April 7, 2021 / Thought Leadership

Balancing Data & Anthropology in Marketing: It’s Good For Business

Steve Connelly was a keynote at the 2020 Think Global Conference where he discussed balancing data and anthropology in marketing. In his session, Steve shares:

1. How data is powerful, but should inform better questions, not provide black and white answers in a business that’s grey.

2. Rational thinking doesn’t always determine purchase behavior because people are more emotional than logical, more right brain than left.

3. It’s human nature to have a gap between what we say and what we do, so create opportunities to better get at the heart of what people want.

4. “Why” is the biggest question that’s missing in marketing and the most valuable question to understand your audience.

5. In a world of immense polarization, don’t lose site of the things that make us all the same; celebrate those universal human truths.

6. Observing cultural and societal behaviors is far more valuable than solely listening to what people say.

7. It’s time to balance the surge in data with a commensurate surge in anthropology. When they work together, magic happens. It’s good for business.

You can watch the full key presentation below:

 

March 9, 2021 / Thought Leadership

Brands Should be Ritualizing Our Rising Indulgences

Paul Capobianco, Cultural Anthropologist

Sometimes in the morning my wife sashays across the kitchen, smiling as she proudly displays a tier of foamed milk atop a mug of coffee. She used to make coffee every few months with a strainer, like a cowhand in front of a campfire. Milk frother? We didn’t even know it was called that until about a month ago, shortly before a certain orange “Buy Now” button was pressed.

In retrospect, Dunkin’s pre-pandemic banner ad spookily foreshadowed the changes in many people’s contexts and behaviors: “Enjoy the Great Taste of Dunkin’ at Home/While You Endlessly ‘Add to Cart.’”

The reset of the pandemic elevates our basic needs as we reimagine them as indulgences.

New contexts mean new opportunities

New choices and habits surrounding indulgence are occuring around the world. Professor Nicholas Christakis of Yale University predicts that by 2024 we’ll experience a pent-up post-pandemic bellow of indulgent behavior and social interaction, rhyming with the Roaring Twenties that followed the 1918 pandemic. Most of our new habits won’t become meaningful, gratifying rituals, but brands have many opportunities to help.

Our adaptations to the pandemic change what we consider to be indulgences. By uprooting and shifting contexts, the pandemic forces us to imagine new reference points to orient fulfillment and a sense of control over our lives. That’s where the help comes in.

New opportunities mean new rituals

Opportunities for brands involve creating new contexts ripe for the development of rituals. At its best, fostering these contexts means helping people repeatedly choose to act on certain needs in mindful, fulfilling ways.

Intentionally putting effort into a habit transforms it into a routine. Creating a meaningful routine based on self-reflection transforms it into a ritual. Brands can be a part of these transformations. Some already are.

Rousing people to try something unfamiliar

TAZO Tea’s 2020 “Routine Reboot” initiative connected people with a wide variety of influencers, giving them a window into the daily routines of these inspiring individuals. This, in turn, invoked curiosity and the motivation for consumers to adopt these rituals as well. Invoking curiosity through what people respect and relate to gives them the motivation to adopt the kinds of routines that become rituals.

Planting the seeds of rituals no one’s heard of

Aeronaut Brewing Company hosts virtual open mic nights, trivia competitions, and “cat mixers,” where people meet each other’s cats and drink beer. Blending novelty with the familiar, in ways that make connections between people easy and special, can lay the ground for new rituals through newfound intimacy.

Reinvigorating rituals displaced by the pandemic

At Club Quarantine, DJ B-Nice virtually reinvigorates the ritual of dancing with friends in a vibrant sea of strangers. Recreating and serving seemingly lost needs invites people to ritualize their behavior anew in ways that now celebrate their resilience.

In all cases, repeatable, enjoyable gratification is made convenient and placed in a larger, more meaningful context. One of the most powerful ways to accomplish this is through collaborations and community building.

The creative possibilities are endless.

New rituals mean new selves

It’ll be a few more years before brands fully reap the benefits of helping people form new rituals. The brands that commit and innovate now will stand out as resources for the kind of mindful indulging that becomes a practice of resilience. We’ll remember them as the brands that were there with us as we struggled with self-reflection and growth.

That’s Defiantly Human.

February 23, 2021 / Thought Leadership

Meeting the Moment: Tips for a Successful Social Strategy in 2021

Michael Murphy, Social Media Supervisor

Between a global pandemic that brought the world to a screeching halt, nationwide civil unrest in the ongoing fight for racial justice, and a highly contentious presidential election⏤all fighting for dominance in our news cycles and social feeds, it goes without saying that 2020 was perhaps the most complicated year for marketers in recent memory. (OK, probably ever, if we’re being honest.)

