I am still reeling from the experience I had with the new book series, 39 Clues. It is series of books, published by Scholastic and has a very innovative spin that is taking 8 to 12 year olds by storm! 39 Clues is an innovative learning experience which utilizes all the forms of media for learning and provides strong creative incentives to continue learning. “Read the Books.Play The Game. Win The Prizes.”

Each book contains 6 cards which the book owner uses to uncover clues to a great mystery. There are 39 clues in total and 19 have been released to date. Not only is the marketing and visual creative design very appealing and relevant to the target book reader audience, there is a web platform which takes the series and reading experience to a new level entirely.

The website is very well designed, has an incredible animated mission/ game area (Arena 39) and offers rich interactive features for the 39 Clues book /game community. The real clincher is that the series offers over $100,000 in prizes to the clue hunters who succeed.

I am half way through the first book, The Maze of Bones with my children and we have succeeded Missions #1, 2, 3 and 4. My kids now know about the Bermuda Triangle, the Titanic, Amelia Earhart, Budapest, the Pyramids and more!

My son is eager to attempt Mission 5 and is anxious for the mission to be unlocked in September (they do not say which day to keep you checking the site).

Various authors contribute to the 39Clues series and there are also additional cards you can purchase to assist you in getting your clues.

In my opinion,  39 Clues is a complete success of marketing, education and merchandising. Well done Scholastic!!!!

Flipping through the journal I took with me to Nicaragua last night and came across a segment I had written about my experience with brand advertising in Nicaragua. **you’re thinking, hmm, sounds interesting**

“I’m on the bus to Leon, driving through Masaya, taking in everything as we progress outside the city and I am struck by the reactions of my team members to the visual imagery they are encountering. Some people are amazed by the transit uniquenesses of the country (motorcycles with multi-passengers, rickshaw “taxis”, oxen pulled wagons, troupes of people standing in back of pickup trucks, etc.). Others are drawn to the people, stoic and calm, almost timeless in their duties. Me, on the other hand, I am completely focused on the advertising and brand marketing presence in Nicaragua. (hey, it’s who I am)

Among the stable of brands being marketed redundantly (and I mean redundantly, with stacked billboards) were Coca-Cola, Del Monte, Esso, Eskimo, Victoria and Tona (beer brands I personally tasted and highly support) and Colgate. These brands utilized marketing mediums standard to the North American market and in some weird way provided me with some comfort and familiarity in Nicaragua.

Two brand marketing campaigns completely stood out for me, one for the use of colour and one for their communication tone…

(For those of you living under a rock, Kotex is a feminine protection product). In a country so heavily riddled with alcoholism, poverty and single mothers, it was not surprising that a necessity brand for women was so highly advertised. After viewing many of the Kotex billboards and poster signage placements, the entire team started doing a “Kotex Alert”, everytime they saw the colour pink. BRIGHT pink usage in all of the Kotex advertising was overstated (to say the least) yet very effective in idenifying and remembering the brand. I don’t know if the Kotex product packaging in Nicaragua or North America is pink, (will be checking next time I am in the aisle) but let’s hope so for their sake.

(Internet and phone service provider) You don’t even need to know spanish to be affected by this brand. It is EVERYWHERE and each message is visual and effective. The logo alone is a fantastic icon to express their ability to connect people and their marketing is friendly.

Their taglines used frequently are “Que tienes ma”(slang term said, when people understand you) and “La navidaden la palma de tu mano” (the world is in the palm of your hand). They have an approachability in their brand that draws the consumer to their products, a memorable and friendly corporate identity and a credibility in their offers as the marketing placement is vast.

The two above brand marketing examples are excellent at showcasing successful colour usage and communication tone in your marketing. I look forward to seeing new players in this arena, next year when I go back to build another home for a family.

Word of mouth marketing (or W.O.M.M.) is not the “new black” it IS THE black! At 3 DEGREES WEST, W.O.M.M. has been the driver of 95% of our business, not only in Vancouver, but across the Globe!

For those of you who haven’t discovered “THE black” yet, Wikipedia defines W.O.M.M.by the following:

“Word-of-mouth marketing, which encompasses a variety of subcategories, including buzz, blog, viral, grassroots, cause influencers and social media marketing, as well as ambassador programs, work with consumer-generated media and more, can be highly valued by product marketers. Because of the personal nature of the communications between individuals, it is believed that product information communicated in this way has an added layer of credibility. Research points to individuals being more inclined to believe WOMM than more formal forms of promotion methods; the receiver of word-of-mouth referrals tends to believe that the communicator is speaking honestly and is unlikely to have an ulterior motive” more >

And today I am going to do a bit of my own W.O.M.M, and rave about the new movie “Slumdog Millionaire”. It wasn’t 5 minutes before I was in the door from the movie and infront of my laptop to write this post, that’s just how good it was. Oddly enough I don’t go the cinema often, but I have seen 3 movies in the past week (”The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” & “Seven Pounds”) and this was by far the breakout winner, and I would rate it * * * * * stars. Yep! Count’em five!

For the first time in a long time the trailer does what I feel it should do……lure you in, but not give you all the best parts and or tell you the ending.

