde aanpak. LG&F is eigenlijk geëvolueerd van een organisatie op basis van kanalen en disciplines naar een organisatie op basis van klanten. Dat betekent dat nu, in de werking van het bureau, niet meer die 3 divisies maar de klant centraal staat, ook fysiek. En met fysiek bedoel ik dat we nu 9 brand rooms hebben waarin elk van de merken een vaste plaats bekleed, dus het brand team is een vast team van mensen dat op een krant merkt, en dat is toch wel iets nieuws. Zo’n brand team bestaat uit een vaste account, een vast commercieel team, een vaste strateeg en tenslotte ook een vast creatief team. Zo’n Brand Team vergadert eigenlijk altijd in dezelfde kamer, de brand room. Het brand team vult dan, afhankelijk van de briefing de rangen verder aan met specialisten. We hebben dus ook de noodzakelijke specialisten in huis, een CRM specialist (Pascal Tack), een media specialist (Steven Janssens), een online specialist (Jonathan De Tavernier, Carl De Mey), ... Zij proberen, met het uitgebreide Brand Team een zo open en zo compleet mogelijke aanbeveling te maken voor de klant.
Zijn Brand Teams voor de reclamewereld revolutionair? Neen, er is weinig revolutionair in dit vak, alles is ooit wel al eens ergens gedaan. Maar de manier waarop, de fysieke, architecturale vertaling is toch wel uniek. Ik zal niet zeggen dat dit nog nooit is gedaan in het buitenland, de formule is in België wel vrij uniek in elk geval.
Is dit ingegeven door de klant? De déclic is gekomen na de fusiegesprekken met een internationale groep, die maandenland aansleepten. Dat zorgt ervoor dat je maandenlang in een tunnel zit waardoor een aantal transactionele elementen een rol gaan spelen, zoals: Hoe gaan we ons verkopen Wat zal dat moeten kosten Je bent dan met bepaalde zaken bezig die niet altijd gelinkt zijn aan uw relatie met de mensen, zowel intern als extern. Je bent teveel gefocused daarop en dat zorgt ervoor dat je bepaalde andere problemen verwaarloosd.
Uiteindelijk hebben we dan in oktober beslist om dit niet te doen, omdat we uiteindelijk denken dat we gelukkiger zullen zijn zonder internationale groep dan binnen een internationale groep. Dan kan je niet zomaar terug naar de orde van de dag, zo vonden wij toch. Voor ons was dit een moment van reflectie. We waren toen precies 10 jaar bezig, de markt is intussen veranderd, de media zijn verandert (de laatste 10 jaar wellicht meer dan de 50 jaar daarvoor), de consument is veranderd
3 (heeft meer impact op het communicatieproces), wij zijn verandert (we hebben geleerd uit onze successen en uit onze fouten), de klanten zijn verandert, … Dus er is ontzettend veel verandert en toch functioneerden wij nog altijd als een bureau van de 20ste eeuw. Netjes georganiseerd rond zijn verschillende disciplines, zoals tot nu toe bijna alle bureaus in België. Is het niet eens tijd om na die fusie en die standstil de dingen eens fundamenteel in vraag te gaan stellen. Even de existentiële vragen in twijfel stellen en kijken hoe we de volgende 10 jaar opnieuw met evenveel motivatie kunnen aanpakken.
De vraag was: stel dat we vandaag met een reclamebureau zouden beginnen, hoe zou dat er dan uitzien? En hoe kunnen we het bureau zoals het er vandaag uitziet zo dicht mogelijk bij dat ideaal brengen? Het resultaat daarvan is eigenlijk Famous Mochten die overnamegesprekken er vorig jaar niet geweest zijn dan zouden we waarschijnlijk minder snel een manoeuvre als dit georganiseerd hebben.
Hoe reageerde het personeel? Toen we luidop begonnen na te denken over een reorganisatie waren de reacties wel positief. Ook omdat de mensen ook het gevoel hadden dat we stilaan niet meer echt tot de innoverende bureaus in de markt behoorden omdat er links en rechts en in het buitenland ook initiatieven genomen werden die op vlak van moderniteit ons voorbij staken. Terwijl we altijd een trendsetting bureau zijn geweest. De meeste mensen zagen dit ongetwijfeld ook in. Maar al snel kwam toch ook het signaal van de mensen dat we niet zonder hen, vanuit een ivoren toen, mochten nadenken en uitvoeren. Er was een duidelijke vraag naar betrokkenheid binnen dit proces.
We zijn dan ook in een heel vroeg stadium met een aantal werkgroepen gaan werken waarbij een aantal mensen de kans hebben gekregen om zich voor één of meerdere van die workshops in te schrijven. Zo kon iedereen mee nadenken over hoe dat ideale bureau er zou moeten uitzien. Er was bijvoorbeeld een workshop over creatieve inspiratie (hoe kunnen we onszelf weer gaan herbronnen), er was ook een workshop over hoe we de experts beter kunnen gaan benutten en laten samenwerken, hoe kunnen we naar architectuur en design een model opzetten dat beantwoordt aan de doelstellingen. Een van de werkgroepen was ook HR, hoe kunnen we een organisatie bouwen waar de mensen voldoende motivatie en loyaliteit vinden om er de komende jaren weer tegenaan te gaan. Dus er waren zo’n 7-tal workshops, de mensen hebben daar echt hun ei kunnen leggen. 60 à 70% van de veranderingen en inputs die we ook aangeven in ons boekje zijn eigenlijk afkomstig uit de workshops. Dus het is zeker een proces geweest waarin de mensen een belangrijke rol konden spelen, in die mate dat ik het niet graag een herpositionering noem, aangezien het daarbij meestal gaat over een verandering naar de buitenwereld, terwijl wij eigenlijk vertrokken zijn vanuit de eigen motivatie en het formuleren van een nieuwe cultuur, veel meer dan een soort van window-dressing naar de markt toe. Dat is wellicht ook de meest duurzame manier, als de verandering van binnenuit komt en niet zomaar een praatje bij het plaatje.
Hebben jullie mensen naar die werkgroepen moeten lokken? Neen, we hebben zeer open van bij het begin gezegd dat er 7 workshops zouden zijn. We hebben iedereen de kans gegeven om aan één of enkele van die workshops deel te nemen. En er waren meteen mensen die zich inschreven voor twee of zelfs drie workshops. Dat is heel makkelijk vanzelf gegaan, er was dus zeker voldoende motivatie.
4 Komt de beslissing om niet langer mee te dingen naar awards ook uit één van die werkgroepen? Neen, die komt niet uit één van de werkgroepen, die komt eigenlijk vanuit de creatieve directie zelf. Christophe en Paul hebben op een bepaald moment gezegd van kijk: het is nu bijna een 10 jaar dat we hier, met groot succes trouwens, een soort van virtuele economie hebben gebouwd op basis van creatieve awards. Waarbij we enerzijds ons werk doen voor klanten, maar anderzijds ook proberen om per jaar x aantal prijzen binnen te halen. Zoiets zorgt wel voor een dubbele agenda binnen het bureau. Het is niet zo dat een creatieve prijs altijd de beste oplossing is voor een adverteerder en vice versa. Daardoor kijk je toch altijd wel met een dubbele bril naar een campagne, langs de ene kant die van de efficiency en aan de andere kant die van de creativiteit. Dat initiatief is dus ingegeven door het feit dat we vonden dat die dubbele bril te zwaar begon te wegen, in de 2 richting. Je gaat bepaalde zaken die eigenlijk niet de beste oplossing zijn naar de klant toe pushen en omgekeerd, en dat is eigenlijk even erg, dat de klant een campagne niet neemt omdat ze ervan uitgaan dat de campagne gemaakt is voor de creatieve etalage. Terwijl het dan soms net wél de beste oplossing was … Dat begon bij enkelen het professionele geweten te vergiftigen. Deze actie was eigenlijk een soort van zuivering. We gaan ons axioma (de creatieve prijzen) overboord gooien en we gaan eens kijken hoe het werkt zonder die zelf opgelegde druk van die prijzen. Eind van dit jaar gaan we evalueren wat de voor- en nadelen hiervan zijn. In termen van creativiteit en motivatie. Dan zullen we verder gaan kijken hoe we daar in de toekomst mee moeten omspringen. Ik sluit dus niet uit dat we in de toekomst terug deelnemen aan een aantal awards. Maar het zal sowieso wel selectiever zijn. Daarbij moet het ook meer een effect zijn, een eindresultaat van een goede campagne in plaats van een doelstelling op zich.
In een interview in DS gaven Jens Mortier en Guillaume Vanderstichelen hun commentaar. Jens was nogal grof. Zijn alle andere bureaus ook zo kritisch. Het heeft minstens de merite van de discussie, ik heb van een aantal bureaus een positieve reactie gekregen. Maar ook van vrij veel bureaus geen reactie, daarbij vermoed ik dus dat ze er niet mee opgezet waren. Ze hadden mij dat in dat geval ook even kunnen zeggen, liever dan zoals Jens in de pers te fulmineren, wat ik hem tot op vandaag nog altijd kwalijk neem. Dat was een puur gebrek aan hoffelijkheid en compleet tegengesteld aan de verstandige reactie van Guillaume. Ik kan me niet herinneren dat een reclamebureau ooit al een collega reclamebureau zo heeft aangepakt in de pers, ik vind dat je dat niet doet. Verder hebben een aantal bureaus ons gefeliciteerd voor de moed waarmee we dat gedaan hebben. Omdat het toch een stuk uzelf in vraag stellen is. Een aantal andere bureaus zoals bijvoorbeeld Mortierbrigade, vond dat wellicht de ultieme daad van opportunisme. Een soort van klantenpoeperij of een beetje in de gunst komen van klanten. Anderzijds beweerde men ook dat ons creatief jaar vorig jaar niet sterk genoeg was en dat we niet meededen omdat we dachten dat we niet veel prijzen zouden winnen. Maar goed, het is ieders recht om daarop te reageren. Ik moet ook zeggen dat het mij uiteindelijk niet zoveel kan schelen, we hebben dit immers nooit gedaan om een statement te maken. Het was wel een statement voor onszelf, maar blijkbaar voelde ook de buitenwereld zich aangesproken. We hebben nooit de markt voorgehouden dat creatieve prijzen op zich slecht of verwerpelijk zijn. Wij hebben alleen gezegd dat voor ons op dit moment het beter is om even niet deel te nemen. En daar mag iedereen voor zichzelf, in eer en geweten een beslissing over nemen. Ik denk niet dat we ooit aanmatigend of arrogant geweest zijn. We hebben dat eigenlijk altijd gedaan vanuit de aller- individueelste expressie van de aller- individueelste emotie. Het is echt een persoonlijke beslissing.
5 Hoe hebben jullie dat intern gecommuniceerd Dat was eigenlijk net voor Famous. We hadden dat eigenlijk graag allemaal gebundeld, maar Famous was nog niet klaar en we moesten voor begin december inschrijven voor de CCB’s, vandaar is dat uit elkaar getrokken. Maar wat de creatieve prijzen betreft hebben we iedereen samengeroepen en dat gewoon gedeeld met de groep.
Hoe was de feedback daar dan op? We hadden dat natuurlijk ook niet zomaar eenzijdig beslist, we hebben op voorhand wel een aantal mensen gepolst. Uiteindelijk waren er een aantal mensen die opgelucht waren: nu kunnen we eindelijk wat tot rust komen en ons concentreren op onze klanten, een aantal anderen hebben het daar tot vandaag bijzonder moeilijk mee. Vooral omdat zij, en terecht, vinden dat creativiteit en een commercieel resultaat niet aan elkaar hoeven tegengesteld te zijn. In tegendeel als je op een gezonde manier kijkt naar de creatieve prijzen en gewoon je werkt doet voor klanten, stel dat je dan ontdekt dat daar een paar creatieve hoogvliegers tussen zitten, waarom zou je ze dan niet insturen? En daar hebben ze ook gelijk in … Alleen waren wij op een punt gekomen waar we een beetje getroebleerd waren door de creatieve prijzen en dat we minstens een overgangsperiode nodig hadden om alles nog eens op een rijtje te zetten. Zo kijk ik er tenminste tegen aan …
Waar wil je eigenlijk naartoe met Famous? Ik vind dat we al vrij goed bezig zijn. Famous was voor mij een doel in die zin dat ik de klanten ook echt fysiek een realiteit wil aanbieden waarbinnen hun belangen de absolute prioriteit zijn en waarbij hun belangen, hun merken eigenlijk in het centrum van ons professionele leven staan. Binnen 5 jaar wil ik liefst met de huidige klanten en liefst nog een paar erbij, een mooie ploeg vormen met de mensen binnen het bureau, die samen mooie resultaten behalen.
Groei is op dit moment geen prioriteit, omdat we vandaag eigenlijk al op een vrij hoog niveau zitten. Als we daarbij ook nog dit financiële niveau kunnen handhaven dan ben ik in elk geval tevreden. Een operatie zoals Famous is eigenlijk gewoon het consolideren op een hoog niveau en zorgen dat je niet terug naar beneden gaat … Uiteindelijk heeft elk bureau zo’n beetje dalen en pieken, wij waren 10 jaar bezig en we voelden dat we zelfs al een beetje over het toppunt heen waren. Met Famous hebben we eigenlijk geprobeerd om onmiddellijk een nieuwe top te creëren en zo het dal te vermijden. Ik heb gevoel dat dat ook wel aan het lukken is.
Hebben jullie het gevoel gehad dat de prijzen een issue waren tijdens de workshops rond HR? Tijdens de workshops zijn we daar eigenlijk niet mee geconfronteerd geweest, maar we hebben wel gevoeld tijdens de gesprekken binnen onze teams, dat de motivatie bij sommige mensen een beetje was aangetast. Veel van onze creatieven zijn nu eenmaal relatief jonge kerels die hun CV opbouwen aan de hand van dergelijke prijzen. Ze kunnen daarmee alleen maar hun marktwaarde en hun potentieel verhogen. Dus sommigen zullen dat inderdaad spijtig vinden, aan de andere kant vinden ze het ook wel tof dat ze in een spraakmakend bureau werken, een bureau dat toch net iets anders doet dan alle anderen. Maar er is een zekere schrik dat dit voor hun eigen ontwikkeling een beetje nefast kan zijn, of toch minstens een standstil, dus die schrik heeft zeker wel een rol gespeeld. We zijn er denk ik wel in geslaagd om hen alternatieven aan te bieden. Wij hebben namelijk een fulltime PR officer aangeworven. Wat zij eigenlijk doet is ervoor zorgen dat onze klanten, in combinatie met de mensen van Famous, héél breed in de media komt. Dat er geschreven wordt, dat er interviews worden afgenomen, dat er veel rumour around the brand wordt gecreëerd. Daardoor krijgen onze creatieve teams, ter compensatie van de prijzen, ontzettend veel visibiliteit. Waardoor hun werk
6 eigenlijk veel meer visibilteit krijgt dan dat daarvoor het geval was. Op die manier kunnen zij ook een soort van portfolio opbouwen. Dus spraakmakend werk maken heeft natuurlijk een grote marktwaarde.
Heeft dat een effect op het verloop naar andere bureaus? Voorlopig niet, er zijn nog geen creatieve teams vertrokken en we zijn nu toch al meer dan een half jaar bezig. Ik zou niet uitsluiten dat het gebeurt, maar voorlopig in elk geval nog niet. Ik heb wel het gevoel dat het de laatste maanden moeilijker is geworden om een topteam van buitenaf aan te trekken. Omdat zij ook niet in die Famous cultuur zitten en ook het hele verhaal niet hebben meegekregen, behalve wat ze gelezen hebben in de pers. Dus wat dat betreft zou het inderdaad wel eens een handicap kunnen zijn.
Wat is eigenlijk het verschil tussen Famous in België en Rich in Nederland? Wij (Famous) heeft een participatie in het Nederlandse bureau Rich. De mensen ginder hebben ook een belangrijk stuk van de aandelen en samen delen we dus het aandeelhouderschap en samen vormen we de groep Rich & Famous. Dus enerzijds is het een ander bureau, met ook een stukje een andere cultuur en andere initiatiefnemers. Anderzijds zitten ze wel binnen dezelfde familie, vandaar dat we ook een naam gezocht hebben die wel bij elkaar aansluit maar niet identiek is. (De Nederlanders vonden dat belangrijk)
Is er daar ook een strategie om de klant beroemd te maken. Tgoh, Rich zit natuurlijk in een andere fase van zijn ontwikkeling hé. Rich is eigenlijk een klein bureau, het bestaat ook nog maar anderhalf jaar. Ik herinner mij dat ook uit de early day’s van LG&F, als je kleiner bent dan ben je bijna per definitie georganiseerd rond je klanten. Het is pas als je groter wordt dat je enkele disciplines ontwikkelt en expertise binnen het bureau. Waardoor het steeds moeilijker wordt om die proximiteit met de klant te gaan handhaven.
