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Written on 01/22/16 11:26 PM

 

Not sure if you’ve been in a new car lately but driving one seems more akin to piloting the Millennium Falcon than any of the cars of our collective youth. Yes, there’s a steering wheel and a seat and a dashboard in simple terms.

But look closely. The steering wheel is a literal command center that has hardly anything to do with directing the car. Dashboards now come with operating instructions. You heard right, operating instructions.

Kidding aside, there’s so much about new cars that’s just amazing. They can park themselves, tell you where to go, and call you when it’s time for an oil change. Cars now have sensors for well, everything. A mechanic can plug into your car’s computer system and pinpoint any malfunction, no matter how tiny. And the new safety features on these cars? Wow.

Cars can now adjust your cruising speed based on the distance between you and the cars around you. They can brake for you if say, you’re fiddling with the cool sound-system and not watching the road. Backup cameras will alert you to unseen dangers, and on and on.

As great as it all is, the National Safety Council found that people may be relying on these systems a little too heavily. After all, if you know your car’s going to warn you of any impending doom, why would you pay real attention yourself?

A new website, MyCarDoesWhat.org highlights many of the new features that cars offer today. More importantly, it aims to educate drivers on how to be safe on the road.

When RPM Advertising pitched the business, it was clear that along with traditional media such as television and outdoor, digital media could vastly increase the chances of accomplishing the brand’s communication objectives. In order to influence and improve the driving public’s relationship with all the new automotive safety technologies, everything hinged on getting people to the website.

So instead of scolding bad driving habits or being too factual or informational, the idea was to disarm people and entice them with a wildly fun and irreverent online campaign.

Using a playful animation style and an incredibly infectious melody, the team at RPM wanted to get people singing along and sharing the video with friends. In time, the viral quality of the communication would be its major strength, creating a groundswell of interest and intrigue.

Although there are no fender benders or distracted drivers, the video uses metaphors such as ninja attackers and one-eyed Krakens to highlight all the crazy things that confront us on the road. The simple truth is that human beings are always the greatest safety feature in any car. And the new video from RPM aims to get the word out at the speed of the Internet. In the end, RPM was not awarded the business. However, the team remains proud of the strategy & creativity of the work presented including the online video, “Crazy World.”

Crazy World commercial from rpmadv on Vimeo.

You look to your phone to find the nearest café, turn on your tablet to order a holiday gift, and open your laptop to search for a video that teaches you how to install a new faucet.

The Internet is where we go to learn, search, and purchase, and even though they’ve become commonplace and embedded in our everyday lives, these events actually have a name – micro-moments.

The thing about these micro-moments is that they aren’t really moments at all, but a series of moments that make up the reality of today’s consumer behavior – and the challenge for marketers. There is no predictable “on-line” behavior, but rather many fragmented, instantaneous interactions – and hundreds of them occur every day.

Consumers are waiting in line or commuting, killing time while waiting for someone or something, and yet they’re engaged. They’re looking to their Internet devices for information or amusement. Later on, they continue that journey on another device.

Google offers up this analogy: The old model was a four-course meal in the same restaurant. Today’s is a series of constant bite sized snacks all over town. These micro-moments aren’t random, but rather moments of high intent and engagement:

• 69% of leisure travelers who are smart phone users search for travel ideas during spare moments, like when they’re standing in line or waiting for the subway, and nearly half of those travelers go on to book their choices through an entirely separate channel
• 91% of smartphone users look up information on their smartphones while in the middle of a task
• 82% consult their phones while they’re standing in a store deciding which product to buy, and one in 10 of those end up buying a different product than they had planned
• 69% agree that the quality, timing, or relevance of a company’s message influences their perception of a brand

How can marketers meet customers in the micro-moment?

• Identify these new moments to learn how to make each one matter
• Outline and invest in a series of contextual micro journeys that meet customers in their domain when, where and how they unfold
• Connect consumer intent with the desired outcome in the micro-moment

Micro-moments create opportunities for brands to personalize experiences and content to drive brand conversation and perception, and build lasting connections with customers.

Want to read more about Google’s thoughts on micro-moments? Go here.

At RPM, we believe that brands should entertain. It’s one of the reasons we use a party analogy when describing the marketplace. A party, and the myriad guests it attracts, is a concept we can all understand.

Who hasn’t been to a party with a close talker? That guest who makes you feel uncomfortable because they’ve crossed the line between acceptable conversation and too much implied intimacy (much akin to being served an ad that makes you realize your every online move is being watched)?

Or what about the person who corners you and won’t stop talking, even though all they talk about is themselves? And that guest who shouts across the room for attention, over and over again (during football season the same ads constantly cycle, quickly making what might have been amusing just downright annoying)? Nobody wants to be that guy because nobody wants to be with that guy.

When we talk about entertaining brands at RPM we’re not talking about clown cars and juggling acts. We’re not even talking about brands that make us laugh, or make us happy. Because “entertaining” doesn’t have a singular definition that applies to everyone, we are all entertained by different things, even at different times. We’d even argue that to try to entertain everyone is to actually entertain no one.

People are wired to want to be entertained, and there’s actual science behind the idea. Unconsciously, we are always seeking sources of entertainment, even when we’re alone (people watching is a free, highly available source of entertainment everywhere). Studies have shown that when something entertains us we:

• find it more interesting
• pay attention longer
• retain memory of the experience longer and with greater clarity
• apply positive attributes to the thing that entertains us

That’s why brands that entertain are like the guests we can’t wait to arrive, and the ones we don’t want to leave. They’re like the guy we gather around because he knows how to tell a story, the one who brings the extra pizza and knows how to fix the wi-fi when the music goes out. We pay attention to them not because they’re the loudest or craziest but because they demonstrate they understand that a party isn’t an event, it’s people.

