Dirt is good

Children have an inbuilt desire to play and get dirty. An insight the Dutch detergent brand focuses on.

Key driver for business

Making dirty clothes clean.

Real brand value:

Live how you want to live, without the boundaries (so without worrying about getting dirty).

Societal insight

Playing outside is crucial for the physical, mental and social development of children. Research showed that children spent less than 20% less time playing outside than two years before. Parents either don’t realize it’s that important or they find it difficult to find opportunities for outside play.

The answer

The OMO Outside Play Foundation. A foundation that became officially part of NOC-NSF (Dutch Olympic Committee). It consisted of more than 40.000 clubs started by kids and their friends. Every year, the National Outside Play were held at the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam.

My opinion

When I was a child, I used to play outside all day. And so was every kid in my neighborhood. It was a fundamental part of my childhood happiness. This needs to come back. Great initiative, with a lot of fun. Good for society. And, nevertheless, good for Omo. On a long term. With all the branded content, Omo gets her (fun) brand into the hearts of children at a very young age.

Earlier, I wrote about TOMS, a shoe brand that does things differently. The Belgian shoe brand JoJo takes meaningful footprints to another level. For every pair of Jojo shoes purchased, they plant one tree or provide one person with a year of clean drinking water. What makes them different is that they offer full transparency and allow customers to track the progress of their contribution well after the point of purchase.

1. Buy your shoes.
2. Choose to help plant trees or build water pomps.
3. Check what’s the difference you help make.

Ideas of becoming a social entrepreneur? Let the Jojo project inspire you!

Hugo Boss started a collaboration with Unicef. Today. To help. Together. What do you think of this meaningful marketing initiative?

In 2006, American traveler Blake Mycoskie befriended children in Argentina and found they had no shoes to protect their feet. Wanting to help, he created TOMS Shoes, a company that would match every pair of shoes purchased with a pair of new shoes given to a child in need. One for One. Blake returned to Argentina with a group of family, friends and staff later that year with 10,000 pairs of shoes made possible by TOMS customers.

Thanks to supporters, TOMS gave the One Millionth pair of new shoes to a child in need in September 2010. TOMS now gives in over 20 countries and works with charitable partners in the field who incorporate shoes into their health, education, hygiene, and community development programs.

As for right now, TOMS is also providing eye-wear, with the matching good cause: sight. With every pair of glasses you purchase, TOMS will help give sight to a person in need. One for One.

They’ve recently started a partnership with The Row, the designer label founded by Ashley Olsen and Mary-Kate Olsen.

Key driver for business

Providing protection for your feet.

Real brand value:

Helping those in need. One for one.

Societal insight

Many children in developing countries grow up barefoot. Whether at play, doing chores or going to school, these children are at risk:

The answer

For every pair of shoes sold, TOMS provides a pair of shoes for a person in need.

My opinion

TOMS’ mission is woven directly into the business. Although it’s a whole different world for many, TOMS is showing the results in brilliant short films, which makes it easier for people to see how they help making a difference.

I’ve never seen a promo video, that made me wanna read a book  that much (while I AM already reading it!). Couldn’t agree more with the message. Some thoughts:

1. Capitalism has been acting a bit childish.
2. We is the new Me. As MiU stands for me and you .
3. Technology is teaching us to be human again.
4. It was never meant to be profit for profit sake.

First seen at Frankwatching (Dutch)

Buy the book here.

One possibility of serving the human being in the consumer (the MiU Mission) is by helping consumers to help others. Companies that do so are called prosocial brands. Mark Woerde writes about this in his new (and first) book ‘How advertising will heal the world and your business’. Here are some main quotes. Make sure to read my last post about the book as well.