But with its myriad challenges also came an invaluable learning experience — one that we definitely couldn’t have gotten in any college course or industry webinar before, and that radically changed the way brands were forced to approach their social media strategies.

As 2021 unfolds, many of those same challenges remain, albeit with a new glimmer of hope as the vaccine rollout makes headway and consumer confidence slowly rises from the ashes of a truly terrible year.

So, how do brands even begin to navigate this dizzying landscape? It really boils down to one concept: proactivity.

Here are some considerations to keep in mind as you plan out your social strategy in a year filled with uncertainty:

Expect the unexpected.

As cliche as that phrase sounds, it became the new norm in 2020 to anticipate bad things happening. (As “Debbie Downer” as that sounds). It’s important for social marketers to stay on top of what’s going on and make plans, and then make back-up plans for those plans, keeping every possible scenario in mind.

With this in mind, we recommended that our clients avoid posting any social content on Inauguration Day. This would allow for the free flow of information, should any violence occur, and also avoid appearing tone-deaf, with any pre-scheduled content going live during a potential national crisis.

Acknowledge and speak to the moment, but do so with intent.

Staying silent in the wake of events of national or international importance, like the ones we’ve seen in the past twelve months, can have seriously negative impacts on brand perception. 70% of consumers say it’s important for brands to take a stand on social and political issues, which is up from 66% in 2017 (source: Sprout Social). Audiences today want to know that the brands they love are in tune with the current climate and aren’t afraid to speak up. In fact, many will begin to support a company if it takes a position — or, conversely, withdraw support for not doing so. (Bonus Tip: save the non-specific blanket statements about “coming together” without addressing the issue at hand; consumers are savvier than ever before, and are able to see through vague attempts to placate without principle.)

In the wake of #BlackLivesMatter protests, we advised that if our clients do want to make a statement, it must directly address the situation at-hand. We saw that brands using vague messaging (such as general calls for unity or the decidedly ambiguous “All Lives Matter” approach) were seeing significant blowback, which is indicative of the growing social savvy of consumers.

Find out how your business can fill a timely need and communicate that in your social content.

There are ways other than bold political stances that brands can show support. The onset of the pandemic in particular saw a rapid and persistent shift in consumer needs that required continuous monitoring in order to speak to the moment. It is important to research and lay out what consumers are feeling and needing and figure out how your brand can provide a solution to those needs, in a way that focuses on empathy rather than promotion alone.

In 2020, we saw that consumers were cooking at home more amid restaurant restrictions and generally negative sentiment toward gathering in indoor spaces. For our food CPG brands, we pivoted our messaging approach to acknowledge this and provide creative, gourmet mealtime solutions using the products that could temporarily fill the dining-out gap.

In short, 2020 taught us that consumers are watching brands’ social channels closely — and they’re relying on the brands they love to meet them exactly where they are. While it’s impossible at times to know what’s coming down the pike next, it’s imperative that brands plan proactively for how they will respond to the ever-changing world in which we live, and use their social channels to communicate their unique value propositions.

If hindsight is 2020, foresight is 2021.

February 16, 2021 / Thought Leadership

CP’s Takeaways: AdAge Next: Health & Wellness

Chelsea Carrasquillo, Brand Planner & Chris Corrado, Associate Media Director

CP attended this year’s AdAge Next: Health & Wellness conference – getting a glimpse inside what major advertisers are doing in a time of COVID. Brands such as Unilever, Bayer, Planet Fitness, Peloton and Lululemon shared their experiences and how they quickly pivoted operations and messaging to best serve customers in this new world. Below we share some of these key trends and takeaways for marketers…

Takeaway 1: Bringing Mental Health Awareness to the Forefront

COVID-19’s mental health toll is being called the second pandemic. Healthline has found that levels of anxiety and depression far exceeded normal rates throughout the past year; the driving factor wasn’t necessarily fear of the virus, but rather loneliness.

Laurie Dewan, VP of Consumer Insights for Healthline Media, and Erin Petersen, Editor-in-Chief of Healthline.com, reminded us that mental health is still a very personal topic, and as such, it’s essential to listen first to the audience and respond to them in a way that acknowledges their comfort level. For younger generations who are more vocal about mental health challenges, brands can respond by mirroring their language and extending beyond empathy to provide tools and drive impact. For older generations, who may face more of a stigma around mental health, the response might be to simply help them give a name to what they’re feeling, to think about mental health in less of a pathologized sense, and more in regards to the daily emotions and the effect they have.

An unexpected positive to come out of the last year has been the normalization of dialogue surrounding mental health. Shows like HBO’s Euphoria and Netflix’s The Crown, for example, have placed PSA bumpers and doctor commentaries across their programming.

