Featuring: Scott Madden, Sr. Partner, Director of Strategy and Paul M. Capobianco, Cultural Anthropologist 

What is new nostalgia and why is it such an important component of advertising today? Simply put, it is looking at the past and revealing new ways forward for the future of humanity. It is directly addressing the backwards ideas of the past and thinking about what the future ought to be. 

In this session, we delve into the role of nostalgia in advertising and examine various uses of it. We also discuss the “Great Resignation” and how the Pandemic has caused people to re-examine their values and what they now look for in an employer.

https://vimeo.com/676279509

 

Featuring: Alyssa Toro, Sr. Partner, Chief Creative Officer, Michelle Capasso, Partner, Director of Media Services, Sarah Taylor, Group Brand Director, Ally Chapman, Senior Brand Strategist, and Kristen Kearns, Executive Producer at Element Productions 

Did you know that women make up over 80% of purchasing decisions? Or, that almost half of those watching the Super Bowl are female? It goes without saying that women are an important demographic that brands should be paying close attention to. In this discussion, we examine Super Bowl advertising from a unique, female perspective. 

We discuss the role of humor, relatability and authenticity in commercials, as well as recent trends in roles and stereotypes, concepting and execution. Using Super Bowl spots and our own survey findings, we explain why the spots were successful or where they missed the mark. 

 

Connelly Partners Benefits Administration

The recent Massachusetts State Legislation bill H-2985 proposal introduced by Rep. Kate Lipper-Garabedian is a major development to help address the crushing student loan debt crisis. The proposal would offer companies who contribute to their employees’ student loan debt with an annual $2,000 state tax exemption per employee. It’s no secret that the cost of obtaining a college education has skyrocketed in the last twenty years, far outpacing wage growth. This concerning trend shows no sign of stopping and, as a result, an entire generation of the workforce faces a perilous financial headwind. Four-year colleges costing upwards of $300,000 is an eye-watering amount for both parents and students alike. 

As an employer, we share a responsibility in the student loan debt crisis.

At Connelly Partners, we feel that we share responsibility with our employees, as job requisition requires a college degree to maintain a talented workforce to best serve our clients. 

An alarming trend developed at Connelly Partners as 401k participation rates among our younger employees was low. A benefits package should address the needs of the entire workforce demographic. Building a generous 401k matching program and supporting robust medical related insurance offerings is an obvious starting place. As benefit administrators, we must consider that our “under 26” employees in their first or second job out of college are most likely still going to be dependent for medical insurance purposes. Therefore, a benefit this employee can take advantage of is starting contributions to their retirement savings. Well, let’s face it, it’s extremely hard to save for retirement with tens of thousands of dollars of student loan debt payments looming ahead. 

At Connelly Partners, we wanted to do something about this. So, we did. 

In June of 2016 we became the first advertising agency to partner with Gradifi to introduce a Student Loan Paydown benefit for all our employees. The program is a five year long commitment to our employees to help pay down their student loan debt faster with monthly employer contributions paid directly to the student loan balance. 

The long and short of it? We make direct monthly contributions to employees’ student loan principals over the course of five years for a total of $10,000 per employee. Since June of 2016, Connelly Partners has contributed over $300,000 and counting to our employees’ student loan debt. 

Offering the Student Loan Paydown Program has not only added an important benefit that appeals to the younger workforce, but also increased the participation rate of our 401k retirement plan to one of the highest percentiles in our industry. We couldn’t be happier with the trend reversal to support long term financial wellbeing for all our employees. 

We understand there is no easy solution to the student loan debt crisis. We applaud bill proposal H-2895 as a step in the right direction between government and employers. However, it’s not enough. According to 2022 State House News Service, this bill tax proposal is estimated to cost Massachusetts $1.8 to $6.7 million annually. For perspective, Massachusetts collected $34.14 billion in taxes in 2021. For the greater good of confronting the student loan debt crisis, we hope there will be much more to come by both state and federal governments.  In the meantime, we continue to combat this crisis with our paydown program. Why? Because it’s the right thing to do.

