Keeping up with your consumer

Your consumer is changing. And with all of the external factors influencing consumers (the economy, the environment, job insecurity, food safety, etc.) the pace of change has accelerated. Are you keeping up?

As you plan for 2011, ask yourself if your brand could be impacted by consumer skepticism and lack of trust in “big business.” Ask yourself how your brand is adapting to changing consumer consumption habits. Are you willing to let consumers take some ownership over your brand? In our culture of immediate gratification, is your brand doing all it can to give consumers what they want instantaneously?

If you’re struggling with any of these issues or just want a better understanding of trends impacting consumer attitudes and behaviors, we encourage you to read our latest white paper, Seven Consumer Trends to Ignore if You Want to Be Ignored. We think you’ll find it to be thought provoking and valuable as you plan for 2011 and beyond.

It takes more than a great product to inspire brand devotion. You must also understand your consumer’s state of mind. That state of mind is influenced by the world that surrounds them and reveals itself in the shape of trends. They are so prevalent that one or more of them will surely impact your brand and your business.

If you are interested in scheduling an in-person presentation to review these seven trends or to discuss how they are impacting your business, please give us a call at 608.256.6357 or send us an email.

Watch the Slideshow Here

Zhu Zhu Pets epic battle

Do you remember Zhu Zhu Pets, the cute little toy hamsters that were all the rage last Christmas?

Well apparently cute doesn’t cut it anymore. Coming soon to toy stores everywhere are Zhu Zhu Ninjas and Zhu Zhu Special Forces, both available in battle armor. Oh, and I can’t forget to mention the Kung Zhu Ninja Warrior Samurai Scorpion Vehicle!  “Cute” is gearing up for battle.

It seems as though Cepia LLC (the makers of Zhu Zhu Pets) is gearing up for battle, too. The battle so many marketers face when trying to keep their brand relevant and their target consumer engaged. It strikes me as a risky move for Zhu Zhu Pets.

In 2009, the brand seemed to be about lifelike pets that were cute and interactive. They would coo and purr and explore their habitat. While these new products are still interactive, the armor covers up cute and “lifelike” is a stretch. Cepia LLC is not walking away from their original line of hamsters, tunnels and hamster wheels. It seems they are trying to expand what their brand stands for. Hopefully they have a clear definition and a clear goal in mind.

Only time will tell if they will be successful (my six-year old son thought the Zhu Zhu Ninjas looked “awesome”) or if over time the brand will send out so many mixed messages, it will end up standing for nothing.

Hiebing Launches Major Integrated Marketing Campaign for Culver Franchising System, Inc.

Two Wisconsin Powerhouses Partner to Engage Restaurant Guests

Hiebing, an integrated brand development and marketing firm, announces the launch of a new marketing campaign for Culver’s, the award-winning family restaurant franchise system famous for its signature ButterBurger®. Hiebing provides brand strategy, interactive, public relations and social media management as well as broadcast and print advertising for Culver’s as its agency of record.

“A passion for inspiring brand devotion drives all our work,” says Hiebing President Dave Florin. “With such a strong brand character and ardent fan base, Culver’s challenges us to find new ways to continue growing brand advocates and loyalists.”

The new campaign, the 3-Pepper Serenade, revolves around Culver’s guests’ unexpected experience of being serenaded by a mariachi band singing about the new 3-Pepper Chipotle ButterBurger and 3-Pepper Chipotle Chicken Sandwich as the guests enjoy these new menu offerings. Television and radio ads for the campaign are currently airing in 18 states.

“Telling a compelling brand story starts with clear, engaging ideas that resonate with the target audience,” says Hiebing Vice President and Creative Director Sean Mullen. “For this latest Culver’s campaign, that means making the food and the flavors come to life in an out-of-the-ordinary way.”

In addition to the commercials, Culver’s guests will experience the campaign across multiple touchpoints, including the Culver’s website, a radio ad, coupons, e-mail and social media efforts via the company’s Facebook and Twitter presence.

