Millward Brown Perspectives Vol. 6

PerspectivesVolume 6

Dear Friends of Millward Brown,

In todays fast-moving digital world Millward Brown continually leverages new technologies. For the past five years, weve published Perspectives, an annual compendium of our perspective on issues weighing on the minds of marketers around the world. In our latest issue, weve gone mobile with the release of our iPad magazine app, which we plan to update quarterly. If youre reading this letter, you have already downloaded the app or the PDF from our website, and you now have the latest Millward Brown thinking at your fingertips.

When I say we leverage new technologies, I mean that on so many more fronts than just the mobile format were using to deliver thought leadership! Youll see that nearly half of the articles in this edition of Perspectives touch on the role of digital and mobile channels in brand building. We hope youll follow us closely over the next year as we make a number of important announcements about our enhanced digital capabilities. We see 2013 as a particularly exciting year on this front.

This issue also features thinking on the fast growing BRIC markets, neuroscience, and the art and science of brand building from the importance of brand ideals to our newly launched Meaningfully Different framework and how both create financial value for brand owners.

As always, wed love to hear from you regarding the pressing issues on your mind. Our goal is to use the collective learning and amazing talent of our teams, and our vast data assets to help you answer the big marketing questions of the day. Please do reach out to me or to any member of our extended team Millward Brown, Dynamic Logic, Firefly Millward Brown, and MaPS with suggestions on how we can best serve your evolving needs.

With warmest regards,

Eileen Campbell, Global Chief Executive Officer, Millward [email protected]

Welcome to Perspectives

ContentsVolume 6

Point of View

PUBLiSHeD ARtiCLeS

KnowLeDGe PointS

P o i n t o f V i e w

While they are accustomed to changing the creative content of their campaigns on a regular basis, there is no automatic driver that encourages the adoption of new media channels, and marketers themselves may be disinclined to make changes. Changing established media allocations is risky; weighing the options requires time and effort. The fear of making the wrong decision can make exploration seem daunting.

But avoiding innovation carries its own risk. The world moves forward, and those who dont advance with it will be left behind. Marketers need a way to embrace change without being swallowed up by it. How can they manage that process?

In 2011, Jonathan Mildenhall, vice president of global advertising strategy and content excellence at the Coca-Cola Company, introduced his companys new approach to investing in creative content. Coke is implementing a model they call the 70|20|10 investment principle, an adaptation of the established 70|20|10 protocol for apportioning resources or investment.i Mildenhall explained that in its quest to double the size of its business by 2020, Coca-Cola would apportion its communications spend as follows:

70%wouldsupportlow-risk,bread-and-buttercontent. 20%wouldbeusedtoinnovatebasedonwhathasworkedinthepast. 10%wouldfundhigh-riskcontentinvolvingbrand-newideas.

We think this approach makes a lot of sense. It has worked for Google, where thecompanyimplementeditasawaytomanageinnovation,applying70%of itsworkforce effort to core businesses, 20% to adjacent products, and10%tohighlyexperimentalinnovationforthelongterm.

We expect it will also work for Coke as they innovate in developing their creative content. Furthermore, we think that the application of 70|20|10 can go beyond creative content to media planning, specifically in terms of the allocation of resources to new channels such as mobile and social media. In fact, we believe so strongly in this approach that we are proposing it to our clients as the framework they can use to change channels with confidence.

DUNCAN SOUTHGATEGlobal Brand Director, Digital

JOHN SVENDSENGlobal Brand Director, Media


New media channels are emerging all the time, and marketers are often unclear how to choose among them

Changing Channels with Confidence: A Structure for

innovation

A STrUCTUrED ApprOACH TO INNOVATION

Amaras Law ii states that we tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run. The adoption of a 70|20|10 approach is a way of counteracting both of these tendencies.

However, the 70|20|10 model should not be considered a strict formula. The precise allocations are not important; what is essential is that some fixed proportion of spend is regularly devoted to innovation. This practice will encourage forward thinking and experimentation in a disciplined and structured way. By using such a framework, brands can steer a safe and prosperous middle path while evolving both their media and their research budgets.

While 70|20|10 is new as a formal framework for media planning, some brands have already experienced great success in applying its principles. One example is Sheilas Wheels, a UK insurance brand targeted at women.When their first offering, car insurance, was launched in October 2005, thebrand invested30%of itsTVbudget intosponsoringdrama.Thiswasconsidered innovative at a time when most insurance brands focused almost exclusively on TV spot advertising. This venture helped Sheilas Wheelsreach an awareness level of 75% just three months after launch, and tosurpassitsinternalsalestargetsby65%duringthefirstyear.SheilasWheelssubsequently expanded its sponsorship allocation, and in 2008, when the company launched its home insurance product, it made sponsorship its largest platform by investing 10 million (equivalent to US$20 million) in one ofBritish televisionsbiggestsponsorshipsslots: the ITVNationalWeatherbroadcast. Thus in a short time, sponsorship became an important. 70%activity for the brand.

THE 70|20|10 AllOCATION

70% The Comfort ZoneFormostbrands, the70%zoneof low-risk,bread-and-buttermarketing islikelytoinvolveestablishedchannelssuchasTV,print,outdoor,andradio.But this will vary across categories and countries. A strong FMCG/CPG brand intheUnitedStatesmightuseTV,outdoor,onlinedisplay,andonlinevideo.A brand in a considered purchase category in Germany might use print, sports sponsorship, online search, and online display. A new service brand inJapanmightuseTV,eventsponsorship,mobiledisplay,andQRcodes.Forsomebrands,the70%couldalsoincludeword-of-mouthmarketing.

Buttosaythat70%ofthebudgetshouldfundcommunicationsinchannelsthatareconsideredtobesafe,familiar,andeffectiveisnottosaythat70%of a media budget should remain static from year to year. Based on ongoing learning and evolving brand objectives, channel composition within the 70%couldvarysignificantlyovertimeandfromcampaigntocampaign.

20% Innovating Around What WorksInnovating around media approaches that are known to be effective could include a broad range of options. It could mean taking a small risk, such as increasing your spend on a channel that seemed to work well in your 10% last year. It couldmeanspendingbehinda channelwhereyoudonthave concrete research evidence of a return on investment. Or it could mean taking a risk in an established channel that is familiar to you, perhaps by sponsoring a sporting event for the first time when you have previously been known for associations with music festivals.

For many brands across a range of categories, social media currently falls intothe20%category.Brandshavesomepracticalexperienceandstronglybelieve in the exciting new ways social media allows them to interact with their consumers. But they still have questions about the return on their investment, and they are still learning how to create and deliver campaigns that are truly social by design.

10% Into the UnknownThe 10% zone is the place where genuine experimentation takes placewith new and emerging channels. But this risk-taking should be in line with brand and campaign objectives; iPhone apps and Pinterest pages are right for some brands, but not all.

Formanybrands,mobilecurrentlyfalls intothe10%category.Themobilemarketing landscape continues to evolve as ownership of smartphones and tablets grows rapidly around the world, and questions abound about the best ways to take advantage of these new opportunities.

Coke UK is reported to have a mobile first mentality in their planning process. Starting with the 10% not only ensures that 10% innovation happens; italso ensures that these projects are given due consideration and a chance to play an integral role in the overall campaign, rather than being seen as afterthoughts.


Changing Channels with Confidence: A Structure for innovation

THE 70|20|10 AND rESEArCH BUDGETS

Research and measurement are key drivers of innovation, so the 70|20|10 principle should be applied to the research budget as well. Table 1 summarizes the goals and outcomes for both the media and research choices within each of the three types of activity. However, as we stated at the outset, the critical element of the 70|20|10 approach is the commitment to consistently allocate resources to new channels, even if the proportions are not exactly 70|20|10. For research expenses, the proportions could vary widely, and they might not be the same as the proportions used for media. For measurement ofthe10%andthe20%,youmayendupoverinvestingifresearchneedstobe created specifically to measure the return from a new channel. To really understand how a new channel works, it may be necessary to spend as much on research as on the media itself.

However, we are not suggesting that researchers can afford to take their eyesoffthe70%.

Even when the media used are known to be effective, learning from research may call for incremental adjustments that will have significant effects. And there are very compelling arguments for investing in research that can help to optimize the mix across channels.

70|20|10 IN prACTICE

When assessing how your current media budget stacks up against 70|20|10, it is important to consider all the costs involved in a particular channel. Projectsinthe10%zonearelikelytoberelativelyresourceintensiveevenif media costs are low. Therefore, to ensure that the 70|20|10 approach is applied comprehensively and fairly across the full spectrum of paid, owned, and earned media channels, brands need to weigh all the costs associated with each channel, including not only hard media outlays but also the cost of support, production, and organizational expenses.