As we continue to normalize this conversation, consumers are more likely to seek out information around wellness and look to brands to help them make small changes to improve their lives for the better. Healthline reminded us that struggling with mental wellness is not just pain, it’s highs and lows; the message should emphasize building resilience to ride the waves as they come — to appreciate the moments of joy and lean into the moments of happiness.

Takeaway 2: Meeting Customers Where They Are

A common message across the event was that barriers still exist in the minds of many consumers as they look to the wellness industry. This pointed to a mantra repeated in several sessions: brands need to meet people where they are.

Jeremy Tucker, CMO of Planet Fitness, pointed out that while historically many people have been intimidated by the fitness industry, and the gym in particular, the transition to digital fitness has allowed them to re-create their judgement-free zone, where people can explore fitness in the comfort of their home.

Sam Rogoway, Chief Product and Content Officer for Headspace, spoke of the brand’s new Netflix series, The Headspace Guide to Meditation, as a means of introducing people to meditation and mindfulness as a wellness tool. Rogoway said that a major initiative for them has been helping those who may be unfamiliar or unsure about meditation to understand it’s benefits in a way that removes intimidation.

“Meeting consumers where they are,” is an encompassing trend that includes both the physical media journey and the mental mindset of today’s consumer. That includes ensuring that brands are accessible and their messaging is both informative and reassuring, while avoiding the possibility of coming off as tone-deaf. It demands that brands make themselves more available for their customers, by offering products and services that provide immediate value, or by being a source of truthful and useful information. Brands that are prepared to help solve unique challenges such as work from home parenting hacks, or teleservices, such as telehealth or virtual estimates, are poised to be in a better position for success in the post-covid world.

Takeaway 3: Deep Human Listening & Action

Dewan and Peterson of Healthline repeatedly emphasized that empathy alone is not enough, brands need to find a way to provide real service for the communities they engage with. Dara Treseder, Senior VP and Head of Global Marketing and Communications at Peloton, said that their brand has worked hard to establish a “virtuous cycle” in which they take customer feedback and suggestions, and demonstrate the ways they’ve put it into action: “you said, we did.” Planet Fitness brought this to life with their decision to bring personal fitness to the consumer’s home. In response to the pandemic, rather than just putting forth a message of solidarity, Planet Fitness quickly paused membership fees, credited their current members, and made free personal training available online to anyone. Planet Fitness’ CMO, Jeremy Tucker, realized that they could provide their current and future customers with physical and mental wellness tools, free of charge, in a time where Americans needed it most. As Tucker succinctly put it, “doing good is good business.”

Takeaway 4: Personalized and Inclusive Messaging

The Ad Council, Publicis Health Media, DeepIntent, Healthline, and Peloton all echoed the importance of personalization in health and wellness marketing. We heard a resounding declaration that empathy is critical. While there’s been an emphasis on data in recent years, it should be viewed as merely a catalyst to understand larger behavioral trends. It is vital that brands go beyond data to understand the “why” behind these human behaviors so that they can tailor their messaging in response to those nuances. Connelly Partners makes this connection between data and human insights by bringing anthropology into the conversation to deliver empathetic advertising that reaches consumers on a deeper level.

With that said, a major challenge for brands, especially for something as broadly relevant as the COVID-19 vaccine, is establishing a universally-resonant, informative message, without neglecting the distinctions between different communities — whether demographic, ethnic, or socioeconomic.

Peloton’s Dara Treseder said that a big focus in their marketing strategy has been around increasing access to fitness (and thinking about access in a multidimensional way). For example, in Peloton’s partnerships with celebrities or influencers, they want to ensure diversity and make sure that communities who may have previously felt excluded by the wellness industry are represented, emphasizing that fitness and health is for everyone.

Headspace’s Rogoway said that contextual messaging was a major focus for them throughout the pandemic; they worked to speak to various points of stress that were affecting consumers and tailored the messaging to present meditation as a helpful tool to combat them. For example, ‘politics without panic’ was created to help address the stress related to the election and political division in the media.

Takeaway 5: Agility is Key

A reality that COVID has made abundantly clear is that agility is essential for survival — this has been true for all of us, as we’ve been forced to adapt to a new way of living, and it’s perhaps even more true for brands.

Sam McFadden, Head of U.S. Enterprise Marketing for Talkwalker, a social media monitoring platform, saw this represented in the online sentiment and conversations around fitness at the beginning of COVID. What began as frustrations around stay-at-home mandates quickly evolved as people sought out at-home workouts and alternative wellness opportunities.

Planet Fitness, previously an exclusively brick-and-mortar fitness chain, was forced to quickly pivot to the world of online workouts, and did so in a way that clearly prioritized the well-being of their customers: offering free fitness classes and pausing membership payments.