From start to finish you are engaged, waiting for the next part of the story, right up until the end, and still left guessing as to how it will play out. The camera work is fantastic, and the colours of India are awe-inspiring. And because I am a graphic geek at heart, my favourite part, and you’ll understand when you stick in your seat to see it, was the credits that rolled at the end. What a fantastic creative spin, incorporating, music, video and graphics, you stick in your seat until the black and white credits roll - SO AWESOME!!

Slumdog Millionaire is a must see in the theatre! (and there you have a perfect example of how W.O.M.M. works!)

We all know it’s that time of year where we seek to make as much of a difference as we can. One of our clients has come up with a unique spin on how they will be spending their advertising dollars this holiday season to benefit those who need it most.

Precision Athletics is running a fitness contest for any and all media folk who wish to participate and make a donation to their favourite charity:

Do you wish you could afford to make a sizable donation to your favorite charity?

It seems during the holiday season more than any other time of year, we want to donate to charity but for various reasons don’t feel we’re doing all we can. We at Precision Athletics feel the exact same way and we’ve found a way to do it.

Instead of spending our advertising and promotion budget for January we’re running a contest for anyone in the local media who’s interested in improving their fitness level. The individual who improves the most over the 12 week course of the contest, gets to pick the charity we donate the $500 to. It’s just that simple.

All participants will recieve a detailed fitness assessment at the start, a 1 hour consultation with our nutrition and lifestyle coach, a choice of any one of our 12 week group fitness programs and a detailed fitness assessment at the end to measure your improvement.

If you’re interested, please reply by December 24th. All we ask from you is to spread the word about the programs Precision Athletics offers in any way you can.

To learn more about this offer or to register, please contact:
Craig Boyd
Director of Trainers
Precision Athletics
604.723.4317
craig[@]precisionathletics.ca

About Precision Athletics

Located in downtown Vancouver, Precision Athletics provides personal, group and corporate fitness training. Our personal trainers specialize in detailed fitness assessment and program design for all levels of fitness.? Using innovative training techniques and by incorporating progressive overload with incremental increases each session, clients see progress every workout. These small gains from workout to workout total up to amazing results!

Founded in 2001, Precision Athletics Fitness Consultants is owned and operated by Pepe Picco and Craig Boyd, who collectively have over 25 years experience in the fitness industry. Their diverse fitness expertise has been derived over the years through collaboration with many different fitness organizations and health professionals.

* * * *

Good Luck to all those that enter the challenge!

And my question to you is:

How are you / can you spin your marketing for the greater good of your company and others? Let us know.

Tonight I was flipping through a cycling magazine and, by two very different ads, I was reminded that before you prepare any sort of advertising you MUST know your audience intimately if you want your ad to be effective. And creative team you hire to design and develop your campaigns should be parlayed this knowledge and understand the wants, needs and culture of your target audience, because let’s face it there is no use missing the mark, or worse patronizing your audience……..
which is exactly what one of the ads I am writing about did.

As I flipped through the mag I came across a simple ad and *BANG* right away it connected with me, it SPOKE (cycling pun not intended) to me, and I tore it right out of the magazine (which actually was the goal/implication of the ad)……

In the centre of the ad was a shape, like that of a bike computer (used to monitor such things as heart rate, cadence, milelage, speed, etc.) with a dotted line with the scissors icon, around it. Inside the shape it read: ENJOY THE RIDE. And just below this it read: PLACE OVER BIKE COMPUTER SCREEN.

For any of us who have trained for and raced any major event know how much we rely on our bike computers to tell us when to push, when to lay off, how much farther, how much longer……..to become a successful racer it really becomes a numbers game. We also know that you can get lost in the numbers and forget what drives you to ride in the first place……..to ENJOY THE RIDE. So this ad was perfect and spoke to all serious cyclists, of any age, gender, discipline of cycling, at almost any level.

On the next page was another ad, and it actually repulsed me. It was an ad for their upcoming Buyers Guide. Now you’d think their goal was to reach and resonate with as many cyclists as the previous ad, if not more because of this once a year feature in their upcoming issue, and maybe it was, however it failed miserably!

The ad was an over exposed photo (making it clear that it was staged) of a woman on a mountain bike. Consequently she could’ve also been a daytime soap opera actress……..you know the ones who wake up in the morning with perfect hair, perfect make up, and not a wrinkle in her jammies. The only thing this (clearly not a cyclist) model had going for her is that she had mountain biker’s arms. For any serious cyclist looking at this ad you could tell that she is barely moving, riding in the wrong position, not wearing the right gear, and the best part, she was wearing white and CLEAN!

My first thought, “What were they thinking??!!” Then, “please don’t antagonize me,” or the rest of your female audience; for that matter your male audience!

Any serious female rider (who would purchase the level of bike or pick up a Buyers Guide) would be feel completely insulted that this is what the advertiser interpreted as a reflection of them. We LIKE to get dirty, riding is NOT a fashion statement where a bust tight jersey and full make up are required, we DON’T ride through fields with mountains in the backgrounds……….we ride in the mountains, love to get covered in mud, and carry tool kits, not make up kits.. And any guy seriously into the sport would rather impale himself with a trail side stick than ride with the pricess displayed in this ad.

So…….
two different ads, two completely different results. Lesson: KNOW WHAT RESONATES WITH YOUR AUDIENCE (so they are compelled, as I was to rip out the ad and post it somewhere inspirational).