In large companies, experimentation may be spread across brand portfolios or markets. One sub-brand may attempt an augmented reality campaign while another builds a mobile app. Pooling learning in this way improves the breadth of experimentation possible and helps speed progress in identifying thechannelsmostlikelytomovefromthe10%tothe20%infutureyears.Research budgets will likewise go further if partners can be recruited. Media agencies, media owners, and research agencies all have an interest in understanding how new channels work and might be eager to participate in joint projects.

CONClUSION

Marketers consider channel optimization every time they plan new campaigns. Some are actively involved in changing their channel mix, while others leave these recommendations to their media agencies. Marketers that adopt a 70|20|10 approach will know that new channels will be given a chance to shine and that their media plans will evolve through a systematic process. By overlaying a comparable approach to research planning, companies can ensure that they extract maximum learning from this process. Marketing and insight-generation skills will evolve in parallel, and the ultimate result will be a meaningful difference in brand success.


TABLE 1702010 for MEdiA And rEsEArch

coMforT ZonE (70)

innovATE on WhAT Works (20)

ThE UnknoWn (10)

GoALsReach target with intended messages.

Extend both reach and strategy.

See if it works!

oUTcoMEsCampaign delivers as expected against plan.

A familiar strategy is extended, with some ROI, some pleasant surprises.

Practical learning and ideas for the future, with an occasional runaway success.

GoALsEvaluate communication/ effectiveness of media mix.

Identify media impact.

Assess channel potential/gain ideas.

TypE of rEsEArch

Mainly established techniques.

Mix of newer and established techniques.

Brand-new approaches, trial and error.

oUTcoMEs

Incremental optimization gains make a large absolute difference.

Optimize/extend use of channel.

Winners and losers identified (failure of campaign is successful learning).

rEsE

Arch

MEdi

A

Changing Channels with Confidence: A Structure for innovation

Beyond the two weeks packed with excitement and good feelings, the 2012 London Summer Olympics is set to leave its own lasting legacy for Britain and the world.

THE pOWEr OF STOrIES

The greatest legacy of the London Games, and of all Olympic Games, is in their stories. The stories that unfold during the Olympics turn into legends that stay with us and inspire future generations. Stories make us care. A powerful story can make us care about a sport weve never watched, a person weve never met, or a country weve never visited or even located on a map.

Among the stories we witnessed this past summer: American swimmer Michael Phelps becoming the most decorated Olympian ever; South African swimmer Chad le Closwho was 12 years old when he was inspired by Michael Phelps in 2004beating Phelps in the 100-meter butterfly; Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt winning gold in both the 100 and 200 meters (and leading the Jamaican sweep in that event); and South African Blade Runner Oscar Pistorius competing in both the Olympics and the Paralympics. These athletes join icons such as track and field star Carl Lewis, a gold medalist in four separate Olympics, and gymnast NadiaComaneci,stillheldupasanexemplarofperfectionafterscoringperfect10s in 1976.

Marketers understand the power of stories. Thats why brands work so hard to bring out their own stories on the world stage, from Coca-Cola celebrating 125 years of sharing happiness to Omega opening a museum dedicated to the history of its watch brand. Brands are more than products we buy. Brands are ideas we buy into. Stories, more than any other marketing component, facilitate that process of buying in.

THE CHAllENGE OF OlyMpIC SpONSOrSHIp

The power to enrich brand equity by the values, stories, and associations linked with the Olympic Games has brands forking out hundreds of millions for the privilege of being called Olympic sponsors. But successfully activating an Olympic sponsorship presents a unique set of challenges. First, there is the challenge of being heard among so many sponsors vying for attention at the same time. Then there is the issue of relevance. How does a brand contribute to the Olympic ideal of faster, higher, stronger? How can sponsors prove that their brands are relevant to the Games?

In their article Building Brand Image Through Event Sponsorship: The Role of Image Transfer, published in the Winter 1999 issue of the Journal of Advertising, Kevin Gwinner and John Eaton refer to two kinds of relevance for event sponsors: function-based similarity, where the sponsors product is actually used in the event, and image-based similarity, where the sponsors image is convergent with that of the event.

It is very easy for a sports brand to score highly on functional relevance. If we consider the 2012 Olympic sponsors, Adidas was the only brand with a very obvious and direct link to sports.

As the Official Sportswear Partner of London 2012, Adidas led the way at the Olympic Games by outfitting more than 80,000 Games Makers (Olympic volunteers) and supplying kit for 3,000 athletes. The brands Take the Stage campaign was very convincing, and Adidas was fortunate in being able to sponsor some highly successful Olympians, including gold medalists Jessica Ennis (heptathlon)andBradleyWiggins (cycling).NowonderAdidassawthehighest brand impact among the sponsors on many counts, including short-term sales pickup. Research by Nielsen found that Adidas was regarded asthe most inspirational and most empowering brand among all the sponsors, and social media research from Sociability identified Adidas as the brand that created the most positive buzz during the Games.

For brands that dont have an obvious functional connection to the Olympics, its harder to justify the appropriateness of a sponsorship. This is where the true art of marketing and creativity kicks in, especially in the form of storytelling. By telling great convincing stories well, brands can create very visible and successful sponsorship programs.

This past summer, the various sponsors told their different stories in different ways, and some fared better than others. Here is my take on the results of the Sponsorship Storytelling event:

THE BrONZE MEDAl GOES TO:

BMW, the Official Automotive Partner forthe London Games

The story of BMWs Olympic sponsorship is in the mileage it got out of product placement opportunities. One achievement was the showcasing of 4,000 cars dressed in Olympic livery as best in class in terms of fuel economy. Even more impressivewasputtingBMW-ownedMINIsinviewofclosetoonebillionpeoplearound the world during the Opening Ceremony. But the real coup was the employmentofafleetofradio-controlledminiatureMINIsusedatthetrackandfield events. In a stadium that was brand-and advertising-free, as many as 80,000 spectators (not to mention the television audience) could see the adorable mini-MINIsretrievingjavelins,discuses,hammers,andshots,savingtimeandeffortanddrawingsmilesallaround.OnthebackofthisentertainingMINI-spectacle,BMW rapidly climbed the table published by CityAM, jumping from fifth to third place by the end of the first week of the Games.

Brands are ideas we buy into. Stories, more than any other marketing component, facilitate the process of buying in


ANASTASIA KOUrOVSKAIAVice President, Millward Brown Optimor

Every two years, the world stops to watch the greatest show on earth: the Olympic Games. The appeal of the Olympics is

universal; its impact, tremendous, and the London 2012Summer Olympic Games were no exception.

Creative Storytelling: for Sponsors, an olympic Sport

THE SIlVEr MEDAl GOES TO:

BT, the Official CommunicationsServices Partner for the London Games.

The story of BTs successful sponsorship has its roots in the companys early and unwavering enthusiasm for Londons bid for the Olympic Games. BT not only provided IT and technical expertise during the bid process, but also worked in a variety of ways to generate support for the bid among an ambivalent public. Then, after being announced as the Official Telecommunications Partner of the Games in 2008, they embraced the sponsorship opportunity, continuing to beat the drum for the Olympics and Paralympics. Using minimal advertising, they based their strategy on Olympic-themed activities, among them the sponsorship of the National Portrait Gallerys Road to 2012 exhibition aswell as the sponsorship of a competition for would-be torchbearers. They consistently celebrated milestones to the Games; the celebration of 1,000 days to go featured spectacular fireworks from the top of the BT Tower that were broadcast around the world.

It looks like BTs strategy of focusing on activation and taking the Games to the people paid off, as on a modest budget BT generated over 60 million in media-equivalent coverage and engaged with tens of thousands of consumers.

AND THE GOlD MEDAl GOES TO:

Worldwide Olympic Partner Procter & Gamblefor their outstanding multilevel campaign

P&G took on a multilevel challenge with their sponsorship: to link both the corporate name and a number of individual brands to the Games. And they met the challenge with a brilliant and multifaceted campaign that garnered acclaim from many sources. The shining centerpiece of P&Gs effort was the corporate Thank you, Mom campaign, which featured both the P&G umbrella and individual brands. Ads that focused on the hardest, best job in the world paid tribute to mothers everywhere who sacrifice and work tirelessly to support their children. Mom-umentaries that featured the stories of great athletes as toldbytheirmothersranonTVandcouldalsobeviewedonFacebookpagesset up for 29 countries.

Brand-level campaigns continued with the theme of raising an athlete. For example, ads for Fairy Liquid informed us that it takes 20,000 meals (and dishes) to raise an athlete. A Pampers ad featuring beach volleyball gold-medalist Kerri Walsh thanking her mom, Margie, achieved an unparalleled level of immediacy and relevance when it ran during the break of one of Kerris matches. After the Games, Pampers is continuing its Spirit of Play campaign, which features Olympians and their young children.

