Gen Z - great new report reveals their need of Internet

JWT Intellience has released another well researched report, this time about Gen Z, the kids born from around 1995 and onwards. One interesting figure is that the kids find it extremely hard to give up Internet. The kids rather give up money, renting movies or attending sports events than missing out on what´s happening online. One explanation for this comes from another answer to the questionnaire, telling us that the kids can be themselves more online than in real life. They feel more comfortable having conversations in writing than face to face, and I guess if that´s the case, you will feel a bit lost as a person if you miss out on that very same level of conversation.

What does it mean in the long run though? That we will avoid meeting people physically? That we have two identities - one online and one offline? Who knows. But somehow it´s comforting to know that the kids have a place where they can express who they are and talk freely.

Thanks JWT Intelligence! While others give snapshots of cool campaigns in daily newsletters, you give deeper knowledge in your reports. I like :) 

Trend: post a picture of you wearing a brand, and get a pressie!

The latest trend report from Trendwatching.com presents "M(etail)" and a part of that trend where clothes brands offer customers rewards for posting pictures of themselves wearing the brand. Clever! 


I have been waiting for the real reward revolution, when we actually get something for Liking and checking in, but perhaps the power of the whole trend is that it´s driven by altruism. You like it because you like it, not because you are bought, hence the relationship is more honest and real.  


Here are some of the examples from Trendwatching.com brief: 

RNKD: Winning wardrobes

Users of RNKD are awarded points for uploading photos of clothes and accessories in their closet. The more points a user has, the better their chances of winning a prize, with rewards including Zappos gift cards.

VANCL Star: Share your style and earn

Customers of VANCL, one of China’s largest fashion e-tailers, can set up their own personal stores as part of the brand’s VANCL Star initiative. Customers can upload photos of themselves wearing Vancl products, and as well as highlighting potential combinations and styles, they get 10% of sales generated from their pages.

Zara People!

Brands too can easily tap into this trend. Zara’s People! initiative asks fans of the brand to upload photos of themselves wearing at least two items from the Spring/Summer 2012 collection. Each week, a selection of photos are published on the brand’s website, with featured contributors winning EUR 300.

Fopping.com: Friend-based discounts

Fopping.com is an Indian startup where consumers get discounts for sharing potential purchases with their social networks. The more friends a user has, the lower the price they pay.

Dove does it again! A message of love to women...

Dove made it to the headlines and hearts a few years back with its much loved ad where a normal looking girl is photoshopped into a stunner (as we are trained to see a stunner...). Now an Australian campaign has created a new campaign that is in line with the message "we love you as you are". Spotted by Psfk:

"Dove has released a Facebook app in Australia that lets users create targeted advertising that would essentially replace negative Facebook ads – the ones promoting cellulite creams, bigger busts, or diet fads. The ‘Ad Makeover’ app is part of Dove’s ‘Real Beauty’ campaign to promote positive female body image. The app allows the user to select one of eight encouraging messages, such as “The perfect bum is the one you’re sitting one,” or “Think of your cups as half full.” The user can then target a group of women to send the message to, for example those thinking about love, career, or travel on their profiles."

 
This is the classic Dove evolution, a reminder:

 

The message is clear. The brand aims to make you feel Awesome! But some of its campaigns have succeeded, and some have not. I´m not sure about the ads showcasing "normal" female bodies; does it really sell the brand?

We are all born into a culture where we strive for perfection, and aspire to be flawless due to anxciety or fear, but still there, real. A brand might have to accept that we are not as inspired by people looking like ourselves, so is it a financially sustainable strategy to use regular girls? I believe that it woudl be fantastic if it was, but I have my doubts.  A magazine with a picture of me and my wrinkles and pimples would not sell as well as a magazine with a picture of a supermodel. In this new campaign, however, the brand finds a way to make a point without creating a subconscious connection between Dove and looking average...

"We know drama" campaign entertains the world

Yesterday I had a chat with a friend about marketing, and that it´s not money but cleverness that leads to success. You can´t force your brand on to people by showing your ad in every little corner of their lives, but you need to awaken their interest, find an insight about them that you can use to get into their hearts. Small experiential, crazy, creative campaigns can easily win over a big brand bang.

This is one recent example of a campaign that has raised eyebrows all over the world.

