Free Chocolate

FRESH IDEA:  While playing around with Twitter last evening, I came across Mars’ account for Ms. Green — their M&M character.  And one of “her” tweets mentions FREE CHOCOLATE FRIDAYS.  Well…I may be a marketer who is interested in following unique programs, but pah-lease!  It’s FREE CHOCOLATE!  My visceral instincts kicked in and went right to their site to check out the program.  From May until September this year, Mars is giving away 250,000 coupons for a free, full-sized chocolate bar every Friday.  The program launched in early May with a PR event featuring Neil Patrick Harris (yes, Doogie Howser), giving away free bars in Times Square.  The program is being fueled by social sites:  not only Twitter, but its also on Facebook and YouTube with the N.P. Harris video.  In trying to find out more, I also noted it in lots of free/coupon/deal blogs.  What’s a little old school about the offer is the coupon delivery.  I registered on the realchocolate.com site (great data capture), and now have to wait six weeks (yes, six!) to get my coupon via the USPS.  No immediate print, no email link.

So besides my good karma sharing of a FREE CHOCOLATE offer, I am posting this program as it captures many of 2009′s trends:  Recession Obession — Calling it a “Relief Act,” Mars wanting to “put a smile on your face.”  Comfort Foods — Mars is making a point of demonstrating the high quality of their product (“real chocolate”);  and did I say it’s FREE?!  And lastly, Socially Acceptable — How Mars has chosen to spread the word.  Like a Twix bar, it’s layered in all kinds of rich goodness!  And like a peanut-packed Snickers Bar, it’s good with crunchy nuggets!  TASTY TRENDS:  Recession Obsession;  Comfort Foods;  Socially Acceptable

Crunchy Reads

CRUNCHY NUGGETS:  I’d like to make sure crunchy nuggets are fresh and crave-worthy.  So to mix it up a bit, I thought I’d get a little “Oprah” on you, and give you two book reviews.  One, I just finished today in the pedicure chair.  The other, I’m still reading, but enjoying.

twitter – Tips, Tricks, and Tweets by Paul McFedries:  Yes, there’s that Twitter again.  This book is very handy for anyone interested in diving into Twitter.  From novice to expert, it offers a hands-on, step by step guide and lots of complementary application sites to managing Twitter.  As a user, I breezed through a lot.  But I also dog eared quite a bit, uncovering how-to’s to enhance my own user experience.

The Anatomy of Buzz Revisited, Real-Life Lessons in Word-of-Mouth Marketing by Emanuel Rosen: As I have mentioned in prior posts, I am a big fan of “Made to Stick.”  And so when authors Chip and Dan Heath called this book a “marketer’s must read,” I listened.  It’s all about how brands and campaigns gain WOM buzz.  The good and the bad.  I’m about a third through, and read an interesting finding:  According to research, when consumers are presented with valuable, limited edition offers, they are significantly less likely to share, talk about, and pass the offer along.  So the thought that creating exclusivity will drive buzz, isn’t necessarily a good strategy.  Rather, rewarding the consumer for “finding” the limited offer, and allowing them to pass something along with take it further in the buzz factor.  Hmm!  I’ll continue to share nuggets as I read through the book.

So thanks for being my Gayle today!  (Oprah’s best friend.)  Happy reading!  TASTY TRENDS: Socially Acceptable;  Power of Word of Mouth

Mama Loves Nuggets!

CRUNCHY NUGGETS:  I am such a huge fan of insights that I sent a personal email to Maria Bailey of BSM, thanking her for always sharing interesting Mom-facts.  Her article in this morning’s Media Post Engage delivers really interesting stats about Moms and some of the best means of reach them:

90% of Moms watch an online video each week. Sites like Newbaby.com — a YouTube for Moms with 500+ Mom Vloggers — report that Moms watch 11-15 videos per visit.

80% of Moms who attend an in-home party will tell 3-5 other Moms about the featured brand.  And another 10% will tell 5-10 other Moms. Those are great stats to support sponsoring a party through a service such as House Party or SheSpeaks.

And don’t forget traditional radio — Moms spend 75 minutes in their cars each day with the radio on.

Again, thank you to BSM for sharing these crunchy nuggets.  Keep them airtight in your “Mom Facts” containers and sprinkle liberally on your next presentation or brainstorm about Moms.  TASTY TRENDS:  Mom Power

Doggone Fabulous!

FRESH IDEAS:  Promo Magazine just announced its IMAs — Interactive Marketing Awards.  In the interest of sharing big ideas, and for anyone who missed the award receipient write-up, here is a snap shot of the top winner:  Pedigree/Catapult’s “Million Dog Mosaic.”