P&Gs laundry detergent Ariel starred in theProud Keepers of our NationsColors campaign, which was localized for countries from Mexico to Turkey, Ireland to the Philippines. And as a Londoner, I was very impressed by the P&G Capital Clean-up, a branded version of the annual Capital Clean-up, in which P&G sponsored a number of branded clean-up activities prior to the Games.

lESSONS FOr ASpIrING SpONSOrS

If you are a brand marketer who aspires to someday compete on the world stage in sponsorship storytelling, what can you learn from the London Games? How can you emulate the most successful sponsors? We have the following suggestions.

Make your brand a part of the storyNone of the brands on our medalstand had a functional connection to sports, but they found ways to weave themselves into the London 2012 story anyway. They looked for roles to be filled and created parts for themselves. BT was not only the communications

specialist, but also a lead cheerleader for the Games and for London. BMW not only exploited theMINIs heritage in evoking the home countrys pride, butcleverlycreatedafunctionalrolefortheMINI.Sowhetheryouresponsoringthegiant slalom, the Soap Box Derby, or a regional spelling bee, work your brand into the story of the event.

Be creativeAsDominicTwosepointsoutinhisPOVCreativityinAdvertising:Eyebrows,aGreekBanquet,aViolin,andSomeInvisibleFish,creativityaidsmemorability.Theright creative treatment can plant emotional associations so deeply that people simply cant forget them.Themini-MINIsdelightedusandfixedan indelibleimage in our memories, linking the cars to the Games. The P&G ads showing pint-sized, baby-faced competitors preparing to dive off the platform or mount the balance beam enabled us to see Olympic athletes as sons and daughters, and that vision filled us with prideboth vicarious pride in the upbringing of our national champions, and real pride in the hard work of rearing our own children (with the help of products from P&G). Find a new and different way to make your audience emote, or at least smile, and you have a chance to form a lasting impression.

Go the distanceThe successful sponsorships were the result of expansive vision and sustained effort. BT started early and stayed in for the long haul. P&G extended its vision across its brandsand rolled up its sleeves. It got behind the Capital Clean-up campaign, and in its home country, the United States, committed to raising $5 million to support youth sports programs. P&G may have sponsored the Olympics, but it used the opportunity to lend support to other ongoing causesnational and civic pride, and support for young people.

Whether youre sponsoring the giant slalom or the regional spelling bee, work your brand into the story of the event




THE SpONSOrSHIp GAMES: plAy TO WIN

An Olympic sponsorship is a huge investment for a brand. And yet securing the sponsorship is just the beginning. Sponsorship rights are the steep entry fee you must pay for the chance to get your brands name on the program.

But tens of millions of dollars should buy more than just name recognition. To form meaningful and lasting associations that will build your brand, you need to dig deeper. Invoke the story of the event and knit your brand into it. Create a relevant part for your brand, and the rewards will be great: When the race is over, your brand will be embedded in the compelling stories that form the core of our Olympic memories.

Invoke the story of the event and knit your brand into it. Create a relevant part for your

brand, and the rewards will be great


In todays world, its a certainty that brands will encounter numerous uncontrolled interruptions as they try to engage and persuade people. We need to better grasp the reality of clutter and turbulence in the modern communications world and the dramatic effects these phenomena have on advertising impact. And though the term the Cloud is already familiar in the context of Internet-based computing, we think that a cloud is also an apt metaphor to describe the fluid and unpredictable mix of messages and influences that surround todays consumers.

ClUTTEr

It is a general trend that more clients are using more media to communicate to more consumers in more ways. As Internet penetration grows worldwide, so too do the opportunities to communicate, both for existing advertisers and for new players who enjoy lower entry costs for marketing. Our estimates suggest that Internet-enabled people experience at least 40 percent more display ads. How many messages are getting lost in all this noise?

WeallknowabouttheevilsofTVadvertisingclutter,butfordecades,evenmoreclutter has existed in radio, print, posters, and outdoor advertising. People have become acclimatized to it and have become very good at detecting tiny bits of relevance buried in masses of irrelevance. In response to still more clutter, people simplyand unconsciouslygear up for a higher level of selectivity.

Andwehaveseentheresults.WehaveseentheimpactdifferentlevelsofTVclutter have had across countries: The more clutter there is, the harder it is for the average ad to cut through. Here the word average is important. Advertising that resonates with its intended target can significantly outperform weaker competition. But producing better-than-average advertising may be easier said than done.

TUrBUlENCE

In the past, advertisers and their competitors would follow similar plans. They would battle for hearts and minds across the same territories and time frames. Today, however, the spread of messaging is becoming more diverse over both media and time as clients mix individual campaigns with ongoing engagement programs.

Advertisers have made these adaptations in response to changes in consumer behavior. Through social and search media, people have more ways to talk to each other about products and services; nowadays it is easy for people to do their own research or get advice from experts. A simple online search reveals a vast new wealth of options to explore beyond actually buying the major mainstream brands. One shopper might decide to buy the shops own brand since someone told her it was just as good. Another might be attracted by the offer of a fun-loving new category entrant. Someone shopping for vacation packages might change course midstream and decide to build his own holiday, while creative types might be inspired by an online forum to make their own hummus.

At any stage on the path to purchase, a shopper might veer off in a different direction. There is no telling when or where a consumer might encounter a new idea or a competitive or confounding message. As my daughter would say, How random is that! How do you manage communications in such circumstances?

A NEW MODEl: ClOUD THINKING

We think marketers can still succeed in this new world, but success will require a new way of thinking, which will lead to a different model of communication and messaging. We think a different paradigm is needed, one that focuses not just on the consumer and the media, but also on the environment in which todays consumers exist.

In thinking about the complex infrastructure of tomorrows communications, we like the aforementioned metaphor of a Cloud. The Cloud is the composite noise surrounding every person. Each individuals Cloud consists of all the influences that person is exposed to that could possibly affect brand perceptions. These influences could occur at any time at any place through any mechanism. They include communication activities of the brand or its competitors, brand experiences, things other people have said or written in the media, and in-store

SUE ElMSHead of Global BrandsMillward Brown


There is no telling when or where a consumer might encounter a new idea or a competitive or cofounding message

Businesses spend a lot of money on brand communications because they know that effective communications are vital to brand health and wealth. The imperative is to build brand preference among consumers and to hold

onto it in the long term. But the risk is greater than ever that communication will not hit home or that it will be

counteracted by uncontrolled influences.

integrated Planning: Standing out in the Cloud


In thinking about the complex infrastructure of tomorrows communications, we like the aforementioned metaphor of a Cloud. The Cloud is the composite noise surrounding every person. Each individuals Cloud consists of all the influences that person is exposed to that could possibly affect brand perceptions. These influences could occur at any time at any place through any mechanism. They include communication activities of the brand or its competitors, brand experiences, things other people have said or written in the media, and in-store activities.

The Cloud varies in density at different times and in different places, and is continually in motion as the prevailing winds blow items closer to and farther away from the person in the middle. The Cloud accompanies each person through all of his or her daily activities, good and bad, fun and boring, planned and unplanned.

Cloud thinking gives us much needed humility in thinking about peoples consciousness of brands. At best, any one brand can make up only a very small part of a persons Cloud, and the pressure it exerts there will depend on the frequency of its contacts as well as the degree to which people experience those contacts as resonant.

COMMUNICATIONS prINCIplES FOr THE FUTUrE

Thinking about the communications infrastructure as a Cloud leads us to identify a few key principles of communication planning.

Always understand the now of the brandStrong brands need to stand for something, especially in this new, complex, and interconnected world. But the Cloud makes it difficult for them. In the Cloud, it is all too easy for even strong brands to lose their clarity. There are so many points of contact and so many conflicting impressions. So, as marketers focus on making connections with individuals, they need to remember that few brands, and even fewer consumers, are truly clean slates. Consumers will always synergize their brand impressions against the prevailing associations in their personal Clouds. Uncovering these associationswhich form the attitudinal backdrop for a brandis the secret for brands hoping to resonate with consumers. This makes it vital to always know the now of the brandthat is, what this attitudinal backdrop is. This is why tracking in one form or another will become even more vital as a marketing tool to understand the current intensity of peoples emotions, knowledge, and experiences relating to a brand.

Identify the center of gravity For long-established brands like Coke and Harley-Davidson, attitudinal backdrops will have been created in the pre-Cloud era and will gravitate toward a compelling center of gravity, such as a mass agenda or a brand ideal, that enables people to instinctively recognize the brand and what it stands for through whatever brand impression they encounter. Such iconic brands may not need to spend time and money on creating new mass agendas. But new or struggling brands doand they need to find a way to build and maintain these in the Cloud.

