Teach the world to sing…about your product or service

Forty years ago this month, an idea blossomed into a television commercial jingle that would capture an important era in history and help define a generation.
 
Written in January 1971 in less than 24 hours for a Coca-Cola radio spot, “I’d like to buy the world a Coke” was originally sung by The New Seekers. Later that year, Coca-Cola brought the song to life in a television commercial filmed on an Italian hillside with a diverse crowd of 500 extras. After hitting the airwaves, the jingle became so popular that a full-length version of the song was quickly produced, renamed, “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing.” The tune quickly climbed the charts to become a No. 1 hit single. Another group, The Hillside Singers, released a second recording of the song. In one year, both groups sold a combined 1 million records of the song.

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Martha serves lunch, lesson in engagement

Martha graciously posed for a photo opp with Gina after the MSO luncheonOn Monday, a BR contingent representing our Ball Horticultural client had the pleasure of attending a Martha Stewart Omnimedia (MSO) luncheon, hosted by the preeminent hostess herself. The event was MSO’s opportunity to share their audience insights and multi-platform marketing opportunities with advertisers. Martha and her team demonstrated their astute marketing and business sense by showing how advertisers could connect with customers where and how they want to receive information, while leveraging social media to get real-time feedback.

Playing off her mantra of “Once you stop changing, you’re done”, Martha noted that today’s most effective marketing is all about experiences and connections to a brand. She defined her MSO consumer audience as “women who do” — entertaining, crafts, gardening, decorating, cooking. 

To keep relevant to this active audience, the MSO team carefully tracks emerging interests and technologies. They listen carefully to their loyal consumer and build products around what they want. Here are some of their key insights:

• Increased interest in local and seasonal foods has stirred an interest in vegetable gardening, canning and preserving among the younger “tattooed set”
• The ability to interact more closely with their passions — through Twitter, their own blog posts or by participating in surveys/events 
• Interest in cooking with their children as well as the joy of cooking for their family 
• Discovering new treasures within their own hometowns; people, places and things that make their town unique 

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Traditional media still shines

This latest report by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism shows that 95 percent of people still get their news from traditional sources such as newspapers, television and radio.

The report also states that new media news often originates from traditional media sources and is repeated and repackaged for social media tools like blogs, Twitter and Facebook.

Further, the survey showed that original source information is being posted on news and blog sites; official press releases often now appear word-for-word in first accounts of events. In addition, bloggers and site hosts often lift this information and carry other people’s work without attribution.

This is valuable information for marketing professionals integrating social media programs into marketing and media relations outreach plans.

A few tips to integrate new media and still stay on top of the game for traditional media PR efforts:

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The art of value-added media

We negotiate in the fourth grade when swapping lunches. We negotiate as teens for car privileges and spending money. We negotiate as adults for cars and boats. So why not negotiate when buying media?

As a forward-thinking agency, we strive to get the most value for our clients with the resources we are given. Negotiation not only helps us gain media space at a competitive price, it can also result in innovative opportunities that add dimension to our media plans.

Negotiating value-added media requires a combination of skill and marketplace knowledge. Whether it’s free inventory, or creating a sponsorship or roundtable event, value-added media is out there. The key lies in understanding what is attractive to the media and what they might be willing to include in a deal.

Plan ahead, negotiate now
Someone once said, “If you squeeze too much toothpaste out of the tube, there’s no getting it back in.” The same goes for maximizing value-added media. Tactical game-plans need to be laid out from the beginning since going back and trying to negotiate later becomes very difficult.

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Birth of new advertising opportunities

It’s hard to avoid the talk about the death of print, whether it is newspapers, newsletters, magazines, or beyond. This year hasn’t been kind to Gutenberg’s baby, with doors closing at Gourmet, Blender, Travel & Leisure Golf, Elegant Bride, to name a few.

But is it really the death of print, or just time for a rebirth? Some of the biggest names in publishing are collaborating in hopes it is the latter. This year saw 60+ magazines go online-only. Time Warner, Conde Nast, Hearst, Meredith and News Corp. are taking it one step further: digital versions for e-readers such as Kindle. The publishers are teaming up to develop an application that is compatible across all e-readers and allows the feel of each magazine to remain true. 

An added bonus (or perhaps the original intent?) is greater opportunities for advertising. Here are a few that initially come to mind:

• Interactive ads with click-to-buy capability
• Customized ads based on the subscriber information provided
• Embedded video for movie trailers or TV shows
• Links from movie or music reviews for simple purchase
• Access from the ad to consumer reviews or forums related to a product
• Ability to update the ad in real time (e.g., update pricing or offers)

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