Daily Buzz 4-25-12
Top Chinese Brands Bet on Star Power of American Blockbusters
Ambitious Chinese marketers are looking to Hollywood to lend glamour and cachet to their brands.
Last year’s “Transformers 3″ featured the most-high-profile product placements yet for Chinese brands, most notably a mention in the script for Yili’s Shuhua milk. Marketers are now eager to re-create that type of interest in upcoming installments of the “Transformers,” “Ironman” and “The Fast and the Furious” franchises.
Working behind the scenes to broker these deals is Sirena Liu, president of Beijing-based Filmworks China Entertainment Marketing. She’s targeting the boldest players in categories such as home appliances, cellphones, computers and clothing.
“It’s a huge risk for marketers,” said Ms. Liu, a former international marketing executive for Columbia Pictures. “It’s shot thousands of miles away, you don’t know anyone there and there’s only one agent here. It really takes some confidence.” (www.adage.com)
AOL Touts New Scripted Series and Celeb-Fronted Video Content at ‘Newfront’
AOL touted a slate of new programming at its digital content “newfront” aimed at luring TV buyers with takes on familiar concepts, such as crime-scene investigations and housewife angst, that have made fortunes for the networks in the last decade.
Two of the series AOL unveiled Tuesday are scripted, which suggests that AOL is serious about investing in original content in hopes of winning TV ad dollars. One notable unscripted series: Twitter co-founder Biz Stone will host a 12-part series where he interviews the likes of former President Bill Clinton and the CEOs of Cisco and Nike.
At the center of AOL’s video strategy is a hub called “AOL On,” with channels such as food, business, entertainment, style and tech, in part curated by celebrities such as chefs Sam Talbot and Marc Forgione, “Entourage” star Adrian Grenier, and the ubiquitous Heidi Klum (who already has her own AOL site), who have agreed to appear on-screen talking about their areas of interest and to create “playlists” of video content picked from AOL’s library.
All the new programs announced today are short-form, with each episode running for five to seven minutes. Debuting today on AOL On’s tech channel and on the Huffington Post’s crime vertical is “Digital Justice,” a weekly reality series running for five episodes that shows how crime prevention units are deploying digital technology across the country. (An upcoming episode centers on the controversial “long-range acoustic hailing devices” that were reportedly used to disperse crowds at some “Occupy” protests last year.) (www.adage.com)
Hershey to Launch Lower-Fat Chocolate Candy
Are people finally ready for lower-calorie chocolate? Hershey Co.thinks so. The candy giant today said it would soon launch Hershey’s Simple Pleasures, cream-filled chocolates that the marketer says have 30% less fat than other milk chocolates.
Unlike soda and gum brands, chocolate has had trouble breaking through with low-calorie versions, mostly because taste still trumps all in the category. But marketers are slowly making inroads. Last year, for instance, Nestle USA extended its Skinny Cow ice cream brand to candy, with chocolate crisps and clusters. At 110 to 120 calories, the offerings are positioned to hit the “sweet spot between indulgent treats and better-for-you snacking,” the marketer told Ad Age last year.
Hershey seems to be making a similar play with Simple Pleasures, which will launch June 1. The candies are a little bit larger than a quarter and will be sold in a stand-up pouch. Flavors include dark chocolate with chocolate creme, milk chocolate with vanilla creme and milk chocolate with chocolate creme. Hershey described them as “smooth and creamy” with “30% less fat than the average leading milk chocolates.” On an earnings call today, executives said the candies would be positioned as more of “an indulgent chocolate that has fewer calories” rather than as a health and wellness product.
Each serving size, which includes six pieces, has 180 calories with 22 grams of sugar. (Vanilla creme has 23 sugar grams.) For comparison, a Hershey bar has 210 calories and 24 grams of sugar. (www.adage.com)
Dove’s ‘Ad Makeover’ Tries to Bring Positive Ad Messages to Facebook
Unilever’s Dove, known for uplifting ad campaigns that celebrate “real beauty,” is targeting those nasty little Facebook ads that tell you to increase your bust size or get rid of that tummy fat.