Plan for meaningful coincidencesSometimes people make intentional contact with a brand, as when they use it, buy it, research it, or discuss it with someone else (particularly when theyre in a seeking mode). The more often this happens, the better off the brand will beas long as the brand meets expectations after it has been sought out and acquired. In fact, for a brand not to be there when and where people are looking for it is one of marketings biggest financial crimes.

Historically, we have been able to rely on television advertising to prime consumers and encourage response to other brand activities. We have clearly seen from CrossMedia evaluations that prior exposure to TV commercialssignificantly improves response to other brand activities; at the same time, these otherbrandactivitiesdeliverdeeperconnectionsthanTVcandoalone.Whena job is toughlike a launch or repositioningwe have seen how important multiple media exposure is. But in the new world, achieving these media synergies within a defined time period is going to be more difficult.

A lot more effort will have to go into understanding peoples lives and finding moments when they are open to the brand and when the brands communications could be relevant to them. On the positive side, digital media present increasing opportunities to be part of peoples lives in more places and on more occasions, and should help advertisers by providing far more contextually relevant opportunities to talke.g., on the bus, in a coffee shop, in the pub, in a waiting room.

Maximize the impact of every contactIts hard for brands to push or pull Cloud-enveloped consumers directly, so influence is more likely to come from small nudges as individuals run into a multiplicity of brand connections in different orders over time. Communications will have to give up the notion of storytelling in favor of facilitating the process

through which consumers piece together an overall view from a long tail of connections. The challenge will be to ensure that any combination of elements, encountered in any order, will be effective, and that any gaps in exposure (even someone skipping allTVads)willnotmattertoomuch.

Though their specific tasks may differ, each impression must stay true to the core idea of the brand, and must be designed to prime and recruit other impressions in the Cloud. It will be vital to find something that works through every connection. Iconography,

symbolism, idiom, and implicit communication will become far more important to support the delivery of powerful and synergistic brand impressions.

Throw away the pseudo-scientific media planIn the future, marketing campaigns wont have discrete beginnings, middles, and endings. Already we see a move from campaigns to continuous communications. Already we have clients asking us to evaluate ongoing social programs integrated with long-term brand content, as well as sponsorship programs combined with advertising activity to boost specific tasks. While there will always be plenty of science in the evaluation of response to in-market exposuredigital media measurement ensures thisplanning will need to become more creative, connected, and bold. Media planning will be about distributing various forms of brand content that will be relevant to people in different decision states, regardless of the order in which it is distributed. The end game will be share of Cloud. We certainly look forward to seeing visualizations of expected market impact that are far more inspiring than the current Excel worksheets of media research numbers!

CONClUSION

Cloud thinking helps us more easily embrace the complexity of the present and future communications world, and embracing that complexity is essential if we are to help brands succeed. Cloud thinking encourages planning that is creative, connected, and bold, both within and across disciplines. As a result of this new way of thinking and the planning it generates, brands will be able to make solid and genuine connections with consumers in an environment that is constantly in flux. Through those connections, brands can build the strong and long-lasting consumer relationships that lead to financial success.

Communications will have to give up the notion of storytelling in favor of facilitating the process through which consumers piece together an overall view from a long tail of connections

integrated Planning: Standing out in the Cloud

The Cloud is the composite noise surrounding every person. Each individuals Cloud consists of all the influences that person is exposed to that could possibly affect brand perceptions

yet among the mindless white noise of modern marketing, a few brands stand out from the crowd. Admired and packed with meaning, these truly iconic brands inspire passion and fierce loyalty among their customers. They represent the gold standard of branding. Any marketer worth his salt would die to work with an iconic brandor better yet, to help create one. But the process by which brands become iconic is often more accidental than designed.

In his book How Brands Become Icons, former Oxford University professor Douglas Holt sheds light on the nature and origins of iconic brands. In that work, he asserts that iconic brands respond to a societys desires and cultural tensions by drawing on their own unique myths and stories. However, the anecdotal nature of Holts approach makes his findings difficult to apply to less distinguished brands. And most brands cannot hope that a societal trend or need will suddenly make their brand meaningful and result in its being adopted as a cultural icon. So what universal themes apply to all brands, not just those that are already iconic? What guidelines can be applied to make any brand more successful? This point of view seeks to address those questions.

BEyOND rECOGNITION: SyMBOlS AND MEANING

One characteristic of iconic brands is that they are instantly recognizable. In my 2007POVoniconicbrands,IcitedthefamiliarshapesofLegos,theVWBeetle,and the golden arches of McDonalds. The Oreo cookie, which turned 100 years old earlier this month, is another examplethe dark embossed biscuits sandwiching the white cream center make Oreos easily distinguishable from any other cookie. Powerful visual cues such as these confer major advantages, but recognition alone does not constitute iconicity. Advertising icons such as the Pillsbury Doughboy, the GEICO Gecko, and Aleksandr Orlov (the meerkat of comparethemarket.com) make their brands recognizable without making them iconic.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines an icon as a person or thing regarded as a representative symbol of a culture, movement, etc.; someone or something afforded great admiration or respect. I believe this definition works well for iconic brands; it suggests that they must not only be easily recognizable, but also stand for something that people admire and consider meaningful.

In his book Brand Meaning, Mark Batey dedicates a lot of space to symbolism, which, according to Batey, is one of the constituents of brand meaning. Symbols like the Marlboro cowboy or the Harley-Davidson eagle stimulate the imagination and, through the power of suggestion and association, connect to ideas and values. It is the symbolic importance of an iconic brands identity that enables it to leverage its recognition far beyond that of other brands. And, once recognition has been achieved, that symbolism helps ensure that a brands meaning is understood and shared across a wide audience.

Meaning is critical to successful brands and to iconic brands in particular. Iconic brands are not just distinctive; they are different in a way that is meaningful. The Oreo has a characteristic appearance, but it also stands out in peoples minds for the sensory rituals they associate with eating it (twisting the wafers apart and licking the cream, dunking in milk) and the warm feelings of sharing

those experiences with family and friends. Those good feelings are kept alive with ads that show people interacting over Oreos: brother with brother, mother with son, grandfather with granddaughter. These idyllic depictions represent family life as we might wish to experience it, and they evoke a powerful response.

The second of Douglas Holts iconic brand principles is that iconic brands develop

identity myths that address peoples desires and anxieties. The Marlboro man represents the values of the Western frontier: He is strong, independent, and capable. By presenting a consistent image over time, the brand has come to embody the frontier myth that now proves particularly appealing in developing economies. But Marlboros time as an iconic exemplar may be nearing an end because, in Marlboros homeland, the nature of iconic brands has changed. Instead of presenting identities that they grow into, some of todays most iconic Western brands embody those identities from the start. Their identity myths have become experiential and vital. For example, Red Bull was designed from the ground up to appeal to a specific mindset, and the energy drink has been marketed with unique advertising and a wide variety of adrenaline-inspired events.

Powerful visual cues confer major advantages for brands, but recognition alone does not constitute iconicity

NIGEl HOllISChief Global AnalystMillward Brown


The easily distinguishable Oreo cookie

In todays complex and busy world, brand names are everywhereplastered all over websites, inside

subway cars, on the sides of buses, and even in public toilets. But most of the time, even though theyre

accepted as part of the scenery, these brand names dont signify much to those who observe them.

what we Can Learn from iconic Brands

A COMpEllING BrAND ExpErIENCE

An iconic brand is recognizable not because it has invested in decades of heavy marketing spend, but because it delivers a powerful brand experience that is founded in the brands purpose. Oreos would not be iconic if people didnt think they tasted good. And no matter how aesthetically pleasing Apples devices are, Apple would not be iconic if its user interfaces were clunky. As Holt proposes, iconic brands transcend functional benefits, but that does not mean that they have ignored functional benefits (or that they can afford to ignore them in the future). Therefore, in terms of evaluating a brands iconic potential, I would first look at the brands ability to meet a specific functional need. A brand that can meet a need or gratify a desire in a unique and meaningful way has an opportunity to build the strong emotional attachment that is the cornerstone of iconicity.

Meaning is critical to successful and iconic brands.Iconic brands are not just distinctive; they are different in a way that is meaningful

THE pEOplES CAr THAT BECAME AN ICON

In 1933, Ferdinand Porsche was charged by German chancellor Adolf Hitler to develop a car for the masses. Critical requirements in the specs for the Volkswagen(literally,peoplescarinGerman)includedtheabilitytotransporttwo adults and three children at 100 km/h (62 mph) and a price that would make it affordable for average working people.