Marc Santos, Associate Director of Strategy

I just spent 3 jam-packed days in Nashville at The Market Research Event (TMRE). I listened to and chatted with Insights & Strategy leaders from across the world. A Disney trip for people like me that obsess over understanding humans and what it means for brands and our futures. 

I was inspired by an idea that ultimately led me to a thought: meaning is misunderstood. 

We use meaning predominantly in the pursuit of better understanding something else. What does this or that mean? We don’t give the actual concept of meaning enough love. We don’t think or talk about the meaning of meaning. We use it too one-dimensionally. You know what I mean? Hang with me…

Roughly 40% of English words have more than one meaning (reason enough why my Portuguese grandparents never mastered it). And beyond words, meaning can be feelings, visuals, actions, and implications. It can be past, present, or future. It can change. That all makes meaning the opposite of one-dimensional. 

Here are three implications of meaning for brands and why:

Meaning is dynamic.

Oftentimes, brands think about marketing and product innovation in pillars. The example I’m going to use here is around the idea of convenience.

Over the years, the meaning of convenience has changed. In Grocery or QSR, convenience once meant physical presence in as many locations as possible and has evolved into self-checkouts/kiosks, curbside pickup, and “is my grocery store on Instacart yet?” These are all products of convenience = time saved.

There is a race to provide the fastest, most seamless experience possible. Brands are putting their Benjamin’s and brains towards the cause but as they do, something more macro may be happening. What will it mean to have a relationship with a customer? What if time spent becomes more coveted than time saved? What if one day speedy experiences mean soulless ones?

People are funny. Maybe one day they’ll work harder for brands because they’re willing to, want to, or it becomes normal to. In that world, a brand designed to make it easy – but not engaging – will become boring and forgettable.

Meaning is active. 

You can’t go a day without hearing the words ‘authentic’ and ‘purpose.’ They’re only worse when they’re used in a sentence together. As it’s well-documented, living their stated purpose is where brands can be vulnerable.

That old phrase “SAY WHAT YOU MEAN!” has been totally replaced with “DO WHAT YOU SAY!” because our mental say-do equation has changed drastically over the last few years and instead of giving the benefit of the doubt, we’re actively monitoring and questioning brand behaviors – regardless of whether we’re evaluating them as their customer or never intend to be anyway.  

Purpose is reason – something stated. Meaning is significance – something created. By being hyper-focused on purpose, we’re predisposed to focus on words and messages but when we focus on meaning, we’re naturally in action.  

Meaning is power. 

Using an airplane analogy, meaning plays the role of a rudder. The rudder is important but only plays a role when the pilot engages it. A decision vs. natural occurrence. Meaning is oftentimes used in that same capacity – necessary context to “land the plane” (excuse the bad pun), but what if meaning was in the pilot’s seat and could inspire decisions? 

There is a rapidly-growing department within many of the world’s top brands – Foresight Teams. Rudders in the cockpit. These teams have a challenging job to predict what’s largely unpredictable. Present day Consumer Insight is hard enough given people don’t always say what they mean, do what they say, or tell you what they really think. But sometimes they can indirectly or unknowingly offer clues about what their mindsets and behaviors today suggest about the future. 

With the right blend of indirect association and projective exercises (and the right eyes on the data!), brands can find avenues where meaning can power their longer-term futures vs. solely helping them navigate today.  

Remember… meaning isn’t perfect because it’s created by people who aren’t perfect. We’re illogical and change our minds… a lot. The more brands can prepare for meaning to change, the better.

Hillary Williams, Group Brand Director

With the Holiday season approaching, one word seems to stand out among the rest: Gratitude. It’s always top of mind (or nowadays, “trending”) as we head into the Thanksgiving holiday … and this year that magnified sense of thankfulness feels more relevant than ever for brands.  

Expectations for brands have been dramatically increasing for the past several years and the need for companies to stand for something greater than their products has never been more profound. These expectations are driven by consumer desire to identify with companies through shared values, in order to rationalize purchase behavior via decisions that contribute to the greater good. At the end of last year, a study by Forrester reported that “63% of consumers will choose brands that help their local communities, while 57% intend to buy from companies that contribute to sustainability more frequently over the next two years” (Forrester, 2020). Alongside what companies are doing for society, consumers want to feel personally appreciated and that their business is not being taken for granted. According to a recent study, “48% of people expect specialized treatment for being a good customer,” and will be quick to switch from product experiences that lack appreciation and personalization (Accenture, 2021).