Tapping into dog owners’ love for their dogs and affinity for dog causes, Pedigree created a unique, online opportunity.  For a $1 donation to Pedigree’s Adoption Drive Foundation, owners could upload their photos into an online photo mosaic, comprised of thousands of other dog images (see image posted; that’s made up of lots and lots of tiny images).  Together, the photos formed Oliver — a cute, lovable puppy representative of dogs awaiting adoption.  The program was supported through a rich array of social vehicles, including:  a 3,000 blogger outreach initiative, Facebook, a YouTube channel, and a pop up event in Times Square during the Wesminster Dog Show.  With 10,000 participants anticipated, actual results exceeded expectations with 55,000 photos populating the mosaic, $55,000 in funds raised, and 1 million page views to the site.

So, net net — why should you be impressed?  It’s an incredibly unique, truly emotionally-driven program that used a simple, online engagement, coupled with lots of social support to drive brand buzz.  Without fancy viral videos or crazy stunts.  Without whiz bang applications.  Without big name celebs and budgets.  Just tapping into a strong insight into what dog owners love and want, and who they trust most.  Bow wow wow!  TASTY TREND:  Socially acceptable

Twitition

CRUNCHY NUGGET:  In this morning’s Mashable, I read about a new word they spotted and thought, in the spirit of good ol’ American Freedom of Expression, I’d make you a smarter smarty booty and share:

TWITITION. It’s a petition using the power of Twitter.  Starting an account for the cause, and rallying up a group of Followers to Tweet in support.

Currently, a “twitition” is striving to save the show “My Name is Earl,” as canceled by NBC: @EarlTwitition.  But according to Mashable, despite the outcries, the show is officially dead, unless it is picked up by another network.  And don’t underestimate the power of word of mouth (word of “mouse” in this instance).  Last year, Kellogg’s re-released Hydrox cookies for a limited run after thousands of calls and letters — clearly, pre-Twitter!

Challenge yourself…Try and slip “twitition” into your next water cooler or weekend BBQ conversation, e.g.:  “Yeah…I’m thinking about starting a Twitition to bring back Mega M&Ms. permanently.  I love those chocolately large candies!”  Have a good holiday — I’ll be back with more nuggets next week.  TASTY TREND:  Socially acceptable

All A’Twitter

FRESH IDEA:  Vive Promotions!  I love seeing new spins on tried and true tactics, and so I have two Twitter driven examples to share today…

Starbucks Scavenger Hunt – For anyone who hasn’t read the papers lately, Starbucks is furiously fighting to save share as McDonald’s $100 million McCafe effort is all steamed up, and trying to win consumers’ daily cups.  One of their more grass roots efforts has been driven through social networks, and features a six-city, find it and Tweet it scavenger hunt.  Basically, you find a Starbucks poster, i.e., an outdoor ad, be one of the first to post a photo of it on Twitter, and you can win a Starbucks gold card.  So lots of traditional-like tactics (contest, out of home media, product as prize) colliding with newer channels (social, microblogging – Twitter).

Threadless – I have been a huge fan of Threadless and community member for years.  And it comes as no surprise, being a brand fan, that they would launch a Twitter-based t-shirt program.  Much like their community site, consumers are encouraged to submit tee designs — in this case, a Tweet.  Text designs will be voted on by the Threadless community.  And winners will receive cash, as well as their design printed on a limited run of shirts.  There are four, text based designs for sale, posted as inspiration.  Again, taking the traditional (design contest), and melding it with new channels (community, microblogging – Twitter).

Certainly, this may not be appropriate for all brands and marketing needs.  But do tuck these ideas away in your crunchy nuggets containers as lil’ fresh ideas to customize, as needed.  SIDE NOTE:  Feel free to follow me on Twitter — see left hand side of the blog for a link.  TASTY TREND:  Socially acceptable;  Promotion 3.0

Green-B-Q

TASTY TREND:  With the Memorial Day weekend and “summer” just on the on the horizon, green-eco-friendly is a hot product innovation manufacturers are introducing in time for BBQs and outdoor events.  As seen on shelves and in magazines:  Eco friendly disposable serve ware:  Solo’s bare — bare is an assortment of eat on and toss (or recycle or compost) products made from “materials found in nature,” including bamboo, sugar cane, reed, etc. The line features renewable plates (i.e., made with renewable, more natural products and fewer chemical materials), compostable plates and cups (i.e., can be taken to a commercial composting facility), recyclable cups (i.e., can be recycled in most communities).   To allay any price fears, Solo claims these products are a good value and high quality.  Also seen:  Reynolds Wrap 100% Recycled Foil – You can think green as you fire up the grill and pull out the foil made from recycled aluminum.  Even the packaging is from 100% recovered paper and water-based inks.

