Birdsong Gregory

Our family hosts a party each year for the Superbowl so I rarely get a chance to watch the game - much less the commercials - until about the second half. So the morning after I usually catch up on the advertising and marketing highs and lows. Advertising Age posted the commercials here . I didn't see much to rave about this year. How about you? Perhaps the economy is still at an awkward phase and marketers are reluctant to really let loose.

This blog post is from birdsong gregory a Shopper Marketing and advertising agency in Charlotte NC.

I love vintage design. Especially when it comes to consumer goods packaging. And all graphic designers know that what was once vintage will come back around to be new again. Check out some old soda can designs collected by TheDieline.com. Mountain Dew has already brought back their vintage can design. Who will be next?

BMW has picked Jeff Koons to design the newest BMW Art Car for the programs 35th Anniversary. It's the ultimate in Packaging Design for the "ultimate driving machine". Art Cars have always been close to my heart because of my love for both cars and art and the combination has never been less than amazing. Jeff Koons has done some amazing work (check him out here) so it's a great move by BMW to pick him. I wish him well, but he will certainly have a hard time living up to my all time favorite Art Car by Roy Lichtenstein. I can't wait to see the results.

Not being much of a football fan, I primarily look forward to the Super Bowl not for the guts, glory and game but for the clever advertising sandwiched in between the heroic plays and crushing tackles. Also as a member of the Charlotte graphic design community I found it interesting to take a look back at the 44 year history of the Super Bowl logo.

Hasbro, the makers of Monopoly, will be releasing a new, circular, version of the game to commemorate the 75th anniversary of it's release. The new Packaging Design and shape is apparently an omage to one of the original prototypes built before the game was launched. This particular version does away with the cash system and gives players cards and PIN numbers to automatically handle the banking.

Now if only I could bring myself to actually finish a whole game...

This new shopper marketing program from Barilla, the pasta maker and CPG giant, aims to help families spend more time together at the table in 2010.

Called Share Your Dinnertime Moments, this contest invites families to submit photos, videos or blog posts demonstrating how they’re making dinner a more significant, fun and tasty occasion. All eligible entries are then entered for a chance to win multiple prizes, including a $5,000 dining-room makeover and a year’s supply of Barilla pasta and sauce.

 

Consumers who visit the site through Feb. 22 can choose one of five key areas that best describe their family’s story — from decreasing distractions at the table to boosting participation by family members — and submit a photo, video or blog that shows how they’ll improve their shared mealtime. 

 

Behind the new program is new research by Barilla revealing that U.S. families want better-quality dinnertime interactions — with more conversation and fewer distractions — along with better meals prepared together.

 

The owner of 53 production facilities, 13 of them in Italy, Barilla produces such international brands as Mulino Bianco, Voiello, Pavesi and Wasa.

Hats off to AdFreak for compiling some of the strangest, most thought-provoking spots of last year.

Here's the link

And here's my favorite:

 

 

Bob Noorda died last week. As the designer known the world over for giving the New Your City subway system its iconic modernist design, Noorda introduced simplicity to what (to me) still appears to be a confusing welter of express trains, dank passageways, and garbled announcements. At least the signage is friendly.

 

Here's an excerpt from his New York Times obituary:

"Mr. Noorda had helped found Unimark in 1965, teaming up with a group of American and European designers, including Mr. Vignelli, who initially set up shop in Chicago and Milan. Theirs was among the first international design firms to base their work on the Modernist principle that a good design could have a positive effect on all aspects of life, not just on business. An early proponent of unified branding -- the consistent use of distinctive type and imagery to identify a company -- Unimark has been credited with awakening the corporate world to Modernist design thinking."

Here at our Charlotte branding agency, we're following in Mr. Noorda's footsteps and trying to help our clients adopt and successfully use unified branding systems. Not always easy, but the payoff can be huge.
 

Good question. Especially since the use of trade promotions by manufacturers of consumer packaged goods continues to soar. As largest expense companies face (second only to the cost of goods and accounting for approximately 70% of a manufacturer's marketing budget), manufacturers rely on trade promotions to counter the popularity of lower-priced store brands, to pass along a discount to a price-sensitive segment of shoppers (e.g., through a frequent-shopper program), to enhance brand exposure with target consumers, or simply to provide additional stimulus to move excess inventory or counteract competitors.

Retailers, in turn, favor trade spending because it builds store traffic, improves retail margins, and, in general, the majority of the costs (and risks) are borne by the brand manufacturer.

So as consumer products companies continue to spend a significant chunk of revenue on trade promotions, here at birdsong gregory, we're  excited to see how innovative technologies from companies like Siperian are now helping consumer goods companies make more informed, holistic decisions when it comes to marketing spend in the trade channel.

Check it out.

 

 

 

 

Sacramento-based Raley’s Supermarkets has developed a free iPhone application to provide its shoppers with fingertip access to an extensive, easy-to-search recipe database as well as a set of shopping list tools. 