Consumers do not want to feel like they’re being taken for granted by the brands they support, but neither do the employees working for these organizations. The pandemic of the past year has further amplified the search for meaning and purpose in our lives, yielding a shift in perspective on priorities. Recent reports reveal that “25% of polled professionals said the pandemic has made them want to pursue more fulfilling jobs,” (Boston Globe). The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reported that 2.9% of the entire workforce quit their jobs in August alone, hitting a new monthly record (NPR).

So how can companies effectively navigate this greater sense of purpose and feelings of restlessness to retain and attract both employees and consumers? Simply put⏤  they can show genuine gratitude. Appreciation is a critical foundation of any strong, long-lasting relationship and as Professor Bradley Cannon of the University of Wisconsin remarks, “We did not create or fashion ourselves. Life is about giving, receiving and repaying. We are receptive beings, dependent on the help of others. As such, we are called to gratitude.” Studies show that grateful people tend to be more empathetic, agreeable, joyful and enthusiastic and that the act of gratitude helps mitigate toxic emotions (Forbes). In a University of Pennsylvania study, telemarketers who had a brief visit from the Head of Giving thanking them for their efforts, outperformed the shifts that did not by 50% (Wespire). 

Gratitude starts from within companies, – and the way it’s rooted in the brand DNA and manifested towards consumers are of equal importance.  With this in mind, here are three ways to show gratitude for employees and consumers in a compelling, authentic way:  

1. Walking the brand purpose walk. An oldie but a goodie and no better example in my opinion, is REI. Despite a tough sales year due to COVID related store closures they’re continuing with their #optoutside movement and closing all doors on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, encouraging over 15,000 employees and consumers to spend time outside on the busiest shopping day of the year. REI’s commitment to the #optoutside effort exemplifies their core purpose of “inspiring, educating and outfitting for a lifetime of outdoor adventure and stewardship,” on the heels of a period where many reprioritized time outside. This year aligns with their new Cooperative Action Fund, a charity to support “nonprofit organizations promoting justice, equity and belonging in the outdoors.” From a loyalty standpoint, REI offers a $20 lifetime membership offer for customers. This alternate take on a traditional loyalty program reflects their co-op roots and gives consumers frequent discounts, but with a sense of genuine belonging to the organization. Members see themselves as an extension of the company which creates a genuine sense of loyalty vs. generic and artificial discount offer system.
2. Grand gestures that make a statement and prioritize emotional health over immediate profit. After a grueling year in a reimagined corporate world that blurred all lines between home and work, LinkedIn prioritized the mental and emotional health of their employees with a company-wide “RestUp!” week that gave nearly all their 15,900 full time workers an extra week off to recharge. By promoting the well-being of their hard working staff with this dramatic gesture, LinkedIn boosted internal morale and optics with platform users, all with a relatively minimal impact on their bottom line in the grand scheme of things. This move is particularly relevant at a time when other social platforms have been under increased scrutiny regarding their moral compasses – or lack thereof. It helps set a high bar for companies to demonstrate appreciation in concrete ways, which Spanx CEO Sara Blakely embraced as she surprised all employees with two first class tickets and $10,000 to celebrate their recent acquisition by Blackstone. 

3. Public celebrations of appreciation. The best acts of gratitude stem from a company’s brand ethos, and Dave’s Killer Bread’s employment model is based around hiring the best person for the job, regardless of their criminal history. In their recent campaign with Exverus Media they showed the empowering and inspiring stories of workers with criminal backgrounds and reciprocal nature of second chances through a moving long form video that personified their brand values and celebrated employees in a personal way. Similarly, in the midst of the pandemic Burger King’s targeting took an unconventional and compelling shift when they used their on-site advertising to showcase messages of gratitude for their employees, who had to risk their health to keep working through the pandemic. Customers were invited to leave thank you messages when placing an order through the app which resulted in more than 5,100 messages over just three days. While this was a timely and impactful gesture, there’s an opportunity for this type of employee appreciation outside of extenuating circumstances like the past year’s pandemic. A CP client, Liberty Bank recently repositioned the brand around improving the lives of their customers, teammates and communities for generations to come. Their “community kind” brand ethos is rooted in the bank belonging to something greater than itself. The organization lives out this mission on a daily basis with gratitude for their customers and community – whether it’s surprising the community with ice cream at a children’s summer camp over the summer, featuring profiles of inspiring customers on their social channels or OOH that speaks to how inspired they are by the community. These types of public gestures of gratitude both celebrate employees and drive consumer affinity. 

