Thursday, July 5, 2012

If Your Ad Gets Laughs, It's Likely to Get Buyers

The best way to win buyers is to win laughs, according to a new study from Nielsen. Humorous campaigns do better than price- and promotion-centered ads regardless of the economy, Nielsen reports. Its study looked at 4,000 packaged-goods commercials from 2006 through 2011, evaluating the effectiveness of various creative approaches before, during and after the recent recession. "Effectiveness" reflects measures such as appeal and likability, ad recall and purchase intent. But if you're not confident of your ability to tickle consumers with humor, you might try another creative tactic that outperforms price and promotion: value. Value-centric ads go beyond price to communicate benefits such as convenience and affordability. Ads about value saw a significant lift in effectiveness and outperformed price and promotion pitches during recession, noted the study. For more, see the Advertising Age story at http://adage.com/article/news/study-ads-prices-work-recession/235526/

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Marketers Face the New Challenges of 'Big Data'

"Big Data" -- that messy, massive flood of digital customer information -- is creating big challenges for direct marketers. We note the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) is recognizing the issue with a new "List Source Big Data Optimization Workshop," co-hosted with CRM leader Merkle, this July in New York City. One problem, aptly described in a recent DM News piece by John Mullin at Javelin, is just the "functional overload" of big data capture, analysis and real-time use. Enterprises globally stored more than 7 billion gigabytes of new data in 2010, and the tide of information keeps rising.  But other knotty issues are emerging. Mullin notes a growing schism among direct marketers who assume you can work in big data or big creative, but not both. Plus, he foresees potential consumer alienation from an overwhelming blitz of information. And where's the line between Big Data and Big Brother? The recent flap about Orbitz steering Mac users to pricier hotels is just the first inkling of potential controversies. For more, read http://www.dmnews.com/the-birth-agonies-of-big-data/article/244316/