Traditional advertising often gets short shrift by media pundits who believe digital is the answer. But traditional ad expenditure numbers don’t lie. In Q1 of this year, brands spent $31.3 billion on TV, radio, print and outdoor advertising (says Kantar Media), with digital spend, while growing, just a drop in the bucket in comparison.
Yet if the climate is right, the advancement of digital, combined with time-tested public relations outreach strategies, allows PR to heighten the impact of all advertising efforts. But often it’s an unstable climate that prevents PR from effectively supporting and enhancing ad campaigns, says David Warschawski, CEO of Warschawski, a Baltimore-based marketing and PR agency.
The integration of marketing, PR and advertising is the key to a seamless campaign, says Warschawski. “Sadly, this happens very infrequently,” he adds.
Some of this has to do with silos within an organization, and companies are segmenting their agencies, “and not pulling them together for campaigns,” says Warschawski. “It’s too bad, because they’re losing value on their agency investments.”
But when there is integration, it can be a beautiful thing. PR can—and should—play an integral role in driving, not just supporting, an ad campaign, says Ed Markey, VP of public relations and communications for Goodyear North American Tire.
CAMPAIGN MILEAGE
At Goodyear, PR and marketing work in same room, “so it’s pretty easy for us to work together in determining how we want to tell a story about a product,” says Markey.
Markey cites the 2009 launch of a new tire for passenger cars, the Assurance Fuel Max. Designed to fill consumer need for a tire that would help get better mileage, save gas, help people’s paychecks go further and be good for the environment, the main advertising message would be that consumers could save 2,600 miles worth of gas over the life of the tire.
“It was our job to tell the story about saving miles that would resonate with consumers who are not getting information from the advertising—but who can see the same message through comparable events,” says Markey.
“We had to come up with an event that would visually demonstrate the benefit of the product,” continues Markey. The event ended up being the All-American Soapbox Derby held in Akron, Ohio. Goodyear built two oversized Derby cars, outfitting one with standard tires and the other with the Assurance Fuel Max tires. Nascar driver Greg Biffle drove the standard-tire car, and a teenager, a former Derby champion, drove the Assurance-wheeled car. Guess who won?
“That’s how we supported the message of fuel economy,” says Markey. Goodyear also supplied Assurance tires to an Australian couple that set the Guinness World Record for the most efficient gas mileage.
“Tires are something most people don’t look forward to buying,” says Markey. “We tell a story to keep our products in the minds of consumers so when the time comes they know our brand.”
Markey’s advice in telling those stories through events:
• If you’re going to tell the story visually, make sure it works completely with the “sound off,” says Markey.
• While messaging should be consistent throughout advertising, marketing and PR, your audiences will be different. Tailor them accordingly.
• Don’t launch it and leave it. “We sometimes get tired of our story and messaging before most consumers have ever had a chance to see the advertising,” says Markey. “Don’t let that happen.”
PR: FULLY BAKED
In supporting its clients’ ad campaigns with PR, Warschawski stresses that PR is “baked in throughout the life cycle of a campaign.” This life cycle includes the launch process, middle ground and an end announcement that’s usually results based. “A good campaign can run on multiple cycles,” says Warschawski.
One strategy that Warschawski recommends is the “hub and spoke” approach. Often with a contest at the center, the hub is usually a microsite that attracts visitors from the spokes—print, broadcast and other Web sites.
In a recent “Diamond in the Rough” campaign for Gore-Tex footwear (the Gore-Tex logo is diamond shaped), Warschawski used multiple touchpoints and audiences to relay the ad message that the footwear could be worn for almost any occasion.
As a worldwide “treasure hunt” for Gore-Tex logos ensued, Warschawski communicated the contest’s progress by announcing when and where the diamonds were found, and then revealing who the winners were—targeting media in regions where they lived.
WHAT COMES FIRST?
Another PR exec has a different viewpoint of PR/advertising relationship. “Often it’s advertising supporting a PR campaign,” says Larry Solomon, SVP of corporate communications at AT&T. “Before digital, you had separate efforts—advertising launching one-way communication, and PR trying to strengthen and lift a companies reputation and brand.”
Solomon believes the Internet has brought marketing and PR together.
A little over a year ago, AT&T started a campaign called Investing in America. “Because of the recession, there was lots of negativity around that topic,” says Solomon. “So communications came up with a messaging platform derived from speeches made by our CEO.” Only then, continues Solomon, did the idea hatch for an advertising campaign around the initiative.
Such integration couldn’t be possible at AT&T without the formation of its Digital Governance Council more than a year ago. The council brings marketing, communications, e-commerce and outside agencies together on a regular basis to set strategies. “A working team underneath the council does the day-to-day planning and integration,” says Solomon.
With digital elevating PR to new heights in the corporate hierarchy, Solomon has some thoughts for PR executives looking for better integration with marketing and advertising:
• Today it’s not the medium that’s important, it’s the message.
• Advertising is a one-way engagement, and therefore needs PR to start a two-way conversation to ensure an emotional connection with the brand.
• In turn, because of the “clutter” generated by those conversations, PR needs advertising to get people focused back on the main message. PRN
CONTACT:
David Warschawski, [email protected]; Ed Markey, [email protected]; Larry Solomon, [email protected].
2009’s Most Buzzed-About Ad Campaigns |
||||
Rank |
Campaign |
Volume |
Tone (+/-) |
Zeta Buzz Ranking |
| 1. | Snickers “Snacklish” | 874 | 82/18 | 71.67 |
| 2. | Cars.com “David Abernathy” | 770 | 83/17 | 64.16 |
| 3. | Apple “There’s An App for That” | 925 | 66/34 | 61.05 |
| 4. | GM “Reinvention” | 684 | 89/11 | 60.88 |
| 5. | Intel “Rock Stars” | 709 | 82/18 | 58.14 |
| 6. | Bud Light “Tailgate Approved” | 717 | 79/21 | 56.64 |
| 7. | Miller Genuine Draft “MGD 64” | 630 | 86/14 | 54.18 |
| 8. | Microsoft “I’m a PC and Windows Was My Idea” | 807 | 62/38 | 50.03 |
| 9. | Bud Light “Too Light/Too Heavy” | 589 | 81/19 | 47.71 |
| 10. | E*Trade “Golf Baby” | 512 | 80/20 | 40.96 |
| Powered by a slick PR-generated online “Snacklish” translator application, Snickers was deemed the most buzz-worthy ad campaign of 2009, as measured by a combination of overall online buzz volume and the ratio of positive vs. negative tone surrounding the campaign. | ||||
| Source: Zeta Interactive | ||||