How an eye-catching Facebook advertisement can create a brand ambassador

Watching TV and checking Facebook is a pretty average Sunday evening for most people but on this particular night an iconic bright red London bus caught my eye (not a common sight in a Manchester living room). I had spotted a Pimm’s Facebook ad, a drink I associated with tennis that had never passed my lips, which asked me to like the page to join its summer party!

I don’t usually click through to ads, due to the fact the majority of Facebook ads I receive are of no interest even though they’re meant to be targeted. But on this occasion I broke my habit and clicked through to join the party. Luckily, for me and the brand, I was one of the first 100,000 likes and therefore just in time to be directed to the Party Perks app for the chance to win a Pimm’s prize – from branded bunting to money off a bottle of Pimm’s.

Now the brand had me on board, the crafty marketing ploys started with, £2 off a limited edition bottle of Pimm’s from Sainbury’s. I didn’t hesitate to claim my prize but on the path to downloading my voucher the Pimm’s marketing team cleverly placed a data capture survey (as they put it to find out a little bit about me).

Pimm’s had my data now and I’d purchased a discounted limited edition bottle which coincided with a glorious BBQ weather weekend. While the boyfriend manned the BBQ, I took charge of mixing my very first Pimm’s cocktail. Not only did it taste delicious, it brought back great memories for my Grandma, and my sister also discovered she loves it – we are officially a family of Pimm’s drinkers!

Why does Pimm’s campaign stand out from the crowd?

• It is integrated from offline marketing through to online activity, joining the dots to deliver a consistent message – enjoy a British Summer party with Pimm’s
• Through its integrated approach it has generated interest from over 100,000 Facebook likes and continues to keep them engaged with fun content from the Pimm’s Party Perks to Pimm’s My Summer Party
• It is creating a community of ambassadors that are actively encouraging people to join the party

It just goes to show how clever marketing can lead to brand advocates – like myself. But don’t take my word for it, jump on the Pimm’s bus and try it for yourself!

Blog by Amy Watson

Customer engagement has changed significantly over the last 5 years, and a new report from the IPA could alter how we approach our future campaigns.

‘New models of Marketing Effectiveness – from Integration to Orchestration’ is the 3rd report from the IPA Datamine project which uses insights from the huge database of IPA Effectiveness Awards case studies. The report recognises and understands that as customer’s time becomes more valuable, brands are going to have to work harder to be part of their life.

Whilst the findings are sure to have a significant impact in the way that we approach campaigns, it is perhaps the potential effect that it could have on agency and client structures which is most interesting.

So what does the report tell us? That there are different ways that you can integrate your campaigns depending on your objectives – hard measures like profit and price sensitivity or soft measures like brand awareness and brand advocacy. Depending on your needs, this may range from no integration at all, a ‘matching luggage’ approach or participation-led orchestration where a common conversation is the goal. Some perform better than others, but all of them are strategically sound, depending on what you want to achieve.

On the surface it seems practical and logical until you start to understand the integration model which the IPA highlights as what will most likely become the key to effectiveness in the future. Called ‘brand idea-led orchestration’ it is a form of integration that is unified around a shared brand concept, idea or narrative.

In practice this means that campaign executions can play to the real strengths of a particular channel, without the handcuffs that the more frequent ‘matching luggage’ approach has. It will be the brand idea, usually borne out of a key insight, which will become the ‘glue’ that binds the campaign together, delivering a level of effectiveness that will outshine all others.

Examples

However, if this is going to happen, it means that agencies and clients alike are going to have to change the way that they work and how they are structured.

Brand-led orchestration principles are based on the foundation that all disciplines are equal, and that the insight which becomes the glue can come from anyone. This means that:

1. Agencies need to be able to offer channel neutral insight – this could mean re-structuring the agency itself, or changing internal processes to ensure that a discipline does not bias the outcome.
2. Specialist agencies need to be able to leave their ego’s and commercial targets at the door so that this does not cloud judgement
3. The client needs to re-think their department structure, removing the budget and experience limitations which happens when a department is split into ‘specialism’s’ such as advertising, media, digital, DM and CRM

The changes are significant, considering that over the last 5 years; the ‘full service’ agency was dying as clients leaned towards using individual agencies who could offer targeted services. According to ISBA, the latest research suggests that clients – pressurised by both cost and time – are now looking to resolve by narrowing this list to a feature a full service agency and a specialist media agency instead of a plethora of specialists.

A channel neutral insight has the power to change everything. One was created out of an understanding that the marketing landscape had changed forever, it was based on identical principles – that a discipline should not lead a client investment. That’s why our agency structure and processes are in place to protect and promote this principle.

It’s been our way of working for the last 2 years, so we like to think we are ahead of the game.

Blog by Tristan Morris