Maar Rich is een bureau met 16 mensen, dat is dus bijna een brand team op zich. De organisatie is dus veel toegewijder aan het beperkte aantal klanten.
Wanneer doe je mee aan een pitch? Ten eerste moet de opportuniteit zich voordoen. De pitchen zijn eigenlijk niet zo dik gezaaid, aangezien je per marktsegment maar 1 klant mag bedienen. Dus zo zit de financiële sector, de dranken en de telecom vast. Dus zo zijn er een aantal sectoren waar wij niet kunnen meedoen aan pitches. Zo gaat het nu eenmaal, hoe groter je wordt, hoe minder opportuniteiten er zijn om mee te doen aan pitches. Maar als we beslissen om mee te doen is dat vaak ingegeven door 2 elementen: Wat is de commerciële en creatieve opportuniteit van zo’n merk, we gaan dus zeker niet per definitie meedoen voor het geld. Het is wel belangrijk om niet voor apennoten te werken. Maar wat voor dit bureau op dit moment in zijn bestaan belangrijk is, is om een klant te vinden die voldoende creatief potentieel hebben. Die onze mensen ook voldoende motiveren en enthousiasmeren om goed werk te maken. Je kan namelijk niet voor elke klant goed werk maken, er zijn een aantal klanten die dat niet zien zitten. In dat geval is de vraag ook of die dan wel met Famous zouden willen werken, aangezien we toch bekend staan als een vrij creatief bureau. De pitch zelf: is er voldoende respect voor de bureaus die uitgenodigd zijn. Daarmee bedoel ik, zijn het er niet te veel. Aan een competitie met 10 bureaus zullen we sowieso niet meedoen. We nemen deel aan pitches met maximaal 3 à 4 bureaus, meer niet. Dat is een kwestie van respect voor alle tijd en energie die die bureaus daarin steken. Verder staan we er ook op dat er een deel van de onkosten voor de pitch vergoed wordt. Meer en meer beginnen ook andere bureaus hier de rangen te sluiten en ook te eisen dat er al een bepaalde vergoeding wordt betaald. Dat is ook
7 een vorm van respect. We hebben in het verleden al pitches geweigerd omdat er geen vergoeding was.
Interview Strategic Planners Els Raemdonck and Henk Ghesquière
Welke zijn jullie concurrenten: Ander uitgangspunt: Wie zijn de bureaus waarvan men ‘schrik’ heft bij een pitch? • Duval Guillaume: zowel Antwerpen (misschien nog iets meer: frisser en vernieuwender) als Brussel • TBWA • Mortierbrigade
Voor I DO: • Tequila agency (=TBWA) • Proximity BBDO • Ogilvy One • Caramba • 7 beaufort • Marquee
Snow • These Days • LBI • Emakina
Wat is de stijl van de concurrenten • Mortierbrigade: Geen traditionele reclame-ideeën. Het stuntbureau bij wijze van spreken.
VB.: Nike pitch verloren van Mortierbrigade, voornamelijk omdat zij het idee hadden om een loopband van Nike te gaan plaatsen naast het Music for Life huis.
Els: Ik vind niet dat Mortierbrigade al zoveel heeft gepresteerd qua merkopbouw. Niet dat wij daar zo sterk in zijn, maar het is toch anders.
• Famous zelf: Vaak gezien als supercreatief bureau, die een merk op z’n kop durven zetten.
VB.: Proximus case, alle concurrenten dachten dat Famous iets maf ging doen, terwijl Famous net als enige bijzonder dicht bij de merkidentiteit bleef en zo de klant geruststelde en overtuigde van het potentiële merkkapitaal. De ‘zotten’ kunnen ook gewoon een merk consolideren, er de sterkte uithalen. Terwijl de concurrentie ook naar een ‘stunt’ op zoek was. Famous deed dus het tegenovergestelde van hun imago
Famous tracht ook stilaan meer alternatieve vormen van reclame te exploreren. Er is de stunt van Klara met Tuymans, maar ook die van SN Brussels Airlines die overal tutten hebben neergelegd. Aanvankelijk staan klanten hier zeer weigerachtig tegenover, hoewel ze snel bijdraaien wanneer hen een case wordt gepresenteerd. Famous verbreedt nu dus ook in die richting (geen verschuiving, eerder verbreding)
8 Zijn de mogelijkheden met deze alternatieve stunts eindig? • Els: De kunst zit erin om goede dingen te maken, het gaat niet om de stunt op zich, maar de kwaliteit moet duidelijk bovendrijven, boven het idee. De bedoeling is om inderdaad in de media te komen, maar vooral om dat te doen met dingen die écht interessant zijn. • Henk: Er is wel al een beetje weerstand tegen de ‘Urban spam’, de volgende onconventionele affichage aanpak of het volgende gespuit op trottoirs. De eerste keer is dat tof, maar er moet meer zijn dan zomaar een techniekje, het komt er dus op aan van relevant op te vallen.
Hoe past strategie in dit verhaal? • Iedereen bekijkt samen wat het budget is en wat de beoogde doelstelling van de campagne is. Wanneer blijkt dat iets niet haalbaar is via een traditionele campagne dan wordt er naar alternatieven gezocht. Maar dat gebeurt dan in samenspraak met de accounts, de creatieven, brand activators, ... • Wat is dan de rol van strategie? De context/kader scheppen waarbinnen er creatief wordt gewerkt, dat kan dus inderdaad rond positionering of doelgroep draaien. • De rol van strategie verschilt van bureau tot bureau: o Famous: Tot nu toe vooral positioneringwerk (nu + voor de toekomst), nu wordt er ook nagedacht over kanalen en methoden, sinds de fusie steeds meer. Zoals bij LDV een ‘merkpaspoort’ proberen schrijven. Een brug slaan tussen wat er leeft maatschappelijk en hoe we het merk daarin kunnen plaatsen.
(Zie LDV) Ook bij Famous zijn er al klanten geweest die inderdaad vragen om alleen mee te denken aan een strategie, bijvoorbeeld Tiense suiker, die eigenlijk alleen maar op zoek waren naar nieuwe producten (brand extensions), nieuwe invalshoeken om verder die markt te penetreren. Maar over het algemeen komt dit niet zo vaak voor. (Henk) Tenzij je een specifieke cel hebt die zich hierin specialiseert, zoals LDV en think.BBDO.
o Duval: Tijdens de eerste briefing van de klant worden deze eigenschappen/krijtlijnen besproken. Nadien is er eigenlijk geen strategie meer.
o LDV: (Henk) Er waren hier zelfs enkele klanten waarbij de opdracht eigenlijk vooral strategie was. Dus vaak merkpositionering, zonder dat er daar eigenlijk creatie uit voort kwam. Dit kwam vooral omdat we hier een cel hadden die zich focust op brand design, dus het merk gaan definiëren met de logo’s en een huisstijl etc. Zonder campagnes te maken. Je bent dan dus veel bezig met positionering, niet zozeer met marktonderzoek maar wel een marketeersjob.
o Think.BBDO Zij richten zich echt op die consultancy, bij Famous is dat niet echt het geval.
• Wordt jullie mening ook gevraagd wanneer een bestaande klant een brand extension wil? Bij een brand extension (vb. Jupiler Blue) vraagt de klant inderdaad wat de goede
9 positioneringstrategie is, meestal staat dan wel vast dat er een brand extension komt.
In sommige gevallen is het bureau wel betrokken bij de strategische ontwikkeling, bijvoorbeeld wanneer de vraag zich opwierp of Proximus zou geïncorporeerd worden in Belgacom, of zelfs een nieuw merk zou vormen, was Famous bij de hele bespreking betrokken en is er ook gekozen voor een lijn waar iedereen zich in kon vinden. Feit blijft echter dat het reclamebureau nooit meer is dan de adviseur, ze nemen sowieso nooit beslissingen.
Wat is het aandeel van de strategie binnen een campagnebudget. • Bij sommige klanten is dat echt gedefinieerd en gaat dat over een vaste fee per jaar. Proximus betaald bij Famous een altijd personeelslid alleen voor strategie. De vraag stelt zich dan hoeveel een klant daarvoor wil uittrekken. Daarvoor eisen klanten dan ook wel bepaalde zaken, zoals: een internationale review, de hele begeleiding bij het brandvraagstuk van Proximus-Belgacom.
In deze gevallen weten deze klanten vaak vooraf (via een soort jaarplanning) al wat ze precies verwachten van de strategie, welke projectjes moeten opgezet/onderzocht worden. De behoeften liggen meestal vrij concreet vast.
• Bij andere klanten is er een algemene fee waarbij het bureau zelf moet kijken hoe ze dit verdelen en welk aandeel er naar strategie gaat.
Hierbij gaan de klanten er meestal vanuit dat de strategie wel betrokken zal zijn.
Wordt de strategie dan ingeschakeld om het merk te bewaken? Eigenlijk zou iedereen dit moeten doen, dus niet alleen de strategie. In de nieuwe structuur zou dat nog sterker moeten zijn.
De rol van strategie is ook veranderd, vroeger werkten zij meer op projectjes en namen deel aan pitches, alsof ze eerder een aparte cel vormden, terwijl ze nu meegaan bij de klant met accounts en creatieven. Er is dus veel meer betrokkenheid.
Hoe kom je te weten dat er een pitch is? • Via shortlist gevraagd worden: Shortlist kent de verschillende bureaus en hun sterktes, kwaliteiten. Op basis van de problematiek of vragen van de klant kan shortlist een selectie maken van de bureaus waarvan zij denken dat ze in staat zijn om een goede creatieve oplossing te ontwikkelen voor dat probleem • Via de adverteerder zelf gevraagd worden: De adverteerder maakt dan zelf een selectie van de bureaus waarmee hij eventueel zou willen samenwerken of die hij hoog inschat. • Het bureau wringt zich zelf in een pitch: Op een of andere manier komt het bureau te weten dat er een pitch loopt voor een bepaald merk, zij bieden zelf hun input aan voor de pitch en verwittigen de adverteerder hiervan.
VB.: Proximus: Els was te weten gekomen dat er een pitch liep voor Proximus. LG&F besloot om mee te doen. Het pas opgerichte LG&F was toen nog voornamelijk Nederlandstalig, terwijl Proximus eerder een Franstalige gigant is/was. Het kleine
10 bureautje werd dus niet als concurrent gezien, maar wel als de kleine underdog, wat eigenlijk een ideaal uitgangspunt was/is. • Soms geen pitch nodig: Wanneer je al goede banden hebt met een bureau. Zo was Inbev al klant bij Famous voor Jupiler en kwam Stella zonder pitch ook gewoon aankloppen bij Famous. Perfect draft zat dan weer in een pitch met Mortierbrigade en een internationaal bureau, toen iemand die al eerder met Famous samenwerkte zich afvroeg waarom Famous niet in het lijstje was opgenomen. >> CRM is héél belangrijk • Iemand die je kent organiseert een pitch en je vraagt of je erbij mag/kan. • Openbare aanbestedingen voor overheidsbedrijven
Wat is het APG? APG = Account Planning Group, opgericht in Engeland. (Els) Strategic planners voelen zich vaak een beetje verweesd, zitten alleen in een bureautje en stellen zich zelfs de vraag wat ze eigenlijk precies aan het doen zijn. Oorspronkelijk kwamen een paar strategen samen in een informele sfeer om dergelijke bekommernissen te kunnen bespreken. Uiteindelijk werd dat een vrij professionele vereniging die zelfs elke 2 jaar een APG award uitreikt. De bedoeling was om de waarde van strategie te verduidelijken, in dat opzicht zijn de awards ook een zekere valorisatie voor het beroep van strategen. Zo’n award-case is om je vingers van af te likken.
Er is ook in België vrij veel strategisch denkwerk, waarom zouden we niet, net zoals in Engeland maar dan veel kleinschaliger, ook APG oprichten. Dit met de bedoeling om onszelf eigenlijk te inspireren. vb.: Eerste jaar heeft APG een aantal sprekers uit Engeland laten overkomen om hun cases uit te leggen. Dat heeft in België vrij veel impact omdat strategic planning in Engeland gewoon veel verder staat. Mensen vonden het heel inspirerend, soms beter dan bepaalde trainingen.
In Engeland heeft elke account director een strategisch planner naast zich. De account job is ginder echt louter commercieel, terwijl de strateeg al het denkwerk over het merk en de positionering doet, dat maakt dat strategie ginder op een veel hoger niveau staat.
APG Londen heeft ook een hele trainingscel, die ook al eens in België een training kwam geven. Verder nodigen ze hier ook sprekers uit die noemenswaardige werken hebben geschreven, ...
APG is een inspiratiebron voor de strategen.
Momenteel is het concept in België nog zeer jong en vergen sommige dingen ook te veel investeringen. Voor de APG awards wordt achteraf bijvoorbeeld een boek geschreven. Er moeten wel eerst meer goede cases zijn, maar initiatief wil vooral het beroep ook in België naar een hoger niveau trekken.
Hoe wordt je strateeg? (Henk) Quattro was een van de partners van het Vlerick onderzoek waarvoor ik werkte, zij hebben me gevraagd of ik geen zin had om strategie te gaan uitwerken. De voorkennis van marktonderzoek was ook wel een voordeel in het begin. (Els) Ik ben meer dan 10 jaar account geweest en het stuk rond strategie vond ik altijd het meest interessante. Je moet daar gewoon erg in geïnteresseerd zijn, en daar het meeste voeling mee hebben ook.
11 Anderzijds hebben we hier Stephanie Zimmerman gehad, die eigenlijk niks van marktonderzoek kende, maar die zeer sterk intuïtief aanvoelde waar je zou kunnen naartoe gaan met een merk, of hoe je het zou kunnen positioneren. Je moet enigszins geïnteresseerd zijn in wat mensen bezighoudt, een beetje empathie naar de consument.
Strategen zijn ook erg verschillend, er zijn bijvoorbeeld strategen die zich specialiseren in kanaalstrategie (bepalen welke kanalen kunnen ingezet worden om een bepaald publiek/doel te bereiken), anderen zijn dan weer beter in het nadenken omtrent de positionering.
Het rekruteren van een strateeg kan eigenlijk maar op 2 manieren • Iemand groeit erin • Je koopt iemand weg bij een ander bureau.
Wat vinden jullie de rol van een strateeg • Ondersteunend voor de accounts, zeker niet coördinerend. • Je kan het zien als een staff functie.
Welke merken vinden jullie sterke merken? Jupiler: • Staat ergens voor: mannen, mannelijke vriendschap, mannen om naar op te kijken • Staan voor iets relevants: bier, mannen onder elkaar Iets permanents, niet van voorbijgaande aard • Ze zijn dominant in hun categorie, niet alleen qua verkoop, maar ook share of mind en brand preferente • Gebaseerd op een emotioneel kapitaal, want bij blind tests komen ze er niet eens zo sterk uit • Jupiler is een merk van de mensen, hands off! (Let op de massale kritiek die ze kregen bij de verandering van de stier) Dit geeft de sterkte van uw merk aan, dat mensen op zoiets ‘banaals’ willen reageren.
Welk merk staat er voor vanalles en niks? Of verloor zijn voorkeur? Polaroid: • (Henk) gewoon technologisch voorbijgestreefd • (Els) te weinig andere wegen proberen inslaan • (Henk) misschien wel als bedrijf, maar niet meer onder het merk ‘polaroid’, je ziet zelfs dat Kodak al niet meer mee is ... De instant camera is voorbijgestreefd omdat een GSM en een digitaal fototoestel eigenlijk ook onmiddellijk de foto tonen. Bovendien is het merk teveel gekend op die manier en zou dus moeilijk een digitale camera kunnen uitbrengen Bru: • (Els)Een merk dat enigszins op de terugweg is. Vroeger zeer sterk dankzij de ‘parels’. • (Henk)Elk merk heeft intussen een licht bruisend water • (Els)Ze hebben precies niet echt de weg gevonden om zich verder te differentiëren • (Henk)Misschien hebben ze daar ook zelf voor gezorgd door ook plat water uit te brengen. Waardoor het unieke eigenlijk verdwijnt.
12
Voorbeelden van merken die goed zaten maar niet aanslaan? • Vb.: Vacature <> Job@, Coke Zero • Leo is net het omgekeerde verhaal, tijdens de pretest vonden de consumenten het liedje echt onnozel. Ook Duval Guillaume vond het geen goede campagne en had zich voorbereid op een flop, wegens te kitscherig. Toch sloeg het aan en werd een succes bij de lancering op de markt. • Ook Proximus Freestyle is het tegengestelde voorbeeld, bij de jongen die uit de trein sprong had iedereen bedenkingen (vb.: doet die zich geen pijn). Door de korte tijdspanne hebben we die spot dan toch uitgebracht en werd die weldegelijk een gigantisch reclamesucces.