It seems eco-friendly is here to stay and can be a status symbol of sorts, demonstrating that a consumer makes smart choices, even at a BBQ.  So beyond relish on your hot dog, be on the lookout for more green ahead.  TASTY TREND:  Feeling good about doing good;  Eco chic

Deal Breaker

FRESH FACTS:  I’m a curiously crunchy nugget insight finder.  I’m also a product package label reader.  But only a topline nutrition fact finder with a little bit of knowledge about what’s good, what’s bad.  But please — don’t ask me about daily minimum requirements, nor what’s considered too much of this versus that.  So when I read a stat shared in the May 11th issue of Brandweek, my worlds collided, and left me saying:  “Hmm!  Who knew?”

According to a survey conducted by Better Homes and Gardens in 2008:  Women read packages for Calories (69%), Total Fat (62%;  only 49% paid attention to Saturated Fat Grams), Sugar (61%), and Sodium (50%).

And 63% said that packaging info can be a deal breaker — deciding not to buy a product based on the information.

Certainly, nutrition  is almost like religion these days, with different beliefs as to what’s right/what’s wrong, lots of strong opinions.  At least that’s what I’ve experienced in a parent-centric world, when it comes to managing kids’ choices.  So it does make sense that labels in general — whether you can speak the language of nutrition or not — can make or break a purchase.

By the way, there is only good-for-your-brain-smarts in a daily dose of crunchy nuggets!  TASTY TREND:  Nutrition religion

App-y ness

FRESH IDEA:  Personally, I’ve never liked Miracle Whip. I am more of a Light Mayo girl.  But taste aside, the marketing press is buzzing about it.  Kraft’s Miracle Whip is reintroducing itself in an effort to gain the attention — and younger pantry space — of a Gen Y audience.  Part of this relaunch is a fun Social app called Zingr.  Now, for those of us with older pantry spaces, think Pop-Up Video for web pages.  You simply download the application from Miracle Whip’s Facebook page and plug it in as an application.  It connects with your FB profile, as well as your Twitter account.  So when you Zingr — i.e., find a web page and comment on it in a fluffy, Miracle Whip bubble — your friends and followers will know about it.  I took it for a Whip whirl (see image of my blog with a Zingr shmear), and found it to be easy to apply, and responsive to my Twitter account.  But not to my FB profile.  Nonetheless, in a world of see it and share it with Digg and other applications, this one is fun, engaging and lightly dressed in Miracle Whip branding.  Hold the mayo.  TASTY TREND:  Socially acceptable

C’mon Get App-y

CRUNCHY NUGGETS:  I’ve been reading a lot lately about the growth of apps — the downloadable applications for mobile devices.  As well as what’s been dubbed “app-vertising,” i.e., branded apps.  The May issue of Fast Company says that some call apps the “next big platform…big as the PC, big as the Web…(with) the mobile equivalents of Microsoft, Google, and Amazon…waiting to be discovered.”  And just last month, Apple announced that one billion iPhone apps had been downloaded.  So as someone who may not even be able to change their ring tone, as a marketer, what’s all the fuss?  Here are some interesting nuggets to consider:

5,000 new apps are added to Apple’s App Store every month.

And it’s not just Apple.  Google Android, Microsoft, Nokia, Palm and BlackBerry are all offering — or planning on offering — mobile apps this year.

The apps that do best catch a few downloads and then make it to a store’s best-seller list.

On average, people will use an app 10-12x and then never again.

Apps are considered much more personal and social than anything offered on a PC.  They’re portable, available all the time, and lets users connect with others around them (versus sitting at a PC solo).

That said, “app-verstising” — branded apps — can take a brand’s positioning or core benefits, and delivers something a mobile user would want 24/7.  Whether it’s a fun game (Audi A4 Driving Challenge), or a photo of your dog and his bark (Pedigree), or something practical (Epicurious’ recipes and shopping list).  The value you can bring is endless.  But again, make sure your target knows about it, as you’re up against lots and lots of applications of all kinds, vying for someone’s phone space.

I thank Ad Age and Fast Company for all of the nuggety stats.  I’m sorry if I offended any readers with my leading image.  “The Moron Test” happens to be the #1 app right now on Apple’s site!  TASTY TREND:  Go mobile