Say it again and again with a Coke
There is a lot of debate around whether Coca-Cola should be repeating its ‘Share a Coke’ campaign, however it is not unique in doing so. Another strong brand that repeats successful campaigns is Starbucks. By doing so, it has created seasonal associations that are now ownable (red cups at Christmas, receipts for iced drinks in the summer, for example).
That said, it is important when repeating a campaign that new elements are featured so those who engaged last time have a reason to do so again. This time, Coke is adding four times more names.
The lesson? When you find a good thing, something that resonates, don’t be too keen to move on. As advertisers, we often get bored with our advertising faster than consumers do.
Nicola Carter, senior planner, Rufus Leonard
Mobile is maturing, not out
Reports that marketers’ enthusiasm for mobile is waning are misguided. What the CMO Council’s report shows is how brands and chief marketing officers are making a shift from a tactical to a strategic mindset.
Brands have recognised that mobile drives new behaviours and that they need to test, learn and adapt campaigns quickly. Mobile needs to be more than just ‘apps’ – we need to be designing for the human experience, delivering a combination of utility that meets a consumer need and entertainment, to develop long-term emotional connections.
Justin Cooke, UK CEO, Possible
There is no slowdown in mobile spend, merely the prediction of it. The same report issued by the CMO Council last year claimed that only 25 per cent of respondents expected to increase their mobile budgets by more than 5 per cent. Yet mobile spend nearly doubled in 2013, according to the Internet Advertising Bureau’s Mobile Adspend report.
I wouldn’t be surprised if this set of predictions is equally off the mark.
Richard Shotton, head of insight, ZenithOptimedia Group
The news that 85 per cent of chief marketing officers feel they lack expertise in data and analytics – and that this is slowing progress of mobile strategies – is unsurprising in an industry that largely separates marketing departments from marketing data.
CMOs are caught in an inefficient system where they know the value of their data but have to sell it to third parties to activate, and then have to liaise with chief information officers to make data-driven adjustments to marketing campaigns across channels. This leaves marketers unable to be agile in their campaigns. Only when technology can empower marketers to activate and act on their data themselves will their confidence to embrace new channels happen.
Wolf Allisat, senior vice-president international, Ensighten
Research under threat
Regardless of whether research is of passive observation via the device or through direct engagement with the consumer, it all comes down to the consumer’s willingness to participate.
It should be a choice – and it can only be a choice if it’s transparent to the consumer. Qual, quant, passive: it doesn’t really matter. If it gets abused, it will get shut off.’
Steve August, chief innovations officer, FocusVision