The brand and Ogilvy Australia have launched The Ad Makeover, a Facebook app that lets Australians opt in to bring more positive body-image messages to the Facebook ad space (”The perfect bum is the one you’re sitting on.”) so their friends will get a healthy dose of optimism when they next sign in to Facebook.
According to a Facebook spokesperson, the app works as follows: users who opt into the app can create their own uplifting images, for which Dove would then essentially purchase ad space for, thus leaving less room for others who have less encouraging messages for your body — or for any other advertiser, for that matter. The app doesn’t actually replace ads, as suggested in the video, and users can’t select which women will see the ad. The targeting works the way any other ad would. (www.adage.com)
Sperry Top-Sider Named Title Sponsor Of United States Sailing Team In Olympic Year
Sperry Top-Sider, the leading global nautical performance and lifestyle brand, announced today its title sponsorship of the US Sailing Team, newly named US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider. The title sponsorship is the brand’s highest profile sailing sponsorship to date and is effective immediately through December 31, 2016.
A key part of the title sponsorship of the US Sailing Team – comprised of the top-performing sailors in the 10 Olympic and three Paralympic boat classes – all boats and main sails on the National, Paralympic and Development teams will feature the Team’s new emblem, which incorporates the Sperry Top-Sider logo. In June, the Team’s new logo will be unveiled at the Sail for Gold Regatta in Weymouth, England. The Team’s website, social media channels, monthly newsletter The Medalist and Olympic and Paralympic headquarters in Weymouth, England will be re-branded with the new Team logo as well.
Sperry will also continue its role as exclusive footwear sponsor for the Team, who wear-test products and provide Sperry’s product designers with feedback for product enhancements. Effective January 2013, the sponsorship will also include performance apparel, eyewear, accessories (hats, bags and socks) and luggage so that all athletes sport the brand from head to toe.
“We’ve had a close, successful relationship with Sperry for a long time, but this represents a whole new level of their commitment and our partnership,” said Dean Brenner (Wallingford, Conn.), Chairman of US Sailing’s Olympic Sailing Committee. “The Games begin in three months, and this significant expansion of our relationship comes at exactly the correct time, with an extension through the 2016 Games. We are thrilled to have a partner like Sperry, and our athletes will benefit immensely from all the resources they bring to the table.” (www.sponsorship.com)
Natixis Global Asset Management (NGAM) and Newport Festivals Foundation, Inc. today announced a new three-year sponsorship agreement that highlights aspiring young jazz performers. In addition to this year’s line-up of world-class artists, the 2012 Jazz Festival will feature The Rhode Island Music Educators Association (RIMEA) Jazz Band, an all-star, all-state band of high school jazz musicians from Rhode Island who will be the opening performance on Saturday, August 4. This concert season, the agreement includes a $5,000 NGAM scholarship for a selected student musician from the band.
“Although the social and academic benefits of music education have been well documented, throughout our national educational system the performing arts are continually threatened by budget cuts,” said John Hailer, president and chief executive officer, Natixis Global Asset Management – The Americas & Asia. “Working with the Newport Jazz Festival, it is our goal to provide additional opportunities for extraordinary young artists to participate in professional venues as they pursue their dreams.”
For the fourth consecutive year, the Newport Jazz Festival will also welcome back young jazz artists from Berklee College of Music. The Berklee Global Jazz Ambassadors, a group handpicked from the college’s Global Jazz Institute, which is under the artistic direction of Grammy-winning pianist Danilo Perez, will open the festival’s main stage on Sunday, August 5. They will be joined by special guest Adam Cruz, widely celebrated as one of the most innovative drummers in jazz today. (www.sponsorship.com)
Humana Military Healthcare Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Humana Inc. announces the Humana Military Fleet Week 2012, April 25 through April 30, by Broward Navy Days, Inc. (BND) in Port Everglades, Florida. The 23 rd annual Fleet Week brings in approximately 2,500 men and women representing the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Royal Canadian Navy, and Deutsche Marine of Germany who will dock their ships along the shores of Port Everglades for weeklong activities, including public venues to recognize active duty members’ community-relations projects and entertainment events. Fleet Week also provides the public an opportunity to tour surface ships, submarines, and to see some of the latest maritime technologies.