1. Survival of the fittest makes way for survival of the kindest #letsheal #marketing30
2. Giving meaning to life is basic human need #letsheal #marketing30
3. Most people think helping others gives them meaning to life #letsheal #marketing30
4. Most people love do more things for others, but too often lack the time, money and motivation. #letsheal #brand #opportunity
5. “Life is not primarily a quest for pleasure (Freud) or power (Adler), but a quest for meaning.” – Viktor Frankl #letsheal
6. “Prosocial behavior is as much a matter of evolution as any other trait, in humans and animals alike.” – Frans de Waal #letsheal #prosocial #brands.
7. Compassion and empathy, the emotional motivators to be altruistic, go deeper than morals or social norms #feel-good-hormone #letsheal
8. Oxytocin, the feel-good hormone released in the brain after prosocial behavior, is the same hormone released before and after an orgasm #letsheal
9. People that are the most connected and on the cutting edge of social media tend to be more prosocial in real life #letsheal #social #transformers
10. Proxmimity matters. When it comes down to marketing, it would be wise to focus on introducing people in need and try to establish a relation between the people.
11. The financial crisis seemed to be a wake-up call that there is much more in life than money #letsheal
12. People active on social networks are more likely to get involved with (buy/work for) prosocial brands than people who are not. #letsheal
13. Brands are already operate as a hybrid of creative and marketing forces, applied to (unmet) societal needs, their influence could be even greater.
14. Meaningful prosocial brands do not only help others, they also facilitate consumers to help others. #letsheal
15. The prosocial success denominator: take your prosocial role seriously and do it from the heart. #letsheal
16. The effects of a prosocial brand should be measurable, big, transparent and fundamental to business goals (part of the values) #letsheal
17. In every brand, there are social convictions waiting to be put forward. #letsheal
18. The more money you make, the more there is to invest in making the world a better place. Purpose and profit go hand in hand. #letsheal
19. Facilitating meaningful prosocial behavior means greater consumer interaction.
20. When adding social value to the emotional connection, more nuances can be achieved: it makes your brand’s story stand out.

Like the message? Then I’m sure you would love the book.

I took my sister Fiza (7) to the movies last week. Actually, she dragged me to it. A couple of weeks ago, she started asking me if I could take her to Rio, a movie by the makers of Ice Age. The whole experience, since she first got introduced to the movie, made her happy, even excited. Marketing had a great share in this. Here’s how they did it.

The friends
At the end of April, kids in Fiza’s school (2nd grade) started talking about visiting the cinema to see Rio (word-of-mouth). They all loved it (social proof) and told the other kids about the 3D-glasses they wore and took with them (reciprocity). They also wanted to tell the storyline, but surprisingly, they kept quiet (as the teacher told them not to ruin the movie for other kids that were about to see the movie too). It seems that Rio was something cool.

The media
As Fiza went home, she switched on the TV and saw a commercial of the movie. Fiza remembered what her friends told her and got excited. She started searching on YouTube (a thing that she is more than familiar with as a 7-year old digital native — in fact she also told me about the new song of Shakira last week) and saw the trailer again (brand recall). Next, she was listening to the songs of Rio and repeated that a couple of times during the following weeks. Fiza also managed to find the website and played some games, learned about the story, and the characters.

The collabo
Then there was the in-store experience. Chiquita wants to boost sales and found that targeting families with young children was the right thing to do. So they introduced a special kid’s bag of medium sized bananas, containing a small gift to boost the fun factor. A bit like a Happy Meal, although Chiquita is a healthier choice. Their first branded presents (in collaboration with Rio) were Chiqui bands, some fun bracelets kids can wear, collect and share. That was exactly what Fiza did. Besides, she always laughs when she hears the name Chiquita (it sounds funny) and now they connected with her on another level of fun.

So I asked Fiza if she wanted to go to the movie and gave her 3 options:

1. Rio
2. Kung Fu Panda 2 — 3D (brand new)
3. Any other movie (of course, suitable for her age)

The choice
Asking this was a bit stupid. Of course she chose Rio. How could she not, after all the influencers did their jobs? On our way to the cinema I asked myself the question: how was Fiza not going to like this movie? Due to the whole experience, I thought Rio had already made it before Fiza even saw it (consistency). Something must be terribly wrong to change this perception.

And so it was. Fiza loved it (and so did I). Even during the movie, marketing kept on bringing small kinds of happiness: I got punched a couple of times by my sis who wanted to tell me she recognized specific parts out of the commercials and the Internet (familiarity).

The textbook example
Yes, I know, the experience I had is typical for great (marketed) movies. And the marketing of Rio is not exceptional only because they took it to YouTube and stuff. But it does again show some valuable observations:

1. Kids are humans too. They also share stuff worth sharing and listen to people worth listening to.
2. Adults are just like children. They also pursuit to be happy. How can your marketing create all kinds of happiness?
3. Creating multiple touch points (through transmedial communication) is often essential. Collaborating is key.

Video. What a great way to deliver the ultimate brand feeling. People rather watch a video than read a text. And nowadays, it is easy to share.

A powerful way to use video is a short brand film. It is about emotion. It’s about where you stand for. And how you walk your path. Exposing how you and your fans are living your brand. Experiencing this with multiple senses. Tell your story. And sometimes, you dont need words to do this.