It’s clear to see that this Thanksgiving represents a unique opportunity for companies to lean into gratitude and find genuine ways to thank both their consumers and employees. But more than that, it’s a reminder that gratitude should be something that’s practiced 365 days of the year – positioned around what giving thanks really means for your business and to those that support you from both a workforce and consumer standpoint.

There’s never a dull moment in the world of social media and that especially rings true in the wake of Facebook’s recent scandal and outage. In the simplest of terms, the platform experienced a major outage, the largest in over a decade. Millions of users, who depend on social media every day for communication and work, were left without it. Not to mention, the former employee and whistleblower going public and her subsequent congressional hearing. CP’s own Michelle Capasso and Alyssa Stevens weighed in on the issues and important takeaways. 

Michelle Capasso, Director of Media Services 

Another week, another Facebook scandal…  

Facebook investigations and allegations seem to be in a constant news cycle, but have we truly changed our behavior? Is the one-two punch of a whistleblower and a worldwide outage enough to start a new change movement? Most advertisers, and consumers, seem relatively willing to accept that Facebook is constantly under fire, and unfortunately the platform’s role for a brand’s bottom line is too addictive to completely walk away. This is a company that was under such scrutiny in 2020, with major brands pulling off the platform in light of the social justice movement that summer, yet still made an estimated $84B in ad revenue that year alone. 

And while it’s the company we all love to hate, are we really surprised that they put “profit over people” as many headlines read? Do we hold other massive global organizations to the same standards? We accept that the largest companies in the world are in the business to make money, but does Facebook – or for that matter, any social network – owe us more simply due to our reliance on it for information – or misinformation? 

For all its injury, the outage put a spotlight on how many small businesses have been built entirely in social media, supporting an entire segment of the economy that wouldn’t exist without the social platform. And they, unfortunately, don’t have the luxury to simply turn that off. Facebook partially weathered last summer’s storm from large brands by refocusing on small businesses who couldn’t afford to leave. The growth of TikTok seems poised to pull small business reliance away from Facebook, but it’s certainly not there yet. So as advertisers, we find ourselves rooting for another social platform to “take over” – although we should be more careful of what we wish for…   

Alyssa Stevens, Director of Public Relations & Social Media

With over 50 million people worldwide identifying themselves as creators and social media being the primary platform for that content creation, an outage, like what occurred across Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp last Monday, is a cause for concern amongst the influencer community. 

When the buzzword “influencer” first emerged, it was synonymous with being a blogger. However, as the industry has grown, the idea that someone could influence others purely through their social media page, and without having a blog, is becoming more common than not. With the absence of another platform to support their influence and the very real notion that Instagram could disappear for hours, if not, days…the question begs…what is a social media influencer without social media? 

Following the six hour social media outage, I watched many of our influencer partners be vocal about the effects that this type of occurrence can have on their brand and livelihood. Through the ease and convenience of affiliate marketing and shoppable links and the steady interest from brands to work with them for content creation and brand awareness, influencers use platforms like Instagram to make a living. A day without Instagram means a day without commissionable sales or the ability to complete projects on behalf of brands…a day without a “paycheck.” 

The need for influencers to diversify revenue streams beyond just “renting” the audience they’ve amassed on social media is the key here, but for many creators, it hasn’t been top of mind. I will be curious to see if this outage will serve as a wake-up call for influencers to have a back-up plan for content creation and their business when and/or if this occurs again and for a longer duration.  