 

One reservation is though that I when I tried to bring up this as an example in the conversation with my friend, I could not remember what brand who had paid the bill for it. After a few seconds I "felt" it was a tv channel - which turned out to be right - but I had no relation what so ever with the brand. I´m Swedish, living in Sydney or Stockholm though, and would hardly sign up for a Belgian TV channel anyway, and I assume the brand is recognised for those living in Brussels, who is the target, but still... Do we get so absorbed in a cool idea that we forget that our job is to market?

The goal is not to entertain the world. The video has 30 million views on YouTube, while Belgium has 11 million citizens... These kind of wicked happenings can never be the core of a marketing campaign, but rather an add-on, a spice to the meat that gives it "personality", makes it different from the others and lets us bond on a deeper level. And as long as you combine an outburst with a more boring, traditional approach, this kind of cheap events can do wonders for a brand.

Love it! Thanks to the sponsor.... http://www.tnt-tv.be/ :)

Powerful ads about work environments in Jakarta

Today, the Inspiration Room newsletter inspired with these very powerful ads. They for sure creates a strong emotion out of a simple picture. Words unnecessary...

"JALA PRT, (Jaringan Nasional Advokasi Pekerja Rumah Tangga) the National Network for Domestic Workers Advocacy in Indonesia, is running a print advertising campaign featuring domestic workers metaphorically wrung out in unjust work environments. “When domestic helpers themselves need help”.

Credits

The Jala PRT campaign was developed at Ogilvy, Jakarta, by executive creative director/copywriter Gary Caulfield, executive creative director/copywriter Jagdish Ramakrishnan, copywriters Purnadyka Anantha and Pribadi Prananta, art directors Ridward Ongsano, Nicholas Kosasih and Alfa Aphrodita, photographer Handri Karya, retoucher Heru Suryoko, prop master Aldo Ikhwanul Khalid, account executive Arianna Christanti, working with JALA PRT educator Lita Anggraini.

I´m Swedish again...

After 6.5 years in Sydney I have now moved to Sweden again... Big change, especially clothes wise. My God, it´s cold, and my hair is static. But people are really nice, and I´ve already attended my first seminar at Berghs, about digital projects, and adland is 100% less pretentious than in Sydney. Refreshing! I will be back blogging again when my head is in the right space and not whimsical from travelling and sleeping for too long. Cheers, I now come in Swedish again (but don´t worry, I will keep on blogging in English :)

Texts in simple fonts are taken less seriously

It´s not what you say; it´s how you say it. We all know that body language is extremely important when communicating face to face, but not as obvious is that fonts is a kind of body language for the written communication. Which can explain the appeal of Heinz Baked Beans for lazy bachelors...

Roger Dooley´s describes an interesting study in his book "Brainfluence":

“Researchers presented people with a description of a menu item printed in either a simple font or a harder-to-read font. The subjects who saw the difficult font rated the skills needed by the chef significantly higher than the subjects who saw the simple font.”

The researcher´s explanation was that long descriptions with big words will slow down the reader and imply that more effort and skill go into preparing the dish.

Other research, by Hyunjin Song and Norbert Schwartz, showed that when a text was in a simple font people believed the commitment to whatever the text was about would be easier. One group saw exercises described in a simple font and another group saw the same text in a complicated font. The second group thought that the exercise would take nearly twice as long, 15.1 minutes instead of 8.2 minutes. A similar test where people read instructions for a sushi recipe found that in Arial people thought it would take 5.6 minutes while in mistral 9.3 minutes.

Daniel Kahneman writes in his book “Thinking, fast and slow” that if you use color, you are more likely to be believed if your text is printed in bright blue or red than in middling shades of green, yellow, or pale blue. But if you want to write an instruction, research show that we perform better if the text is a little blurry, since this makes us frown and use system 2 (the logical part of the brain) more. Frowning normally accompanies cognitive strain and the effect is symmetric: when people are instructed to frown while doing a task, they actually try harder and experience greater cognitive strain.

For makers of technology this means you can attract tech-scared people by writing about your products with a simple font. For gyms, the same rule applies. But for skin care brands eager to tell us how complicated their products are, they should use as odd type as possible. For me as a blogger, I should not use Arial as the default font, but rather something complicated, to make you believe I´m smart :)