Go into any Halloween superstore and you’ll find a plethora of packaged costumes, cheaply constructed and relatively affordable. Inside each plastic satchel is the promise of transformation – for one night you can become Freddy Kruger, Alice in Wonderland, or even Snooki. On All Hallow’s Eve you’re given permission to tap into a latent dimension of your psyche, and express your hidden desire to be scary, funny, or sexy.
In the context of advertising, Halloween is an individual’s opportunity for disruptive rebranding.
364 days a year you present yourself to the world within the fixed parameters of your personality and identity. Some days you’re more pleasant than others, but unless you’re bipolar or suffer from multiple personality syndrome your identity typically falls within a specific predictable range.
The same hold true for brands.
While Oreo exuberantly celebrates its 100th anniversary and even releases a candy corn flavored cookie for Halloween, it steadfastly maintains its core identity. According to Becky Tousey, Kraft Foods’ corporate archivist, the brand’s message has maintained a consistent theme throughout the years. Tousey told ABC News: "The focus of advertising was on the fun of eating Oreos, the fun of the parts of the Oreo. It has that theme of the enjoyment – the twisting, the... Read more
Tagged 'Vibrant Media' 
Halloween: The Celebration of Dramatic Re-Branding
Consumers are Focused on Content. Are you?
So how can you make sure your ads will be seen? Get ads into the content stream. It’s where you and every other consumer on earth spend the bulk of their time: watching, listening and reading content.
5 Mobile Rules from Top Marketers
Portions of this article appeared previously on Mashable.com.
Let’s face it: mobile advertising still has a long way to go. Facebook finally announced its latest and greatest mobile-ad effort last week, but smart industry folks say it still leaves much to be desired. And even though more money’s flowing toward mobile, the dollars spent on mobile marketing still don’t come close to aligning with the amount of time we spend with smartphones in hand. In fact, some say that the only reason mobile pulls in ad spend is because it’s so damn cheap.
Even so, it seems inevitable that mobile’s share of spend will continue to increase – if only because it already owns such a significant share of mind. Mobile also has serious potential to perform for marketers. A Nielsen report out this week showed a shorter time to purchase and dramatically higher purchase rates among mobile consumers. And leaders at trailblazing agencies are putting serious effort into setting the mobile agenda for the rest of the marketing world.
Mobile has transcended its role as a connection and convergence device. In the words of Starcom MediaVest Group’s Jesse Missad, “it will be part of every communications plan.”
I spoke with Missad and... Read more
Why Relevance Rules Digital Marketing
When you look at the buffet of content available to us these days – from every conceivable source, on every established and emerging platform – you might think that content remains the manna of digital marketing that it once was.
It’d be an understatement to say that brands have embraced content creation as a marketing strategy. Branded content has become a staple of cross-platform, integrated marketing campaigns everywhere, as a nearly fail-proof way to engage consumers, and turn them into customers. As industry analyst Rebecca Lieb said recently, every single one of the major brands she speaks with is increasing its production of original content.
But am I alone in thinking that maybe it’s enough already? Sooner or later, some savvy startup or sprawling conglomerate has to realize that the long tail is losing its appeal. More isn’t always better, as Sheena Iyengar said in her awesome TED Talk. What we need isn’t customization, but relevance.
So how can we, as marketers, deliver the relevance customers want and need? How can we ensure that our content – whether it’s an article, an ad, or an image – reaches the right consumers in the most relevant and meaningful way?
Behavioral targeting gets part of the... Read more