CP Analytics Team: Brian Kastelein, Director of Analytics, and Diane Zhou, Data Analyst 

It is estimated that nearly 30 million websites use Google Analytics (GA) so when Google decides to make a change to their methodology for website tracking, saying it’s a BIG deal is not hyperbole. Such a change happened at the end of 2020 with the official launch of Google Analytics 4 (GA4).

If you are just learning about GA4 or, like most organizations, are in the early stages of exploring what this new tool has to offer, here are ten things you should know.

1. Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is a completely new version of Google Analytics

During the past 16 years, Google Analytics (GA) has undergone an evolutionary process from improving accuracy to expanding features to refining the user interface, culminating in the version of GA that most people are familiar with called Universal Analytics (UA). In late 2020, however, Google brought its newest version, GA4, out of beta. More than just a continued evolution of the UA environment, GA4 is a fundamentally new Google Analytics platform that heralds the cookie-less future.

2. GA4 is built on an event-based data model

The baseline unit of measurement in UA is a “hit.” A hit contains information about a user’s interaction with a web page. Hits are predefined in UA and consist of pageview hits, event hits, ecommerce hits, exception hits, user timing hits, and screen hits (apps) so opportunities to customize tracking of user behaviors is limited. UA consequently relies on cookies to store and recall user interactions and translate them into sessions, repeat visits, etc. By contrast, GA4’s event-based unit of measure represents a fundamental data model difference compared to UA. The event-based tracking in GA4 allows for greater flexibility and customization in measuring user interactions across an organization’s online properties. GA4 is also “smarter” in its use of machine learning so that it is not dependent upon cookies for tracking and reporting key metrics.

3. GA4 is more user-focused and provides a more holistic view of cross-device behavior

If you have a website and an app, congratulations – GA4 provides a more holistic customer view through its cross-device and cross-platform tracking abilities. Its event-based data model allows detailed tracking of user behaviors by appending custom parameters to each event. Here again, in the absence of cookies, machine learning plays a critical role in tracking and measuring user traffic, engagement, etc. Beyond just tracking user behaviors, GA4 will help to make predictions, identify segments most likely to convert, and optimize return.

4. GA4 generates more accurate measures of user engagement

There are many new dimensions and metrics in GA4, especially engagement metrics, to solve the inherent inaccuracies of hit-based tracking in UA. For instance, UA measures session length by next-page interactions with ‘hits’ or requests sent to the server. Single-page visits, therefore, record no time since there is no subsequent user action taken. This methodology results in some inaccuracies in metrics such as bounce rate, average time on page, and session duration. GA4’s methodology solves these inaccuracies. By way of an example, a 10-second session with no further action in UA would be considered a bounce. In GA4, that same behavior is defined as an engaged session and ultimately contributes to a new set of engagement metrics including engagement rate, engaged sessions, engaged sessions per user and average engagement time.

5. GA4 integrates event configuration within the analytics interface

With GA4, a single tag in Google Tag Manager (GTM) is used for initial configuration and then all other events can be set up in GA4 directly. When creating or modifying events, up to 25 parameters can be added to capture more details, such as item_name, item_category for eCommerce, and page_title, page_location, and page_referrer for views. While GA4 events have no notion of Category, Action, and Label, the standard convention that is used in UA, these descriptors can be used as GA4 event parameters if desired. Along with there being greater event tracking flexibility in GA4, there are also new challenges as organizations will need to develop a more disciplined approach to planning, implementing, and managing event tracking.

6. The basic setup of GA4 is relatively easy using the embedded Setup Assistant

If you already have a Universal Analytics property set up in GA, creating a new GA4 property is easily accomplished using the GA4 Setup Assistant that is now featured in the Property admin panel. The Setup Assistant provides a step-by-step guide to completing the basic configuration and deployment of the GA4 property. That said, more advanced event tracking, ecommerce configuration, account linking to Google Ads, Big Query, or other platforms within the Google ecosystem requires additional manual configuration once the basic property is deployed.

7. GA4 has no historical data and sets maximum data retention at 14 months 

Because GA4 uses a fundamentally different unit of measurement than UA, no historical data from an existing Google Analytics account is accessible in the GA4 property. Given that, data collection in the GA4 environment only begins once the property is launched, and as such, it is in an organization’s best interest to deploy GA4 as soon as possible so that a set of historical data can begin to accumulate. Additionally, it is worth noting that while UA had few restrictions on data retention, GA4 has a maximum data retention limit of 14 months.