 

When a customer finds a recipe, they can automatically load the ingredients onto their shopping list or add additional items later. And by using the Favorites function to rate and save preferred recipes, customers also enjoy quick access to their favorite dishes

 

Designed to help on-the-go customers both before they enter the store and once they're between the aisles, Raley's hopes this fun new app will make meal planning and grocery shopping more convenient. 

 

Raley's Supermarkets is a privately-held, family-owned supermarket chain that operates 134 stores in northern California and Nevada and employs around 13,500 workers today. Headquartered in West Sacramento, California, Raley's is the dominant supermarket operator in the Sacramento metropolitan area with over a third of the market, and Supermarket News ranked Raley's No. 38 in the 2009 Top 75 North American Food Retailers based on 2008–09 fiscal year estimated sales of $3.4 billion.

And that's T as in Tennessee, not Texas.
 
Just on the other side of the mountains from Charlotte, a group of top executives from some of the world's leading companies — including PepsiCo Americas Foods, Wal-Mart, Nestlé, Kimberly-Clark and The Walt Disney Co. — gathered in Knoxville late last year to help the UT College of Business Administration launch its inaugural Shopper Marketing Forum.

 

UT has two other forums: the Supply Chain Strategy and Management Forum and the Forecasting and Demand Management Forum, both under the umbrella of the Demand Supply Integration Forums. The forums are research-based think tanks that bring UT faculty together with company executives to address key industry issues. Member companies pay a fee to belong to the forums and attend the twice-yearly meetings.

 

Some of the issues explored at the shopper marketing forum included collaboration among supply chain partners in retail; improved metrics and return on investment (ROI) for marketing initiatives; gaining deeper insights into shopper thinking, behavior and value perceptions; and enhancing shopper experiences through state-of-the-art technology such as social networking and virtual simulations and displays.

For Charlotte advertising agencies, marketing gurus, and designers wanting to brush up on their graphic design knowledge, look no further than Graphic Design, Referenced by Bryony Gomez-Palacio and Armin Vit. This visual and informational guide covers the most commonly referenced terms, historical moments, landmark projects, and influential practitioners in the field of graphic design. With more than 2,000 design projects illustrating more than 400 entries, it provides an intense overview of the varied elements that make up the graphic design profession.

Not a book nerd? You can get the design scoop and further inspiration from one of the authors himself! Armin Vit is coming to Charlotte on January 28th as part of AIGA Charlotte's Talk About Lecture Series to share with our members his process, learnings, experiences and latest work. The event is open to the public and the design team from birdsong gregory will be in attendance. Hope to see you there!

Add this item to the "are you serious" folder of consumer promotions. This week's Advertising Age highlights how White Castle is offering a reservations-only romantic rendezvous for Valentine's Day. 

The chain is marketing a "steamy," "candlelit dinner" of 10 sliders, two 21-ounce sodas and French fries for $10.49, "leaving plenty of room in the budget for flowers, candy and entertainment." Staff will also upload a photo of your "romantic rendezvous" to the White Castle website. The restaurants will also be decked out in "theme" décor

In a statement, Jamie Richardson, White Castle VP-corporate relations, said the Valentine's program has been a "huge hit because a lot of our loyal customers -- fondly known as 'Cravers' -- either met in a White Castle Restaurant or have other enjoyable memories they like to celebrate here.

Indeed last year, White Castle hosted nearly 4,000 couples at 157 locations (the chain has 419). The Louisville, Ky., market even played host to a wedding. Their cake was in the shape of a slider. As a market, Louisville led the pack. Participating restaurants hosted 423 couples and had 110 groups on the waiting list.

Not sure you'll see anyone from our Charlotte advertising agency on the list. 
 

Eat the one you're with! That’s the plan for the state of Louisiana anyway.

The Silver Carp has become a big issue here in the US. These fish were originally brought over to the United States to help control algae growth in wastewater treatment facilities but escaped into the wild pretty quickly. These fish grow and reproduce rapidly and have taken over many bodies of water and they frequently starve other species by eating all of the plankton in the water. Not only that, they tend to jump out of the water when disturbed presently a pretty nasty safety issue for people travelling in open boats or on tubes. While I've never experienced it, I can't imagine anything much worse than a high velocity fish to the face.

How does this have anything to do with Shopper Marketing, POS Design or anything else we do here? Well instead of trying to poison the fish or block their movement- they're going to eat them! Described as a taste combining Scallops and Crab Meat, the goal is to get people to like, and subsequently eat more of, this fish. That means there will be naming (Silver fin is what they are calling it), point of sale displays, advertising and all the other good stuff that comes along with selling a new product. When the fate of a body of water is resting on how well a product is recieved, the message and the method become even more important.

We applaud the novel (private) approach to a big problem.  Speaking of which- anyone in Charlotte want to start selling those pesky Cankerworms as snacks? Anyone?

 That's a great question. And to answer it quickly and correctly, here's my two cents.

Traditional marketing (OOH, TV, Radio, Print, etc) falls under the general category of "push" marketing. That is, retailers, manufacturers, and brands pay big agencies a lot of money to push a message into the consciousness of the consumer. Think Superbowl ads.