Peloton noticed the growing demand for new ways to stay healthy amid the ongoing pandemic. As a result, they quickly expanded their class offerings outside of their spin classes to provide in-home, personalized, full body workout classes.

In addition, Lululemon gained momentum throughout the pandemic by connecting with customers beyond their traditional e-commerce offering with their $500 million purchase of interactive home fitness startup, Mirror.

Heidi Arthur, Chief Campaign Development Officer at The Ad Council, and Andrea Palmer, President of Publicis Health Media, both shared similar thoughts in that collaboration is key, however it doesn’t have to be at the detriment of efficiency. We can use real time data and research to focus our direction and optimize results on a personal and empathetic level.

January 19, 2021 / Thought Leadership

Separating The Noise: Data to Actionable Insights

Brian Kastelein, Director of Data and Analytics, Connelly Partners

As customer touchpoints have proliferated and the cost of capturing, processing, and storing data has become increasingly efficient, the race for data has accelerated and fueled an often unspoken ethos among many marketers that the one with the most data wins. This unrelenting pursuit of ever-expanding volumes of data, however, is often dangerous to customer relationships, not to mention an expensive drain on corporate resources. More data often just means more “noise” and serves to distract from data that can be truly actionable in cultivating customer relationships in ways that drive positive business outcomes.

One way to avoid placing a premium on data for data’s sake is to focus on the collection and classification of data that are directly relevant to the customer journey. From creative concepting to media planning to customer activations, data should ideally serve a dual purpose of generating outputs that quantify and measure results, as well as an input, in the form of actionable insights, that inform and shape future planning.

If data is to fulfill this high calling, cross-team alignment on process is essential. At Connelly Partners, working within the context of clear customer objectives and corresponding campaign measurement plans, the collaboration that exists amongst the creative, media, and analytics teams to develop shared creative and placement naming conventions, as well as standardized campaign taxonomies and tracking specifications is fundamental to our approach.

These are the building blocks that enable more seamless integration of disparate campaign data sources (e.g., media platforms, websites, call centers, etc.), more automated aggregation of results, more powerful visualizations of trends, and more substantive and actionable insights for improving customer engagement and business outcomes.

That said, process alignment and cross-team collaboration alone will not ensure that data can be leveraged to its full potential. Leadership commitment to supporting the right team with the right skills, as well as a foundational set of tools and infrastructure, are corresponding critical success factors.

Yet here again, the emphasis and focus should be on leveraging data against the backdrop of improving the overall customer journey. Too many organizations over invest in tools or human resources to manage ever-expanding volumes of data that never contribute to improving customer relationships or business outcomes.

Best of breed tools and teams of highly credentialed data scientists come at a price. Organizations that see the accumulation of data as a goal in and of itself, will only see the expense side of this financial equation and consistently fall short of realizing a return on their investment.

To that end, our work at Connelly Partners is firmly rooted in a belief that data itself is not a competitive differentiator. Rather, it is how a company strategically combines process, people, and technology to make its data actionable against the customer journey that will determine its competitive advantage and ultimately drive positive business results.

December 8, 2020 / Thought Leadership

Caution, connection and comfort: A 2020 holiday trifecta

Hillary Williams, Group Brand Director, Connelly Partners

MarketingDive, Contributed by Hillary Williams, December 1, 2020

Anticipation, stress, preparation: all hallmarks of the holiday season. But this year, people are wondering “if” vs. “how” their holidays will happen; stressing over who can join vs. what to serve; and carefully orchestrating safety vs. party preparation. We’ve lost elaborate travel plans and excessive gatherings, but gained carefully timed quarantines, precautionary COVID tests and socially distant celebrations.

The holidays have simultaneously become both less and more of a colossal headache. This leaves consumers trying to satisfy their desire for normalcy with the comfort of the holidays while staying safe — ultimately striking an important balance between managing both physical and mental health. This year it’s more apparent than ever that we crave connection and the holiday traditions that give us structure and guidance — a reliability that especially now, offers refuge from otherwise tumultuous times.

As brands engage with consumers this holiday season, it’s imperative they are not only empathetic, but find useful, actionable ways to foster connection, alleviate stress and enhance the holiday experience.

Adapt to new traditions

Above all, safety remains the top priority this holiday season, and according to a recent study, 76% of respondents will consider the holidays a success if they avoid the health and safety risks of COVID-19. As a result, 26% of people reported avoiding long distance travel or guests, per research from The Hartman Group for the Food Marketing Institute. Based on our recent Connelly Partners survey, 34% of respondents are going to significantly downsize their gatherings with 47% only including immediate family.

