Most Clicked AAF SmartBrief Stories
1. Landor-designed Captain Morgan bottle is inspired by pirates
AAF SmartBrief | May 24, 2012
Credit Landor Associates for designing the pirate-era-looking bottle for Captain Morgan Black. The shape and cork stopper "would have been similar to those found on Henry Morgan's ship," said Diageo innovation director Jesse Damashek. The reverse of the label, which can only be read as the bottle empties, has pirate-legend copy. Adweek (05/23)
2. Skinnygirl's first national spot teaches ladylike drinking
AAF SmartBrief | May 25, 2012
Beverage World Publications Group (05/24)
3. How active are your brand advocates?
AAF SmartBrief | May 25, 2012
Marketers should make an effort to understand and cultivate so-called brand advocates as social media becomes more prominent. Half of brand advocates make a recommendation online because of a good experience with a product or service, according to a Zuberance study. The second most prominent brand advocates want to help friends make better purchase decisions. Though brand advocates are formally defined by making a recommendation a year, without pay, the highest percentage of them (38%) do so five to nine times a year, with 16% making 10 to 15 recommendations and 16% making 15 or more, per Zuberance. eMarketer (05/25)
4. Ex-marketer CEOs are influencing agency reviews
AAF SmartBrief | May 29, 2012
Some corporate chief executive officers -- many of whom have marketing backgrounds -- are lately starting to participate in, rather than simply rubber-stamp, agency reviews. Recent appearances include Meg Whitman during Hewlett-Packard's review, NASCAR's Brian France, Southwest Airlines' Gary Kelly and top execs from Kohler and American Eagle Outfitters. "Corner office involvement in ad reviews also reflects the reality that after years of cost cutting and growing through acquisitions, corporations are leaning on marketing to drive organic growth," writes Andrew McMains. Adweek (05/28)
5. Sprint promo creates dream sequence for moviegoers
AAF SmartBrief | May 24, 2012
Moviegoers who text "dream" when prompted on screen before turning off their phones will get back a customized video when logging into Facebook after the show. The Sprint promotion through Digitas and Leo Burnett will run on 18,000 National CineMedia screens. In the time the movie is running, the program will extract public information from a user's Facebook page and render an abstract video representing what the user's cellphone "dreamed" when put to sleep. "Our mission was to create something that would take full advantage of the power and scale of a cinematic experience," says Leo Burnett Executive Creative Director Michael Boychuk. MediaPost Communications (05/23)
6. Pepsi Max's video with Kyrie Irving is a slam dunk hit
AAF SmartBrief | May 24, 2012
Pepsi Max's branded five-minute video starring NBA basketball player Kyrie Irving has garnered more than 4 million views on YouTube since its launch Friday. Irving plays an old-school old man named Uncle Drew who hustles New Jersey locals into allowing him into a pickup game. ClickZ (05/23)
7. Wendy's missteps could allow Burger King to retake second place
AAF SmartBrief | May 29, 2012
Burger King seems poised to retake its second-place position on the fast-food charts after a short-lived period when Wendy's took the slot. Burger King managed a 4.2% increase in same-store sales in Q1 this year -- largely due to a comparably poor quarter in 2011 -- while Wendy's rose less than 1%. Analysts say the major misstep was Wendy's introduction of the midtier W burger, which cannibalized sales of its more expensive Dave's Hot 'n Juicy just as Burger King introduced heavy discounting. Advertising Age (tiered subscription model) (05/28)
8. From Spears to Shark Week, brands discover social video
AAF SmartBrief | May 24, 2012
Consumers are flocking to social video-sharing applications such as SocialCam and Viddy, and brands have followed. PepsiCo's Sierra Mist and Brisk have begun to distribute clips via the social services, with some in Spanish. General Electric, Discovery Channel and celebrities such as Britney Spears have also taken advantage of the apps' tens of millions of users. "We're not paying for a presence there. At least not yet," said Brisk brand manager Chris Oates. Advertising Age (tiered subscription model) (05/23)
9. P&G, IBM and Microsoft win Effie Effectiveness nods
AAF SmartBrief | May 25, 2012
Procter & Gamble, IBM and Microsoft topped the list of most effective advertisers, according to the 2012 North American Effie Effectiveness Index. Chrysler's "Imported from Detroit" Super Bowl spot starring Clint Eastwood and its agency Wieden+Kennedy won the North American Grand Effie, in contrast with the Troy Public Library, which won fifth place on the index for a low-cost, highly effective book-burning campaign. Forbes (05/24)
10. Amazon is building up its mobile-ad army for a run at Apple
AAF SmartBrief | May 29, 2012
Leveraging its position as owner of the fourth-most-visited smartphone properties, Amazon might become a formidable rival to Apple in the mobile-ad market. Amazon has hired Microsoft's Jamie Wells to build a mobile-ad sales team and is rumored to be talking to mobile-ad network partners such as Jumptap. More important, Amazon builds and sells its own mobile platform: It has sold 5.5 million tablets since the holiday debut of the Kindle Fire, according to IDC. Advertising Age (tiered subscription model) (05/28)
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