8. GA4 is still evolving and rolling out new features

Since officially bringing GA4 out of beta in late 2020, it is now the default view for anyone setting up a new GA property. That said, Google has continued to evolve the functionality and features of the GA4 environment, offering deeper integrations to other platforms within the Google ecosystem and more robust functionality based on underlying machine learning capabilities (e.g., predictive audiences, attribution settings, etc.) The bottom line is that the GA4 product we see today is far from being a final version and ongoing improvements and enhancements can be expected (And you have one analytic team here at CP that is hoping to see one of our favorite UA features, Google Annotations, brought into the new GA4 environment!).

9. GA4 can (and should be) run in parallel to existing Universal Analytics properties

While the UA version of GA will likely be the primary source of truth for most organizations for the balance of 2021, GA4 should be set up and run in parallel to any existing UA property. As noted above, data in the GA4 environment is not retroactive so it’s advisable to begin building up a base of historical results. Additionally, running UA and GA4 in parallel will afford organizations an adjustment period during which the results between the two platforms can be monitored and compared. There is definitely a learning curve with GA4 and gaining familiarity with the environment, sooner rather than later, will help organizations anticipate likely impacts of fully migrating over to the GA4 environment sometime in 2022.

10. Organizations should launch their GA4 property as soon as possible

Excited, surprised, panicked, or suspicious, no matter how you feel about this completely new way of tracking website and app data, organizations using GA should launch their GA4 property today. As of now, UA will continue to be fully supported by Google, but with GA4 being the anticipated move to prepare for the cookie-less future, it is worth the time and effort to begin to get comfortable with the new way of tracking, the new interface, and the new functionality of the tool. The CP analytics team is actively helping organizations manage the setup, configuration, and comparative tracking of results between UA and GA4. Our services include:

• Basic GA4 Property Set Up
• Event and Conversion Configuration
• Comparative Dashboard Deployment (side-by-side tracking of results between a UA and GA4 property)
• Data Warehousing (ensuring data accessibility for multi-year trending and analysis)
• Full GA4 Migration Project Planning

 

CP Strategy Team

Each month our strategy team dedicates their time to unearth new consumer trends to help our existing clients and intrigue potential prospects. This month we share four trends that, with the right lens, can create meaningful opportunities for brands to create deeper connections with their audiences. 

Check out why consumers are reflecting, laughing, fixating and celebrating new discoveries.

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Consumer Behavior #1: 

The pandemic is accelerating pre-existing trends. One of them is retro love. Nostalgia. Looking back.

Times of trauma lead to times of nostalgia. Sometimes nostalgia is considered a kind of depression associated with the pain of wishing something could stay the same. The author Don DeLillo describes it as a “settling of grievances between the present and the past.” However, the designer of Burger King’s new retro logo would prefer that we think of the nostalgia involved as going inward instead of going backward. That’s baloney in a good way.

The pandemic has created an environment of opportunity for brands willing to celebrate comfort items from our pasts. This was a trend pre-pandemic, but has accelerated because of lockdowns and life under stress. Brands can remind people of the power of a good old fashioned handshake, someone knowing your name, rewarding hard work…the kind of actions and behaviors that we remember fondly.

 

Consumer Behavior #2: 

The power of laughter.

The pandemic set the stage for humor to play an even bigger role than usual. 

A study found even barely funny leaders are about 23% more respected and seem more competent and confident. As long as bosses aren’t outright inappropriate or aggressive, employees who rated them as having any sense of humor also reported being 15% more satisfied and engaged in their jobs. These leaders were also found to be 27% more motivating and admired. 

People want to laugh, and they appreciate people who make them laugh. The brands that make people smile are increasingly brands you will invite into your life. You don’t have to be a “funny brand,” but associating the brand with other brands (or people) who make people laugh could have a powerful residual effect/impact.

 

Consumer Behavior #3: 

Stop living with your head down.