Firstproducedin1938,theVolkswagenT1,laternicknamedtheBeetle,becameone of the most iconic vehicles of all time. The unique design was denigrated by some, but after World War II, the reliable, economical, and affordable vehicle was exactly what the impoverished people of Germany required. Those same characteristics later appealed to hippies and others who were pursuing alternative lifestyles during the 1960s. The Beetle appeared in many movies and spawned a number of other nicknames, a sure sign of a brand thats embedded in popular culture. The 1998 reintroduction of the Beetle was successful in large part because it tapped into those positive feelings while bringing the product up to date.

THE pOWEr OF pUrpOSE

In combination with its quirky looks, the Beetles ability to meet peoples transportation needs kindled the public affection that ultimately made the car an icon. Look behind the symbolism of most iconic brands and you will find someone with a vision of how a product could serve a specific need better than the existing alternatives. When a brands purpose or ideal resonates with a particular group of people, the brand moves one step closer to becoming iconic.

Google originated as a research project by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, an effort to find a better way to rank the relevance of search results than simply counting the appearances of a search term on a page. By redefining the

way people used the web, Page and Brin addressed the need to organize the worlds information and make it universally accessible and useful. The intersection of the widespread need to find information quickly with the better solution offered by Google, which included a simple and uncluttered user interface, resulted in Google becoming the success it is today.

In his book Grow: How Ideals Power Growth and Profit at the Worlds Greatest Companies (published in 2011), former Procter & Gamble CMO Jim Stengel describes the common feature he identified across dozens of highly successful brands: a brand ideal. A brand ideal is a purpose that goes beyond a product or service. Its the higher-order benefit that the business provides to the world, the companys most fundamental reason for being. Pursuing a brand ideal may not make your brand iconic, but it can be one step along that roada step that, by offering people something that makes their lives better, will also motivate your workforce and help to ensure a healthy profit.



FIVE prINCIplES FOr THE EVEryDAy BrAND

Reaching iconic status is the Everest of the marketing world, and the vast majority of brands wont reach its summit. That said, continually referencing and seeking to improve your brands performance against the following principles can only bring benefits.

(Re)discover and stay true to your brands purposeMany brands are founded and built around a specific purpose or ideal that subsequently fades from sight as leaders lose track of what originally made the company special. In these cases, restoring the original focus can often turn a struggling brand around. But sometimes a companys purpose has to change because the world around it has changed, as when 20 years ago IBM shifted its purpose from making computers and chips to building a smarter and more efficient planet. This sort of transformation requires a total commitment, as Louis Gerstner details in his book Who Says Elephants Cant Dance? This commitment includes the willingness to make changes to align structure with strategy as well as ongoing reinforcement of the new purpose in both internal

and external communications.

Critically examine the experience your brand deliversYou can have the noblest purpose in the world but still fail to deliver against peoples expectations. For example, environmentally responsible (green)

brands want to ensure a better future for our planet, but all too often their functional performance fails to satisfy consumers, or their price is so high that trial is inhibited. One brand, however, stands out from other green brands in the way in which it not only meets but exceeds expectations. The household cleaning brand Method packs a one-two punch: Its nontoxic and sustainable products are just as effective as traditional cleaners, and Methods unique design ethos enhances its products with packaging that is both distinctive and beautiful. These qualities could help Method become an iconic brand.

Identify the iconic elements of your brandIconic brands are instantly recognizable. How do people recognize your brand? What are the specific cues that trigger recognition? Does your brand have a distinctive design? Which senses does your brand engage beyond just the visual? A brand with powerful sensory cues has an intrinsic advantage over others. Those cues ensure that positive associations come readily to mind and are linked to the right brand. Provided the same recognition cues are featured in broadcast and in-store communications, they allow the brand to realize synergies across marketing and sales channels.

Balance the authentic with the contemporaryThe power of a brands authentic heritage is undeniable, but so too is the power of being in sync with popular culture. One of the biggest challenges for any brand is to stay contemporary without unnecessarily changing what the brand stands for. The brands that do this successfully manage to apply the stories and values of their heritage to contemporary circumstances. For example, Jack Daniels, an integral part of todays pop culture, features its heritage in its advertisements with scenes of the whiskey being made. Company-sponsored musicians and concerts that bring people together outside of the bar also reflect the spirit and backcountry myths of the brand.

Stay focusedFaced with aggressive competition, fragmenting media, and ever faster feedback, brand marketers can be overly reactive. It may seem that doing somethingeven the wrong thingis better than doing nothing. But if you keep in mind what it is that your brand stands for, you can avoid this trap. Knowing what is truly meaningful to your customers will help you choose the right actions. By understanding the interests, desires, and beliefs of their core consumers, brands can bring people together and facilitate unprecedented levels of consumer engagement, pride, and activism. Red Bull, for example, focuses all of its events on the idea of uplifting mind and body, offering both a spectacle and an unparalleled experience that is true to the brands purpose.

BUIlD ON SOUND FOUNDATIONS

Even if you never get to work with an iconic brand, as a marketer you can still apply the principles that underlie the success of iconic brands to help your own brand grow its financial value. But before you invest your time in trying to apply these principles, take a good hard look at your brands product. Powerful symbolism and impactful advertising cant overcome a mediocre product experience.

Assuming the product foundation is sound, you can then safely turn your attention to building a stronger brand. Make sure you understand your brands purpose, the character it presents to the world, and its unique set of sensory and symbolic properties. Then find ways to amplify what the brand stands for across all the potential touch points. The combination of a meaningfully different experience and distinctive brand assets will strengthen what your brand stands for in consumers minds, and as that concept becomes stronger and clearer, your brand will be more attractive to new users and inspire more loyalty among existing customers.

The Red Bull energy drink has been marketed with unique advertising and a wide variety of adrenaline-inspired events

You can have the noblest purpose in the world but still fail to deliver against peoples expectations



But not everything declined. In the realm of social media, the number of Facebook users grew dramatically, blog readership increased, and a new phenomenon called Twitter exploded onto the scene.

Its enough to make you think that using social media is the latest and best way to effectively build your brand. Many pundits suggest as much, and many brands seem to be buying into the idea. Research

conducted in 2010 by Millward Brown and Dynamic Logic, in cooperation with the World Federation of Advertisers, found that almost all marketers surveyed (96 percent) expected to invest more time and money in social media in 2011. However, only a quarter (23 percent) said they were confident about the returns they get on these investments.

I think this uncertainty is warranted. Those who manage brands should look before they leap. I believe that the race to utilize social media channels is representative of the same sort of irrational exuberance that led the stock market to unprecedented heights and allowed people to have faith in incomprehensible financial instruments. For many brands, large-scale investment in social media campaigns is likely to prove just as ill-advised and imprudent. In other words, I think we may be witnessing a social media bubble.

THE pOWEr OF SOCIAl MEDIA

There can be no denying that social media can be an incredible vehicle for change. For example, in 2009, a Facebook campaign prevented X Factor winner Joe McElderry from doing something the previous four X Factor winners had donereach the top of the UK music charts. The campaign was started by husband-and-wife team Jon and Tracy Morter as a protest against X Factors monopoly of the Christmas chart. They encouraged people to buy Killing in the Name,a17-year-oldtrackbyAmericanrockbandRageAgainsttheMachine(RATM). The news media picked up on the story, causing thousands of people to join the campaign; the number of fans on the RATM Facebook page exceeded 800,000 (more than Google, Pepsi, or Wal-Mart).

What is more, those fans acted. In the crucial pre-Christmas week, Killing in the Name soldover 500,000 copies. While 19.5 million people viewed the X Factor finale and 6 million voted for McElderry, only 450,000 bought McElderrys The Climb.

What enabled the campaign to be successful? Global qualitative research conducted by Millward Brown Firefly has highlighted several things that drive people to use social media. People are looking for a sense of connectedness and belonging, for an entertaining diversion, and for a sense of control. The issues of control and belonging seem central to the RATM campaign. The effort had the authenticity borne of its grass roots. It was founded by real people advancing a real agenda, and that agenda was one that tapped into a current concernthe suspicion that big business was manipulating the public psyche for its own ends.

The same concern helped ignite the Twitter storm centered on the phone-hacking scandal at theUK tabloidNewsof theWorld. Shortly thereafter, the168-year-old paper closed. Clearly there is power in social mediabut can Facebook or Twitter empower a consumer brand in a constructive way as well as they can give voice to social outrage?

THE CHArACTErISTICS OF SUCCESSFUl FACEBOOK BrANDS

I undertook an analysis to address that question. I identified 12 brands that havebeenheldupfortheireffectiveuseofsocialmedia:Southwest,Honda,VW,

McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Subway, KFC, Dunkin Donuts, Krispy Kreme, Starbucks, Coca-Cola, and Red Bull. I related the number of fans these brands had on their Facebook pages (all had more than 250,000) to data from Millward Browns BrandZ database (specifically, U.S. data from 2009). I then compared the results for these successful social media brands with other brands in the same product categories.