“Our new campaign entices the senses of our guests by highlighting the bold, layered flavors of the new 3-Pepper Chipotle menu offerings,” says Culver’s Vice President of Marketing David Stidham. “In addition to featuring the tasty menu options, the campaign draws on the franchise’s family values and charm by putting our CEO and co-founder Craig Culver at the forefront of the story, further strengthening guests’ connection with our brand.”

Stidham shared that Hiebing’s first campaign for Culver’s featuring Craig Culver helped generate the best Lenten season Culver’s has seen as a company in four years and lifted systemwide same-store sales across the board.

About Culver’s
Culver’s serves fresh food with genuine family values to each and every guest. Culver’s is an expanding franchise system with more than 420 independently owned and operated restaurants in 18 states. The restaurants’ award-winning customer service is based on small-town, Midwestern values, genuine friendliness and an unwavering commitment to quality and cleanliness. Signature items include the ButterBurger®, made from fresh, never frozen U.S. beef, and fresh Frozen Custard, including the famous Flavor of the Day program.

About Hiebing
Hiebing is the largest integrated marketing and brand development firm in Madison, Wis., with annual capitalized billings of more than $50 million. Founded in 1981, the agency’s clients include regional and national brands such as Culver’s, Schneider National, Famous Footwear, Dean Health System and American Family Insurance.

Where oh where did my product go?

Do you know what a side by side is? Or maybe a roll-out tray? Or how about a filler pull out? No? They aren’t sleeper cars on trains or the newest nanotechnology; they are places where consumers keep their purchases (aka the kitchen). As marketers, we get so focused on moving product off the store shelves (and rightfully so) that we often forget about moving product off the consumers’ shelves.

Keep in mind that consumers, cooks, cleaners and food-eaters don’t want to work too hard or look too hard. If your product is hidden, it may very well be forgotten.

Here’s a quick fly-through a typical kitchen or two. It aptly demonstrates the challenges darn kitchens have created for brands–and makes it clear that there’s a need for next generation thinking about package structure and package graphics.

Here’s a “roll out tray.” Packaging on the lid makes more sense now, doesn’t it?

“Oh Hon, can you grab the…never mind.”

While no one likes cleaning, this is ridiculous!

And here’s the dreaded fridge/freezer side-by-side. Are you sure your product isn’t hidden in there?

Wow, the pull out freeze doesn’t fare much better

.

Well, you get the point. The next time you take a fresh look at your product, consider its other home–the consumer’s home–from whence all usage stems. It might spark some fantastic new ways of thinking about storage!

Who are you? A fun exercise in self-exploration

• Which of these are you most likely to say when getting a little lost while driving?
  • “This looks right”
  • “This feels right”
  • “Oh, let’s just look it up”
  • “We never should have taken this trip”

• You’re late for dinner with close friends. Upon your arrival, do you…
  • Make a comedic scene about your chronic tardiness or your scuffle with a warthog
  • Try to fly in under the radar and whisper apologies
  • Buy a round of drinks to make up for it

• In the past year, which have you done more of?
  • Introduced people to each other
  • Been introduced to other people
  • Forgotten everyone’s names

• Which of these statements best describes you?
  • I live to win
  • Better to lose and play the game than not play at all
  • Meh, I tried
  • Win, lose, I’m there for the beer

• What’s your role in your family?
  • Consummate clown
  • Do-gooder
  • Task master
  • The one who forgets to show up
  • Money loaner
  • Needer of money, advice and a haircut

• Do you believe a rainy day is….
  • Bound to flood the basement
  • Something that teaches us to enjoy the sun
  • Inevitable on your day off
  • A perfect reason to enjoy a book and some coffee

So now that you’ve completed our little quiz, please spend a minute thinking about who you are and how you exist in the world. Maybe you’re the thinker who has an easy time admitting mistakes. Or possibly the social networker with a strong sense of optimism. Or even the team player who grew up helping the family.

Whatever you are, understand how it impacts your perceptions of the world, communication and other people. Wouldn’t it be boring if we were all the same?

Wanted: a target market

It’s not always clear who is being targeted for a product or service. Without a clear target, I’m left feeling puzzled.