Wie test spots Meestal de klant met een onderzoeksbureau. Onderzoeksbureau is meestal onafhankelijk, de klant wil een objectieve kijk op de zaken.
Op welk merk zou je graag werken: een merk met potentieel dat niet goed wordt aangepakt? • Zappy baby: Ouders van nu Niet meteen qua communicatie maar redactioneel • Millet: Een merk dat nogal fout gegaan is voor het publiek (opgeblazen snobvesten), maar eigenlijk is dat een merk dat zeer technische hoogstaande en kwaliteitsvolle bergkledij maakt. Ze hebben echter ooit eens het zijspoor gehad waarbij dat ene model plots heel populair werd. Bij bergbeklimmers is dat wel nog steeds een merk dat hoog aangeschreven staat, zij maken touwen, bottines.
SWOT Famous • Strength: o Sterke winnerattitude (vooral Marc en Christophe), in competities gaan ze resoluut voor de winst. Dat is niet altijd zo bij het management die toch vaak een underdog positie aannemen. (Els) o Men wil niet stilzitten, niet stil blijven staan. Een soort constante paranoia: “we zouden wel een down the drain kunnen gaan”, maar daar voortdurend tegen vechten en iets aan doen. Continu het verval voor zijn. Ook vorig jaar na de overnamegesprekken. (Els & Henk) o Mega gedrevenheid van het management. (Els) o LG&F was en Famous is een bureau dat vaak heel straf creatief werk maakt, maar dan ook nog eens voor grote klanten. Waardoor het niet zomaar om de creatie ging maar ook nog merkopbouwend werkte. (vb.: SN Brussels Airlines, Proximus, ...) o Zwakte van LG&F die wordt omgebogen naar een sterkte dankzij Famous • Integratie, snelle omschakeling van systeem om meer te gaan samenzitten met verschillende partijen en bijgevolg ook het hokjesdenken achterwege laten. We werken nu duidelijk vanuit een probleem naar een oplossing terwijl dat vroeger zeker niet altijd zo was, er was toen soms concurrentie tussen de verschillende subbureaus van LG&F Group (Snow, I Do, LG&F, Pride) • Sommige adverteerders willen de hele marketingmix graag binnen 1 bureau. (zie ook threats) o Het niet deelnemen aan prijzen kan soms klanten overtuigen om bij Famous te komen. • Zij vinden het wel leuk als er prijzen gewonnen worden, maar hun core importance ligt ergens anders.
• Weaknesses
13 o HR: Is eigenlijk een zwakte van de hele sector. Famous is eigenlijk nog een bureau dat daar vrij hard over nadenkt en naar een oplossing zoekt. • Zowel rekrutering • Als het houden van mensen Er is binnen de reclamewereld een groot gebrek aan respect. Aanwervingen gebeuren zeer oppervlakkig: op basis van iets wat men gehoord heeft, of “jij lijkt op het eerst zich wel OK” omdat men eigenlijk gewoon dringend iemand nodig heeft. Daar geeft men al aan dat er weinig belangstelling is voor de juiste persoon op de juiste plaats.
Dit gevoel was nog veel sterker toen ik solliciteerde bij Duval Guillaume waar de 80 anderen naast Duval en Guillaume perfect inwisselbaar leken. Daardoor vergaat de zin om te werken wel. (Els)
Dat gevoel is bij Famous veel minder.
(Henk)Het verloop van creatieven is toch ook wel groot hé. (Els)Het verloop bij strategen is inderdaad veel kleiner. Ze zijn ook niet zo dik bezaaid (DG is er bijvoorbeeld één in Nederland gaan wegplukken) en zeker de goede niet. (Els) Maar klopt het wel dat een strateeg niet zo vaak verloopt? Ik blijf hier nu omdat ik na enkele ervaringen zoiets heb van: het is bij een ander bureau toch nooit zoveel beter, Famous is een goed bureau, waarom zou ik weggaan, maar dat leer je pas na enkele keren te verlopen.
Waarom veranderen van bureau? • Het kan wel interessant zijn om van een wereldwijd bureau (vb Ogilvy) te verhuizen naar een lokaal bureau (vb DG), omdat dat meestal helemaal anders werkt en je daardoor zeer snel veel kan bijleren. Wanneer stijgt je loon: • Bij het veranderen van bureau • Als men denkt dat je gaat veranderen van bureau • Bij accounts ook vaak omdat ze de klant beugezien zijn. Dat is wel enigszins anders bij strategen aangezien zij nooit heel de tijd door op 1 klant aan het werken zijn. • Zouden jullie overwegen om vast in dienst te treden bij 1 bedrijf, als brand manager ofzo? o Els: ja o Henk: misschien, maar zou afwisseling missen. • Omdat Famous nu niet meer deelneemt aan prijzen, dit is voor creatieven wel een kans minder om hun marktwaarde te verhogen. Zij verhogen hun loon op basis van prijzen.
• Opportunities o HR, zie hierboven. (Els) Het is in onze sector echt alleen maar door mensen dat we het verschil kunnen maken. Dus als we mensen kunnen houden omdat we samen met hen mee uitstippelen waar ze naartoe willen dan is dat toch wel een heel goede troef. o Er is duidelijk nog groeimarge in social media en het onderzoek daaromtrent.
• Threats o Integratie van de verschillende bureaus (LG&F, Snow, I Do). Misschien gaat een adverteerder die specifiek op zoek is naar een DM bureau, of een online activiteit nu minder snel bij Famous aankloppen., precies omdat I Do en Snow gaan afzonderlijke entiteiten meer zijn.
14 Hetzelfde gebeurde bij Ogilvy, waar klanten zich niet meer durfden aanbieden door het gevoel dat hen van alles zou worden aangesmeerd dat ze eigenlijk niet nodig hadden. o Door het niet deelnemen aan prijzen is het meer dan ooit moeilijk om mensen aan te trekken (Els)
Waarom is Pride niet mee opgenomen in Famous? • Zij hebben vooral klanten in een heel andere sector (gezondheid en farmaceutische sector), waardoor hun activiteiten veel minder geïncorporeerd zijn geraakt met andere bureaus, zoals dat wel was met Snow bijvoorbeeld. Daardoor was er ook bijzonder weinig synergie en ondanks het feit dat ze een hele tijd op deze locatie hebben samengezeten met ons geraakten de activiteiten toch niet verweven. • De andere 3 (LG&F, I Do en Snow) hadden ook wel voor een stuk hun eigen klanten. Maar dit overlapte meer, I Do heeft in het begin zelfs eigenlijk alleen maar klanten van LG&F gehad. I Do is dan ook ontsproten aan de noodzaak van LG&F om ook one-to-one marketing aan te bieden. Idem voor Snow, terwijl Pride er eigenlijk van buitenaf is bijgekomen: er waren 2 vrouwen die aanklopte en zeiden “wij hebben zin om een PR bureau te openen, hebben jullie geen zin om ons financieel te ondersteunen?”. Dat is een heel ander verhaal.
Hoe zit het met de kostprijzen van bureaus? • Er zijn eigenlijk marktprijzen vastgelegd door het ACC, deze zijn niet bindend maar worden door heel wat bureaus wel gerespecteerd. Bij de grote bureaus is prijs dus meestal geen issue. Wanneer je echter in competitie zit met een hoop kleinere bureaus dan gaan hun prijzen vaak wel lager liggen en weet je dat je de pitch niet zal moeten winnen op basis van de prijs.
Wat met Social Media? • Famous is daar niet meteen de voortrekker, bij Duval Guillaume bijvoorbeeld staat men op dat vlak al verder. Famous doet wel niet niks, een deel van de online activiteiten houdt zich ook bezig met communities, maar er is daar wel nog ruimte om verder te gaan exploreren. Hoewel we de impact van blogs ook niet mogen overschatten in vergelijking met de States.
Wie zijn nu eigenlijk de bazen? • Oprichters: o Marc Fauconier: CEO o Luc Libens o Christophe Ghewy • Carola is er nadien bijgekomen, heeft een aantal klanten met Marc verdeeld. • Paul, idem maar dan met Christophe • Mensen van I Do, Snow o Pascal Tack (I Do) o Jonathan Detavernier (Snow) o Johan & Laurent (Oprichters I Do) • Ria: financieel
15
Hoe reageerden de creatieven op het niet deelnemen aan prijzen? Zie strengths en weaknesses. Dikwijls worden de prijzen gewonnen door de meest creatieve campagnes, dat zijn niet meteen de campagnes met het hoogste people succes of de hoogste ROI. Daar zit eigenlijk wel een scheeftrekking bij het uitreiken van de prijzen. Dit zorgt ervoor dat de klant en het succes van de campagne niet langer écht centraal staan.
Wie reikt er prijzen uit? Dat is in het algemeen een jury samengesteld uit creatieven. De meeste creatieve prijzen worden uitgereikt door het CCB, Creative Club of Belgium.
Wat is het ACC? Zij verdedigen het belang van de bureaus tegenover de adverteerders en het publiek.
Beschrijf het vak: Het is een vak van ups and downs, van succes en frustratie. Dat geldt als voor ons (strategen) maar is nog 10x intenser bij creatieven. Wat is de grootste uitdaging Het merk vooruit helpen op basis van zijn intrinsieke waarden, een stap verder gaan zetten. vb.: Jupiler begrijpt dat dat moet, maar is nogal protectionistisch. Anderzijds is het soms gewoon krachtiger als je een goede campagne in de hand hebt, los van alle analyses. Maar het gebeurt ook vaak dat de klant al een bepaalde piste laat vallen vooraleer ze eigenlijk de kans heeft gekregen om geboren te worden.
16
3. Annex Collection 3: No more creative awards
De Standaard 21/12/2007 De Tijd 21/12/2007
17
De Tijd 09/01/2008
18 De Morgen 11/01/2008 – pagina 1
19 De Morgen 11/01/2008 – pagina 2
20 4. Annex Collection 4: Launch Famous
De Standaard 18/03/2008
21 De Morgen 19/03/2008
22 Het Nieuwsblad 20/03/2008
23 De Morgen 21/03/2008
24 De Tijd 02/04/2008
25 Job@ 19/05/2008
26 5. Annex 5: Famous launch booklet
27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35
36 6. Annex Collection 6: Klara’s Tuymans Experiment
De Morgen 17/04/2008
37 De Standaard 17/04/2008
38 De Standaard 17/04/2008
39 Gazet Van Antwerpen 17/04/2008
Het Belang Van Limburg 17/04/2008
40 Het Laatste Nieuws 17/04/2008
Het Laatste Nieuws 17/04/2008
41 Gazet Van Antwerpen 18/04/2008
42 De Tijd 23/04/2008
43 Het Laatste Nieuws 25/04/2008
De Standaard 26/04/2008
44 Gazet Van Antwerpen Knack 30/04/2008 26/04/2008
45 7. Annex 7: Studie Attentio.com
1. Het aanbod
a. Globaal
Het in Brussel gevestigde bedrijf Attentio monitort en analyseert sociale media (blogs, forums, social networks, video sharing websites, nieuwssites, …). Ze bekijken kwantitatief het aantal vermeldingen van jouw brand of product op dergelijke websites én vergelijken deze resultaten met die van jouw concurrenten. Er wordt dus een buzz of Word of Mouth gemeten, dit is “the passing of information by verbal means, especially recommendations, but also general information, in an informal, person-to-person manner, rather then by mass media, advertising, organized publication or trading marketing. Word of Mouth is typically considered a spoken communication, although web dialogue, such as blogs, message boards and emails are often now included in the definition.”1
Naast het monitoren van de buzz biedt Attentio tools aan om te tracken of de communicatie over jouw brand of product positief of negatief getint is.
Attentio scant daarvoor voortdurend het internet af, naar analogie van de Google spiders. Het is echter bijzonder onduidelijk hoeveel websites er momenteel worden getracked.
Naar eigen zeggen staat Attentio bijzonder sterk binnen volgende sectoren: • Automobiel • Informatie & Communicatie Technologie • Elektronica • Hoger onderwijs • Financiële diensten • Mode & accessoires • Voeding • Overheid en openbare diensten • Mobiele telefonie & telecommunicatie • Fast moving consumer goods • Media, games & entertainment • Pharmaceutica & gezondheidszorg • Reisindustrie
Attentio splitst de dienstverlening op in 3 pakketten: • Brand Dashboard • Buzz Report • Industry Report
We bespreken elk onderdeel kort.
1 “The anatomy of Buzz”, Emanuel Rosen (www.emanuel-rosen.com)
46 b. Brand Dashboard
Het Brand Dashboard biedt dagelijkse rapporten over de buzz en de demografie daarvan voor jouw producten of merken in relatie tot die van je concurrenten. Deze gegevens kunnen worden uitgesplitst volgens bron, onderwerp en land/taal, telkens weergegeven in grafieken.
Na het registreren bij Attentio kan de gebruiker zelf kiezen wat er allemaal moet getracked worden, in die zin dat de concurrenten (of concurrerende producten) moeten aangeduid worden en daarnaast ook eventuele criteria binnen dat het marktsegment waarbinnen we ons bevinden.
Met het Brand Dashboard kunnen maximaal 12 merken of producten worden getracked, de prijs is afhankelijk van het aantal inschrijvingen.
Enkele screenshots van een voorbeeldje rond fabrikanten van Flash geheugens.
1. Realtime “Share of Buzz”, is een momentopname van 1 dag of een gemiddelde over een bepaalde periode.
47 2. Buzz trends bekeken binnen een bepaalde periode
3. Uitsplitsing van bepaalde criteria die binnen het marktsegment belangrijk zijn.
48 c. Buzz Report
Merken die meer willen weten over hun online perceptie kunnen gebruik maken van Buzz Report, een aanvulling op het Brand Dashboard. Hier kunnen om het even hoeveel brands, producten of concurrenten worden ingevoerd die moeten getracked worden. De resultaten worden eenmalig, maandelijks of per kwartaal samengevat in PDF of PPT. Klanten die dat wensen kunnen aanvullend ook de statistische brongegevens verkrijgen om zelf verder te onderzoeken. De prijs is afhankelijk van het aantal afgeleverde rapporten.
d. Industry Report
Attentio biedt ook gestandaardiseerde rapporten per industrietak aan, zonder verdere configuratie worden analyses gemaakt van de marktleiders, hun marktaandeel, hun share of voice/share of buzz en de trends binnen de branche. Het gehele spectrum van concurrenten wordt dus voor jou in beeld gebracht. De resultaten worden samengevat in PDF of PPT. De prijs is afhankelijk van het aantal afgeleverde rapporten.
2. Testen
Wie wil proeven van de dienstverlening van Attentio kan een voorsmaakje vinden bij Trendpedia (www.trendpedia.com) of het Attentio Brand Dashboard 15 dagen gratis proberen (www.attentio.com).
a. Trendpedia
Een zeer korte test van Trendpedia wijst uit dat de resultaten toch een pak minder uitgebreid zijn dan bijvoorbeeld die van Blogpulse, die een vergelijkbare dienst aanbieden.
Bij het zoeken naar de trefwoorden “Klara.be” en “Radio Klara” vond Trendpedia 37 resultaten, terwijl Blogpulse maar liefst 95 blogposts weergaf in de periode tussen 10/11/2007 en 07/05/08.
De achterdocht bij het verzwijgen van het aantal blogs/sites dat wordt getracked door Attentio blijkt dus zeker en vast op zijn plaats.
b. Attentio
Bij het aanmaken van een account, kunnen we makkelijk een aantal projecten aanmaken, waarbinnen we telkens de communicatie tussen een aantal brands willen monitoren. De interface is relatief eenvoudig en er zijn duidelijke richtlijnen uitgeschreven langs de zijkant.
Enkele uren later krijg je dan een e-mail die meldt dat de tracking afgewerkt is. Na het inloggen kunnen we via ‘charts’ naar een grondig overzicht (opgelet: dit werkt niet in Firefox). We krijgen een overzicht van de gevonden blogposts en een analyse aan de hand van 2 grafiekjes, de share of buzz van de afgelopen 28 dagen en een buzz trend meting, die pas begint vanaf de dag van inschrijving.
49
Per klant krijgen we nog 2 extra tabbladen. In het eerste tabblad komt normaal een overzicht van de events, vermoedelijk is dit het overzicht van de communication flow (van blog naar pers of omgekeerd), deze functie is echter niet beschikbaar in de trial version.
50
Het laatste tabblad geeft een overzicht van de blogposts die positief schrijven over ons merk en die die negatief schrijven. De trends hierin worden ook in een grafiekje gegoten.
Helaas blijkt dat de brongegevens waarop dit alles gebaseerd is net dezelfde zijn als die van Trendpedia en dus relatief beperkt.