The pandemic and lockdowns further accelerated our fixation and preoccupation with our devices – phones/tablets/screens. We have been increasingly living our lives with our heads down, and your brand could be the brand to remind people to lift your head up, see what’s around you, what’s going on, what you’re missing by being digitally preoccupied. The real conversations that can happen and the real manifestation of dreams as people build businesses. 

You can’t make your move with your head down. Live life head up. Just saying this might give your brand the positioning that would resonate with people.

 

Consumer Behavior #4: 

The pandemic was a period of discovery and the birth of new behaviors. Celebrate them.

During the pandemic, people got more in touch with their biophilia—the idea that humans are genetically drawn to and fulfilled by nature. People purposefully engaged in outdoor activities like never before and there was a soar in plant purchasing. 

People reinvented themselves, looked at changing the way they look at the world, their jobs, their priorities. Formerly decisions that we felt were set in stone were being re-looked at. The unimaginable took place. We became open to change. 

Sometimes it is difficult for consumers to consider change. But if companies are changing the way they ask their employees to come to work, can changing to something better be that hard?

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Sources⏤Consumer Behavior #1:

Bradley et al. (2020). The great acceleration. Strategy & Corporate Finance Practice. McKinsey & Company.

Sabanoglu T. (2021, March 26). Global retail e-commerce sales 2014-2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/379046/worldwide-retail-e-commerce-sales/

Frost, P. (2020). An accelerant to social change? The Spanish flu of 1918-19. International Political Anthropology, (13)2, 123-133. 

Galloway, S. (2020). Post corona: From crisis to opportunity. Platforma.

Moore, G. A. (1991). Crossing the chasm. Collins Business Essentials.

 

Sources⏤Consumer Behavior #2:

Aaker, J. & Bagdonas, N. (2021). Humor, seriously: Why humor is a secret weapon in business and life (And how anyone can harness it. Even you.). Penguin Random House.

Apte, M. L. (1985). Humor and laughter: An anthropological approach. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press.

Bitterly, T. B. & Schweitzer, M. E. (2021). Humor and coping in a pandemic. HKUST Business School, 012.

Fayyad, S. (2020). The role of employee trust in the relationship between leaders’ aggressive humor and knowledge sharing. Journal of Association of Arab Universities for Tourism and Hospitality, 19(1), 143-157.

Hu, W. & Luo, J. (2020). Leader humor and employee creativity: A model integrating, pragmatic and affective roles. Asian Business & Management.

Xu et al. (2020). Language skills in business negotiation from the perspective of adaptation. International Journal of Multidisciplinary and Current Educational Research, 2(4), 181-187. 

Yang, C. et al. (2021). Linking leader humor to employee creativity: The roles of relational energy and traditionality. Journal of Managerial Psychology.

 

Sources⏤Consumer Behavior #3:

Alberts, I. (2014). Challenges of information system use by knowledge workers: The email productivity paradox. Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 50(1). 

Mark et al. (2016). Email duration, batching and self-interruption: Patterns of email use on productivity and stress. CHI Proceedings, 1717-1728.

Newport, C. (2021). A world without email: Reimagining work in an age of communication overload. Portfolio.

Palmer, M. (2011). The end of email? Financial Times.

 

Sources⏤Consumer Behavior #4:

Crawford & Woodworth (2020). Biophilia and human health. New Design Ideas 4(2), 112-118.

Duhigg, C. (2012). The power of habit: Why we do what we do. Penguin Random House.

Edersheim, E. H. H. (2017). The definitive Drucker: Challenges for tomorrow’s executives—Final advice from the father of modern management. McGraw-Hill.

Kahenman, D. (2011). Thinking, Fast and Slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Madison, A. (2021). How the pandemic has changed the houseplant industry—and why. https://www.housebeautiful.com/lifestyle/a35966943/how-the-pandemic-has-changed-the-houseplant-industry/

Reis, S. et al. (2020). Pandemic, social isolation and the importance of people-plant interaction. Oram. Hort. 26(3).

Sullivan, E. (2021). Covid lockdowns turned buying plants into the next big pandemic trend—for good reason. https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/covid-lockdowns-turned-buying-plants-next-big-pandemic-trend-good-ncna1256223

Wilson, E. O. (1984) Biophilia. Harvard University Press.