With adjusted plans to stay closer to home and celebrate with smaller groups, many may relish in leaving behind long flights and multiple family celebrations in one day. Smaller and tighter budgets for many will likely mean less extravagant holiday spreads.

Some brands already jumped in with portion control solutions. Purdue introduced its ThanksNuggets, replacing the need to buy a whole turkey and bringing shoppers a mixed bag of breast meat nuggets shaped like turkeys and dark meat and cranberry nuggets shaped like drumsticks, touting a “LazyGiving.” While full sized turkeys likely aren’t leaving most family tables any time soon, this was a clever and current twist on a holiday staple that could appeal to younger audiences. Perhaps a new #friendsgiving go-to?

Enhance the unconventional ‘together’ experience

With the prioritization of safety, comes an inherent desire to maintain some semblance of tradition and be emotionally connected through familiar pastimes with family. Over the past nine months, we have redefined what “being together” means with countless Zoom calls and socially distanced outdoor gatherings, so it’s no surprise that 19% of survey respondents plan to hold virtual gatherings, according to The Hartman Group.

However, with a new found tech-savviness comes a virtual fatigue and desire for in-person connection, so many will likely find themselves taking extra steps to get tested in order to be in the same indoor spaces. As we see so many families jumping through hoops to find ways to be together — whether that’s waiting in line for two hours in the freezing cold for a COVID test or coordinating outdoor, distanced dinner tables — it’s a reminder that the core of the holiday season is surrounding yourself with loved ones. Corny? Yes. True? Also yes.

This year has left us desperate for the comfort of connection this holiday season and by helping to bridge that daunting gap, brands will help solve a major consumer challenge. Jose Cuervo is facilitating togetherness by creating life-sized cardboard cutouts for people to ship to family and friends. These “dopple-drinkers” not only help ensure no one misses a group family photo this year, but provides what all of us could use a lot more of these days — a good laugh.

Dial up the comfort

In addition to connecting with family, another way consumers are holding onto holiday traditions is through the comfort of mealtime. Our Connelly Partners survey found that 36% of respondents are planning to rely on traditional staples with 23% incorporating additional comfort food. Due to widespread cooking burnout after nine months of the majority of meals made at home, 30% are planning to do less overall this year, The Hartman Group research found. With stress at an all-time high, now is the time for brands to help us all create space for feel good moments and alleviate stress. Whether it’s focusing on indulgent, easy recipes (read: pasta, cheese, chocolate) or hacks to cut down holiday meal time prep — delicious, filling and easy should be the name of the game this year.

The dual stress around this uncharted holiday season and yearning for moments of normalcy create a complex emotional need state for brands to navigate. But if done well, it also creates an opportunity to make a genuine impact in consumers lives and inject happiness, comfort and connection at a time when we all need it most.

December 2, 2020 / Thought Leadership

How Brands That Cut Staff Can Reinvent Themselves

JoAnne Borselli, Group Brand Director, Connelly Partners

Mediapost, Contributed by JoAnne Borselli, December 1, 2020

Every business segment has been impacted by COVID-19, but none has been hit at the same epic proportions as travel.

Everyone’s seen the stats. Countless employees have been laid off, with more to come as Congress stalls on further aid packages. Beyond the front-line (and typically lower- tenured) jobs, a lot of cuts have happened at the corporate level — of United. Of Marriott. And of every smaller hotel, airline, travel agency, restaurant and theme park. Employees with long tenure and deep experience have been let go.

What will that mean for the future of the industry? If long-tenured employees are replaced with 20- and 30-somethings who were still children during 9-11, will that matter? Or does the industry need such a major reinvention that historical perspective doesn’t mean anything?

As with most things, I like to believe the truth lies in the middle. If you’re a travel brand trying to “rethink normal” — or any kind of brand that’s been forced to cut personnel — here are some things to consider:

Less experience can equal new ideas. Use fresh perspectives to reimagine how you do business. Challenge your team to think in terms of “what if?” What would have happened if the founders of Uber had consulted with lifetime cab drivers when building their business? Rather than providing the standard amenity, one hotel brand is surprising guests by monitoring social media around its properties, and  sending champagne to guests who got engaged earlier in the day.

A few years back, Four Seasons began selling its bedding online. Who would have predicted the brand loyalty that would create now, when guests are able to enjoy a little piece of the experience at home until it’s safe to visit again.

Use experience where and when it matters most. Hire an experienced consultant (even temporarily) who can help you avoid pitfalls when solving specific challenges. You don’t have time for mistakes. There are plenty of smart folks out there looking to share what they know. Maybe you’re looking at different ways to drive more revenue per booking. Hotels and airlines have been using dynamic pricing for years and have learned how to make those platforms work best. Use that experience to guide you quickly and avoid mistakes you might not see.