Here at birdsong gregory, our boutique retail marketing-focused agency has found a more effective and budget-friendly way to influence consumer behavior: pull marketing. 

Unlike it's monolithic, broadcast cousin, pull marketing puts the recipient of the message (a highly-targeted "narrowcast" demographic") in control of deciding whether to act. 

Think about it. Since people are very resistant to any messages that they see as (pushy) advertising, the beauty of pull marketing activities is that they encourage a prospect to seek you out and find out whether you have something of value to offer them.

Unlike it's heavy-handed, loud-mouthed cousin, pull marketing uses the law of intrigue and natural attraction.



 

Each year I look forward to selecting my new calendar the way school-kids look forward to picking out their notebooks, pens and pencils every fall. For designers a calendar can be the perfect combination of typography, simplicity, creativity, and visual order – and no I am not referring to the ones that feature fluffy cats or been-done aspirational phrases paired with photos of mountains or seascapes. Here are some of my favorites for 2010: Timor Perpetual Calendar by Enzo Mari, SusieJack* Wall Calendar, the fun and quirky Cats Let Nothing Darken Their Roar wall calendar, letterpress desk calendar by Snow & Graham, and always a favorite at our North Carolina ad agency the Stendig Calendar by Massimo Vignelli.

To learn how birdsong gregory can bring creativity and visual order to your biz in 2010, visit our website.

Check out this new shopper insights paper at the Retail Council. Based on research conducted by the Verde Group, the findings come from 1,006 online panel interviews conducted nationally with North American consumers between May 11 and May 13, 2009. The sample was weighted 60% : 40% US vs. Canadian shoppers.

 

The study focused on how shoppers define great retail experiences, how frequentlythey occur, and which great experiences matter most to loyalty and a store’s bottom line?

 

The results?

 

Great shopping brings back shoppers

75% of shoppers who have enjoyed a great experience with a specific retailer definitely intend to return to that retailer the next time they need a similar product or item. When shoppers encounter merely “standard” experiences at a store, their likelihood to return drops by over 65%.

 

A great shopping experience drives store advocacy 

When a shopper enjoys great shopping, they are almost 80% more likely to definitely recommend the store to their friends and associates than those shoppers who experience “standard shopping.”

 

Shoppers talk about their great experinces.

Nearly 80% of shoppers who enjoy a great shopping experience will talk about it with their friends and associates. When they talk, they talk widely: on average, they’ll tell between four and five other people about their experience. And volume makes a difference. The higher the number of elements in a shopper’s great shopping experience, the more people they tell about the experience.

 

So what are the 5 critical elements behind a great shopping experience? 
 

1. Engagement: being polite, genuinely caring and demonstrating sincere interest in helping, acknowledging and listening.

 

2. Executional excellence: patient explanation and advice, checking stock, helping find products, having product knowledge and providing unexpected product quality.

 

3. Brand experience: exciting store design, consistently great product quality, making customers feel they’re special and that they always “get a deal.”

 

4. Expediting: being sensitive to customers’ time and long check-out lines, and being proactive in helping speed up the shopping process.

 

5. Problem recovery: helping resolve and compensate for problems, upgrading quality and ensuring complete shopper satisfaction.

 

 

 

 
Print may be a static medium and magazines lost a fourth of their ad sales in 2009, but if you're looking for signs of life in this traditional medium, here it is: scanbuy codes that let your smartphone (if equipped with a bar code scanner app) do some really cool things. Like, in this case, go to a mobile menu that provide's Esquire's styling advice for the item and info on where to buy it. 

Here's the NY Times article that goes into more detail, but here at birdsong gregory, we see a lot of potential between the aisles for smart phones and their ability to scan bar codes 

birdsong gregory announces the opening of a new Shopper Marketing division focused on helping retailers and brands influence shopper behavior at the store level. With nearly 70% of consumer purchase decisions made at the point of sale, retailers, manufacturers, and brands need creative, effective ways to enhance the shopping experience and lift sales. Our deep expertise in retail communications and in-store branding will help clients tackle these challenges and create shopper-centric solutions that drive trips, grow basket size, and build brand loyalty. See the complete details here http://bit.ly/5cHliD

I came across this new 24 concept store for Japanese fashion house Issey Miyake, and I can’t help but marvel at the design. The concept of the store is the 24 hour convenience mart of Japan and the “harmonious chaos” its art is known for. There was no detail left out of this concept. The bags were designed to resemble Japanese shopping bags, all of the furniture was designed and built to exist solely in this space, and the idea of a stock room was left out all together. There is no “back room” to store clothes, only what is on the shelves, so the feel of the store changes over time giving the store a feeling of being alive.


Bloom (a client of this here shopper marketing agency) has made their name by providing a pleasant and easy shopping experience while maintaining a competitive price and a wide selection. Walmart is also paying attention to store experience and is completely changing their store layouts to make things easier to find. This is just another great example of the level of detail going into retail environments these days.