For those of you who live in Chicago, San Fran, NYC or Washington DC, there is a free online service available called parkzing.com. If you sign up for this service, it sends you an email when you get a parking ticket. Hmmm. I find myself wondering who is the intended target market for this service? At the top of the web page it says “Never pay another late fee again!” Okay, so I can tell they are appealing to people who have paid late fees in the past. (Sorry to say, I’m one of them.) Beyond that the target is more than a little murky. What do you think…do you think they’re targeting:

• Stressed-out speeders who don’t notice the parking ticket and drive away so fast the ticket blows out from under the windshield wiper?
• Disorganized paper-pushers who are destined to lose the ticket the second it hits their kitchen counter, but who would never lose track of an email amidst the dozens (or hundreds) they get each day?
• Kind-hearted car-lenders who will let anyone use their car and want to know if “anyone” got a ticket?

I also can’t help but get a bit cynical. Who really is offering this service? What’s in it for them? (Yes, they hope you will pay them $5 to pay the ticket for you, but really, if you’ll try to avoid late fees, you’ll probably try to avoid any fees.) And most importantly, if I rely on them, will they really follow through?

Having a clear target market and attempting to make a meaningful connection with that target market would have provided answers to a lot of my questions. Connecting with a target can even build the foundation for the trust that is needed here.  Without that target and that connection, this was just a service that made me a little curious.

Four Things That Made Me Say WOW

1)     Sniff it up with LE WHIF

Now you can puff your chocolate instead of chew it. Le Whif, a lipstick shaped inhaler, sends out tiny particles of chocolate intended to tantalize the taste buds. And of course this is all for less than a single calorie! Plus likely it doesn’t stain your teeth.  Not sure how I feel about the ‘eating by breathing’ idea, but, hey, to each his own.

2)     Meet the moo-er via “Where is My Milk From?”

Buying local is all the rage, and there are more and more tools to identify “localness.” Enter this Web site to help us lowly consumers track our herds and judge some semblance of milk miles. (I did always wonder what those numbers were near the expiration date.) Now, whether people will care enough to switch brands or write manufacturers and producers is yet to be seen.

3)     The world is one, at least on Skyrock.com

What I love most about this site is watching the number of blogs increase by 30 in 60 seconds, ultimately landing at 30,974,172 while I was writing this post. That’s a lot of people with a lot of things to say. The second most interesting thing about this site is that the only thing it doesn’t do is cook you dinner—but it does have chat, blogs, profiles, dating, poker, music, social networks, videos and possibly Jimmy Hoffa.

4)     OMG, did you see that catch??!!!

Last but not least, for all you sports fans out there, check out  “Are You Watching This?” In addition to your crazy fan friends calling and texting you, you can have an online service do it too. RUWT will send you alerts (ranging from okay to EPIC) about your sports/teams of choice. So now no need to change that wedding date or postpone that meeting with HR, because you’ll always know the score.

The Public Relations Counselor candidate should have 3-5 years of experience and will play an integral role in the development and execution of client- and agency-related public relations and social media strategies and plans.

Responsibilities include:

• Understanding clients’ target markets and applying communications strategies
• Juggling and prioritizing multiple client needs and deadlines
• Generating innovative and creative ideas that use traditional, nontraditional and social media
• Participating in social media; trying new applications
• Identifying key messages, news hooks and pitch angles
• Building trust and rapport with clients and media
• Coordinating assignments with associate PR counselors
• Co-managing the intern program
• Writing clear, compelling and audience-focused communications
• Assisting with annual strategic planning
• Excelling at media relations
• Demonstrating project results through recap reports

YOU

Excellent candidates should show enthusiasm for the position, contribute creative ideas and share observations, demonstrate strong attention to detail without losing sight of the bigger picture, be able to execute solo yet seek help or counsel from team members when needed, foster integration, collaborate with the agency and PR team and seek out opportunities to learn more about clients’ industries as well as the ever-evolving field of public relations.

APPLY

Please email us a cover letter, resume and writing samples. We offer a competitive salary with excellent benefits, including: 401(k), health and dental insurance, cash and deferred profit sharing.

Culver’s

Sorry, Champ Television

Culver’s – Sorry, Champ Television

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