3. Conclusie
Op basis van de website van Attentio lijkt dit een bijzonder interessant product, al is het al verdacht dat men nergens vermeld hoe groot de databank aan gegevens momenteel al is.
In een vergelijkend onderzoekje met Blogpulse moet Attentio duidelijk de duimen leggen. Ze vinden een pak minder resultaten en bovendien is Blogpulse een gratis dienst.
Het aanbod van beiden:
Attentio.com Blogpulse.com Zoeken van blogposts X X Trends rapporteren X X Demografische uitsplitsing X Extra criteria bij het tracken X Rapportering (PDF/PPT) X Communication flow X X Gevoelswaarde blogposts X Wachttijd Na registratie en het Onmiddellijk (geen invullen van de gegevens registratie) enkele uren wachten Prijs Betalend – Onduidelijke Gratis prijzenpolitiek
Attentio biedt dus duidelijk een ruimer gamma aan van tracking tools en voorziet ook meer grafieken dan Blogpulse. Anderzijds is de wachttijd vrij lang en is de prijs bijzonder onduidelijk. Het grootste nadeel is echter dat Attentio over veel minder bronnen beschikt dan Blogpulse. Attentio is dan ook interessant om te volgen voor de toekomst, maar staat momenteel nog niet op punt.
4. Aanbeveling
Enkele tools voor het monitoren van social media (blogs, forums, social networks, video sharing websites, newssites, …) duiken op. De meesten analyseren het aantal blogs voor jouw brand/product en bieden de mogelijkheid dit te vergelijken met die van de concurrentie. Dergelijke trends monitoren kan je o.a. met Attentio en Blogpulse. Attentio biedt bovendien een demografische uitsplitsing van je resultaten en een analyse van de gevoelswaarde per blogpost. Attentio is weliswaar betalend. Blogpulse is dan weer sneller, gratis én beschikt over een veel grotere databank van blogs. Voorlopige aanrader Blogpulse, maar ook Attentio in de gaten houden.
www.blogpulse.com www.attentio.com (gratis trial = 15 dagen) www.trendpedia.com (beperkte gratis service van attentio)
51 8. Annex 8: Research Klara
1. Observatie
1.1. Kwantitatief
Voor: Na 2 dagen werd de stelling in de Beddenstraat in Antwerpen afgebroken, het Tuymans-experiment kon beginnen. Van de 2858 voorbijgangers keken er slechts 108 gedurende de eerste dagen, dat is amper 3,78%.
Enkele dagen later bleek in de pers, via reportages op televisie en een pak artikels in de kranten, dat het om een schilderij van Luc Tuymans ging.
Na: Op dinsdag 29 april, 1 dag voordat het werk wordt verwijderd tellen we opnieuw, één uur kort na de middag (van 13u tot 14u) en anderhalf uur tijdens de avondspits (van 16u tot 17u30).
In totaal werden er 389 mensen geobserveerd, 279 onder hen liepen zomaar voorbij, 110 keken wel naar het schilderij of bleven zelfs even stilstaan. Dat betekent dat maar liefst 28,28% van de voorbijgangers nu wel aandacht toonde voor het kunstwerk aan de muur, het zevenvoud van het aantal voor de persaandacht.
Periode 1 Procentueel P1 Periode 2 Procentueel P2 Totaal Procentueel totaal Totaal 176 213 389 Kijken 50 28.41% 60 28.17% 110 28.28% Niet Kijken 126 71.59% 153 71.83% 279 71.72% Foto 2 1.14% 3 1.41% 5 1.29%
Periode 1 13u tot 14u Periode 2 16u tot 17u30
Onder hen ook 5 mensen die speciaal langs het schilderij passeerden enkel en alleen om een foto te maken van dit unicum.
Daarbij dient ook opgemerkt te worden dat het op dinsdag 29 april bijzonder slecht weer was, dit heeft ongetwijfeld een invloed gehad op het aantal mensen dat speciaal even langs kwam om te kijken en het aantal passanten dat bleef staan om het schilderij van naderbij te bewonderen.
1.2. Kwalitatief
Naast het tellen van het aantal bezoekers werden er (tussen de 2 bovenstaande periodes, dus vanaf 14u tot 16u) ook een aantal enquêtes afgenomen. In totaal werden 32 mensen geïnterviewd van verschillende leeftijden, zowel mensen die naar het schilderij keken, als mensen die er niet naar keken.
52 Familiarity
Awareness Tuymans 13 40.63% Awareness KBC 3 9.38% Awareness Klara 12 37.50% Ongeholpen awareness Klara 4 12.50% Geholpen awareness Klara 2 6.25% Awareness na vermelding Klara 6 18.75% Geen awareness 6 18.75% Awareness Klara.be 2 6.25% Website al bezocht 1 3.13% Geholpen awareness Klara.be 1 3.13% Awareness na vermelding Klara.be Geen awareness 30 93.75% Familiarity Klara Radiozender 8 25.00% Radio 3 1 3.13% Klassieke muziek 23 71.88% Cultuurplatform 1 3.13%
Talkability
Over de actie gehoord 17 53.13% Klara zelf 1 3.13% Krant 9 28.13% TV 7 21.88% Mond aan mond 0.00% Zal zelf verder vertellen 3 9.38%
Connection
Klara Luisteraar 2 6.25% Kan Klara wel appreciëren 2 6.25% Mooie reclame spots 1 3.13% Voor oude mensen 2 6.25% Niks voor mij 5 15.63% Tuymans-Experiment Past bij Klara 8 25.00% Meer van dat in deze straat 2 6.25% Slechte plaats 1 3.13% Origineel 4 12.50% Mooi 6 18.75% Geslaagd 3 9.38%
Tags
Rust 3 9.38%
53 Klassieke muziek 23 71.88% Kunst 2 6.25% Intellectueel 1 3.13% Geen reclame 3 9.38% Cultuur 3 9.38% Nocturnes 1 3.13% Musea bezoek 1 3.13% Wandelingen 1 3.13%
Een eerste opvallende conclusie is dat veel mensen, zowat 40%, zich ervan bewust zijn dat het kunstwerk van de hand van Luc Tuymans is. Klara scoorde net ietsje minder, maar de steekproef is dan ook te klein om écht representatief te zijn. Wat we wel kunnen stellen is dat de awareness bij Luc Tuymans bijna altijd spontaan is, terwijl Klara eerder oppervlakkig in het geheugen aanwezig is. Men herinnert zich wel iets indien de tip ‘radiozender’ wordt gegeven of wanneer Klara effectief wordt genoemd, het gaat hier eerder om geholpen awareness, Top of Mind scoort Tuymans duidelijk hoger.
De website www.klara.be is nog minder gekend (6,25%), laat staan dat men weet dat het hier over een nieuw cultuurplatform gaat (3,13%). De actie werd wel onthaald als zijnde mooi en origineel, de meeste mensen vonden het ook passen bij Klara.
Wanneer we doorvragen over Klara en de connection van voorbijgangers met Klara dan krijgt Klara tags opgeplakt als: rust en cultuur. Meer dan 70% van de voorbijgangers associeert Klara eigenlijk alleen met Klassieke muziek. Daar ligt dus duidelijk de Universal Meaning voor Klara en meteen ook voor een groot deel de standout ten opzichte van andere radiozenders. Anderzijds is het label cultuur toch ook een mooi compliment en kunnen mensen het duidelijk wel appreciëren dat er minder of geen reclame wordt gespeeld op Klara.
2. Pers
2.1. ROI
Op basis van het aantal en de grootte van de artikels/reportages in de media werd de Return on Investment (ROI) even van dichterbij bekeken. Per artikel werd berekend wat de kostprijs zou zijn van een publicitaire advertentie van dezelfde grootte (voor de kanten) of lengte (voor de radio- & televisiereportages).
Hieronder vindt u een volledig overzicht van de artikels en reportages, telkens met hun ‘waarde’. Hierbij dient echter vermeld te worden dat een écht krantenartikel veel meer waard is dan een advertentie, de kans dat dit gelezen wordt én de rendabiliteit die eraan gehecht wordt zijn immers veel groter.
54 Datum Type Medium Titel Pagina H x Kolom Waarde 17/04/08 Krant De Tijd Telex 32 57mm x 1 1,920.00 € 17/04/08 Krant De Morgen Klara.be groeit uit tot volwaardig 21 275mm x 5 9,518.00 € multimediaal cultuurplatform 17/04/08 Krant De Standaard Klara opent cultuurspeeltuin 64 260mm x 7 24,479.00 € 17/04/08 Krant De Standaard Tuymans waagt zich aan experiment 3 181mm x 5 36,516.75 € 17/04/08 Krant Gazet v Antw. De ene Tuymans is de andere niet 51 166mm x 2 3,851.00 € 17/04/08 Krant Het belang Voorbijgangers lopen straal voorbij werk 71 255mm x 4 4,176.00 € van Limburg Luc Tuymans 17/04/08 Krant Het Laatste Bijna niemand kijkt om naar schilderij Luc 1 117mm x 14,640.00 € Nieuws Tuymans 94mm 17/04/08 Krant Het Laatste Tuymans beschilderd gevel in 15 96mm x 4 7,035.00 € Nieuws Beddenstraat 18/04/08 Krant Het Laatste Tevreden Luc Tuymans: "Da's best veel" 11 114mm x 4 8,211.00 € Nieuws 18/04/08 Krant De Morgen Column Camps 1 80mm x 3 8,602.00 € 18/04/08 Krant Gazet v Antw. Is dat een kunstwerk? 21 188mm x 3 6,542.00 € 19/04/08 Krant Gazet v Antw. Antwerpenaars verdeeld over bestemming 29 88mm x 2 2,041.00 € werk van Luc Tuymans 22/04/08 Krant Gazet v Antw. Atomium in Antwerpen 64 255mm x 4 5,104.00 € 23/04/08 Krant De Tijd Een Tuymans op straat 13 250mm x 5 4,910.00 € 23/04/08 Krant Gazet v Antw. Tweede schilderij beddenstraat wordt 15 90mm x 4 1,531.00 € verwijderd 24/04/08 Krant Het Laatste Schilderij naast dat van Tuymans 16 62mm x 3 1,086.00 € Nieuws verwijderd 25/04/08 Krant Het Laatste Schilderij naast dat van Tuymans 24 62mm x 3 1,086.00 € Nieuws verwijderd 26/04/08 Krant De Standaard Tuymans blijft nog even hangen 78 100mm x 2 2,636.00 € 26/04/08 Krant Gazet v Antw. Schilderij Tuymans blijft hangen 77 91mm x 1 1,067.00 € 19/04/08 TV Canvas Kortfilm Tuymans - Klara 25,000.00 € 17/04/08 TV Eén Journaal 19u 7,735.00 € 17/04/08 TV Eén Journaal 23u 8,127.00 € 17/04/08 Radio Radio 1 Interview met passant 15,120.00 € TOTAAL 200,933.75 €
Naast de aandacht in de pers was er ook behoorlijk veel aandacht op enkele populaire blogs én op de website van de kranten zelf. Deze aandacht is echter bijzonder moeilijk te valoriseren.
Websites
Het Laatste Nieuws 16/04/08 0 reacties De Morgen 16/04/08 6 reacties Canvas 17/04/08 10 reacties Knack 17/04/08 1 reactie Radiovisie.be 17/04/08 0 reacties + filmpje Zangtalent.be 17/04/08 0 reacties + filmpje De Morgen 25/04/08 1 reactie Het Laatste Nieuws 25/04/08 13 reacties
55 Toonaangevende blogs & video-sites
Datum Bezoekers Reacties oliveblauveltkd.blogspot.com 16/04/08 0 Blog Pulpdeluxe 17/04/08 3 Cut the Crab blog 17/04/08 0 Trendbeheer 17/04/08 2 Trendbeheer 17/04/08 2 Appelogen 18/04/08 1 Youtube 18/04/08 40.725 36 Appelogen 19/04/08 1 InLetterLand 19/04/08 0 Luon Blog 19/04/08 130 0 Flickr Appelogen 20/04/08 66 4 Boingboing.net 23/04/08 94 Culture Shock 23/04/08 0 GarageTV 23/04/08 166 0 Social Capital Blog 23/04/08 1 Funky Dung 24/04/08 2 SmashingTelly 24/04/08 2 oliveblauveltkd.blogspot.com 25/04/08 0 The art of foo 25/04/08 1 GotArt 27/04/08 2 Integral Options Café 30/04/08 0
Een volledig beeld krijgen van het aantal bezoekers per blog blijkt onmogelijk. Ook het aantal lezers van een bepaald artikel is niet altijd vermeld, daardoor is ons overzicht weinig volledig.
Via Blogpulse.com en Technorati.com konden we echter wel nagaan hoeveel blogs er verschenen over klara en klara.be in april. Blogpulse beschikt daarvoor over een databank van 79 miljoen blogs, Technorati doet nog beter met ... blogs. Uit een analyse van beide sites blijkt dat er in maart 11 blogposts schreven over de radiozender Klara, in april wordt er maar liefst 6 keer meer over Klara geschreven met 63 posts, voornamelijk tijdens de 2e helft van de maand, na 16 april. Onderstaande grafiek (afkomstig van blogpulse.com) bevestigt deze trend. De grafiek geeft een beeld van het aantal keer dat Klara vermeld werd in de blogs en het aantal keer dat Tuymans werd vermeld. We zien een duidelijke stijging in de aandacht voor beiden, met verschillende pieken tussen 17 en 26 april.
56
2.2. Kwantitatief
Om de visibiliteit en de relevantie van de persartikels (die eerder al werden gevaloriseerd) omtrent de lancering van Klara.be na te gaan, onderzochten we een aantal Vlaamse kranten en tijdschriften.
We stelden ons volgende vragen: • Datum? • Type medium (krant/magazine)? • Naam medium? • Hoe vaak wordt Klara vermeld? • Hoe vaak wordt de nieuwe website genoemd? • Hoe vaak wordt Famous vernoemd? • Op welke pagina? • Hoeveel karakters (incl. spaties)? • Positie in de krant? • Afmeting van het artikel? • Klara in: o Titel? o Subtitel? o Lead? o Quotes? • Foto? • Vermelding Klara: o Houding: Positief? Negatief? Neutraal? o Info relevant? Ja Nee
57 2.2.1. Onderzoekskader en methode
Onze onderzoekseenheden zijn de artikels. Ons onderzoekskader betreft:
Vlaamse Kranten: • De Morgen • De Standaard • De Tijd • Het Laatste Nieuws • Het Nieuwsblad • Gazet van Antwerpen • Het Belang van Limburg • Het Volk
Magazines: • Klasse • Knack • Trends
Onze methode bestaat erin de artikels aan de hand van een vooropgesteld codeboek te analyseren en dus te coderen. Op die manier verkrijgen we een kwantificering die ons in staat stelt om de cijfers in SPSS te verwerken.
We onderzochten de artikels via mediargus. We zochten aan de hand van twee trefwoorden: • Luc Tuymans • Klara
2.2.2. Resultaten: trefwoord “Tuymans”
• 22 artikels • Vermeldingen: o Klara: 17 artikels o Website: 15 artikels o Famous: 3 artikels • Het experiment haalt 2 maal de voorpagina: 1 maal in De Morgen en 1 maal in Het Laatste Nieuws
2.2.3. Relevantie van de artikels
Krant * Relevantie (Crosstabulation)
relevantie Total
1,00 1,00 krant De Standaard 2 2 De Morgen 1 1 De Tijd 3 3
58 Het Laatste Nieuws 3 3 Het Belang van 1 1 Limburg Gazet van 3 3 Antwerpen Total 13 13
2.2.4. Resultaten: trefwoord “Klara”
Naast de artikels waarin Tuymans vermeld wordt, vonden we nog drie artikels terug die specifiek de aandacht vestigden op de nieuwe website van Klara. Deze artikels verschenen enkel in De Morgen en in De Standaard. Er wordt jammer genoeg niet verwezen naar Famous.
• 3 artikels • De Standaard en De Morgen • Klara verschijnt in 2 artikels in de titel • De website wordt telkens vermeld • Famous wordt geen enkele maal vernoemd • Twee artikels bevatten een foto
2.2.5. Relevantie van de artikels
Krant * Relevantie (Crosstabulation)
Frequency Percent Missing System 3 100,0
3. Kosten
Hieronder vindt u een overzicht van de kosten die gemaakt zijn om deze campagne op te zetten.
Kanaal Kostprijs TV spotjes € 199.757 Aanmaak radio & TV spotjes € 81.000 Totaal € 280.757
59 4. Resultaten voor de website Klara.be
4.1. Benadering via Alexa
Bij Alexa.com houdt men een lijst bij van alle websites (internationaal) en hun aantal bezoekers. In deze populariteitsranking steeg Klara.be maar liefst 10,25% in april te opzichte van maart 2008.
