Sponsorship Makes The Cut
Posted: 12/2/2011 3:25:03 PM by
Lesa Ukman | with 0 comments
Observations, learnings and provocations from October’s ANA Masters of Marketing conference.
The annual conference of the Assn. of National Advertisers included presentations from brands in categories as diverse as B2B services (IBM), social media (Facebook), lifestyle-changing services (Weight Watchers Int’l) and packaged goods (Kraft Foods). Below the threads and takeaways that crossed categories and markets:
“Whyarchy” trumps Hierarchy. We are living in a VUCA world—volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous, said Dana Anderson, senior vice president, marketing strategy & communications, Kraft. “Answers may no longer be elegant or even final. We will need 10 times more flexibility in the next year than we’ve needed in the last 10 years combined.”
Marketing is the new finance. Marketing has never been more critical to business. It used to follow strategy. Now, it is determining strategy, according to Anthony J. Palmer, senior vice president/CMO, Kimberly Clark.
Measure. In today’s economy, there is no room for guesswork. But the lack of clear objectives at many companies makes measurement impossible. Adobe, which not only knows its objectives but can accurately predict what it must spend to hit revenue goals, uses measurement 1) pre-launch to optimize its mix; 2) during to track progress and fine tune; and 3) post to analyze results, according to Ann Lewnes, senior vice president, global marketing.
Know what business you are in. Weight Watchers defined its competitors as other commercial weight loss solutions. However, research revealed the competition was actually the consumer herself; women were not deciding between Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig as much as they were between Weight Watchers and DIY diets, according to Cheryl Callan, senior vice president, marketing.
Your best brand ambassadors are consumer evangelists. “The reason Jennifer Hudson worked for us and other celebs didn’t was rather than us saying, this person did it and you can too, with Jennifer, consumers said, if she can do it, I can too. That changed everything,” Callan said.
Awareness is table stakes. Research found that while the AT&T brand was widely known, it was not loved, according to Esther Lee, senior vice president of brand & advertising, AT&T. This realization prompted a rethink at the company, because loyalty is not based on awareness but rather affinity. “More and more, brands are not just what we buy but what we believe. We choose brands that fit not only our needs, but also our lifestyles, our values and our point-of-view on the world.”
As for the headline of this post: the image below is a slide from Lee’s presentation. Note sponsorship’s place at the marketing table.
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Filed under: research, sponsorship measurement, sponsorship ROI, telecommunications, trends, endorsements