When we talk about entertaining brands, what we’re really saying is simple: create a connection with people. Brands that entertain are attuned to their customers’ needs and invested in capturing and holding their attention in a way that’s meaningful and memorable for them.

Be that guest who knows how to work the party. They’re usually the ones who get invited back.

Starting a personal brand is hard. How do you take who you are and translate that onto a blog, video series or any other form of digital media? It all starts with the details. Being meticulous and consistent can push your brand ahead by leaps and bounds.

Amy Schmittauer is the founder of SavvySexySocial.com and a popular YouTube blogger. Recently Amy spoke at Content Jam – a one-day content marketing conference about everything from SEO to content strategy. During her presentation she listed the steps to creating a successful YouTube channel. Let’s talk about three that you can use to push your brand forward on any platform: consistency, excitement and engagement.

Consistency. One word that can be the reason a brand fails or succeeds. Promoting a personal brand while having a family life, personal life and/or work life can be challenging. But sticking to a consistent schedule can be your brand’s saving grace. We are all creatures of habit, so getting your audience familiar with a schedule is essential. Whether it’s once a month or a week – be consistent.

Excitement. With so much content available online you have to be exciting. Nobody wants to read, watch or consume anything boring. What excites you? What excites your audience? How can you keep them wanting more? Your brand should please your audience. Are you teaching your audience something? How can you do it better than it’s been done? These are all questions you must consider when creating content.

Engagement. If your brand is consistent and exciting, people will be looking to learn more, comment and interact. Keep an active community if your audience reaches out to you. As Amy put it at Content Jam, “Listen. Respond. Benefit.” Pay attention to the comment section because you never know where it may lead you next. Your blog may start a conversation that reaches far beyond your expectations. Don’t limit your reach by not responding to comments – keep the conversations moving forward to engage and build a relationship with your audience.

Consistency, excitement and engagement are just the starting points to building a successful personal brand. The Internet is a limitless tool that can help catapult your brand to the next level.

Don’t limit your expectations and stick to your plan. You never know, you could be the next big thing.

Often times, the really good story gets buried under a lot of science. We’ve dissected what words sell more, we’ve endlessly focus-grouped housewives 20 to 55, tested this music and that spokesman, all to divine the best ways to motivate a purchase.

But really, great advertising is the story of a brand.

Now more than ever, it’s a passionate conversation with the world about your product or service. This story just happens to be in increments of 30 seconds, 600×300 pixels, an 8- by 10-inch magazine ad, and so on.

The pieces and parts come together in one grand story that hopefully, people care about. If it’s done artfully, passionately, if it’s a story that really resonates with consumers, well, there’s really no limit to how far a brand can go.

When you think of products and companies like Progressive, Cheerios, Target, Nike and Apple, most of us know the colors they use, the iconic logos, we can even recite decades’ worth of taglines and copy. These brands have transcended the label of advertising and have become part of our culture. Part of our conversation. You hear people say things like, “Hey, did you catch that ad with the talking camel whooping it up about hump day? It’s hilarious!” Those are the stories that we tell and retell.

But you don’t have to be Geico to tell a good story.

Every brand has one. Whether it’s dramatic, hilarious, maddening, awe-inspiring or shocking, every brand has a truth to it, a center that feels right. That’s the place the best stories come from. That’s where you discover the tales, the facts, the jokes and experiences that make a brand unforgettable.

Of course, that’s the trick. The hard work, so to speak. Finding the heart and soul of a brand. And then bringing it to life in ways that connect authentically. Here are some good starting points:

1. History lessons.   Every brand comes from somewhere. There were people involved, they did things, there were trials and tribulations, and somehow, we’ve arrived at the brand you know today. The history of a product or service can be long and storied, or even an exciting new venture trying to get off the ground. Either way, history can be the stuff of legend. It can be fret with hardships that were ultimately overcome. The little-known moments that once illuminated, can really connect people to a product. Heck, they make movies about this stuff. Certainly, a brand’s history makes for good ads.
2. The great creators.  Just about everything we use and consume had some person at its core. At some point, a guy sat down and created the next great can-opener. Somebody was instrumental in making a fair-trade food store, the gripping-est paperclip, and the whitest-brightest toothpaste.  Someone took two dark chocolate cookies, put some sugary white filing in between and squished them together. They shared their tasty invention with the world and today we have Oreos. Why did they do it? How did they come up with that idea? There’s a story there.
3.  It takes vision.  Just as there’s usually some great person at the center of most companies, there’s always some grand vision or passion that drives most brands. At the beginning, there was some thinking that brought a product to life. Usually, someone’s great passion drives a product’s success. The deeply held belief in building the world’s safest cars has propelled the Volvo story for decades. If you can find the vision for a brand, or a mantra the product or service lives by, those strong values that drive a product can also drive its advertising.
4. Customers in kind.  Look at the people who use a brand.  What are they like? What traits do they share? Are they all adrenaline junkies who go base jumping? Or do they all wear black leather and watch too much ‘Sons of Anarchy?’ Is there a shared reason for liking your product? Many years ago, a sneaker company looked at the athletic wear world and found that many had a “don’t just sit there, get off your butt and get going” attitude.  In its shorter, more well-known form, “Just do it” became not only a brand story, but a religion people still live by today.
5. Are you experienced?  How people experience your brand can be a story, too. Some products really elicit a response. Just look at the internet. People like to talk about their experiences with products. Sometimes these are called testimonials. But these experiences can also lead to great storytelling. A radio station that advertises old, uptight and conservative people ranting about the music they play. Or a boot-maker that shows their customer’s mangled boots in order to talk about how their well-made shoes saved limbs and lives.

Even bad experiences can make a great ad.

It’s all in the storytelling.