My first observation was that the five different product categories attracted very different numbers of fans. On average, the soft drink brands included in our BrandZ study had over 16,000 fans each while airlines had barely 1,000.

But not everything declined. In the realm of social media, the number of Facebook users grew dramatically, blog readership increased, and a new phenomenon called Twitter exploded onto the scene.

Its enough to make you think that using social media is the latest and best way to effectively build your brand. Many pundits suggest as much, and many brands seem to be buying into the idea. Research

conducted in 2010 by Millward Brown and Dynamic Logic, in cooperation with the World Federation of Advertisers, found that almost all marketers surveyed (96 percent) expected to invest more time and money in social media in 2011. However, only a quarter (23 percent) said they were confident about the returns they get on these investments.

I think this uncertainty is warranted. Those who manage brands should look before they leap. I believe that the race to utilize social media channels is representative of the same sort of irrational exuberance that led the stock market to unprecedented heights and allowed people to have faith in incomprehensible financial instruments. For many brands, large-scale investment in social media campaigns is likely to prove just as ill-advised and imprudent. In other words, I think we may be witnessing a social media bubble.

THE pOWEr OF SOCIAl MEDIA

There can be no denying that social media can be an incredible vehicle for change. For example, in 2009, a Facebook campaign prevented X Factor winner Joe McElderry from doing something the previous four X Factor winners had donereach the top of the UK music charts. The campaign was started by husband-and-wife team Jon and Tracy Morter as a protest against X Factors monopoly of the Christmas chart. They encouraged people to buy Killing in the Name,a17-year-oldtrackbyAmericanrockbandRageAgainsttheMachine(RATM). The news media picked up on the story, causing thousands of people to join the campaign; the number of fans on the RATM Facebook page exceeded 800,000 (more than Google, Pepsi, or Wal-Mart).

What is more, those fans acted. In the crucial pre-Christmas week, Killing in the Name soldover 500,000 copies. While 19.5 million people viewed the X Factor finale and 6 million voted for McElderry, only 450,000 bought McElderrys The Climb.

What enabled the campaign to be successful? Global qualitative research conducted by Millward Brown Firefly has highlighted several things that drive people to use social media. People are looking for a sense of connectedness and belonging, for an entertaining diversion, and for a sense of control. The issues of control and belonging seem central to the RATM campaign. The effort had the authenticity borne of its grass roots. It was founded by real people advancing a real agenda, and that agenda was one that tapped into a current concernthe suspicion that big business was manipulating the public psyche for its own ends.

The same concern helped ignite the Twitter storm centered on the phone-hacking scandal at theUK tabloidNewsof theWorld. Shortly thereafter, the168-year-old paper closed. Clearly there is power in social mediabut can Facebook or Twitter empower a consumer brand in a constructive way as well as they can give voice to social outrage?

THE CHArACTErISTICS OF SUCCESSFUl FACEBOOK BrANDS

I undertook an analysis to address that question. I identified 12 brands that havebeenheldupfortheireffectiveuseofsocialmedia:Southwest,Honda,VW,

McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Subway, KFC, Dunkin Donuts, Krispy Kreme, Starbucks, Coca-Cola, and Red Bull. I related the number of fans these brands had on their Facebook pages (all had more than 250,000) to data from Millward Browns BrandZ database (specifically, U.S. data from 2009). I then compared the results for these successful social media brands with other brands in the same product categories.

My first observation was that the five different product categories attracted very different numbers of fans. On average, the soft drink brands included in our BrandZ study had over 16,000 fans each while airlines had barely 1,000.

I believe this is directly related to the number of people who are actively involved with a category on a regular basis. The level of satisfaction with brands in a category also seemed to correspond with the number of fans the category attracted. Only 18 percent of U.S. air travelers are satisfied with the brands available to them, while 56 percent of soft drink buyers claim to be totally satisfied with their brand choices.

In using social media, people are looking for a sense of connectedness and belonging, for an entertaining diversion, and for a sense of control

NIGEl HOllISChief Global AnalystMillward Brown


X Factor winnerJoe McElderry

The last few years have seen some massive changes in our world. The financial bubble that reached its peak in 2007 popped, leaving us to enjoy what has been dubbed The Great Recession. The Dow Jones plummeted, along with consumer confidence. The subsequent road to recovery has proved to be long

and uncertain.

Social media: fans and followers are an end, not a means

Figure 1Successful social media brands tend to be stronger brands

Presence

Relevance

Performance

Advantage

Bonding

Successful Brands Other Brands

81665344

54433726

11 2

My next observation was that in most categories, one or two brands attracted the lions share of fans. Those brands are not necessarily the biggest or the oldest, but rather the ones with a distinctive positioning that sets them apart from competitors. For example, in the case of domestic U.S. airlines, Southwest is the dominant brand, followed by Virgin America, a newcomer to the

United States. I believe that Virginscommitment to excellent service and customer satisfaction and its obvious commitment to using social media are what enabled it to draw more fans than American Airlines, United, or Delta.

My final observation was that the playing field did not appear to be level for brands competing on Facebook. It seemed easier for some brands to gain

traction simply due to their product category and their positioning. But there is an even larger obstacle to be overcome by many brands. Brands that are already big and successful start with a major advantage in social media. Using the Millward Brown Brand Pyramid, I compared the composite brand equity of the two groups of brands (see Figure 1). The successful social media brands started with 50 percent more Presence (familiarity with what the brand stands for) and finished with five times as much Bonding (the strongest measure of attitudinal loyalty). They had an average of 1.6 million fans each, while the other brands had an average of just 140,000 fans each. So the more loyal customers you have, the more fans you tend to have on Facebook.

MASS ExpOSUrE IS AN IMpOrTANT CATAlyST TO SOCIAl MEDIA SUCCESS

One final element must be considered by brands thinking of marketing through social media: the need for mass media coverage. Most notable social media campaigns have relied on the mass media to gain critical momentum. Analysis of Twitter by HPs Data Central finds that mainstream media outlets act as feeders of the most popular trends, and regular Twitter users then act as trend amplifiers. The Rage Against the Machine campaign would likely have languished unnoticed by the vast majority of people if the traditional media had not picked it up and publicized it. The same is true of some of the classics of viral marketing: Burger Kings Subservient Chicken benefited from widespread media support, and Doves Evolution was boosted by a strong PR campaign. On itsown,Twitterdidnotkill theNewsof theWorld,but itdidhelpcreateenough noise to pressure advertisers into pulling their support from the paper.

Integration of mass media and social media helps transcend the disparate personal connections that drive social media in order to achieve critical mass. In2010,themeerkatAleksandrOrlovwascreatedtostarinaTVcampaignforthe UK financial comparison site comparethemarket.com. As of August 2011, Aleksandr had close to 800,000 fans on the Facebook page that was created as part of the ad campaign. The combination of tightly integrated online and offline marketing heightened interest in the brand, drove traffic to comparethemarket.com, and increased quotes by 45 percent compared to the previous year.

BEyOND FACEBOOK

While Facebook is the biggest social media network, it is not a homogeneous community, nor is it the only channel through which brands can connect with consumers. In fact, Millward Brown identifies eight different types of social media: pure plays, blogs, syndication, peer-to-peer (P2P), wikis and collaboratives, open source, tagging and rating, and consumer reviews. Each type serves different purposes and audiences. Among the pure-play vehicles, a low-reach, high-engagement medium such as Twitter offers the chance to make that all-important ongoing and personal connection.

But Twitter users arent using the channel to be informed about brands. They are using it because they want to hear from people. Brands with social media savvy know this and often designate a lead tweeter to represent the company and engage people. Tony Hsieh, the CEO of online shoe retailer Zappos, is the archetypal corporate tweeter. With his tweets, which cover a wide range of subject matterfrom getting kids to eat vegetables to entrepeneurship to the secret of living the good lifehe engages people and gives them a sense of personal connection with Zappos.



It is the big brands that get the most out of Facebook. The more loyal customers you have, the more fans you tend to have on Facebook

FANS AND FOllOWErS HAVE THEIr OWN AGENDAS

Dynamic Logics AdReaction 2009 study found that while 59 percent of Internet users are actively engaged with social networking sites, only 13 percent of those social media users actively follow or keep up with brands via social networks. Those that do follow brands do so in an average of three categories, and they do so to gain access to information, discounts, and giveaways.

This presents a challenge for a brand. To pander to a small percentage of your target with discounts and added-value giveaways can undermine your brands status and profitability; what you should focus on is engaging people with new information and ideas that improve the customer experience.

BUIlD A STrONG BrAND AND FANS WIll FOllOW

Because people use social media to connect with people and brands that they know, respect, and admire, the social media make a great channel for engaging existing customers. But fans and followers are not a means to building a brand; rather, they are an end. Social media cant help build brands without the other ingredients that make brands strong: an effective business model, a great brand experience, clarity of positioning, and the ability to disrupt the status quo in a product category.

