Saturday, September 25, 2010

Brand Icons 'Guest Star' in Xerox Campaign

Sept 2, 2010
- Elaine Wong

Xerox is prepping a new campaign, via Y&R, New York, as part of an effort to position itself as more than just a printer and copier maker. The effort spans TV, print, out-of-home and digital, and is one of the largest brand initiatives in decades for Xerox.

The move follows the company’s acquisition of Affiliated Computer Services in February, making it a bigger player in the information technology space. Valued at $6 billion, the deal nearly tripled Xerox’s services business, said chief marketing officer Christa Carone.

Dubbed “Ready for real business,” the campaign launches next Tuesday. Notable in the ads is Xerox’s use of well known brand mascots: Procter & Gamble’s Mr. Clean, Target’s Bullseye dog and the Marriott Hotels & Resorts’ bellman, to name a few. All of the icons featured in the ads are current Xerox clients, Carone said.

The ads are meant to show how Xerox enables each of these businesses to succeed, illustrated by the various tasks each of the brand mascots juggles. A print ad featuring Mr. Clean, for instance, has him wiping a table while attempting to copy a pile of documents. The copy reads: “We focus on digitizing P&G’s documents worldwide. So they don’t have to."

So what's the underlying message? “When you’ve got Xerox working behind the scenes, you have the freedom to focus on your core and real business,” Carone said.

Tony Granger, global chief creative officer at WPP-owned Y&R, said the mascots function as a sort of customer testimonial, albeit with a unique spin. “At the end of the day, Xerox is about helping customers be successful, and using their customers’ brand icons was a fun way of saying that,” he said.

Xerox is not a huge advertiser. (It notched just $8 million in ad expenditures in 2009, and $5 million through the first six months of this year, excluding online, per the Nielsen Co.) Carone, however, said the new campaign is in the “multimillion-dollar" range.

The effort also encompasses digital and interactive components, such as a multimedia site, Realbusiness.com, and motion-sensor and touch-screen activated billboards. Other agencies that worked on the campaign are VML and MEC for digital and media buying duties, respectively. 
 
http://www.brandweek.com/bw/content_display/esearch/e3i3b3230c2cb215154c7e91c51f6822667

Global UPS Push Is All About Logistics

Sept 13, 2010
- Elaine Wong

UPS today (Monday) launched its first global campaign, dubbed “We [Heart] Logistics,” which touts the many worldwide services the brand offers.

The campaign, a first by UPS' new agency Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, has kicked off in the U.S., China and the U.K., and will debut in Mexico next week. It follows a move by the package delivery company to build a bigger global presence and to promote its services.

“We [Heart] Logistics," UPS’ biggest ad push in three years, centers on the power of logistics and how it helps large and small businesses succeed in a global marketplace. The effort includes TV, print, social and digital media channels, as well as outdoor executions. There is also a microsite, TheNewLogistics.com, which houses customer testimonials.

The headline on a full-page print ad running in the Tuesday and Thursday editions of The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times reads: "Why Logistics Is the Most Powerful Force in Business Today. (And Why You Should Understand It.)" Meanwhile, a 60-second introduces business owners to the same idea. “Logistics make the world work better,” one UPS worker says. A woman’s voice—in the form of a song—explains to businesses just how that has come to be.

Maureen Healy, vp of advertising, brand and customer communications at UPS, said the initiative stemmed from the observation that UPS, despite its large-scale brand reach, didn't have a global brand campaign until now. And many businesses don't know that corporate acquisitions over the last 10 years have grown UPS' service offerings. “We’ve developed a broad portfolio that we think is unmatched in the industry,” Healy said.

In the past, the package delivery company typically ran different campaigns in the U.S. and overseas. The most recent one, “Whiteboard,” featured The Martin Agency’s Andy Azula, the creative director that worked on the account, explaining the company’s products and services on a whiteboard. That campaign aired in the U.S., while “Deliver More,” which touted the company’s international offerings, simultaneously ran overseas.

“We’re at a point in our history where we want to relaunch with a global brand campaign and a global brand idea,” Healy said, adding that “logistics” is a term that's globally understood by business owners.

The campaign comes at a time when many businesses are emerging from an economic downturn. Thus, the ads focus on efficiency and how partnering with UPS enables businesses to run more productively, said Betsy Wilson, the company’s global advertising director. (The company spent $85 million on advertising last year, and $37 million through the first six months of this year, excluding online, per the Nielsen Co.)

UPS isn’t the only advertiser tapping into such insight. Earlier this month, Xerox launched a campaign that centers on how its business services enable clients like Procter & Gamble, Target and Marriott Hotels, among others, run more efficiently.

Benjamin Jones, svp of creative for Digitas’ B2B unit, said the UPS campaign illustrates the "challenges of trying to do mass b2b" advertising. Companies with complex supply chains may already be well aware of what logistics consists of, while smaller businesses may still be grappling with the idea, Jones said. But overall, he said, "the light, playful tone with the complex global message is a good evolution for UPS." 

Bounce Lets Moms Do the Talking

Sept 20, 2010
- Elaine Wong

Procter & Gamble is tapping into the power of consumer testimonials to promote one of its newest products, Bounce Dryer Bar.

The packaged goods giant is kicking off an effort next month, consisting of a series of print advertorials and Web videos running in Meredith Corp.'s Better Homes and Gardens and Better, a nationally syndicated lifestyle TV show. The goal is to drive trial and usage of Bounce Dryer Bar—which lasts 2-4 months and replaces the need for dryer sheets—via word-of-mouth and consumer recommendations, P&G said. (Bounce Dryer Bar launched last year.)

Holly Resnick and Marni Renison, two of the “it moms” featured on Better TV, are the stars of the advertorials, which run in the October and November issues of Better Homes and Gardens. Next month’s issue shows the two moms together with their kids, alongside testimonials from actual consumers. The advertorials highlight Bounce Dryer Bar’s timesaving and convenience benefits.

Web videos, also anchored by Resnick and Renison, explain how Bounce can help make consumers’ lives easier. One back-to-school segment, for instance, has the two women offering tips on how to “start the school year off on the right foot.”

Janette Theis, North American brand manager for Bounce, said the effort is part of Bounce’s strategy to drive sales via word-of-mouth and mommy influencer marketing. In June, the fabric care brand conducted a survey in which 244 Better Homes and Gardens readers were given product samples and asked to provide feedback. Bounce has incorporated the research findings into the current ad effort.

“We got some great results about how the Bounce Dryer Bar makes life simpler,” Theis said. Bounce’s marketing, as a whole, is driven in huge part by customer testimonials, particularly women making recommendations to other women, said Theis. Bounce's current ad campaign, for example, shows Rachel, a real mom from Colorado, talking about her laundry care challenges.

P&G spent $11.2 million advertising its Bounce Dryer Bar in 2009, and $6.8 million through June of this year, per Kantar Media, WPP’s ad tracking unit. 

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