Onderstaande grafiek toont het percentage van surfers (wereldwijd) die de verschillende websites bezochten. Ondanks deze extrapolatie zien we hier toch enkele duidelijke trends te voorschijn komen. Let bijvoorbeeld op de piek voor de Studio Brussel website gedurende de Music For Life actie. Wat Klara betreft zien we ook een fikse stijging vanaf 16 april tot begin mei. In die periode verdubbeld het aantal bezoekers en gaat Klara.be voor het eerst voorbij Radio 1 wat beteft het aantal bezoekers.
60 Verder houdt Alexa.com ook bij uit welke landen de verschillende bezoekers komen. Het onderstaande taartdiagram geeft een overzicht.
Landen
België Oostenrijk Nederland Verenigde Staten Verenigd Koninkrijk Andere
61 9. Annex 9: Press Release Klara
Cultuursite KLARA.BE « Famous » voor een zachte prijs.
Op 17 april opende Klara haar nieuwe cultuurplatform, klara.be, tegelijkertijd onthulde Tuymans in de Beddenstraat in Antwerpen zijn schilderwerk, toen nog anoniem. Het kunstwerk kreeg een blik toegeworpen van slechts 4% van de passanten, 14 dagen en een hoop media-aandacht later blijkt dat aantal maar liefst 7 keer meer te zijn!
In een verloren straatje aan de Antwerpse Meir wordt een schilderwerk van een « onbekend » kunstenaar onthuld. Wat gebeurt er? Weinig… Nauwelijks 4 % van de voorbijgangers staat even stil en loopt dan verder.
“We vroegen ons af wat er gebeurt wanneer dan plots blijkt dat het kunstwerk deel uitmaakt van een experiment voor de promotie van de nieuwe cultuursite Klara.be? En dat het dat bovendien door Luc Tuymans, België’s bekendste nog levende artiest, werd geschilderd” vertelt woordvoerster XYZ van Klara, “Wel, dan stoppen maar liefst 28% van de voorbijgangers bij het kunstwerk. 7 keer meer dan voorheen dus!”
Het Tuymans experiment van Klara.be werd omgezet in conversational capital, letterlijk en figuurlijk. Het experiment werd opgepikt in de traditionele media maar kreeg daarnaast ook indrukwekkend veel aandacht (talkability) via de word of mouse en word of mouth op enkele toonaangevende blogs.
“In deze campagne zorgde de faam van Luc Tuymans eigenlijk voor het kantelmoment” legt Inge Van Der Haegen van het reclamebureau Famous uit “Zodra bekend raakte dat het onbekende werk van Tuymans was, draaide de geruchtenmolen op volle toeren. Niet alleen keken nu 28% van de mensen om in plaats van 4%, mensen fietsten zelfs de straat in om een foto te nemen en deze op het net te posten. Beelden en commentaren flitsen de wereld rond.”
Er wordt zelfs nog meer aandacht besteedt aan de campagne wanneer een Kunstenares haar eigen werk naast dat van Tuymans plaatst en KBC (eigenaar van de muur) beslist om dat 2e werk weg te halen. Ook Nissan surft op de golf van het Klara.be experiment en post een spoofcampagne op YouTube om haar citycar te promoten.
“In België alleen al levert het experiment een pak aandacht op: in prime-time op radio en televisie en maar liefst 23 krantenartikels waarvan 3 met vermelding op de voorpagina.” beschrijft Inge Van Der Haegen deze succesvolle campagne, “Alle media aandacht samen wordt gewaardeerd aan een commerciële waarde van 586.000 euro. Redactionele aandacht die een hogere attentiewaarde heeft dan reclame, wordt daarbij gewaardeerd met een factor 2 à 3. De totale campagne heeft Klara out of pocket slechts 148.000 euro gekost, en dus bijna 4 keer zoveel opgebracht. Met een traditionele campagne had Klara nooit op zoveel media aandacht kunnen rekenen.”
62
In 100% van de berichtgeving wordt Tuymans vermeld, 63 % vermeldt ook Klara of Klara.be. Tuymans’ bekenheid trok Klara dus mee in zijn zog en leverde extra nuttige bekendheid op voor Klara.be. De «endorsement» van Tuymans en de relevantie van de kunstenaar voor de promotie van een cultuursite is doorslaggevend voor het opbouwen van nuttige bekendheid / Fame voor Klara.be.
Naast de aandacht in de traditionele media leverde de campagne 63 vermeldingen in blogs gedurende de maand april, dat is 6 keer meer dan de maand voordien (gemeten via Technorati en Blogpulse).
- “Het uiteindelijke doel lag bij het bekendmaken van onze website” verduidelijkt XYZ van Klara, “Het aantal bezoekers op Klara.be schoot vanaf half april de hoogte in en bleef na de campagne op een significant hoger niveau hangen. Gemiddeld 3469 bezoekers voor de campagne en 5879 daarna, een stijging van maar liefst 41%.” (Bron CIM Metriweb en ALEXA.com). - - De stunt geniet ook ruchtbaarheid tot ver buiten de Belgische landsgrenzen, het Tuymans-experiment wordt zelfs vermeld op Amerikaanse blogs. Ook de bezoekerscijfers van de klara.be website onderstrepen het internationale bereik: 78 % bezoek uit België, 9 % uit Oostenrijk, 8 % uit Nederland, 4 % uit UK, 4 % uit de US. -
63
About Klara and Klara.be
Klara staat voor KLAssieke RAdio en is het cultuurnet van VRT- radio. Het is hét referentiemerk voor de cultuurluisteraar in Vlaanderen.
Klassieke muziek en cultuur in het algemeen vormen sinds 2 december 2000, na de omschakeling van Radio 3, het aanbod van het net.
Klara is meer dan radio alleen. Op zijn website, in publicaties (zoals het maandblad Muziek en Woord en het cd-label Klara) en tijdens zijn eigen evenementen (zoals het KlaraFestival van Vlaanderen, Klara in het Paleis en Klara in de Stad) biedt het een multimediaal venster op de culturele wereld.
About Famous :
Famous is het Brusselse reclamebureau dat deze campagne voor Klara bedacht. Het Famous’ mantra is merken bekend maken. Famous gebruikt hiervoor een eigen/ unieke methodologie. Via de Fame Meter erkend Famous 5 componenten van Fame en brengt die in kaart . Het betreft Talkability, Universal Meaning, Stand-out, Familiarity en Connection. Uit UK Onderzoek door IPA van 1200 cases uit de effectiveness award blijkt dat de FAME strategie de hoogste kans op ROI biedt. Onderzoek gebaseerd op harde feiten bevestigt tevens de relatie tussen Fame en het marktaandeel. Uit een onderzoek door ITV blijkt dat 10 % stijging van Fame een stijging van marktaandeel van 20 % oplevert. Deze inzichten en de bijbehorende methodologie werd ontwikkeld binnen het Famous Lab door Henk Ghesquière – Strategisch Planner- en Pascal Tack – Managing Partner / ROI & CRM strategist.
Contact: Famous – Inge Van Der Haegen – PR Officer ( tel ….. /e-mail ) Klara - XYZ- XYZverantwoordelijke ( tel ….. /e-mail )
Visit: www.klara.be Visit: www.famous.be
64
10. Annex Collection 10: Het Nieuwsblad
Prospectie Het Nieuwsblad
Lezersprofiel
%mannen leeftijd Sociale groep2 Opleiding Bereik (lezers) De Standaard 54% 65+ 1 en 2 Hoger + 312 000 universitair De Morgen 51% 25-34 1 en 2 Hoger + 231 200 universitair HLN 53% 65+ 3 en 4 Hoger 1 095 700 secundair Het Nieuwsblad 53% 65+ 1 en 2/ 3 en 4 Hoger 781 500 secundair La dernière 60% 35-44 3 en 4 Lager + 510 300 heure lager secundair Le Soir 47% 55+ 1 en 2 Hoger + 445 000 universitair Knack 53% 55+ 1 en 2 Hoger + 680 200 universitair Weekend Knack 49% 35-44 1 en 2 Hoger + 536 400 universitair Dag Allemaal 40% 55+ 5 en 6 lager + 1 566 100 lager secundair Tv familie 35% 12-34 7 en 8 lager + 517 600 lager secundair Tv story 33% 55+ 7 en 8 lager + 824 200 lager secundair Humo 54% 12-34 1 en 2 Hoger 1 205 100 secundair
2 http://www.cim.be/mtpr/nl/m_8.html
65 79 8% 4% 2% 5% 39,3 95,9 24% 17% 21% 27% 421,2 145,6 295,8 369,5 477,2 DAG ALLEMA AL+EXP RES 36 6% 7% 4% 7% 89,7 29,5 88,6 36,4 19,4 18% 17% 28% 21% 143,8 109,4 DERNIE RE HEURE- LES SPORTS 6% 4% 3% 8% 62,2 38,4 35,2 83,8 23% 13% 23% 25% 256,1 139,3 253,3 276,3 HET LAATSTE NIEUWS DE+ NIEUWE GAZET 21 5% 3% 3% 189 42,6 22,8 85,5 27% 14% 24% 16% 11% 209,1 110,5 123,4 HET NIEUWS BLAD+D E GENTEN AAR 4% 4% 3% 215 46,5 42,7 35,3 14% 19% 32% 18% 12% 163,8 232,7 379,8 143,8 HUMO HUMO 7% 4% 3% 91,2 31,8 79,7 18,7 62,4 12,9 53,1 20% 18% 28% 14% 12% 126,5 LESOIR 5,2 5,4 8,8 2% 2% 4% 25,8 46,1 80,2 23,8 45,6 11% 20% 35% 10% 20% MORGEN 74 8,3 6,9 4% 3% 7% 2% 11,1 53,4 75,7 21,8 63,2 24% 17% 24% 20% STANDA ARD 9% 4% 3% 5% 74,4 35,8 21,3 38,6 25% 16% 20% 26% 204,9 133,3 165,5 211,6 STORY 49 9% 6% 3% 3% 159 87,4 29,4 94,9 13,2 16,9 23% 17% 18% 31% 119,5 TV- FAMILIE +BLIK 5% 3% 9% 3% 102 27,9 75,8 13,8 45,7 17,8 19% 14% 29% 19% 100,8 154,5 WEEKEN D KNACK anage Reach( huisvro Reach( Reach( werkloo Reach( bediend Reach( arbeide Reach( kleinha Reach( m Reach( Professi onele activitei t gepensi oneerd 000) uw 000)2 student 000)3 s 000)4 e 000)5 r 000)6 ndel 000)7 ment 000)8
66 Analyse lezersprofiel
Het Nieuwsblad, De Standaard, Het Laatste Nieuws, Le Soir, Knack, Dag Allemaal en TV Story hebben een ouder lezerspubliek, de grootste groep van lezers zijn mensen boven de 55, voor de 3 Vlaamse kranten (Het Nieuwsblad, De Standaard en Het Laatste Nieuws) zelfs 65+. Het Nieuwsblad heeft dus een ouder lezerspubliek. De lezers van Het Nieuwsblad zitten voornamelijk in de eerste vier sociale groepen. Daarmee overlapt Het Nieuwsblad voor een stuk met de ‘kwaliteitskranten’, De Standaard en De Morgen, die vooral scoren bij de groepen 1 en 2 (hoger opgeleiden). Anderzijds slaat de krant ook aan bij de sociale groepen 3 en 4 waar ook concurrent Het Laatste Nieuws een sterkhouder is. Het opleidingsniveau van de gemiddelde lezer van Het Nieuwsblad is hoger secundair. Deze lezers zijn vooral gepensioneerden (27% van de lezers) en bedienden (24%). Als we de absolute cijfers bekijken van tijdschriften en kranten waarmee studenten in aanraking komen dan zien we Het Nieuwsblad op de vijfde plaats, na respectievelijk Dag Allemaal, Humo, Het Laatste Nieuws en Story. Ondanks het beperkte aandeel studenten dat ze bereiken (14% t.o.v. 17% en 20% voor De Standaard en De Morgen) bereikt Het Nieuwsblad dankzij de grote oplage toch heel veel studenten. Ze heeft het 2e grootste bereik in Vlaanderen, na Het Laatste Nieuws, en bereikt meer dan dubbel zoveel studenten dan De Standaard of De Morgen.
Promotionele acties van kranten & magazines
De Standaard • Kunstboeken sparen • DVD “In de Gloria” • Bijlagen over de islam en gratis Koran • Bijlagen over China • Bijlagen over de Belgische staat • Dossier over de staatsvorming (niet echt promotie, wel goede zet om lezers te binden)
De Morgen • Architecturale boeken sparen • CD’s met klassieke muziek • DVD “Good Bye Lenin” • DVD “Ben X” • Wereldpoëzie in 20 delen • Reeks “Verboden lectuur” • Boeken over de belangrijkste filosofen (geen goede boeken)
Het Laatste Nieuws • Bumba dekentje sparen • DVD “Piet Piraat” sparen • 30 kaskrakers sparen vb. “Gone With the Wind” (2004) • Badhanddoek K3 sparen • MP3-speler Mega Mindy sparen
Het Nieuwsblad • DVD’s van Disney films sparen • Samsung GSM sparen + 65 euro • Korting op parfum bij Ici Paris XL (Valentijnactie) • Sparen voor digitaal fototoestel • Sparen voor GPS
67 • Sparen voor Disney ontbijtset • Sparen voor film “Perfume”
La Dernière Heure • Sparen voor een knuffelbeer • Bij abonnement: 3 maanden bracelet “Venizi” 6 maanden toaster 1 jaar 6 maanden Paris Match gratis + toaster
Le Soir • 14 blz over Expo 58 (niet echt promo, wel lezersbinding) • Sparen voor bestek “Villeroy & Bosch”
Knack • Boeken sparen • Korting op boeken (in de boeken top 10) • Knack clubkaart (korting in Bozaar,…) • Elk jaar gratis jaaroverzicht in foto’s
Weekend Knack • 20% op” Panton chairs” van Eames (!) bij Vitrapoint
Dag Allemaal • (volgens de persgroep maakt 86% van de lezers gebruik van de kortingsbonnen) • DVD Soulsister • DVD Natalia • Tv-dekentje • DVD “Het beste van Chris & Co”
TV Familie • DVD “Mooi en Meedogenloos”
TV Story • Gratis ketting rond de kerstperiode
Humo • E-cards van Jeroom online • DVD’s alternatieve films en vooral series (Het Eiland, The Office, Heroes,…) • DVD’s “Het beste van Woestijnvis” • Korting op zakagenda • Gratis condoom • Festivalgids
Kortingen voor jongeren Een campagne waarmee jongeren en studenten in elk geval worden geconfronteerd is die van Jongeren en Media. Bij het begin van elk schooljaar worden onder de leerlingen uit het secundair onderwijs en de studenten catalogi uitgedeeld van alle tijdschriften en magazines waarop zij kortingen kunnen krijgen. Jongeren & Media biedt verder ook kortingen aan aan de scholen en hun docenten/professoren/leerkrachten/... Hierbij een kort overzichtje van de aanbiedingen in 2008 voor een abonnement van 6 jaar:
68 Krant Korting Extra Prijs na Korting De Standaard 39% Zitzak Try Angle (75 euro) 122 De Morgen 56% 79 Het Laatste Nieuws 51% 743 Het Nieuwsblad 40% 2 filmtickets 90 La Dernière Heure 50% 76 Le Soir 50% 76 Knack 41% 31 Dag Allemaal 1% 98
Het Nieuwsblad blijkt na De Standaard de duurste krant, bovendien is ze ook de krant met de op één na laagste korting. Beide factoren nodigen in geen geval uit om als student of scholier een abonnement te nemen op Het Nieuwsblad. Uit een korte prospectie bleek dat alleen Het Laatste Nieuws en (vooral) De Standaard ook op hun website het abonnement voor jongeren verder in de verf zetten met een extra link (Het Laatste Nieuws) of een extra banner met foto (De Standaard). De Standaard is ook de ‘spotlight’ op de website4 van Jongeren en Media.
