Entries for month: December 2011
22 December 2011
The Top 5 Holiday Marketing Campaigns of 2011
Bryn Adler, Internet Marketing Associate
Every year, companies compete for the onslaught of holiday shopping dollars by putting their best creative foot forward, creating targeted marketing campaigns that evoke the best and worst of the holiday season.
This year, the most successful campaigns weren't heartfelt or warming, but sarcastic and witty – a sign of the times? – and are memorable in their off-kilter themes. RainCastle took a look at this years top campaigns and made list our favorites of the season.
1. Target – The Christmas Champ
Target's veteran crazy female shopper is no surprise at number one, given her massive success last year and the inescapable buzz that surrounded her return this year. Striking fear in the hearts of all soccer moms, the Christmas Champ trains Rocky-style for the year's biggest sale at Target with terrifying cheer. A fan favorite is her holiday card orchestra, conducted while wearing overtly comical pearls, which is the cherry on top of a seriously scary Christmas season.
2. Best Buy – Game on, Santa
Best Buy took advantage of this year's rise in gamification by capitalizing on the theme of "games," challenging Santa to a game of gifts: with Best Buy, you can finally beat the old guy. Stressed out shoppers of all ages love watching the jovial character flounder as a Mom casually comments from the sidelines, "Aw, guess I didn't leave any room for you."
3. Old Spice – MANta Claus
Like the Christmas Champ, the Old Spice man has been a revolution in character advertising. He's the James Bond of deodorant, and his holiday messages are just as enticing as his past campaigns. Feeling that getting gifts for all 7 billion people in the world is "the least I can do," he starts with Twitter fan @beautyjunkie, and commissions a pair of heels made out of jewelry for the fan. This integration of social media, followed by a look at the 80s-style computer metrics set up to accomplish his giving goals, is the perfect pairing of old and new technology for mass appeal.
4. Ebay – Buy it Now, Buy it New, 12 Days
Ebay's Buy it Now, Buy it New campaign is centered on embarrassing family members who just don't understand. Like the popular "I don't want my grandmother's jeans" ad, the 12 Days ad features a teenage girl who takes caroling as an opportunity to pinpoint exactly what she wants and doesn't want from her list, while chastising the family for last year's blunders –"Especially from you Uncle Dave, were those acid wash jeans?" Bratty, yes, but the purpose of these campaigns is to prove that eBay is where the cool kids shop, for all of their new and used wants. Ebay's target audience will relate to the teenage sass and understand that all she wants for Christmas is an iPad, not a needlepoint pillow.
5. Honda – Happy Honda Days, Car Gift
Another shining example of character advertising, Honda spokesman Patrick Warburton serves as a voice of reason in an otherwise over-the-top holiday season. By removing Honda from the traditional family holiday push – "Are you a millionaire? No? Then you probably don't give cars to people as presents" – Warburton appeals to the average Honda customer (while, of course, highlighting that he is actually a millionaire, because the car on display is for his niece.) Simple, funny monologue-ing, at its finest.
Categories: Brand / Marketing · Web / Interactive
Posted by Paul Regensburg at 12:24 PM | 10 Comments
19 December 2011
Discomfort is the New Comfort Zone
Tom Friedman of the New York Times writes eloquently about the effects of globalization and technology on governments and companies. In his excellent Sunday Op-Ed, titled, “Help Wanted,” he talks about today’s era as one of the “great unravelings,” on par with the periods after the two World Wars, when countries, even continents, were being reborn amidst uncertainty.
Though he is speaking of the current, bottom-up rise in power of connected individuals to topple dictators and change previously immutable governments, he notes that this same bottom-up movement is also enabling individuals to shape their careers out of the traditional mold. And businesses that once pushed products and services on their own terms, now engage in a two-way dialogue, as the power has shifted to the individual consumer.
