Response

Measuring Print Response 2.0

~ K. Quesenberry ~ 1 Comment

I picked up a recent issue of Fast Company to find out how advertisers are measuring response and found various forms of digital techniques that make their print interactive. The first ad I found was for Neat desktop scanners. Their fairly traditional print ad has a call to action to visit a customized sub-page on their website neatco.com/FC30Day. This is a different page then their regular corp. website – I assume they’re tracking hits from the print ad. They may have unique pages for ads in different pubs or ads in different media.

What I really liked on the landing page is a short video with sound that automatically plays animation of a paper monster. Then you can click to watch a video product demonstration. Directly below are product photos and prices with bold “BUY NOW” buttons.

The next print ad I found was for a new book on social media marketing called The Dragon Fly Effect. It features a picture of the book and large testimonials. What drew me to their ad was the use of a QR (quick response code). This graphic was in the bottom corner inviting you to watch a video. The ad itself wasn’t very creative but the use of a QR Code is still relatively new and it makes the printed page more interactive.

After scanning it with my smartphone I was immediately taken to a video featuring the author talking about the book and an opt in option requesting my email and name to obtain more information. The top of the page says “Thanks for scanning our ad in Fast Company. Here’s a video just for you.” They have created a unique QR tag and website for each ad to measure response. The video was hosted on Vimeo and featured easy share options including embedding links and the url.

The last ad I found was for Citgo. Gas companies are facing public image challenges and this must be Citgo’s attempt to reach out to their consumers in a friendly way. They emphasize the fact that all Citgo stations are locally owned and contribute to the local economy and how they support local causes and charities. The bottom of the ad invites us to visit a micorsite FuelingGood.com.

The microsite is very people focused and features a map of the U.S. I couldn’t detect ways to track website traffic from the specific ad, but they would get numbers on general hits coming from all communication. They also have a live feed from their Facebook page showing the current number of Likes (2387) with an invitation to sign up to see what your friends like. Clicking to go to the Facebook page would enable them to track how much Facebook traffic is coming from their microsite. The site also has links to their Twitter account and a YouTube channel where they could track the same traffic activity.

The interactive map shows charities/non-profits in your state and area that you can vote to support. Last year Citgo rewarded seven charities with a year’s supply of gasoline. The creative skeptic in me says, “That’s been done.” But the mature marketer and decent person in me says, “Keep it coming!” What do you think? Should more companies follow the Pepsi Refresh model of getting people to submit ideas and vote on causes to receive corporate support?

BP Can’t Get Beyond Petroleum.

~ K. Quesenberry ~ 2 Comments

Do you know how for years the big oil companies have been trying to tell us that they are not really oil companies? Through PR and corporate campaigns they’ve tried to convince us that they are in fact new energy companies. I think I was actually starting to buy it. BP with its earth friendly yellow and green sun logo and fun illustrated campaign had me convinced they were actually moving beyond petroleum – that is until they started dumping thousands of gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

Now the company can’t get away from being associated with oil. BPs website is now cluttered with response to the oil spill. Response in pictures. Response in video. Response in maps. It seems BP did learn something from it corporate giant friend Toyota. Response it key. Did BP executives read the USA Today/Gallop Poll that said a majority of Americans though Toyota failed to respond quickly enough to its own PR disaster?

Does anyone else feel duped by BPs ads? The “Beyond Petroleum” campaign was launched by Ogilvy & Mather almost 10 years ago. From the Ogilvy PR press release “The newly re-branded, global BP sought to position itself as transcending the oil sector, remaining innovative, progressive and environmentally responsible.” They wanted the world to know intended to go beyond petroleum. That PR battle was a success earning two 2001 PRWeek Campaign of the Year awards. But BP may end up losing the war.

BP can say the word response all they want, but it doesn’t change the fact that they weren’t ready for this. After almost two weeks the governor of Louisiana is still waiting for a contingency plan from BP. While the government is waiting for environmental plans BP was out with its own economic plan offering $5,000 settlements to residents if they waived their rights to sue for any damages.

Did BPs advertising work too well? Would they be better off in the this crisis if a lot of us didn’t start believing they were beyond petroleum?