Conclusie:
+ • Studenten komen het meeste in contact met Het Laatste Nieuws, als 2e volgt Het Nieuwsblad • Enkel De Standaard biedt contentgerelateerde zaken aan (bijlage islam,..) • De Morgen, Le Soir en Humo bieden promotionele dingen aan de relevant zijn voor het lezerspubliek • Knack en Weekend Knack scoren goed met de lidkaart • Dag Allemaal geeft DVD’s weg die binnen de interesses van de lezers passen • De Standaard en Het Laatste Nieuws pakken ook op de eigen website uit met een studentenkorting
_
• Het Nieuwsblad heeft een ouder publiek en houdt het midden tussen hoger opgeleiden (∼ De Standaard & De Morgen) en mensen die hun hoger secundaire opleiding afwerkten (∼ Het Laatste Nieuws) • Het Nieuwsblad bieden zaken aan die eerder “at random” lijken. • TV Story biedt bijna niets aan (gratis ketting,..) • Het Laatste Nieuws heeft duidelijk een contract met Studio 100: enkel K3, Mega Mindy,… passeren de revue; voor de “ouders” zelf valt er weinig interessants op te merken • TV Familie en La Dernière Heure bieden weinig interessants aan
3 Het Laatste Nieuws wordt enkel aangeboden in abonnementsperiodes van 9 maand, om vergelijkbare gegevens te bekomen werd 2/3 van dit bedrag als uitgangspunt genomen. 4 www.jem.be
69 Aanbevelingen
Om het aantal jonge lezers te verhogen, zou Het Nieuwsblad uiteraard de abonnementenverkoop bij jongeren moeten stimuleren. Dit vooral bij jongeren die op kot zitten. Investeren in niet-lezers lijkt een kostelijke zaak die weinig opbrengt. Het zou interessant zijn om ouders te contacteren die Het Nieuwsblad lezen om zo een voordelige abonnementformule aan te bieden. Qua promotionele acties zou Het Nieuwsblad beter contentgerelateerde zaken aanbieden die jongeren interesseren. Vb. sportbijlagen (Het Nieuwsblad biedt veel sportinfo aan), sparen voor een Eddy Merckx fiets,… Ook inspelen op populaire programma’s bij de jeugd kan interessant zijn. Vb. wedstrijd koppelen aan TV-programma “Tomtesterom” (VRT Corelio Het Nieuwsblad)
70 Analyse Groepsgesprek Het Nieuwsblad (Gent, 08/05/2008)
1. Lees je vaak de krant?
Tijdens het weekend • De Standaard 3 • Gazet van Antwerpen 1 • Het Nieuwsblad 2 • De Morgen 1 Tijdens de week • Metro 3
2. Waarom lees je de krant?
• Om op de hoogte te blijven, mee te zijn met de laatste nieuwtjes • Omdat er niks beters te doen is • Omdat ik ‘s morgens vaak alleen ontbijt (en dan de krant lees)
3. Welke tijdschriften lees je?
• Humo 5 • Knack 3 • Flair 2 • MO 1 • National Geographic 1
4. Op welke kranten/tijdschriften hebben jullie thuis een abonnement
• De Standaard 1 • Humo 1 • De Morgen 1 • Knack 2 • Het Nieuwsblad 1
5. Op welke kranten/tijdschriften hebben jullie op kot een abonnement
• De Standaard 1
6. Pro’s en contra’s van abonnementen op kranten/tijdschriften
+ Bij De Standaard krijg je meteen ook toegang tot de online diensten van de krant. Dit paswoord kan je ineens ook doorgeven aan broers/zussen/vrienden. Met 1 abonnement zijn hebben meer mensen toegang tot het nieuws + Online nieuwsberichten hebben niet de charme van een papieren krant - Wie de krant neemt op kot heeft geen idee waar (bij welke student) zijn krant terecht komt. - Veel informatie is al te vinden online - Het nieuws in een krant is niet elke dag even interessant. Daarom kijken ze eerst naar de titeltjes online en kopen pas de krant wanneer ze echt interessant is. (Abonnement zou een beetje ‘verspilling’ zijn)
71 - Studenten zijn 2 à 3 maand niet op kot. Abonnementen van 12 maand zijn gedurende die maanden geheel overbodig. Na confrontatie met de mogelijkheid om een abonnement van 9 maanden te nemen, blijkt dit aanbod te weinig bekend.
7. Kan je je nog acties van kranten herinneren?
De Standaard • Rode lamp in de vorm van champagne kurk • Designstoel • Zitzak • Weekends op reis De Morgen • DVD’s (Ben X, Europese films) • Boeken (De verboden boeken) • CD Sara Bettens Gazet van Antwerpen • Tickets voor optredens Nieuwsblad • Regelmatige nieuwe online wedstrijden
Opmerking: Het zijn vooral de ouders die meedoen aan deze acties. Vooral de online acties van Het Nieuwsblad boeit de studenten zelf weinig.
8. Welke bijlagen bij de krant vind jij interessant?
• De Standaard weekend editie (magazine, extra culturele info) • De Morgen weekend editie (idem) • Weinig interesse voor specifieke studentenbijlage, er bestaan al overzichten (vb: week-up) + studenten kiezen liever zelf, zonder via suggesties in een hoekje gestopt te worden.
9. Stel, je krijgt een gratis abonnement op een Belgische krant, welke kies je?
• De Morgen 5 • Het Nieuwsblad 1 • Het Laatste Nieuws 1 • De Standaard 1 • De Tijd 1
10. Welke acties kunnen u overtuigen om een bepaald abonnement te nemen?
• De krant een aantal maanden gratis. Vb.: 1O maand betalen, 12 maand de krant krijgen
Opmerking: Belangrijkste is dat het product zelf écht goedkoper is. • Reischeques • Gepersonaliseerde kranten: De abonnee kiest zelf welke rubrieken hij in de krant wil lezen en de prijs varieert van het aantal gekozen rubrieken/pagina’s.
72 Opmerking: De aangeboden kortingen of acties moeten vooraf duidelijk worden gecommuniceerd. Zoveel keer per jaar een kortingsactie, zoveel keer iets extra bij de krant, ... Het hoeft niet vast te staan welke DVD’s of CD’s er worden geschonken, wel hoeveel keer, welke andere voordelen, ...
11. Welke krant doet volgens jullie de beste acties tot nu toe?
• De Morgen: Het is leuk dat er voor collecties kan gespaard worden, dat het niet om een eenmalige aanbieding gaat.
Opmerking: Als er iets wordt gegeven bij de krant dan moet het echt gratis zijn, een korting is nog steeds een vrij grote drempel. Voorstel uit de groep: gratis voor abonnees, betalend voor sporadische lezers.
73 11. Annex Collection 11: Coverage Week van de Goeiedag
Metro FR – 30/04/2008 Metro NL – 30/04/2008
74 Het Laatste Nieuws – 30/04/2008
75 Corriere della Serra (IT) – 01/05/2008
76 Gazet van Antwerpen – 02/05/2008
77 Het Laatste Nieuws – 05/05/2008
78 De Morgen – 05/05/2008
Het Laatste Nieuws – 06/05/2008
79 Het Laatste Nieuws – 06/05/2008
80 De Standaard – 06/05/2008 Le Soir – 06/05/2008
81 Gazet van Antwerpen – 06/05/2008
82 Sud Presse – 06/05/2008
83 Sud Presse – 06/05/2008
De Morgen – 07/05/2008
84 Het Belang van Limburg – 08/05/2008
85 Het Belang van Limburg – 08/05/2008
86 De Morgen – 08/05/2008
87 Gazet van Antwerpen – 08/05/2008
88 Het Laatste Nieuws – 09/05/2008
89 De Standaard – 09/05/2008
90 Gazet van Antwerpen – 09/05/2008
91 De Standaard – 10/05/2008 L’avenir Luxembourg – 14/05/2008
La Dernière Heure – 14/05/2008
92 Flair – 20/05/2008
Pub Magazine – 30/05/2008
93
12. Annex 12: Research Week van de goeiedag > 5 - 9 mei 2008
1. Pers
1.1. ROI
Op basis van het aantal en de grootte van de artikels/reportages in de media werd de Return on Investment (ROI) even van dichterbij bekeken. Per artikel werd berekend wat de kostprijs zou zijn van een publicitaire advertentie van dezelfde grootte (voor de kranten) of lengte (voor de radio- en televisiereportages).
Datum Type Medium Titel Pagina H x Kolom Waarde 30/04/08 Krant Corriere della Sera Belgio, 25 mila euro per in buongiorno 204 x 6 32,000.00 € 05/05/08 Krant De Morgen Hoi (Column Camps & Dewulf) 1 125 x 280 (3) 15,483.60 € 25 euro voor een goeiedag? Is dit een 08/05/08 Krant De Morgen grap? 12 331 x 288 (5) 11,075.88 € 06/05/08 Krant De Standaard 25.000 euro voor een 'goeiedag' 12 184 x 58 (1) 2,474.80 € Aalstenaar zegt 'goeiemorgen' en wint 09/05/08 Krant De Standaard 25.000 euro 11 210 x 209 (2) 11,298.00 € 10/04/08 Krant De Standaard Week van de goeiedag van 5 tot 10 mei 15 107 x 113 (2) 2,878.30 € 07/05/08 Krant De Morgen Cartoon Zak 160 x 160 (2) 2,243.94 € 10/05/08 Krant De Standaard Cartoon Zaza 100 x 255 (5) 6,705.00 € 10/05/08 Krant De Standaard Frits Minot 34 177 x 134 4,761.00 € 04/05/08 Krant De Zondag Zeg eens 'goeiedag' 121 x 152 (3) 7,986.00 € 02/05/08 Krant Gazet van Antwerpen Zeg goeiedag en win 25.000 euro 10 127 x 140 (1) 4,419.60 € 06/05/08 Krant Gazet van Antwerpen Even testen: goeiedag! 9 309 x 255 (5) 22,402.50 € 08/05/08 Krant Gazet van Antwerpen Ik wens je een hele goeiedag mevrouw 47 195 x 184 (3) 6,786.00 € 08/05/08 Krant Gazet van Antwerpen Goeiedag inspectie bezoekt Antwerpen 22 198 x 255 (5) 11,484.00 € 08/05/08 Krant Gazet van Antwerpen Hoe anoniem mag iemand zijn? 18 210 x 189 (3) 7,308.00 € 09/05/08 Krant Gazet van Antwerpen 25.000 euro om leed te verlichten 4 313 x 204 (4) 18,154.00 € Goeiedag, Bonjour, Salve a tutti, Salem 08/05/08 Krant Gazet van Antwerpen waleikum 209 x 278 (5) 12,122.00 € Het belang van 08/05/08 Krant Limburg Cartoon 158 x 236 (4) 6,414.80 € Het belang van Van alle belgen zijn de Limburgers 08/05/08 Krant Limburg vriendelijkst 12 295 x 287 (4) 11,977.00 € Het belang van 13/05/08 Krant Limburg Tuinbouwschool wint week van de goeiedag 47 201 x 196 (3) 6,120.45 € 05/05/08 Krant Het Laatste Nieuws Moet je nu écht betalen voor een groet 5 202 x 3 28,300.00 € 06/05/08 Krant Het Laatste Nieuws Dialoog: Week van de goeiedag 34 176 x 129 (2) 6,365.01 € 06/05/08 Krant Het Laatste Nieuws Al 35 Vlamingen beloond voor glimlach 6 283 x 218 (4) 20,560.96 € Kinderen Baliebrugge zeggen de wereld 06/05/08 Krant Het Laatste Nieuws goeiedag 150 x 76 (1) 2,628.19 € 06/05/08 Krant Het Laatste Nieuws Cartoon Kamagurka 100 x 144 5,483.28 € 07/05/08 Krant Het Laatste Nieuws Goeiedag (1 & 2) 13 146 x 81 (1) 2,558.11 € 08/05/08 Krant Het Laatste Nieuws Leerlingen maken 'Goeie-week-krant' 161 x 131 (2) 5,835.41 € 08/05/08 Krant Het Laatste Nieuws Goeiedag 37 98 x 70 (1) 1,717.09 € 09/05/08 Krant Het Laatste Nieuws De vriendelijkste Waal en Vlaming 7 208 x 245 (5) 19,023.59 € Lokale Nicole en Hugo verwelkomen 10/05/08 Krant Het Laatste Nieuws kinderen 211 x 148 (2) 7,564.92 € 10/05/08 Krant Het Laatste Nieuws Goed nieuws van de week 14 66 x 94 (1) 1,156.40 € 13/05/08 Krant Het Laatste Nieuws Kinderen De Kiem zeggen goeiedag 187 x 237 (4) 12,746.68 €
94 13/05/08 Krant Het Laatste Nieuws Elk zijn goeidag 191 x 134 (2) 6,892.22 € Week van de goeiedag krijgt vervolg 14/05/08 Krant Het Laatste Nieuws zonder geldprijs 8 95 x 165 (2) 3,476.68 € 30/04/08 Krant Het Laatste Nieuws Zeg goeiedag en win 25000 euro 3 161 x 1 6,100.00 € Het Laatste Nieuws 08/05/08 Krant (Mechelen) Leerlingen groeten op markt 182 x 286 (5) 16,788.29 € 07/05/08 Krant Het Nieuwsblad Een kleine moeite voor een vrolijk iets 206 x 182 (3) 16,037.10 € Vriendelijkheid kost geen geld, Goeiedag is 07/05/08 Krant Het Nieuwsblad niet ouderwets 171 x 256 (4) 17,749.80 € Aalstenaar zegt goedemorgen en wint 09/05/08 Krant Het Nieuwsblad 25.000 euro 72 202 x 110 (2) 10,483.80 € Goeiedag zeggen maakt samenleven 10/05/08 Krant Het Nieuwsblad makkelijker 184 x 192 (3) 14,324.40 € Leerlingen de Tuymelaar smullen van 10/05/08 Krant Het Nieuwsblad journalistiek (foto) 110 x 243 (4) 11,418.00 € Leerlingen de Tuymelaar smullen van 10/05/08 Krant Het Nieuwsblad journalistiek 108 x 197 (3) 8,407.80 € 13/05/08 Krant Het Nieuwsblad Goeiedag 64 x 94 (1) 1,660.80 € 13/05/08 Krant Het Nieuwsblad Nicole en Hugo zingen Goeiedag 212 x 204 (3) 16,504.20 € 16/05/08 Krant Het Nieuwsblad Kinderen leren goeiedag zeggen 28 109 x 224 (4) 11,314.20 € 14/05/08 Krant La dernière heure Bonjour! 159 x 166 (2) 3,339.00 € 30/04/08 Krant La Dernière Heure Un bonjour peut rapporter gros 5 162 x 3 7,654.50 € 14/05/08 Krant L'avenir Semaine du bonjour prolongée 125 x 80 (1) 1,375.00 € 14/05/08 Krant L'avenir Bonjour, bonjour! 150 x 88 (1) 1,650.00 € 05/05/08 Krant Le Soir C'est la semaine du bonjour 53 x 188 (3) 2,084.86 € 06/05/08 Krant Le Soir La semaine du bonjour 177 x 306 (6) 13,854.77 €
Bonjour! Le mot le plus attendu a été 09/05/08 Krant Le Soir entendu 209 x 132 (2) 5,337.08 € 30/04/08 Krant Le Soir Dire bonjour, ça peut rapporter gros 6 211 x 56 (1) 2,627.77 € 30/04/08 Krant L'Echo Le prix d'un bonjour 36 62 x 1 1,790.00 € 30/04/08 Krant Metro Dites Bonjour 206 x 127 (1) 4,300.00 € 30/04/08 Krant Metro Spontane goeiedag kan jackpot kraken 74 x 220 (3) 2,125.00 € 08/05/08 Krant Streekkrant Roeselare Goeiedag 53 x 1 212.00 € 06/05/08 Krant Sud Presse Un bonjour, ça paie 321 x 276 (5) 17,746.38 € Bonjour est à la foi le mot le plus attendu, 06/05/08 Krant Sud Presse le moins entendu 189 x 149 (2) 4,316.91 € Bonjour, pas bonjour ... Et si ce mardi vous 06/05/08 Krant Sud Presse saluiez la terre entière 185 x 333 (6) 12,838.39 € 09/05/08 Krant Sud Presse Ingrid dit bonjour et reçoit 25.000 euro 214 x 97 (2) 4,847.07 € 09/05/08 Krant Sud Presse Vaux: 25.000 euro grâce à un bonjour 165 x 304 (6) 11,541.86 € 5 x 25euro pour les 'bonjour' au centre- 10/05/08 Krant Sud Presse ville 199 x 145 (2) 4,544.39 € Une habitante de Vaux a gagné les gros lot 10/05/08 Krant Sud Presse de 25.000 euro 219 x 56 (1) 2,424.40 € Avec ou sans accent à la clé, ils disent 10/05/08 Krant Sud Presse bonjour 139 x 107 (2) 3,198.31 € 05/05/08 Krant Sud Presse (Capitale) Un bonjour qui rapporte 195 x 57 (1) 2,162.33 € Sud Presse 06/05/08 Krant (Luxembourg) Dites Bonjour et gagnez 25.000 euro 117 x 233 (3) 4,044.30 € 06/05/08 Krant Sud Presse (Namur) Un bonjour d'une valeur de 25 euro 163 x 338 (6) 11,410.99 € 15/05/08 Krant Weekbode Roeselare 210 keer goeiemorgen 225 x 92 (1) 2,489.70 € 20/05/08 Magazine Flair Geen gratis goedendag 54 163 x 64 3,781.88 € 27/05/08 Magazine Klasse Wie zegt hier nog goeiedag 2 pagina's 7,714.00 € 29/05/08 Magazine Maks Week van de goeiedag 48 x 101 (1) 1,314.00 € 15/05/08 Magazine Pub Magazine Zeg eens goeiedag 1/4 pagina 859.50 € 05/05/08 Radio 4FM 4FM Actueel: 7u19 3m08 2,160.00 € 06/05/08 Radio Donna David in de ochtend: 8u13 3m04 7,020.00 €
95 30/04/08 Radio Qmusic Deckers & Ornelis: 8u50 3m40 13,068.00 € 05/05/08 Radio Radio 1 Stories 13u 1m52 2,500.00 € 06/05/08 Radio Radio 2 Knipsels: 5u30 4m23 2,988.00 € 05/05/08 Radio Studio Brussel De grote Peter van de Veire show: 8u01 4m25 7,920.00 € 29/04/08 Radio Studio Brussel Tomas: 17u42 5m14 7,875.00 € 05/05/08 Radio Urgent.FM Geluidsmuur: 13u30 2m20 486.00 € 06/05/08 Radio Urgent.FM SOS: 16u 2m37 499.50 € 05/05/08 TV Eén Journaal 19u 1m54 22,540.00 € 05/05/08 TV Eén Journaal Laat 1m55 7,962.50 € 07/05/08 TV TF1 Nieuws 19u 1m33 81,900.00 € 05/05/08 TV VTM Nieuws 19u 2s te kort 05/05/08 TV VTM Nieuws Laat 1m57 5,400.00 € 08/05/08 TV VTM Nieuws 19u 1m54 42,840.00 € 08/05/08 TV VTM Nieuws Laat 1m54 5,400.00 € TOTAAL 811,335.19 €
Hierbij dienen we rekening te houden met het feit dat een redactioneel krantenartikel of redactionele reportage veel meer waard is dan een commerciële advertentie, de credibiliteit van het artikel/de reportage is immers veel groter, net als de aandacht waarmee een dergelijk artikel wordt gelezen. Om een getrouw beeld te krijgen van de waarde van deze artikels/reportages vermenigvuldigen we bovenstaand bedrag met een factor 2 à 3, de eigenlijke waarde is dus: 2.028.338 euro.