“Humana Military is pleased to present Fleet Week 2012 in Port Everglades,” said Tim McClain, president of Humana Government and Other Business. “Fleet Week is the time of year when the entire South Florida community can come together to recognize and pay tribute to our active duty service members of the Navy, Marines, Coast Guard and their families while showcasing to the public the latest innovations of the maritime services,” McClain added.
BND is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to serve and support U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, and Coast Guard morale, welfare, and recreation. For more information and schedule of events, please visit the Fleet Week Port Everglades website browardnavydaysinc.org. (www.sponsorship.com)
Skechers Sets New Pace on Sponsors
The track and field events at the Olympic Games conjure thoughts of glory and glamour. But even for champions, endorsement contracts tend to be stingy.
Most get by on running-shoe endorsements that are so meager that many of top U.S. track and field athletes earn less than $15,000 a year and have contracts that limit their sponsorship options and cut their income if they perform poorly. (www.wsj.com)
A Cable Start-Up Lands 3 Big Brands
A START-UP cable channel led by Magic Johnson, the basketball star turned businessman, is getting an early vote of confidence from several large marketer clients of a major media agency.
The channel, named Aspire, is scheduled to make its debut on June 27 with family programming aimed at African-American viewers. Among the initial advertisers on Aspire, which is being promoted with the theme “Our past. Our now. Our next,” will be three clients of Universal McCann, part of the Mediabrands division of the Interpublic Group of Companies: the Chrysler Group, L’Oréal USA and Nationwide Insurance.
Those marketers will receive exclusivity on Aspire through 2013 in the categories of domestic automobiles, beauty products and insurance. They will also receive perks that include a chance to have Mr. Johnson appear at events for customers and employees and to have their brands integrated into programming on GMC TV, formerly known as Gospel Music Channel.
GMC TV, majority owned by InterMedia Partners, is handling tasks for Aspire that include advertising sales; Mr. Johnson is a minority owner in GMC TV and a majority owner in Aspire. InterMedia and Mr. Johnson have done other business together, involving companies like Vibe Holdings and Inner City Broadcasting. (www.nytimes.com)
Merck Launches Fertility Website, Awareness Effort
Pharma giant Merck is partnering with a national infertility association to launch an awareness campaign and fertility website.
Merck and RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association aim to remind couples that a “conversation with a specialist could be the start of something ‘small.’” One in eight couples has difficulty in getting pregnant, and the campaign is meant to offer encouragement and resources.
Infertility is a common medical condition, one that can be an extremely emotional and difficult experience for couples. It’s often the emotional barriers, or simply a lack of information, that leads couples to delay seeking the help of a fertility specialist, which may impact their success, according to Merck.
The campaign, which corresponds with National Infertility Awareness Week, is themed “It’s Just a Conversation.” It includes an interactive website, www.FertilityGuide.com, which provides information in the form of a fertility knowledge quiz, a doctor discussion guide and a fertility specialist locator. (www.mediapost.com)
Trop50 Extends Products — And ‘Girlfriends’ Campaign
PepsiCo continues to build on the impressive success of its half-the-calories juices brand, Trop50, with (more) new extensions and new “Girlfriends”-themed TV spots starring “30 Rock” star Jane Krakowski.
The latest launches are a Trop50 Juice with Tea line in three varieties (peach with white tea, raspberry with green tea and pear lychee with white tea); plus Trop50 Red Orange (red oranges combined with OJ). All provide a full day’s RDA of Vitamin C per eight-ounce serving. The juice/tea drinks, at 35 to 45 calories per glass, also include Vitamin E; Red Orange, with 50 calories, includes potassium.
The 2012 continuation of the “Girlfriends” campaign, launched in September 2010 with a plan calling for it to continue through 2011, obviously means that it has resonated with the core target audience: women who love juice but don’t want all the calories — or artificial sweeteners. (This campaign, started in conjunction with Trop50’s switch from a paper carton to a plastic carafe that shows off the juices’ color, succeeded the brand’s initial campaign featuring another hot 40-something star, Kyra Sedgwick of “The Closer.”)
Trop50 addressed women’s calorie and artificial-sweetener objections by adding water (it’s 42% juice) and the stevia/plant-based sweetener PureVia –- lowering PepsiCo’s costs and fattening its margins in the bargain. (www.mediapost.com)
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