As a Baby Boomer, I’m accustomed to change being on the menu every morning when I get to work. I interact daily with a client mix of other Boomers, Gen X’rs and now Millennials, the first generation to come of age in this century. One of the reasons some Boomers I see are struggling to find a comfort zone is a lack of recognition that discomfort is the new comfort zone.
I was at a party recently for a rising technology startup and met a young man who had recently graduated as a creative writing major from a liberal arts college. I asked him how he landed in a job and at a company so unrelated to his major.
“The best two things I learned in school had nothing to do with creative writing,” he said. “I learned how to ask the right questions and I can learn software pretty fast.” I nodded my head. “Oh, and I like change,” he added.
Categories: General
Posted by Paul Regensburg at 9:00 AM | 1 Comment
13 December 2011
Raincastle New Home page a Window into Integrated Strategy
November and December have been extraordinarily busy and exciting at RainCastle with the simultaneous launch of three exciting new websites: for global innovation strategy and consulting firm Innosight, public and private sector professional services firm, Tapestry Networks, and the Jewish Community Center of Greater Boston (JCCGB)
The scale of this new work plus our growth in the internet marketing space have deepened the ways we are engaging with our clients. Our new work and services are reflected in the new RainCastle homepage launched yesterday. Look for additional changes within the site in Q1, 2012.
The new RainCastle homepage boldly showcases the three new websites by providing a set of “panels” for each with thumbnail image and headline text that links to a brief story about the project, which contains a link to each site. The panels will rotate over time to feature the latest client work that highlights successful client collaborations and supports the RainCastle brand.
Beneath the main graphic panels, we’re featuring a selection of other projects in our portfolio, links to recent blogposts from our “Driving Rain” blog and an area we’re calling, “Featured Content,” which offers recent content of value to our clients and prospects. This area will grow over time and is augmented by our Resources section, which contains useful articles, white papers and videos.
Less visible in nature, but equally exciting is our continuing relationship with these clients with whom we are collaborating on additional marketing programs involving SEO, analytics lead generation and social media, as well as additional features on their websites. Over time, we will be featuring this work as well. Ultimately, demonstrating the value of the successful integration of brand strategy, website user experience and ongoing results through internet marketing is the RainCastle value proposition.
We’d love to hear your comments on the new homepage!
Categories: Brand / Marketing · Web / Interactive
Posted by Paul Regensburg at 9:00 AM | 3 Comments
01 December 2011
iPads and The Changing Face of User Experience
The web was originally intended to be the great equalizer, a common user experience for interacting with content regardless of location or economic situation. The new internet era would democratize the world. Everybody was on a common playing field.
As quickly as we've all gotten comfortable with the new reality, ipads and mobile devices are already changing the user experience landscape, seemingly overnight. At RainCastle, we’ve been working on several six month website projects. For each of these we designed a user experience for the website user. The iPad reached the tipping point during this period and as fast as you can… plug in your own metaphor, the iPad user experience is nearly as important as the website experience.
The funny thing is that while the websites look great, I mean really great on the iPad, its “touch and swipe” dynamic is not something available on the web. As with mobile devices, though to a lesser degree, the optimal iPad user experience differs from the website experience. Thus, a client has two options, if rendering well on an iPad is an important:
- Limit the usability options for the website to those which when used on an iPad, utilize it’s inherent touch and swipe characteristics or,
- Consider that the iPad is a separate form factor and create an amended design solution for it; essentially treat it as a separate project. This is already accepted practice for mobile sites, since the mobile form factor is entirely different.
It is now standard operating procedure to inquire about iPad compatibility in addition to testing a website on all of the current browsers. An evolving question is: Will future websites influence the iPad or vice-versa? To read related posts, click on the links below.
5 Starter Tips for Mobile Design
Current Trends in Website Navigation
Current Trends in Navigation Part 2: Deep vs. Wide
Categories: Web / Interactive
Posted by Paul Regensburg at 9:00 AM | 4 Comments