Look outside your teams for forward thinking and support. An agency partner can approach your brand with a fresh perspective. This is a time to think differently, to do the customer research and think about how that impacts who you are and what your relevance is. Then develop a brand promise that shows you’re listening.

It’s also a great time to look outside to help strengthen areas that have been weakened by layoffs, like: your paid search strategy, digital media trends, social media content. This might be the time to outsource until you can get your feet back on the ground.

For the industry to survive, it’s going to need to push outside of its comfort zone in a way it never has. Successful travel brands will find the magic between new perspectives and past experience, and use that magic to create a new vision for the future.

November 10, 2020 / Thought Leadership

What is the Quid Pro Quo for the Internet and How Are Cookies Evolving?

Allyson Ward, Associate Media Director

What’s The Skinny with Cookies?

When looking at the evolution of the cookie and Chrome’s announcement to eliminate them by 2022, two questions come to mind as advertisers. The first, how is this going to fundamentally change the way I reach consumers and the second, how in the world am I going to reach the right person, at the right time, with the right message without them? In fact, when I first heard the news, I have to admit that I was a bit cynical about the whole thing, and considered that there was no way that Google wouldn’t have something else up its sleeve that benefited its business while leaving competitors to forge their own paths, creating a decentralized system that makes Google stronger. That said, after watching countless webinars and reading dozens of articles, it was time to get off of the singular track that I was on, and look back to the WHY behind the announcement. All roads lead back to the consumer and their perception of data safety.

Data can be wonderful if used correctly. That said, it also raises concerns with consumers around what info businesses actually know about them and how their data is being used. Cue the standards that the ad industry cherishes with partners such as the IAB.

Let’s reflect on the differences between a cookie and actual data. While it’s easy to understand why a consumer would be concerned around data privacy, it’s also important to properly categorize cookies as anonymous and randomized IDs that allows advertisers to follow a consumer’s browsing history across the web. What many consumers don’t necessarily consider is the quid pro quo relationship that they have with the internet. Of course we’re all paying for wifi to allow our devices to go online, but what happens when you get there?

If we consider that nothing in life is free, we can more closely evaluate who is paying for our content consumption on publisher sites and in digital apps. In some cases, it’s the consumer when they pay a publisher to access content (likely without ads). However, what’s more likely is that the content and apps that being consumed are working off of a freemium model, which is where there is a value exchange to be considered. The exchange for individuals to consume content, games, and social apps all tie back to advertising.

If you’re not a part of the marketing world and you’re reading through this, you may be thinking to yourself that advertising won’t go away, just the cookies and thus I have more control of my data. While true in theory, it could also open up an unexpected can of worms as reaching the consumers advertisers want to talk to becomes more challenging.

Consider the following:

  1. If CPMs decrease because advertisers are focusing on less data driven approaches to targeting, publishers may need to provide more ad space on their sites and apps to maintain their revenue numbers and produce consistent content.
  2. To combat this and ensure data is taken into account, consumers may find themselves logging into their browser or websites as they enter so that pubs can ensure advertisers are able to use a new source of data from login information and create a sense of security that they’re reaching the right audience.
  3. You may find advertisers taking a step back from spending as many dollars across the open web. If that happens, the next best choice may be walled gardens such as Facebook or Google that can focus on people based targeting. Relying on walled gardens more heavily poses the threat that these large powerhouses could get an even more substantial piece of the ad spend pie.

Testing Alternative Solutions:

After understanding the challenges that lie ahead, it’s important to start testing alternative solutions now so that we’re better prepared as advertisers as we wait for the display world to figure out what’s next.

First Party Data: First party data has always been incredibly important, but it’s playing a bigger role now than ever before. The industry is urging advertisers to continue ramping up their data collection so that they already have their most important audiences on hand.

Artificial Intelligence: AI Tech typically doesn’t rely on cookies alone and is able to optimize towards goals and draw effective results with the right audience. AI tech is continuously growing, with many new vendors in the space and more breaking through. The earlier you test, the better suited you will be for the cookieless future.

Contextual Targeting: While contextual targeting won’t be the only solution in a post-cookie world, having a line item in your campaign to target this way is more important than ever to gain learnings for your brand. Contextual targeting is also growing up. Vendors in the contextual space are finding ways to use AI to scan images and read between the lines of articles, making this an intriguing and incredibly simple way to start testing beyond third party data.

As marketers, we know that there will be a continued evolution on the topic of cookies over the next few years. The most important thing to do now is test, get comfortable with new ways of looking at data and targeting, and continue to have open minds for testing as we work through the changes.