AsIstatedinmyPointofViewMakeFriends,DontPitchThem,creatingastrongpresence in social media is a good vehicle for confirming a brands benefits and validating its commitment to its users. However, any marketers still considering how to construct a social media strategy that will build buzz, saliency, and a deeper engagement with loyal brand advocates would do well to ask themselves the following questions:

Integration of mass media and social media helps transcend the disparate personal connections that drive social media in order to achieve critical mass

Whatever your chosen strategy is, remember: There is no substitute for creativity and consistency. Find an idea that will resonate with your target audience and is in keeping with your brands positioning. Promote what you do widely, in whatever ways are most appropriate. Then listen to the response and respond in turn.

Do people care enough about my brand and category to engage with it? If not, maybe social media is not a priority for you.

What types of social media sites offer the most potential? What would be the best beta pure play or a blog? An active presence on multiple sites might be necessary to engage even a small proportion of existing customers.

What value can your brand offer beyond freebies and discounts? Games, puzzles, and competitions were popular means to engage people with brands long before the advent of social media. Remember: While social media may be a new communication channel, the motivations, interests, and desires of the people who use it are not new, but the same as they have always been.

How do you sustain the initial engagement beyond a simple sign of affinity? Even large, successful brands must continually find new ways to engage fans that are consistent with their basic appeal; otherwise the novelty of fandom will quickly wear off. The research conducted with the World Federation of Advertisers found trust and transparency to be important to ongoing engagement, while variation, innovation, and a reasonable frequency of posting keep fans coming back for more.



By combining key outputs of BrandZ and CharacterZ and examining them in light of Geert Hofstedes model of the dimensions of culture, we can identify the brand characteristics that are most likely to ensure success in different regions. Marketers who hope to achieve global success for their brands must take heed of these findings and use them to modulate the tenor of their brands communication across local and global campaigns.

WHAT WE MEAN By BrAND pErSONAlITy

When we speak of a brands positioning, we are describing the things that differentiate one brand from others. When we speak of a brands personality, we are describing the way a brand expresses and represents itself. In BrandZ, we have asked over 500,000 people to describe brands using a set of 24 adjectives chosen to cover a wide range of personality characteristics. We then assigned each brand to one of 10 archetypes according to its dominant character. Developed using semiotics and both qualitative and quantitative research, these archetypes allow us to

reduce a vast array of brand personalities to a manageable number of well-defined and recognizable characters.

Some global brands are characterized differently in different parts of the world. For example, in Italy, Spain, and the UK, the Apple iPhone is viewed as a Seductress, but in Australia it is a Joker, and in Japan, a Dreamer. This discrepancy highlights themany factors that influenceabrandspersonality.Notonlydoconsumers experience a brands marketing activities in light of their own values, traditions, and circumstances, but they also perceive personality traits through the lens of their cultural conditioning. Therefore it is imperative that marketers pay attention to the personalities their brands project; few characters have the power to transcend all cultures.

FIGUrE 1: CharacterZ Attributes and Archetypes

BrAND STrENGTH VArIES WITH BrAND pErSONAlITy

In BrandZ, one of the key measures of a brands strength is Bonding. Bonding is the highest level of attitudinal loyalty; when people are bonded to a brand, they feel the brand is closer, more meaningfully different, and hence more valuable to them. When we correlated Bonding with our set of brand personality attributes, we found a range of significant resultsfrom high positive correlations to surprising negative correlations that associated personality traits with weakness rather than strength.

TWO GlOBAl SUCCESS TrAITS

Two of the 24 words used to describe personality correlated with Bonding significantly more than all the others: desirable and trustworthy. Though both these words had strong correlations everywhere, their importance relative to one another did vary in some markets, as illustrated in Figure 2. Desirability, which embodies qualities such as allure, status, and exclusivity, is particularly associated with aspirational brands that have emotional resonance; it is a notably strong driver of Bonding in Latin markets such as Brazil, Mexico, and Spain. Trustworthiness, the attribute which underpins a consumers belief that a brand will deliver consistent quality, is an especially strong driver of Bonding in India, Russia, and Korea.

THE rOlE OF OTHEr pErSONAlITy TrAITS

Some words, such as innocent and rebellious, tend not to be associated with the most successful brands. For example, the word innocent is often used as a descriptor for brands that are neither well known nor well defined, while the most successful brands (according to Bonding) tend to have strong clarity of

associations. Similarly, rebellious brands are more likely to be seen as challengers than as leaders. In Taiwan, being seen as too straightforward can negatively affect Bonding, suggesting that in that country, cleverness is appreciated by consumers. Table 1 shows the countries for which each of these traits is negatively correlated with Bonding.

In Taiwan, being too straightforward can negatively affect Bonding, but cleverness is appreciated by consumers

GrAHAM STAplEHUrSTGroup Account DirectorBrands & CommunicationMillward Brown

SUTHApA CHArOENWONGSEAssociate Account DirectorMillward Brown Bangkok

InnocentSweden, Spain, Mexico, Australia, Germany, Italy, Netherlands,Korea,USA

DifferentThailand,Netherlands,Sweden,Australia,Germany,USA, Canada, UK, Italy, Japan

Rebellious China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan

Straightforward Taiwan, Korea

TABlE 1: Negative Correlations with Bonding


For many years, researchers have been using the concept of brand personality to help describe brands and understand how they relate

to consumers. More recently, using data from WPPs BrandZ study, we have looked at brand personality from a cross-cultural perspective and

demonstrated that there is a relationship between the way brands express themselves in different countries and the strength of the

consumer relationships they generate.

why Brand Personality Matters:Aligning Your Brand to Cultural

Drivers of Success

It was surprising to find that different personalities had a negative correlation with Bonding in some countries, since the role of marketing is to create difference for brands. But evidently, a different personality is not the same as a meaningfully different brand experience. Being seen as different in personality terms suggests a lack of identification with consumers and some social or emotional distance from them. The brands that are perceived this way fit less comfortably into a market.

In the same way that the importance of trustworthiness and desirability varies from one country to another, the degree to which other traits drive Bonding also varies across markets. The personality traits (other than trustworthy and desirable) that your brand will find most useful in different markets are shown in Figure 2, below the country names. For example, friendly brands are more successful in Brazil and India, wise brands do well in China and the United States, and brands that are creative are especially well received in Japan, Taiwan, and Korea.

CUlTUrAl DIMENSIONS

Many of the differences we have observed in how people appreciate brands personalities can be explained through the cultural dimensions theory put forth by Geert Hofstede, a researcher recognized internationally for having developed the first empirical model to describe and differentiate cultures. His model includes the following five dimensions:

PowerDistance:Thedegree towhichmembers of a society accept andexpect that power is distributed unequally. Runs from high (difference accepted) to low.

Individualism: The degree to which societies believe people share anobligation for the care of those outside of their immediate families. Runs from high (obligations to close family only) to low.

Masculinity: The degree to which a society emphasizes the value ofachievement, heroism, assertiveness, and material rewards for success. Runs from high (these values are important) to low.

UncertaintyAvoidance:Thedegreetowhichthemembersofasocietyfeelcomfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity. Runs from high (where people need clarity and rules) to low.

Long-termOrientation:Thedegreetowhichasocietybelievesthattruthdepends on situation, context, and time. Where long-term orientation is high, people adapt traditions and are more likely to save, invest, and persevere.

THrEE COUNTrIES WITH CONTrASTING CUlTUrAl prEFErENCES

Russia, China, and the UK vary widely in terms of Hofstedes dimensions (see Table 2). Russia and China both score high on Power Distance and low on Individualism, but they are on opposite ends of the scale on Uncertainty Avoidance (where Russia is high and China is low).

The culture in Russia favors brands that are assertive and in control, while also appreciating brands with a friendly and caring nature. In China, respect for authority, coupled with a long-term orientation, enables brands with wise and trustworthy personalities to dominate. Brands with assertive, rebellious, or playful traits are less likely to be widely accepted by society, although emerging generations of younger and more affluent consumers may change this.

In the UK, where there is an emphasis on individualism, tolerance, and respect for equality (evidenced by the low Power Distance score), we see fewer strong associations between any particular personality trait and brand success. The two traits with the most consistent relationship with strong brands are friendly and generous.

IMplICATIONS FOr GlOBAl MArKETErS

While global communications and other marketing levers can help ensure that a brand is positioned in a consistent way around the world, a single tone of voice is unlikely to succeed in engaging consumers across varied cultures. Marketers need to understand the cultural context in which their brand communicates; they may find that they need to vary not only what they say, but how they say it. Though every brand will face a unique situation due to a number of factors, including product category and country of origin, the following recommendations apply to all brands:

1. personality can differentiate. The strongest brands are those with the most well-defined personalities. These brands have differentiated themselves by the way they relate to consumers as much as by functional or other aspects.