Forget about push and telling people to buy your product. You should rather show character and tell people what your standards and ideals are. This is more than “our brand offers you this and this benefit”. Many people think these films are long (like 10 mins). The fact is, in many cases, a minute or two will do.

I’ve selected two great examples of Imogene and Willie, a clothing manufacturer. As you can see, the films present different stories, each being part of the brand. In fact, these are just two of a serie of multiple stories. The brand provides people a platform on which they can shape their individual brand experience. To create their own stories… Enjoy!

Fashion designers and social media do go hand in hand. As I was reading some articles about social media in the luxury industry, I saw a great example of LOFT being modern and engaging. They posted some pictures  of a new pair of pants worn by a skinny model on their Facebook page. Many commenters complained, one writing: “Sure, they look great, if you’re 5’10″ and a stick like the model in the photo.” So what did they do? They responded with: ”You asked and we listened,” and posted several new pictures of employees wearing the same pants as the skinny model, in sizes ranging from 2 to 12. The response garnered almost 100 comments, most applauding LOFT’s effort. One woman wrote, “This is fab idea. Kudos to you for listening to your shoppers.” The campaign has since been copied by retailers such as Banana Republic.

It’s all about listening. And brands with a face (and ears), are able to listen. No ‘click here to prove you’re human’ needed.

Real code
The action of the company is great, since LOFT engages with its customers and shows its real face. It’s relevant in this situation. However, in ordinary campaigns, it’s not always good to be average. A customer buys your product to achieve a certain goal. The goal may be looking good or to feel special. If a campaign shows a product with just average people, then what’s the point of buying the product? Clotaire Rapaille puts the finger on the spot in his book ‘The Culture Code’, when he discusses the Dove ‘Real beauty’ campaign:

Mystique
“When beauty is normalized, when it’s suggested that every woman looks beautiful just the way she is, the elevated nature of beauty is lost. If every woman can be an advertising model, then can anyone save your husband. It’s one thing for models to look like “the girl next door” when a girl that beautiful actually exists in very few neighborhoods. It’s another thing entirely when the model can literally be your neighbour. There is considerable mystique surrounding beauty. If that mystique becomes average, something is lost.”

I think the LOFT campaign is epic. But in general, the advice is not to be ‘just’ average.

Here’s the link to my source: Social media is fashion’s newest muse.

My cousin from the USA is visiting The Netherlands for a couple of weeks. We had dinner the other day and I got us some cans of Dr. Pepper. You know, the drink with the slogan ‘Dr. Pepper makes the world taste better’. While I was pouring my drink in a glass with some icecubes, my cousin seemed to be waiting for something. “Anything wrong?” I asked him. Yeah, there was something wrong. “You forgot the most important ingredient. Pepper.” For a moment, I thought my cousin was joking. But he wasn’t.

It seems that Dr. Pepper found it roots in Texas (his hometown) and that it is the number 1 drink over there. Putting real pepper in the Dr. Pepper is a common practice. My cousin then made a comparison: “You can’t drink Dr. Pepper without real pepper. It’s like Sprite without salt.” This got me even more surprised.

I have never heard of this combination before.

Then I thought of some other typical food and drinks practices that are very common. Some great examples: Oreo’s with a glass of milk, hot chocolate with whip cream, whisky on the rocks, Jagermeister only if it’s ice and ice cold. But what may be the best example is Corona with a slice of lime. Some people say that the lime is to mask the skunky taste, others think it’s for hygenic reasons. There is a theory that Mexicans used it to keep flies away. Another theory states that it was just a marketing strategy.

And so there are many different versions of the original story.

Basically, it is what happens with all of the examples mentioned above. Brands should create compelling stories around ideas that touch people on the emotional level. But creating the story is just the starting point. Brands never know how their stories will circulate in the market. Since they are being told and re-told by employees, bloggers and consumers. Your story thus should be authentic from te start. Nowadays, people buy Corona’s in bars and clubs to express there status, just because it has become a ritual. A ritual, that is part of culture. Not one, but many. But the starting point – a Corona with a slice of lime – is authentic.

I can remember an example of last summer, when Martini tried to set a trend with a new mix drink: Martini with ice tea… a refreshments for on warm summer days. I am not sure if this have become a trend, since I never saw people try this mix.

The Dr. Pepper with real pepper tasted a bit strange. But once this trend reaches The Netherlands, I may think different.

I’m fascinated about the way brands effect communities and cultures. There is a wonderful book I read a few weeks ago, named ‘The Culture Code‘. Clotaire Rapaille explains ways to understand why people around the world live and buy as they do. Great stuff. For all cultures!