November 9, 2020 / Thought Leadership

Influencer Marketing: Finding Trusted Sources and Creating Authentic Dialogue

Skye Stewart, Senior Public Relations and Social Media Manager

While we are all living through a time of extreme political divide, a pandemic, and well… just 2020 in a nutshell, it’s so refreshing to see that influential figures with teeny tiny followings and world famous stars are using their social media platforms to educate others. The power that influencers (big and small) have is incredible and it’s so great to see that they’re using it to their fullest potential.

I recently enjoyed following along with a campaign from the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS). They ran a public awareness campaign (#HealthyTexas) from April through August of this year that’s goal was to educate Texas residents about the coronavirus and safety precautions the state was putting in place around the pandemic.

Part of DSHS’ campaign budget went to influencer partnerships across Instagram and TikTok. Local influencers with Texas based followings shared their new safety routines, like wearing a mask and keeping good hygiene.

By using TikTok and Instagram as an integral platform to share its marketing efforts, the DSHS successfully found a way to reach younger audiences more directly, rather than utilizing more traditional advertising methods, like TV and billboards, that younger folks might not always be paying attention to. The campaign garnered strong engagement rates, proving that influencer marketing is far more than just advertising a product: it’s truly a powerful way to inspire and create authentic dialogue between target audiences and any organization. Influencers with audiences of all sizes are giving their followers a connection to a  ‘real person’ whom they can relate to. 

Here’s how the DSHS did it:

With the help of micro-influencers and macro-influencers across both platforms, DSHS  activated support from celebrities/athletes and mega-influencers like Leena Snoucbar, a social media influencer with over 1M followers on Instagram. She gave her followers an inside look into her daily routine — and encouraged her audience to wear a mask, keep 6 feet apart from others, avoid touching your face, and wash your hands.

The organization even activated help from Chris Sapphire, a star on Netflix’s The Circle, and former MLB player Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez to help spread the word. A grand total of 26 participants were activated to share their own messages in unique ways that resonated with their followers. For some, that meant sharing how they’ve been directly affected by the virus or helpful tips for other residents to abide by. For example, Olympic Gold medalist Nastia Liukin shared a video of her saying “Because wearing a mask is easier than doing this.” She then performed a routine on her kitchen counter. As a gymnast, she wanted to create content that would easily resonate with her followers.

While the campaign’s overall messaging evolved as stay-at-home orders were lifted and social distancing became crucial as more people came out and about, the organization was careful to partner with influencers who were taking the state’s guidelines seriously in their everyday lives. Whether it was making sure the influencers were showcasing themselves wearing masks when they were in public in their Instagram stories or properly social distancing if they were in a space with others, there were so many components that went into making sure this campaign felt as authentic, organic, and meaningful as possible.

As our world keeps spinning and each day ends differently than the last one, I’m personally awed by the fact that different types of organizations and government entities are opening their eyes (and marketing strategies!) to the world of influencer marketing. It’s truly a powerful way to garner positive sentiment and awareness in a trailblazing way. Whether they are educating consumers about coronavirus safety precautions, empowering people to take action, or showcasing a unique experience, there’s so much we can learn from these personalized campaigns. At the end of the day, influencers are people just like you and I. As brand leaders and consumers, we can trust them, we can relate to them, and we can be inspired by them and the messages they share. Kudos to organizations (like the DSHS) who are jumping on board.

August 10, 2020 / Thought Leadership

The Summer of Frozen Food: What brands can do today to stay ahead tomorrow

Hillary Williams, Group Brand Director

It might be summer, but there is no doubt it’s frozen’s moment in the sun. To clarify, I’m talking about frozen food, not the Disney phenomenon and soundtrack for countless Zoom meetings over the past three months, DJ-ed by my 3-year-old daughter.

Frozen food is here to stay and I’m certainly not going to “let it go” any time soon. Gone are the days of the freezer burned boxes I dig out of the back of my freezer when I’m in a crunch for a last-minute meal – many of which were already past their expiration date since I forgot they even existed. Today, my family’s meals revolve around the freezer. Phrases like “how soon after eating to freeze,” “best frozen family dinners” and “easiest recipes to freeze” inundate my search history. Frozen proteins, full meals, sides, leftovers, smoothie ingredients, you name it – I’ll freeze it.

Each time I make my weekly shopping list or open my freezer, I feel the lines between my personal and professional lives continuing to blur. As I’ve seen firsthand working closely with CPG brands, frozen food was already in the midst of a revolution to redefine “fresh” leading up to COVID-19, and the past few months have only expedited that movement. Amidst anxious buyer stockpiling this spring, frozen food category sales were up 30% over last year in April. Frozen CPG brands are seeing a perfect (and profitable) storm of 70% of loyal customers buying more than usual, 68% trying new brands and products and 7% of entirely new customers purchasing frozen products. Even better, both existing and new customers are satisfied, ranking convenience at a 4.3/5 and quality at a 4.1/5, leading to 50% saying they’ll purchase more over the coming months.