 

Steve Connelly, President and Copywriter & JoAnne Borselli, Group Brand Director

Did you miss our presentation at ANA’s Brand Management Committee meeting? Not to worry. Here are the Cliffs Notes version.

The team at Connelly Partners spoke at the ANA Brand Management Committee meeting to bring attendees through the Williamsburg Tourism Council case study and the importance of investing in your brand and maintaining ad spend during a downturn.

 Being Quiet Gets You Nowhere

Most travel brands and destinations were staying dark, watching and waiting to determine when to come back. WTC had the courage to keep investing because they knew that the best time to spend is when others are not. 

From an advertising perspective, we counsel clients to think hard before pulling out of the market. Why? According to Nielsen: “on average, it takes three to five years to recover equity lost because of halted advertising, and long-term revenue can take a 2% hit for every quarter a brand stops advertising.”  

The recovery period on the other side kills a lot of brands. Colorado tourism learned that the hard way back in the 90’s.

Value Anthropology as Much as Data 

Together with the client, we conducted a mix of quantitative, qualitative and observational human behavior research to better understand the perspective and concerns of our audience. But beyond the “traditional” research, we believe in digging deeper and observing people in their day to day lives. Watching them as much as asking them.  

We learned things that are obvious to us now, but weren’t back then. Life was feeling hectic is a way that was uncomfortable; people were anxious to fly; road trips took on a nostalgic feel and began to increase in frequency and distance; people missed being with family and friends; and were embracing outdoor activities like never before.

This Isn’t About You

The research helped us to better connect with our audience. Because the reality is, it’s about finding a way to fit into our customers lives, not the other way around. We heard what they were concerned about and what they felt comfortable doing. Since much of what the region offers was outdoors and easy to drive to, WTC would be a great choice for the first post pandemic vacation destination. We wanted to be first in line when the world started to open. 

While other destinations were focusing their messaging on soft-sells about being there when consumers were ready to getaway, Williamsburg Tourism Council to take a took a more direct approach about being there now for how consumers wanted to get away. The Life. At Your Pace. campaign was born.

It featured TV, Digital, Search and more. We also met our audience where they were as time on social media had increased. We knew they had safety concerns. Beyond inspiration, they needed validation when they were starting to make travel decisions. So we leaned in hard on Influencer Marketing as a big part of the awareness strategy and were third party ambassadors who could tell a genuine story and to show by example what the experience was really like, the safety protocols in place and to answer any questions from their own follower base. 

Things Will Go Wrong  

We knew from the start that we weren’t going to win on overnight stays. Occupancy was still in the tank, restaurants were sometimes empty. We had to drive awareness and manage stakeholder expectations. We had to be in this for the long-haul. This wasn’t just about 2020, it was about how we were going to recover over the long-term. 

Since June 2020 when the campaign launched, the work kept going. The launch itself was really only the beginning. On top of this campaign, we had to be constantly listening to the market and to our local businesses to anticipate and quickly respond to changes. It was all about trying new things–and knowing some would stick and others might not.

We created a local print and digital campaign that ran over the winter to encourage the local market to support restaurants and retail stores. We hosted a webinar for local businesses to educate and guide them on social and influencer marketing opportunities. We created a campaign “subset” to support families managing their kid’s education at home.

Data Is An Action, Not A Number

All of the work we did was rooted in data–from the research that led to the concept and to the media strategy. We had a measurement plan in place from the beginning and we are reviewing performance multiple times each month. 

But what is imperative is not just capturing the data (there’s always more than any marketer knows what to do with), and rather, using the data to ask “so what?”

What action will we take with this information? Is it going to drive a shift in targeting? Do we need to shift dollars from one market to another? Is it time to rotate out creative?

Data that’s not tied to action is useless. 

Results

Needless to say, it pays to invest during a downturn.

Williamsburg Tourism Council’s web traffic is up 78% from same time in 2019 (considered peak period for travel in recent years). 80% of that traffic is from first-time visitors to the site – opening up new opportunities.

With an ongoing advertising investment since June 2020, we’ve driven an 16% increase in awareness, 18% increase in positive perception and 157% increase in “likelihood to visit in the next 12 months”