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Much of our work this month has centred around marcoms relating to physical performance – from fitness and active lifestyles, to athletic excellence and sports sponsorship – and one strategy that links them together is the increasing role of personal participation. One-directional traditional media messages about health claims or associations with sporting achievement are no longer enough as brands increasingly understand that their marketing must spread beyond mere media and actually involve targets and customers in real world physical activities. This trend spans recent work we have done in diverse fields ranging from women’s weight management and Brazilian beer advertising to exploring the theme of Pride in Origin and London 2012 Olympic sponsorship. Connecting advertising, whether it be running across traditional above-the-line or non traditional new media with genuine in person experiences is vital if brands are to develop deep, meaningful, rewarding, lasting and useful relationships with consumers.

 If you would like any further information on the issues explored below or on Insight services in general don’t hesitate to contact us at  mail@xtremeinsight.net  

Understand > Inspire > Direct


 

Brazilian Beer Marcoms
 
 

Body image, fitness and sport are regular creative themes in Brazil, a market in which so much advertising is dominated by soccer, samba and sex (not to mention sun, sea and sand) and campaigns that actually involve consumers directly in football and carnival experiences, as well as helping work towards an idea of physical perfection, are increasingly common. These were some of our findings from a recent positioning project we carried out in the Brazilian beer sector. Whilst there are indeed distinct Brazilian beer brand positions, so many powerful, image-led executions also include the aforementioned sex, soccer and samba themes, so much advertising emphasis on body image and physical performance perhaps isn’t so surprising for a country that has boasts

the world’s highest rates of plastic surgery and gym membership.
 

Women and Weight Management
 
  Physical exercise, training regimes and sporting activities are increasingly integrated into female targeted advertising that revolves around the issue of weight management. Whilst many fashion brands remain wedded to approaches based around stereotypical beauty (and sexual) myths, food, drink and sportswear advertisers now tend to engage by primarily focusing on internal health – prioritising the idea of feeling good and being healthy (and the associated benefits) before connecting this with looking good. A recent category marcoms review we worked on for a female-focused cereal brand explored the wider evolution of weight management in advertising and revealed that most advertisers now include some form of branded utility into their
integrated campaigns – devices, experiences and programmes to actually manage weight (rather than just encouraging and supportive messages on the subject). But imitation is widespread and cut-through is difficult so we are seeing a rise in niche programmes with specific initiatives based around tightly defined demographic groups, or seasonal instances as competitors try and dominate a small section of the space. Interestingly, during our research, Glamour Magazine’s publication of plus-sized model Lizzie Miller in its September edition attracted a wave of media attention as marketers, commentators and industry insiders once again speculated about whether it marked the death-knell for skinny-sized models.  
 

London Olympics – 12 Trends for 2012
 
  Our 30-minute Olympic briefing, 12 Trends for 2012, is proving popular as the UK’s biggest ever advertising event comes firmly onto the radar. Advertisers, brands and agencies, whether with or without a direct involvement or official sponsorship status have taken up our offer of a complimentary in-person presentation – as highlighted in our September newsletter. Participation and involvement has been a major factor in 2012 initiatives to date and we expect this will continue. As a pre-cursor to our comprehensive London 2012 marcoms service, which will launch in early 2010, this stimulus presentation aims to generate ideas and spark thinking by exploring a set of key 2012-relevant marcoms issues and insights – from building anticipation and moving into ownable sporting spaces, to concerns about choosing the right brand ambassador and technology forecasting. If you are interested in this Insight in-person presentation (free of charge) or for more details about our London 2012 service, email us at mail@xtremeinsight.net
 

Pride in Origin and Patriotism
 
  Advertisers and campaigns that adopt strategies deeply rooted in pride in origins and patriotism was one area of focus for a presentation we made as part of an October client workshop. Playing the patriotic card and leveraging national pride have long been used in marketing across many industries and categories – particularly drinks, fashion, food and sport – and again there is an ever increasing emphasis on providing an experience element within an integrated ad campaign that allows people to genuinely participate in and
explore a their sense of national pride. Outstanding recent examples include British Airways’ Great Britons London 2012 campaign, adidas’ ‘This is Not a Jersey’ 2008 initiative with the New Zealand All Blacks and Pepsi’s Refresh Our Nation which coincided with Barack Obama’s inauguration as US President. These ideas have perhaps become even more topical of late as the downturn has seen consumers reassess their priorities and relationships and favour their own communities and countries in issues ranging from manufacturing, jobs and security.
 

CAP Awards Ceremony
 
 

For the third year running we were invited to judge the campaigns entered with CTAM (Cable and Telecommunications Association for Marketing) Creative Awards Programme presented at the organisation’s recent annual EuroSummit in Lisbon. A number of key trends came to light as we analysed and discussed all of the entries – a process always relished by the team. With the incredible growth and influence of mobile broadband across the continent, fixed line broadband providers have had to significantly up their game to ensure that their message (usually based around performance) cuts through creatively against challenging mobile players. It’s also been a year that has seen key

digital television functions and attributes, such as Video-On-Demand and High Definition hit the mainstream, and so truly creative and innovative approaches that still manage to convey the core benefits are necessary to stand-out. Such trends were certainly not lost on some of the campaigns we voted on and our congratulations go to UPC who triumphed in four of the eight categories. 
 

Naming Strategies That Educate & Differentiate
 
  This month we’ve also been working on a couple of projects exploring new product and parent-variant product naming techniques. One of our clients operates in the TV/Telco/Broadband space, a highly functional message-based market where incorrect branding and positioning is a major cause for new products and services to perform below expectations. In our research we identified key steps and strategies in the naming process from competitive analysis, brand positioning and the final stages of testing and development. We also identified four key naming strategies for this sector - Arbitrary, Descriptive, Fanciful & Suggestive - and why some are more popular than others. Descriptive, functional branding tend to be the norm in the
TV/Telco/Broadband sector (other industries take markedly different approaches of course), but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best option when trying to both educate on a new service and differentiate from competitors.
 

Insight Youth ‘Recession Special’
 
  The headlines may focus on high profile victims of the recession and the lost billions of the world’s richest, but as a generation it is the current youth segment that looks set to be most affected by the economic downturn. As such, the latest issue of Insight Youth examines how the world’s youngsters – dubbed ‘Generation Crunch’ in the UK and ‘Generation OMG’ in America – are coping with their first major recession and what governments, and in some cases brands, are doing to help them through it. The report boasts a selection of articles combining editorial analysis and expert opinion from across the
globe, as well as a showcase of the most successful and innovative youth-targeted recession-related campaigns thus far. To order or to see extracts email matthew.carlton@xtremeinsight.net  
 

About Us
 

Xtreme Insight is a boutique marketing consultancy providing bespoke research across the advertising, branding, communication and marketing space. Our work includes campaign, brand, competitor and media analysis to provide insights into areas such as ad auditing, benchmarking, best practice, as well as briefing, creative and strategic development through reports, presentations, showcases and workshops.

 

If you would like any further information on Insight’s services visit our website at www.xtremeinsight.net or contact us at mail@xtremeinsight.net  


 
 

 
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