For frozen CPG brands, this trend is further accelerated by the simultaneous growth of online grocery shopping in our on demand culture. While there has previously been consumer hesitation to order frozen products via ecommerce, the current pandemic has driven wider spread for online trial of delivery in addition to click and collect of frozen goods. Now, frozen food is not only synonymous with convenience to alleviate stress around multiple meals a day at home, but also with quality, low touch/safety and diversification of options.

But as brands look ahead to innovative ways to seize this unprecedented opportunity around an ecommerce and frozen food surge, the existing foundation they have (or have not) built to resonate with consumer behaviour and how they relate on a human level are equally as important. This is not a time to reactively sprint to the finish line and if they haven’t already, brands need to take the time to get it right.

In this make or break moment, here’s how to set the foundation to resonate with your audience when it matters most:

Set a strong digital foundation to align with consumer needs.

Now more than ever, it’s imperative that brands understand fluctuating consumer states across a journey that’s anything but linear. The days of an awareness through to conversion step-by-step journey are behind us. In today’s digitally focused world, consumers transition from hearing about a new product to purchasing it, in a matter of seconds. With online grocery sales projected to grow 40% in 2020, brands need to ensure their digital experiences simultaneously support both a range of needs as well as each potential sporadic touch point across what is now an ever-changing schematic vs. journey.

Gerber is getting it right. A longstanding heritage brand from 1927 that was previously synonymous with outdated and processed baby food, today’s Gerber has not only revamped its ingredients, but more importantly, it is an advocate and trusted resource for parents. Instead of defaulting to lead with its legacy, Gerber’s site appropriately addresses its COVID-19 response and then provides a range of resources, including parenting tips around nursing, solids, nutrition, teething and development – topics that anxious parents google on a daily basis (guilty). What’s more, you can book a consultation with registered dieticians and buy products and bundled offerings for starting solids, trying textures and super snacks, all directly from Gerber’s site.

Because of the consumer-focused digital foundation it has built, site visitors can seamlessly transition from valuing the brand, while educating themselves on feeding stage tips, to purchasing corresponding products, in a matter of minutes. Just like that, Gerber has become both your new go-to parent resource and favorite product.

Shift messaging to resonate with the millions of new consumers experiencing the brand for the first time in a relevant, timely way.

It would be short sighted to believe that brands can speak to the millions of shoppers trying new products or frozen food in the current world we’re living, using the same messaging from six months ago. Times have changed, and so have audiences and their standards. Consumer expectations of brands are higher than ever, with 77% of respondents in a recent Kantar study expecting brands to be helpful in their “new everyday life.” Business as usual ads without any subtle acknowledgement of the different times we’re living in evoke an immediate cringe – I’ve used the term “tone deaf” in the past few months more times than I care to admit. But at the same time, messaging can’t be reactively all consumed in the immediacy of the moment, and needs to strike a delicate balance of being timely with also staying true to the brand and longer- term purpose.

Legacy brand Gorton’s Seafood, a Connelly Partners client, is striking this balance, adapting how it delivers on its brand mission and building incidental trial by shaping perceptions of new users. The brand’s messaging takes an empathetic and helpful approach through various tactics like offering delicious and simple meal solutions for those who might be tired of cooking, sharing an ocean colouring page to help stressed parents running out of activities for their kids and clearly communicating product tips and benefits for first time users – all aligning with its mission to “bring the goodness of the sea to everyone.”

Gorton’s two-pronged approach targets new users to drive repeat purchases with perception-focused content, while simultaneously engaging existing audiences through amplified, inspiring recipe-focused social content – funneling all users through relevant website user streams. Whether new users are trying to please picky eaters, mix up a weekly routine, stock up on their omega-3’s or indulge in fried goodness, Gorton’s is a long-term mealtime solve, rather than a short-term frozen go-to during this crisis.

Now is not the time for short cuts. The brands that sprint to the finish line and lack empathetic, relevant messaging and a consumer centric experiences are going to fall short. You not only need to know who and where your audiences are, you need to know how to effectively speak to them and serve up information that aligns with how they both think and feel. This is a marathon, not a sprint, and brands that are positioned to resonate now and extend beyond the current landscape will win out.


Sources: IRI, e-Marketer, Edelman, Nielsen, Kantar, AFFI & Analytics April 2020 study, Coresight Research U.S. Online Grocery 2020 Survey