2. Online talkability
Naast de aandacht in de pers was er ook behoorlijk veel aandacht op enkele populaire blogs en fora (social media talkability) maar ook op websites (portals zoals zita.be of websites van de kranten, ...). Deze aandacht is echter bijzonder moeilijk te valoriseren.
2.1. Websites
Nederlandstalig gepost op views comments Nationaal www.thalsfm.be 05/05/08 / / pdf.klasse.be 04/01/08 / / www.famidoo.be / / / www.unizo.be 05/06/08 / / www.4fm-actueel.be 05/05/08 / / www.donna.be 05/06/08 16905 0 www.croozefm.be 04/30/08 / / www.stubru.be 04/29/08 / 9 www.radio2.be 05/05/08 / / www.ketnet.be 05/05/08 / / www.nieuwsblad.be 05/07/08 / / www.humo.be 05/07/08 / / www.herne.be / / / www.urgent.be 05/06/08 / / www.baknet.be 05/06/08 / /
96 www.redrambo.be 04/30/08 / / www.hasseltlokaal.be 05/05/08 / / www.sintjansschool.be / / 1 www.beoneradio.be 05/05/08 / / www.verwenjepartner.be 05/05/08 / / www.zita.be 05/05/08 / / www.prettiggeleerd.be 05/05/08 / / www.q-music.be 04/30/08 / / www.hbvl.be/nieuws/binnenland/ 05/04/08 / 7 www.radio1.be/programmas/stor/ 07/06/08 / 1
Internationaal www.dag.nl 05/06/08 / / www.dagjeweg.nl 05/06/08 / 2 www.nos.nl/jeugdjournaal 05/06/08 / / www.telegraaf.nl/buitenland 05/05/08 / / www.zibb.nl 05/05/08 / 0 Franstalig gepost op views comments Nationaal www.uwe.be / / / www.actu24.be 04/28/08 / / http://actu.skynet.be 04/30/08 / 8 www.chacsam.be 05/05/08 / 1 www.febiac.be 04/30/08 / / www.dhnet.be 04/30/08 / /
Internationaal http://video.aol.com 05/08/08 / / http://ukrnews.info/lenta 05/07/08 / / www.factnews.ru 05/07/08 / / http://www.weirdfacts.org/163-v-belgii-za- ulybku-na-ulice-budut-platit-25-evro/ 05/05/08 / /
Blogs
Nederlandstalig gepost op views comments www.socius.be 05/05/08 http://kijkluis.skynetblog.be 05/05/08 / 0 http://blog.keukentafel.be 05/05/08 / 2 www.communicatiemannen.be 04/30/08 / / http://prinsessmeerkaas.wordpress.com 05/03/08 / / http://jeroenbeghin.blogspot.com 05/06/08 / / http://xixarro.wordpress.com 05/05/08 / 4 http://frankenbieke.blogspot.com 04/10/08 / / http://maaikevanliefde.wordpress.com 05/01/08 / 3 http://endelamangen.blogspot.com 05/06/08 / 2 http://vandepotgerukt.wordpress.com 05/06/08 / 7 http://www.jimability.com/blog/2008/05/06 /dag-van-de-dag/ 05/06/08 / 3 http://www.stijndc.be/blog/?p=61 05/06/08 / 0
97 http://dapeetn.wordpress.com/2008/05/05/ de-week-van-de-goeiedag 05/05/08 / / http://jlajo.wordpress.com/2008/05/05/wee k-van-de-goeiedag/ 05/05/08 / 3 http://www.bloggen.be/deklasvanjufinge/arc hief.php?ID=25 05/05/08 / / http://mulhof.typepad.com/school/2008/05/ week-van-de-goe.html 05/05/08 / / http://webpalet.titeca.net/2008- 05/goeiedag/ 05/05/08 / 4 http://www.stubru.be/node/56505 05/05/08 / 4 http://mickmacenmon.skynetblogs.be/post/ 5832854/week-van-de-goeiedag 05/03/08 / / www.sietoebie.be 05/30/08 / / www.hln.be 04/29/08 / 27
Franstalig gepost op views comments http://blog.atomium.be 05/01/08 / 0 www.dison-citoyen.be 05/07/08 / / www.leblogdemateusz.be 04/29/08 / 0 http://lavieameilluergout.mint.be 04/29/08 / 3 www.rtlinfo.be 05/05/08 / 6 http://nays.skynetblogs.be/post/5842274/b onjour-bonjour 05/06/08 / / http://vero- calypso.blogspot.com/2008/05/j-1-semaine- du-bonjour.html 05/05/08 / 1 http://stef755.skynetblogs.be/post/5820229 /semaine-du-bonjourargent-a-gagner 04/29/08 / 1
Een volledig beeld krijgen van het aantal bezoekers per blog blijkt onmogelijk. Ook het aantal lezers van een bepaald artikel is niet altijd vermeld, daardoor is ons overzicht weinig volledig.
Via Blogpulse konden we echter wel onderstaande grafiek genereren. Deze geeft een beeld van het aantal keer dat de Week van de goeiedag vermeld werd in de verschillende blogposts (deze worden gezocht binnen de verzameling van blogs geregistreerd bij blogpulse, zo’n 79.000.000), gevonden via de trefwoorden “Week van de goeiedag” en “Semaine du bonjour”. We zien een duidelijke piek bij het begin van de campagne die zich nadien nog vrij lang staande houdt. Technorati.com en Blogpulse.com vinden samen 50 blogs in de periode van 5 tot 9 mei 2008.
98
3. Website: weekvandegoeiedag.be / semainedubonjour.be
De website van de Week van de goeiedag lokte in mei 22.704 bezoekers, die gemiddeld 7,2289 pagina’s bekijken. Hieronder een trendoverzicht vanaf 19/04 tot 19/05.
weekvandegoeiedag.be / semainedubonjour.be
60000
50000
40000
30000
20000
10000
0 19/04 22/04 25/04 28/04 01/05 04/05 07/05 10/05 13/05 16/05 19/05
Aantal unieke bezoekers Pagina's 99 4. Kosten
Hieronder vindt u een overzicht van de kosten die gemaakt zijn om deze campagne op te zetten.
Beschrijving Kostprijs Aanmaak TV-spot 92.914,27 Aanmaak Radio-spot 5.324,00 Aanmaak Print 2.299,00 Aanmaak Website 9.486,40 Opmaak logo’s lentemailing 344,85 Geldprijzen winnaars 62.500,00 Deurwaarder (5d x € 1050) 5.250,00 Advocaat (schatting) 600,00 Filmen guerilliaspotjes (schatting) 816,00 Huur materiaal 613,47 Valorisatie accounturen & creatie 2007 30.852,5 (niet aangerekend) Valorisatie accounturen & creatie 2008 42.432,5 (niet aangerekend) TOTAAL 180.147,99 TOTAAL (incl. manuren) 253.432,99
De klant betaalde alles samen 180.147,99 euro, de externe kosten voor het maken van de campagne. Om een objectief beeld te creëren van de ROI van de campagne dienen we ook de gepresteerde manuren (account & creatie) in beeld te brengen, deze kosten werden niet aangerekend aan de klant), dan komen we aan een bedrag van 253.432,99 euro.
5. Balans
Inkomsten Waarde Free publicity (pers) 2.028.338,00 Free publicity (online) Niet te valoriseren Free/Paid advertising ? Uitgaven Waarde Externe kosten 180.147,99 Niet aangerekende manuren 73.285,00 Balans 1.848,190,01 Balans (incl. manuren) 1.774.905,01
100 13. Annex 13: Blograpport Jupiler > 16/05/2008
1. Onderzoek
In dit blograpport onderzoeken we de perceptie van bloggers met betrekking tot Jupiler en enkele van zijn voornaamste concurrenten: Duvel, Cara Pils, Vedett en Cristal Alken.
1.1. Kwantitatief
De geraadpleegde blogs werden gevonden via blogpulse.com. Blogpulse heeft een databank van 79 miljoen blogs, waarvan elke blogpost wordt nagetrokken. Dit overzicht is dus niet volledig, maar geeft toch enigszins een richting aan. Binnen de collectie van blogposts zochten we telkens naar een verzameling trefwoorden die het dichtste aansluit bij het betrokken product. Per product gaan we kort in op de verzameling van trefwoorden en de verantwoording hiervan.
Per brand wordt de blog-populariteit in een grafiekje (over 6 maanden) uitgezet tegenover die van Jupiler. Voor Duvel en Jupiler vonden we enkele 100’en blogposts terug. Voor de andere concurrenten een pak minder: Cara Pils (63), Vedett (14), Cristal Alken (7).
500
450
400
350
Jupiler 300 Duvel 481 Cara 250 Vedett Cristal Alken 358 200
150
100
50 63 1.2. Kwalitatief 14 7
0 Aantal Blogposts
101 Er werd ook een kleine perceptieanalyse gemaakt van de betreffende blogs. Voor Cara Pils, Vedett en Cristal Alken werden alle artikels gelezen en enkele quotes verzameld. Voor Duvel en Jupiler zelf enkel de 70 recentste blogposts.
Per brand werden de blogposts verzameld die negatieve of positieve kenmerken projecteren op het brand/product. Dit gebeurde volgens onderstaande methode. Neutrale blogposts komen niet voor in de overzichten hieronder.
-1 0 +1
Negatief Neutraal Positief
Bijvoorbeeld: “We drank some Jupiler which instantly became our favorite beer.” > Krijgt score +1, Jupiler wordt hier als product lekker bevonden.
“La Jupiler aidant, les danseurs se multiplient face aux Canadiens: ambiance!” > Krijgt score +1, Jupiler wordt impliciet geassocieerd met plezier maken, ambiance
Tenslotte noteerden we ook de kenmerken die het vaakst op een brand geplakt worden.
2. Resultaten
2.1. Jupiler
Om de productperceptie van Jupiler te kunnen analyseren is het belangrijk om de blogs over voetbal zoveel mogelijk trachten weg te filteren. Daarom werd het woord ‘League’ uitgesloten. Verder werd ook vaak over ‘Grandmaster “Jupiler”’ gesproken, blijkbaar een blogger die zich in specialiseert in erotische foto’s, ook deze blogs werden uitgesloten.
Uiteindelijke zoekterm: “Jupiler NOT league NOT grandmaster” Aantal resultaten: 481 (waarvan 70 geanalyseerd) (mét “League” erbij werden 1152 blogs gevonden)
Blog Quote Score Chrisroeland.web-log.nl Na onderweg een biertje te hebben gehaald 1 was het heerlijk eten en drinken (broodje bal, pasta en een heerlijke Jupiler) myspace-michel la Jupiler aidant ,les danseurs se multiplient 1 face aux Canadiens:ambiance Bierstübe
102 lenarosieboerboom.blogsp Het was een heel gezellig feestje lekker in het 1 ot.com zonnetje en aan de Jupiler, zoals je ziet heeft bier ook op mij al een grote aantrekkingskracht xjuicyjulezx.livejournal.co We drank some Jupiler which instantly 1 m became our favorite beer. standaard.typepad.com De hoed heeft de vorm van een trommel. Er 1 kan met de bijgeleverde stokjes echt op worden geroffeld. Hopelijk brengt dit Jupiler niet op ideeën. www.hdci.nl Ik dronk weer is een biertje. En nog een. En 1 toen nog een. Jupiler is eigenlijk best lekker. globe.scalaleerlingensite.nl The beer was as dead as it could be, and it -1 tasted like jupiler. Which is indeed one of the worst beer types available in Holland. However, we also have the Malagassi THB myspace-herman Good news, it was not local Dutch beer, but 1 Jupiler a Belgium beer J, so David was very happy! moerhofke.skynetblogs.be Vrijdagavond zijn we naar het voetbal geweest 1 (Lokeren - AA GENT en we hebben daar eerst een uur in dat "mobiel café van gastheer "Jupiler" GESTAAN myspace - Yesterday we spent in Bruges, a lovely 1 sawdoctorsleomoran relaxing time around the streets, drinking small glasses of Jupiler beer and we found a place to eat that was pure class (Deze post komt 2 keer voor, dus 1 x 2 = 2) shunshineboivin.blogspot.c Pour terminer, nous sommes revenues à 1 om l'appartement pour prendre une petite Jupiler pour bien terminer la soirée www.waarisiwi.nl Eerst een chokomel, een hele speciale, warme 1 melk met blokjes chokola die er in moet kappen… nog nooit gezien, maar echt heerlijk…en daarna NOG lekkerder, jupiler!! en ze gingen er goed in hoor!! myspace - old nezza we walked across the street and got two cans 1 of Jupiler lager (we had no idea at the time how excellent Belgiums beer range was… Totaal 11
Conclusie: Positief: • Ambiance • Makkelijk drinken • Relaxing • Geapprecieerd door toeristen Negatief: / Links: • Weinig export naar het buitenland (markt ingenomen door Amstel en Heiniken) • BBQ
103 2.2. Duvel
Aangezien “Duvel” ook vaak wordt gebruikt in de context van “Duivel” werd hier gezocht naar blogs die zowel “Duvel” als bier vermelden.
Uiteindelijke zoekterm: “Duvel AND (beer OR bier)” Aantal resultaten: 358 (waarvan 70 geanalyseerd)
Blogtrend in vergelijking met Jupiler:
Blog Quote Score boakandbailey.com I’m a fan of beer styles from around the 1 world, so the weißbiers from Schneider and Unertl are great, plus Belgie beauties such as De Dolle Brouwers and Duvel. unclecrappy.wordpress.co I dismissed that as having to do with me 1 m having just finished a very nice bomber of Duvel. But there’s no delicious Belgian beer involved tonight. WordPress is just being bitchy. twoforone.wordpress.com The beer selection is great, with Delerium 1 Tremens, Duvel, Corsendonk, Leffe, etc.