2. Some traits are always good to have. Make sure your brands communication clearly shouts either desirable or trustworthy. Or, like BMW, DoCoMo, El Cortes Ingls, or Emporio Armani, you may choose to emphasize both.

3. Give your brand a global personality check. Consider the culture in your brands country of origin and that of the country to which youre marketing. Use BrandZ and CharacterZ to identify the brands that fit well in the specific cultures that are most important to you.

BrAND pErSONAlITy MATTErS

Brand managers and advertising planners have long understood that their brands are differentiated by the way they address their customers. Our analysis goes beyond this to show that emphasizing particular personality traits can strengthen or undermine a brands competitive position. If your brand has a particularly strong personality, you may need to adjust its tone of voice to match local cultural dynamics. Smart marketing practitioners will use research to understand the role that their brands personalities play in building consumer relationships, and will apply that learning to maximize brand appeal around the world.

CreativeAssertiveStraightforward

MEXICO

CreativeAssertiveStraightforwardFriendly

BRAZIL

CreativeAssertiveBrave

SPAIN

In controlWiseGenerous

USA

In controlCreative

CANADAFriendlyGenerous

UK

In controlGERMANY

AssertiveIdealisticGenerous

SWEDEN

FriendlyAdventurousCaring

INDIACaringWiseStraightforward

THAILAND

In controlGenerous

AUSTRALIA

CreativeTAIWAN

CreativeWiseKind

KOREA

CreativeFun

JAPANWiseCaringCreativeStraightforwardBrave

CHINA

In controlKindCreative

ITALY

StraightforwardFriendly

NETHERLANDS

AssertiveIn controlFriendlyCaring

RUSSIAIn controlAssertiveCreative

FRANCE

Desirable more important

Both equally important

+ other traits in order of importance

Trustworthy more important

FIGUrE 2: pErSONAlITy TrAITS ASSOCIATED WITH THE MOST SUCCESSFUl BrANDS

High Low

Russia Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance

Individualism

China Long-term, Orientation, Power, Distance

Uncertainty, Avoidance,Individualism

UK Individualism, Masculinity Power Distance,Long-term, Orientation

TABlE 2: SElECTED DIMENSIONS FOr rUSSIA, CHINA, AND THE UK


why Brand Personality Matters: Aligning Your Brand to Cultural Drivers of Success

While they are growing well at home, Chinas developing brands face a very different environment outside of China. In developed markets, these brands need to sharply increase their levels of awareness and penetration. But beyond that, to actually achieve profitable growth, Chinese brands need to provide consumers with an experience that is meaningfully different.

As we have seen in previous years with the BrandZ Global Top 100, the share prices of strong brands greatly outperform the average. This years China Top 50 ranking provides another example of the value of this brand gap. (See Figure 1.) While the MSCI China Index registered a 6 percent loss over the past 15 months, the China Top 50 brands were up 20 percent.

THE NEW CHINA: FErTIlE GrOUND FOr BrANDS

December 2011 marked the tenth anniversary of China joining the World Trade Organization, and some observers say that a hundred years worth of societal andeconomictransformationhasoccurredinthedecadesince.Nearly300million new middle-class consumers have emerged to create a growing market

that has allowed new brands to become established extraordinarily quickly. Six of the brands in the Top 50, collectively worth US$50 billion, didnt even exist 10 years ago, while more than half the brands in the Top 50 were created after 1990.

Some observations about this years ranking reveal the dynamic environment in which Chinese brands are thriving.

privately held brands are growingThe entrepreneurial nature of Chinese business shows up in the relative growth in value of privately owned brands. These brands make up the majority (two-thirds) of the Top 50, and they grew 27 percent year-on-year, compared to a mere 13 percent for state-owned enterprises (SOEs). However, the privately held brands have a considerable way to go to match the dominance of the SOEs, which currently account for 70 percent of the value of the Top 50 brands and occupy eight of the top 10 positions in the ranking. (See Table 1.)


40%

35%

30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%

-5%

-10%

JUL10 OCT10JAN11APR11JUL11

Figure 1: BrandZ China Portfolio vs. MSCI China (July 2010 to Sept 2011)

+20%

6%

Source: Bloomberg: MBOptimor London Analysis

BrandZ

Market

BrandZ Portfolio; Top 50 Chinese Brands

MSCI China index

pEKING TANR&D Director, Greater China, Millward Brown

pETEr WAlSHEGlobal BrandZ DirectorMillward Brown

Brand Field Value(USD Millions)

% Changefrom 2010

1 China Mobile Telecom $53,607 -42 ICBC Financial $43,910 +153 China Construction Bank Financial $21,981 +14 Bank of China Financial $18,643 -175 Agricultural Bank of

ChinaFincancial $17,329 +5

6 Baidu Search Engine $16,256 +677 China Life Insurance $15,253 -178 Sinopec Oil & Gas $13,791 N/A9 PetroChina Oli & Gas $13,755 -310 Tencent Internet Service Portal $12,624 +3

Table 1: The China Top 50 First 10 Brands

In contrast to the top 10 brands overall, the Top 10 Risers (the brands with the biggest increases in value)are nearly all private. (See Table 2.) Web portal Sina heads this list with a dramatic increase of 244 percent over last year. Search engine Baidu, though it grew by a smaller percentage (67 percent), registered the biggest increase in actual dollars. It added $6.5 billion to its valuemore than the combined values of the bottom 12 brands in the ranking.

Top risers reflect improved living standardsThe fastest-growing brands come from categories that have benefited from increases in discretionary spending. In addition to the two Internet brands, the Top 10 Risers include three alcohol brands, two herbal remedy producers, two food brands, and a manufacturer of air conditioners.

As Chinese brands have continued to steadily increase in value, the proportion of earnings that are driven by brand and consumer preference has also edged up. In comparing the Top 50 rankings from 2010 and 2011, we observe that 16 brands improved their brand contribution scores while none declined.

The brand contribution score describes the extent to which brand, as opposed to factors like price and location, is responsible for earnings. The increase in these scores is a reflection of the fact that Chinese consumers are becoming more informed and discerning about brands. Exposure to multi-national brands has raised their expectations of quality and value, and Chinese brands have answered this challenge with some real achievements in brand building: improvements in innovation, marketing, image building, and the ability to keep pace with rapidly changing consumer expectations.

Brand Field Value(USD Millions)

% Increasefrom 2010

1 Sina Portals/E-Commerce $1,905 2442 Fulinmen Cooking Oil $380 1383 Tong Ren Tang Pharma $1,026 894 ChangYu Alcohol $3,223 775 Baldu Portals/E-Commerce $16,256 676 Mengniu Food & Dairy $3,446 667 Wu Lian Ye Alcohol $4,037 658 Gree Air Conditioning $1,632 589 Moutai Alcohol $9,129 5810 Yunnan Baiyao Pharma $1,897 49

Table 2: The China Top 50 Top 10 Risers

The recently released China Top 50 ranking once again confirms the value of a strong brand and highlights the

remarkable growth of Chinas economy over the past decade. But it also provides an opportunity to define some of the specific challenges currently facing Chinese brands.

Chinas top 50: Much Progress But More to Do

OUTSIDE OF CHINA: CHINESE BrANDS lACK rOOTS

Though they have made great strides in China, most Chinese brands are still relatively unknown outside of China. Across the Top 50, foreign earnings average less than 5 percent. Millward Browns Going Global study helps to put those earnings figures into perspective. The staggering finding from that project, which investigated knowledge of Chinese brands in several key markets outside of China (including India, Malaysia, Australia, South Africa, the UK, and the United States), was that, overall, 83 percent of respondents could not name a single Chinese brand.

Among the few brands that did have name recognition was PC maker Lenovo, unusual among Chinese brands in that 50 percent of its sales come from abroad. Another relatively well-known Chinese brand was the appliance maker Haier.RespondentsalsohadsomeknowledgeofTsingtaobeerandLi-Ning,the sports shoes and apparel brand.

So it seems that the first challenge facing Chinas brands as they venture into global territory is to gain familiarity. However, to compete effectively against established brands in well-developed markets, they also need to establish a meaningful point of difference.

HOW DIFFErENCE DrIVES VAlUE GrOWTH

Analysis of the BrandZ database, both in China and elsewhere, confirms that those brands that offer a meaningful difference are the ones most likely to achieve profitable growth. Offering an experience that is meaningfully different can enable a brand

Millward Brown Perspectives Vol. 6

Business

Transcript of Millward Brown Perspectives Vol. 6