CDG Interactive Blog

This Sunday saw the return of AMC’s Mad Men, that homage to hard-drinking, cigarette-smoking, philandering ad men (and a few women) who prowled 1960s Madison Avenue. The key player is Don Draper, a creative genius who has risen to the level of super-stardom in the advertising industry.

As the series opened this season, Don was being interviewed for a profile in Advertising Age thanks to his recent innovative campaign for Glo-Coat Floor Wax. “Caused a bit of a squeal,” said the reporter, “On the creative side anyway.”

That last comment stuck with me. Sure, Don’s creative peers were bowled over, but did that fantastic ad result in any increased sales among 1960s housewives? We never know.

The sad fact is that sometimes an ingenious campaign can soar creatively and flop in the practical world. Think about it. How many times have you enjoyed a clever commercial only to realize later that you can’t recall what product it was selling?

It’s a conundrum that we wrestle with every day as interactive marketers. How can we channel our creative talents into campaigns that also optimize conversion (i.e. sales)? Fortunately, we have a few tools that Don Draper didn’t. Namely, through web stats, we can see—in real time—how many eyes are on our ads, websites, landing pages, etc. And more important, we can track the actions they’re taking.

If something isn’t working, no matter how fabulously innovative it is, it needs to be tweaked, revamped, or ditched. That doesn’t mean that we can’t strive to break new creative ground. We do. Every day. It’s just that we have to check our egos and rethink our ideas until they resonate with consumers.

Sure, it’s a challenge, but it’s one that we relish. After all, our goal first and foremost is converting browsers into buyers. Our job is to grab your attention and compel you to take action, whether that means to buy, donate, join, or sign up. Conversion may not be as flashy as creative, but it’s your bread and butter. Our job is to make sure your breadbasket is overflowing.

Heidi talked about the Old Spice campaign last week  (which seems to be one of the most blogged about topics this past week) and one aspect she touched upon in her post is how Wieden + Kennedy chose who to respond to.  They didn’t only choose online celebrities (although they were particularly canny in their selection of those), they also created messages to Ellen DeGeneres, George Stephanapolous and Ryan Seacrest – all people with television shows who could replay the spot and provide additional exposure to audiences that watch them but don't use Twitter.

And it makes sense - when I first saw the 17 second long Surprised Kitty video on YouTube it had about 2 million views and it was making the rounds on Twitter.  A week later, my dad sent it to me because Jay Leno had played it the night before on The Tonight Show. I went back to YouTube and saw it had over 10 million views – that’s the difference between passing it around on Twitter and showing it on network television.

That’s why politicians still put up yard signs and shake hands instead of relying on emails and Facebook. Even though the number of followers a candidate has on social media outlets seems to be a reliable indicator of their success it won’t get people out to the polls by itself. 

And so today when a colleague asked me how her husband could promote an upcoming appearance for his band, I suggested printing postcards and posters in addition to social media activities.

Social media is a complement to real-world activities rather than a replacement. And some people are always going to prefer something tangible like a postcard or a handshake and will never be on Twitter or Facebook and we need to find ways to reach them too.

It's not what you said

The end of reinvention?

The New York Times asks if the web means the end of forgetting and the ability to re-invent our selves? Or are our pasts forever on display?

Personalized magazines

Flipboard just might be the app that makes me buy an iPad.

Facebook says thanks

See Facebook's thank you message from employees as they reach 500 million active users. And the Guardian provides an interactive map of where all those users live. I was surprised by Sweden and Chile

CDG’s Take on the Campaign That Lit Up the Internet

Social media was abuzz last week with a campaign featuring Old Spice Guy, otherwise known as The Man Your Man Could Smell Like. (Still don’t recognize him? Hint: He’s on a horse.)

Beginning on Monday, July 12, ad agency Wieden+Kennedy made a series of 87 short videos featuring Isaiah Mustafa, the actor in the original blockbuster Super Bowl ad, responding to comments on various social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. The video responses were posted to YouTube and the Old Spice Twitter account alerted the original commenters to their personalized replies.

Because the creative team was savvy enough to respond to both highly visible personalities online, like Ashton Kutcher (who has over 5 million Twitter followers), and to non-celebrity users, the campaign was instantly popular and spread quickly and widely. In one of the most notable cases, a man proposed to his girlfriend through the Old Spice campaign—and she accepted. (It even spawned an offshoot site on which you can generate an outgoing voicemail message for yourself featuring Old Spice Guy’s voice.)

While a viral and highly entertaining social media campaign can be lots of fun for internet marketing folks like us to watch unfold, does it apply to regular companies and organizations who don’t happen to have a team of ad-libbing copywriters and a very handsome, half-dressed spokesman?

Actually, it does.

Continue reading "3 Lessons the Old Spice Guy Taught Us About Marketing" »

Social Media Integration

Social Fresh talks about Old Spice's integration of social media into their new ad campaign.

What does your logo really say?

Last week we mentioned the string of code inside the U.S. Cyber Command logo. The Roxor bring us other logos with hidden messages.

Brand Management

Search Engine Watch discusses what LeBron James can teach us about brand reputation management & messaging.

Not just for developers anymore

App creation is now for everyone with Google's App Inventor tool. Well, everyone with an Android phone. The tool is in beta and allows you to build your own app by selecting options for how it should look and act.

Earlybird discounts

Last week we told you about @earlybird - the new Twitter account for sponsored discounts. This week the first special offer arrived - a deal for 2 for 1 tickets to Disney's Sorcerer's Apprentice.

Six degrees of Twitter

Where's Kevin Bacon when you need him? According to a recent study, 97.91% of Twitter users are within 6 degrees of connection and the average number of degrees between twitter users is 4.67. (No word on whether a few of the most popular Twitters skew the averages.)

Early bird gets the discount

Twitter is launching @earlybird - a followers-only deals account, similar to Groupon. Follow to learn about available deals.

For those Facebook left behind

If you're constantly trying to explain Twitter and Facebook to those who don't get it, David Pogue has created a social media primer.

Books win!

According to the Guardian, print books are faster to read when tested against Kindle,iPad and PC. The most revealing comment? The PC was the most stressful to read because it felt like work.

Code breaking logo

Armed with Science explains how to break the code embedded in the U.S. Cyber Command logo - an interesting use of code to highlight their mission in their logo.