104 www.carolineoncrack.com Tomorrow I have to have to go as that’s when 1 the Glassell Park bar is throwing a special Duvel soiree! You know Duvel USA, don’t you? It’s the beer company responsible for such lovelies as La Chouffe, Maredsous, Ommegang and of course Duvel. The good stuff you only see in gastropubs and beer- serious taverns. justbeer.wordpress.com Duvel is turning out to be much what I hoped 1 it would be. A quality, malty Belgian that packs a violent punch. indonesianexpat.wordpress My favorites are Kriek (cherry flavored beer), 1 .com Leffe Blond (white, feminine beer) and the strong but smooth Duvel. offbrown.wordpress.com If ur a beer fan like most of my ‘brown’ 1 friends, they have Duvel, Rogers, Boddingtons, Konig, Hoegarrden and a few others on top of the regular stuff. ardennengenot.wordpress. Inplaats van ne Chouffe had ik deze keer per 1 com uitzondering ne goeie duvel. hardlessons.wordpress.co Recently purchased by Duvel (of Chimay 1 m fame) this brewery is focused on the Belgian tradition of brewing and holds their own in a knuckle-to-knuckle fight w ith Trappist pah1.golding.id.au Online, people write things like “Dom Perignon 1 meets Duvel” and “beer in taste and champagne in every other way”. stijninaussie.blogspot.com ja, die Duvel heeft enorm gesmaakt!. 1 www.theservicecourse.com a nice Duvel is a good compromise... 1 sandeinbein.blogspot.com We had a little birthday party for Eric with 1 cheese and Duvel, the only good beer available in this country in our opinion. And Duvel, a high-volume Belgian beer ale 1 was delicious and strong Totaal 14
Conclusie:
Positief: • Kwaliteit Negatief: • Duur Links: • Sterke toeristische aantrekking • Veel export naar het buitenland
105 2.3. Cara Pils
Uiteindelijke zoekterm: “Cara Pils” Aantal resultaten: 63 (allemaal geanalyseerd)
Blogtrend in vergelijking met Jupiler:
Blog Quote Score Myspace - Michel Cara pils... Diarrhée assurée, les petits. -1 Timbeleeft.wordpress.com Willen de festivalorganisatoren zich op een nieuw publiek richten? Willen ze de 40+'er meer bereiken, die zijn tenslotte wat meer kapitaalkrachtig dan die jongeren die hun eigen blikken Cara pils mee de wei opsleuren. 1 zatoedeloezie.wordpress.c We wapenden ons met plastiek flesjes wijn, om blikjes cara pils en het wereldwijd gekende cola walker mengsel 1 Myspace - Fluideland Wie wil er nu in godsnaam in West-Vlaanderen wonen? Dat is zelf voor cara drinkende wijven met een bloemekestapijt rond hun hangborsten gedrapeerd marginaal. -1 politika.be Als klap op de vuurpijl serveren we dan ook Cara pils aan 50 eurocent (op een fuif: Politika Kaffee) 1
106 Myspace - Femke Opgesloten in hun eigen wereld van uitgaan en drugs. Geen besef van wat er buiten hun bubbel gebeurt, scheppen ze op over wie of wat ze gepakt hebben. Eklaar aanmoedigend grijpen ze nog naar een lauw blik Cara pils en vertoeven ze uren aan de graslei. -1 Herraleksch.blogspot.com Waar ik voor het eerst Cara pils voorgeschoteld kreeg. Echt kotbier! Ik drink het dan ook nooit meer. Eerder iets voor West-Fluten, mijn gedacht, wi. -1 Stijnblogt.wordpress.com Wachtend op de metro -ik had even geen zin meer in wandelen- zag ik een zeer typisch uitziende Amerikaan. Hij zocht op quasi manische wijze een drankautomaat. Een kerel met lange baard, een jas van het Belgisch Leger en een blik Cara pils in de hand poogde met hem te converseren, tevergeefs. -1 zv-magazine.be Als ge in België "stakingspiket" zegt, denkt ge aan een paar gasten met ne vuilzak over hunne frak, een brandend stuk houten pallet en cara pils. -1 quintmeuleman.skynetblog Waar ga je in godsnaam een vrouw met s.be vlooien gaan zoeken? In één of ander bushokje tegen valavond of op een bankje in het park misschien. Je herkent ze aan hun 30 plastic tasjes vol blikjes Cara pils en meestal ruiken ze niet zo fris meer ook. -1 xlair.blogspot.com Er wordt geen inkom gevraagd, maar de dranken zijn er wel niet zo goedkoop als de betere Cara-Pils. 1 cat.a.poilsurle.net Après Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters et Kim Gevaert, la Belgique a une nouvelle championne : l’Orange Bleue. Madame Bleue vient donc de battre le record de durée d’une négociation pré-gouvernementale (soyons positifs). Félicitations! Tout ça pour pouvoir être inscrit dans le (NOT Guinness) Cara pils Book des Records. C’est pas très sérieux. -1 Totaal -4
Conclusie: Positief: • Goedkoop Negatief: • Marginaal Links: • Kot • Jongeren • Daklozen
107 2.4. Vedett
Net als Duvel wordt ook “Vedett” soms in een andere context gebruikt. Daarom werd hier gezocht naar blogs die zowel “Vedett” als bier vermelden.
Uiteindelijke zoekterm: “Vedett AND (beer OR bier)” Aantal resultaten: 14 (allemaal geanalyseerd)
Blogtrend in vergelijking met Jupiler:
Blog Quote Score Brussels girl geek dinner Belgium’s most fascinating blonde cult beer Vedett. For the beer lovers among us: Vedett is “a blond, light, well hopped premium beer with 5.2% alcohol content”, best known for its retro-look, capricious taste, Vedett-allure and the “golden touch" 1 midnightmovie.wordpress. We’ll also have a complimentary Vedett beer com for every ticket holder and some more goodies to follow. 1 Totaal 2
Conclusie: • Links:Positief: • SterkExclusief aanwezig in de (exclusieve) music scene • • ExportCult naar het buitenland • Retro Negatief: /
108 2.5. Cristal Alken
Uiteindelijke zoekterm: “Cristal Alken” Aantal resultaten: 8 (allemaal geanalyseerd)
Blogtrend in vergelijking met Jupiler:
Blog Quote Score maboiteaimages.skynetblogs.be La Cristal est une bière fabriquée à la brasserie Alken-Maes à Waarloos. La Cristal n'est autre que la première pils apparue en Belgique. 1 annv.skynetblogs.be Joost mag het weten hoe ze me dan genoemd zouden hebben... Stella Artois of Jupiler of Cristal Alken maar dan met een dubbele tong uitgesproken waardoor het Stella Altwa of Jupieleh of Kristalken zou geweest zijn...? 0 lady-mystic.skynetblogs.be Alken is vooral bekend door zijn brouwerij en het bier Cristal Alken dat er gebrouwen wordt, maar ook door zijn vele kastelen, kerken, kapelletjes (onder andere de beschermde Sint-JorisKapel) en watermolens. 0 www.avenuevine.com In Belgium, S&N is represented by Alken- Maes, number 2 on the market, with important brands such as Maes, Cristal, Grimbergen &, Mort Subite 0
109 toine- 07-06-08 ALKEN - Cristal Alken Semi- wtcmaaslandia.spaces.live.com klassieker Limburg 0 Totaal 1
Conclusie: Positief: • Authentiek • Lokaal Negatief: / Links: /
2.6. Overzicht
Om tot een globaal beeld van alle brands te komen werden de scores uit het perceptieonderzoek gedeeld door het aantal onderzochte blogposts. Op die manier bekomen we een gemiddelde perceptie van de blogposts binnen een schaal van -1 tot +1 (zie ook p.2 – Kwalitatief).
Als we al deze scores uitzetten op een grafiek bekomen we dit:
0.2
0.15
0.2
0.1 0.157 0.143 0.143 Jupiler Duvel Cara Pils 0.05 Vedett Cristal Alken
0
-0.063
-0.05
-0.1 Gemiddelde blogperceptie
110 Vooral de negatieve score van Cara Pils valt op, verder merken we ook dat Jupiler als hét pilsbier word aanzien. In plaats van het woord pils te gebruiken, wordt de brandname Jupiler gebruikt, dit zorgt ervoor dat veel blogs wel de term Jupiler bevatten, maar geen waardeoordeel uitspreken over het brand zelf.
Aangezien de score van Cara Pils enigszins verrast gingen we hier nog even dieper op in en zochten naar referenties via google.be.
Bevindingen:
• Er woeden enkele discussies over de afkomst van Cara Pils: Sommigen beweren dat het bier bij Alken-Maes gebrouwen wordt, anderen stellen dat Cara daar gemaakt wordt waar er plaats is. • Positief: o De KSA van Ieper maakte een Cara luster voor haar fuif (http://www.zv-magazine.be/sfw/foto_vd_dag_76) o Een belgische Call of Duty clan(PC Game) wil Cara T-shirts ontwerpen (http://www.sitemasters.be/forum/4/1461/Grafisch/Cara_Pils_T-shirt) o “Cara helaas niet gevonden, dan maar een Stella gedronken” (http://www.asfaltkonijn.be) o Studentenvereniging Economica organiseert een Bal Marginal met Cara Pils, Aldi cocktails en DJ Vettige Jos o « Jupiler stinkt, gelukkig is er Cara pils » (www.comicjuice.com) o Goedkoop en in elke nachtwinkel verkrijgbaar (www.natuur-forum.be) o Goede prijs/kwaliteitsverhouding (www.zv-magazine.be) • Negatief: o “Cara pils is kutbier: smaakt naar vis” (www.herralexch.be) o “Cara Pils drinken is een straf” (www.landbouwkring.be) o “Verkrachte Maes” (www.jim.be) o “Bier voor clochards” (www.jim.be)
111 14. Annex 14: Kinepolis pitch
Bangkok Dangerous
Inhoud: Een professionele huurmoordenaar (Nicolas Cage) verblijft in Bangkok om een aantal klussen af te handelen. Maar dat blijkt lastiger dan gedacht, en hij ondervindt de nodige tegenwerking. Dan valt hij ook nog eens voor een lokale schoonheid en moet hij een van zijn weinige vertrouwelingen te vriend zien te houden.
Cast: Nicolas Cage Charlie Yeung Philip Waley
Oorsprong: De film is een remake van een Thaise film met een doofstomme huurmoordenaar, de rest van het plot lijkt vrijwel hetzelfde.
Lancering: 20 augustus
Reacties: • “Eindelijk nog eens een goede actiefilm met Nicolas Cage” • “Regisseurs zijn fantastische leerlingen van John Woo en Ringo Lan: geladen, gestileerde en krachtige scènes, vooral de achtervolging.” • “De pose op de affiche is bijzonder onnatuurlijk.”
Message: • Thais • Aziatische stijl in actie scènes (= snel, flitsend, meeslepend, ...) • Entertainment • Actie • Nicolas Cage
Mogelijke insteek: • Promotie van de nieuwe film via de oude film o In de videotheek (POS Pancartes met visual en lanceringdatum voor de nieuwe film + huur/koop-aanbod voor de oude film) o Via bloggers / filmfans Filmfans misschien eerder de oude film aanbieden, die blijkbaar toch enigszins cult status geniet dankzij de stijl van bepaalde scènes, typische drukke Aziatische stijl. o Duoaanbod in de cinemazalen (oude & nieuwe film spelen) o Via een face-off visual waarbij de oude hitman de nieuwe wordt (Nicolas Cage) = ook extra aandacht voor Cage, gezien de link tussen de acteur en de film Face-off • Cinematicket bij reis naar Thailand (want die reis is ‘gevaarlijk’)
112 • Thais restaurant met een zeer gewelddadige bediening (of hectische keuken), vorken vliegen in het rond, messen belanden waar ze niet moeten zijn (> viral?) • Een kogel/... in de potjes met Thaise sausen in Delhaize (en/of andere) in de hoop op een beetje media-heisa • Briefings voor ‘huurmoordenaars’ (onschuldige, niet-wetende mensen) die worden achtergelaten in bushokjes of winkelkarretjes, met de opdracht om een bekend persoon te vermoorden, de afspraak met de opdrachtgever is in de cinema, bijvoorbeeld aan de 4e vitrine (die van Bangkok Dangerous). • Gotcha (i.s.m. TMF of Jim TV) o Mensen moeten hun foto uploaden + stad/gemeente doorgeven waar ze wonen (+ hints over hun gewoonten, vaste activiteiten, ...) o Foto wordt via MMS doorgegeven aan een andere kandidaat ( + naderhand ook hints via SMS) o Eventueel kunnen hitmen gevolgd worden met de camera o Eventueel kunnen we pushen om mensen te ‘schieten’ dmv klakkebuis ( + spin-off van de affiche: Nicolas Cage met klakkebuis in de hand) • Kies/teken zelf het wapen in de hand van Nicholas Cage (zie affiche, waar de hand eigenlijk niks vast heeft) • Biedt Nicholas Cage aan als character in bepaalde shoot-em-up-computer games (vb.: Counter Strike, Cage in een setting die lijkt op Bangkok) • Biedt online afleveringen aan van CSI Miami (idealiter CSI Bangkok) met een trailer van de film ervoor. (Geef de consument wat hij wil)
113 Happy go lucky
Inhoud: Poppy is één van de vele onderwijzeressen in Londen die het bepaald niet al te breed heeft. Ze is min of meer gedwongen haar vrolijke zelf dagelijks naar buiten te brengen. En dat is bepaald niet makkelijk met alle problemen in het hedendaagse Noord-Londen.
Cast: Sally Hawkins Eddie Marsan Alexis Zegerman
Lancering: 27 augustus
Opmerking: Winnaar van de zilveren beer in Berlijn
Reacties: • “Dolkomische slapstick wordt moeiteloos aan verontrustende, minder eenduidige scènes gerijgd.”
Message: • Happy-go-lucky = idom: careless, taking things easy • Zelf happy zijn kan mensen happy maken • Wees alleen happy als je dat echt bent • Happy zijn betekent niet dat je gelukkig bent Opmerking: film is een mix tussen luchtige comedy en een stukje diepere inhoud over gelukkig zijn.
Mogelijke insteek: • Partnership met rijscholen: In de film komt een manische rij-instructeur voor die een obsessie ontwikkelt voor de vrolijke hoofdrolspeelster Poppy. Uiteindelijk wordt hij, na reacties van woede en geweld, verliefd op haar. o Elke kandidaat leerling krijgt een filmticket o Elke kandidaat krijgt spontaan de koosnaam Poppy (+ extra hints in de richting van de film) > talkability o Viral campagne met manische rij-instructeur (zie Humo-liegt) • Film intro door Debbie & Nancy
Kanalen rond de filmindustrie:
• Online o Blogs
114 De Ultieme FilmBlog boy-meets-girl.skynetblogs.be Media Flandria mediaflandria.skynetblogs.be Film & Media depieter.skynetblogs.be Popcorn Movieblog popcorn.skynetblogs.be Film Info filminfo.skynetblogs.be Movie Reviews movie.skynetblogs.be Cinemanovo Blog blog.cinemanovo.be o Websites www.9lives.be/cinema www.filmmagie.be www.moviegids.be www.digg.be/moviehome.php www.kutsite.com www.cinenews.be www.filmfreak.be www.goedslecht.be/films
Nederland www.moviemeter.nl www.filmtotaal.nl movies.mtv.nl
• Audiovisuele Media o Filmrubriek Roel Van Bambost (maandag middag in het Journaal) o MTV Making the movies (maandag, zaterdag, zondag) + rubriek op de website www.mtv.be o TMF SLCTR, TMF WTF, ... o MovieSnackx (JimTV) (dinsdag, zaterdag, zondag) o Ketnet http://www.ketnet.be/ketnet/html/deWereldVanKetnet/film/index.shtml (geen idee of dit ook op televisie wordt besproken)
• Geschreven pers o Humo http://www.humo.be/cps/rde/xchg/humo/hs.xsl/Film_Index.html o P-magazine http://www.p-magazine.com/quepasa/film/ o Zone 09/03/02 o Het Nieuwsblad http://www.nieuwsblad.be/GT/Index.aspx?genericID=51 o Knack http://www.knack.be/focus/film/index.jsp o Ketnet http://www.ketnet.be/ketnet/html/deWereldVanKetnet/film/index.shtml o Guido Magazine http://www.guido.be/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=71&pageID=88
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Opmerking: Vaak zijn bezoekers van de typische filmwebsites zo goed geïnformeerd, of zo kritisch dat een reclamecampagne voor films weinig uithaalt. Het is dan dikwijls interessanter om websites te nemen die een breder of demografisch specifiek publiek aantrekken. (Dan Rosen, Warner Bross)
Zelf te creëren kanalen (via partnerships):
• Partnership met een merk dat actief is in de muziekwereld/party’s/concerten/... vb.: Vans, Red Bull, ...
Dit biedt de mogelijkheid om een speciale affiche te maken, die er niet echt als een filmaffiche uitziet, maar eerder als een aankondiging voor een concert of evenement. We kunnen dan plakken op de affichage borden voorzien voor evenementen.
Nog beter is het als de film deel uitmaakt van de tour van een groep.
• Billboarding aan de gevel van flatgebouwen, of boven de ingang van metrostations.
• Verschillende posters uitbrengen voor dezelfde film met kleine tijdspannes ertussen, met de bedoeling om ruimte in te pikken van andere films aan de ingang van cinemazalen en/of (opnieuw) verder naar voor te schuiven in de vitrines.
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