Category Archives: Branding

Daddy Issues

funnydad

Just in time for Father’s Day, Y&R has released a new study outlining the shopping habits and behaviors of North American dads. Cleverly titled “Who’s Your Daddy?” the study also shows how millennial dads are “redefining fatherhood.” Here are five of the most impactful takeaways from the study.

  1. Dads will pay more for convenience. Knowing that they can get all of their shopping done in one place is important to dads, and they’re willing to pay a price for the time savings. Compared with 32% of moms, 49% of dads are willing to pay more for “one-stop” shopping.
  2. Being first is important. Just like their hunter-gatherer ancestors, dads are always on the the lookout. Except, instead of looking for wild beasts, dads are looking for the newest and coolest products. 59% of dads said that they want to be the first of their friends and family to try new products.
  3. Loyalty is king. Loyalty is the top value for both dads and men in general, and it shows in their interactions with brands. 48% of dads consider themselves “loyal to brand-name products,” as compared with 35% of moms.
  4. Millennials are changing the game. As millennial parents adopt the idea of co-parenting, and distribution of responsibilities gets closer to even, brands should consider the impact of shifting habits. For instance, 80% of millennial dads take primary or shared responsibility for grocery shopping, as opposed to 45% of dads in general.
  5. Put the coupons down. Dads aren’t particularly interested in saving money on purchases they’re already going to make, even compared with men who are not dads. In fact, only 43% of dads are proud when they “get great value for [their] money,” as compared with 70% of moms. 59% of dads even think using coupons or flyers at checkout makes them look cheap.

Read the full study here.

What Sparks Our Fire: Great insights into the maturing Millennial market

Phodography 101

NikonGrizzler

What would your dog take a picture of, if he could use a camera? In an attempt to answer this question, Nikon Asia devised a clever way for Grizzler to take a photo (without even lifting a paw) in their latest video that’s gone viral. Nikon strapped a camera connected to a heart-rate monitor onto Grizzler, and designed a shutter that automatically closed when Grizzler’s heart-rate increased.

Grizzler the “phodographer” took some excellent photos of plants, sandals, eggs, a turtle, and, of course, some other dog and cat friends.

NikonGrizzler2

People have been strapping GoPros onto their dogs for a while now, but that mostly gives owners an idea of how their pet spends their day, with no regard to the pet’s preferences. Nikon offers a glimpse into what dogs might actually be excited by. As the centerpiece of Nikon Asia’s Heartography campaign, the video does an excellent job showing how photography comes from the heart– especially in Grizzler’s case, where this is more than metaphorical.

Watch the full video here.

What Sparks Our Fire: A viral brand video that gives us an excuse to watch a cute dog take photos

Ready, Set, Call-To-Action

InstagramCallToAction

Since its purchase by Facebook in 2012, Instagram has slowly and precisely begun to build out it’s advertising program. Designed to make the free app profitable, advertisements were introduced to users’ feeds almost two years ago, but were limited to a few core brands. Today, Instagram has announced that it will expand its advertising program, allowing all brands to participate in advertising on users’ feeds.

In addition to this expansion, Instagram is testing new call-to-action buttons on some sponsored content. These will include buttons that say, “Learn More,” “Shop Now,” and “Sign Up.” The addition of CTA buttons allows Instagram to remain hyperlink-free, as it has been since it’s outset. As with past adjustments to their advertising program, Instagram remains dedicated to disrupting the flow of users’ feeds as little as possible.

This expansion of their advertising program provides a new opportunity for all brands to tell a visual story on Instagram and target it to Instagram’s younger demographic. And while some critics will remain skeptical until the program’s roll-out, we see this as an opportunity. Brands will be able to share a deeper connection with consumers based on a creative visual story, and consumers will be able to take action when they enjoy sponsored content.

What Sparks Our Fire: Enhancing offerings to advertisers, without compromising the user experience.

Daily Dose of Branding-Goodness

OllyVitamins

What’s the worst aisle in a store like Target? According to method cleaning supplies co-founder Eric Ryan, it’s the vitamin and supplement aisle. Plagued by “uninspiring brands” and left without a clear understanding of the products and what differentiates them, Ryan became determined to shake up the aisle. Signing a 1-year exclusive deal with Target (much like the one method signed over 10 years ago), Ryan was able to create Olly, a new brand of vitamins and supplements that relies just as much on it’s easy-to-understand descriptions and innovative packaging as it does on the actual product. Instead of selling biotin, Olly sells “beauty.” And while the vitamin and supplement market has been growing for the past several years, it’s impressive to note that Olly sold $1 million dollars worth of product in its first two weeks.

Olly’s success only underscores the effects that good branding can have on a product. By adding a dash of creativity to the way they sell Olly, Ryan and his team have been able to change the nature of the vitamin and supplements aisle entirely.

What Sparks Our Fire: Great brand messaging and design that disrupts the space and drives sales.

Google Results In 140-Characters Or Less

twoogle

If you’ve made a Google search on your phone in the past week, you might have noticed a some interesting new results pop up. The “Popular on twitter” section debuted last week and is the first project to come from Google and Twitter‘s new partnership. Google will now show relevant tweets on some of it’s most popular mobile search results.

Displayed just below Google’s own “In the news” section, this new feature will allow searchers to see the most up-to-date information on the subject they are searching for, and help them gauge the public conversation around that subject. The prominent placement of the tweets on the search results page highlights the relevance and importance of social media by prioritizing it second only to “news.”

This innovation is just one of a few that Google has introduced this year to help make their mobile search tool as user-friendly as possible. Earlier this year, Google changed it’s mobile search algorithm to prioritize mobile and responsive websites. They’ve also created new ad experience options for brands advertising via mobile search.

Google and Twitter’s partnership enables social media commentary to become an even larger part of the information-gathering process for search users. And while tweets will only appear on certain search results with enough popularity, it is easy to see how this integration of facts and commentary could potentially help brands. By seeing non-affiliated tweeters talking about a brand, consumers can get a better, more organic sense of the brand’s personality and benefits to them.

What Sparks Our Fire:  Elevating the credibility of tweets as a source of real time information