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P E R P E T UA L M A R K E T I N G BRAND SPREAD

Beyond T continuous CRM

Perpetual marketing must take into account everything from product performance and brand presence to the ongoing management of conversations and brand spread

By Judy Franks, The Marketing Democracy

hanks to the explosion of digital networked media, brands and consumers can now converse with each other around the clock and in real-time. Welcome to the era of perpetual marketing. But what if perpetual marketing is greater than a continuous digital dialogue? What if marketers considered every brand action and interaction as part of what is truly perpetual marketing? Digital conversations are but one piece of the puzzle. Conversations are inherent in any brand experience. Any brand experience should provoke sustained engagement. When you take this broadened view, all marketing functions become part of perpetual marketing. Is this idea new? Not really. Branding was never a 9-to-5 discipline. We mustnt confuse our ability to sustain brand dialogues in realtime/around-the-clock with the idea that a brands marketing never stops/never sleeps. If we reframe the argument that perpetual marketing is the result of direct and continuous consumer involvement with the brand, then ve key tenets of perpetual marketing emerge. Consistency of product performance Nothing speaks louder than the actual product usage experience itself. Every usage occasion provides an opportunity to reinforce, or break, the brand promise. For years, Toyota was known for its performance consistency and high quality standards. However, performance equity has a very short half-life and a steep decay rate when the product fails to deliver. Toyotas quality legacy could not transcend the series of recent product recalls. How will Toyota mend its brand image? Certainly, a high-visibility ad campaign isnt the answer. Toyota must perpetually rebuild its image with every car it sends off the assembly line. And, in our wired world, we will be able to track the performance of every vehicle on Toyotas journey back to reliability. Perpetual product performance plays out in the kitchens of homes across the world every day in seemingly small, yet important ways. Did you ever stop and think about the trusted ingredient in a family recipe thats been handed down from generation to generation? Our family recipe for cranberry chicken calls for a bottle of Kraft Catalina Salad Dressing no substitutes allowed. Family folklore has it that the Kraft brand has the best taste prole, and the right combination of ingredients to execute a foolproof recipe. What does this mean for the brand? A full bottle of dressing sits
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Juicy Couture: real customers are not always such a good advertisement for its more daring styles

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in the pantry at all times. The recipe itself has become a powerful perpetual marketing asset for Kraft Catalina Salad Dressing. And the ritual of sharing recipes among family and friends is now amplied by the networked communities of both the marketer (think kraft.com) and the cooks themselves. The brands physical presence (in-store/in-home/during use) The brands physical presence is a continuous reminder of what the brand means and how it ts in our lives. The presence starts at the point-of-sale and travels to our homes and across our usage occasions. The impressions generated are as lasting as the product life-cycle itself. Orbit must deliver a consistently gratifying chewing experience, but Wrigley understands that the brands physical presence in the lives of its customers is equally important. For young adults, gum is a form of social currency. What you carry in your pocket/purse says a lot about who you are. Orbit has become a fashion accessory. Every Saturday night, the Orbit brands messaging frequency is exponentially increased by the simple act of pulling out the artfully designed packet in the ritual offer of a stick of gum in the social exchange. While Wrigley can shape the Orbit brand experience through brilliant design, many brands have less control over perpetual impressions generated by brand users, themselves. Juicy Couture, for example, launched the fashion craze of branding across the derriere. The brand statement works when the look is sported by professional models. But what happens when real women, who are not shaped like models, sport the brand? The perpetual experience becomes a branded endorsement for What Not to Wear. And with the click of a mobile phone, such brand experiences spread on the internet.

All perpetual marketing elements share one common ingredient the fan. Nothing is perpetual without the involvement of an engaged person
can open up brand dialogues in real-time. According to a study, conducted by Pear Analytics and reported by the BBC in August 2009, 40% of all tweets are babble. To make matters worse, marketers are attempting to buy fans and an entire business is springing up around this malpractice (just perform a Google Search on the keywords Facebook fans and see what happens). Brand stories that have the power to become culturally resonant Advertising has always worked on two levels. In its most basic form, it serves as a piece of persuasive brand communication. But, great advertising can also spark cultural conversations. These conversations will carry the brand well beyond the connes of the media schedule. Our advertising history books are lled with rich examples of ads that became a perpetual statement in our popular culture. The late Simon Broadbent, in his theory of AdStock, captured this phenomenon the best: advertising that does nothing more than sell will have a short half-life, and a steep decay rate. Advertising that is truly resonant will build AdStock well beyond the fuel provided by the weight of the media schedule. launched a perpetual engagement that lasted through to 8 May 2010 and beyond. The Snickers TV commercial drew rave reviews among the press and fans in the postSuper Bowl Ad-o-sphere (the phenomenon of ad reviews/replays/critiques that occur across all media channels following the Super Bowl). Shortly thereafter, Betty White fans started a conversation that quickly swelled to a movement across Facebook, advocating for Betty White to host Saturday Night Live. The mainstream press and producers of SNL took notice. Betty White was announced as the host for the 8 May 2010 Mothers Day episode of SNL. The live broadcast was a smash success, drawing the highest audiences in recent SNL history. The 8 May broadcast provided a perfect contextual frame for the re-airing of the Snickers Betty White commercial. Post-broadcast, there was a rush online to experience the Betty White SNL content. Ultimately, the Betty White SNL episode became one of the most viewed programs on Hulu.com. These online video exposures created yet another context frame for additional airings of the original Snickers Betty White and so the story continues. Perpetual marketing is a big idea. Every marketing function, from the basics of product performance and the products physical presence in our lives, to the careful and continuous management of meaningful brand conversations, must be taken into account. We cant buy fans and we cant schedule our commercials into the consciousness of our fans. Rather, we must speak with clear intent and respect the boundaries of the relationship. If we take our ads from good to great, the chances are that even the most traditional of marketing tactics will travel well beyond the connes of any advertising ight. I am advocating a holistic approach to perpetual marketing that considers every brand experience as an opportunity to sustain an engaged conversation.
more on perpetual marketing at www.warc.com

The participatory power of brand fans to share brand content beyond the connes of the marketing plan All perpetual marketing elements share one common ingredient the fan. Nothing Continuous customer service/ is perpetual without the involvement of an customer relationship management engaged person. We used to call this word-ofWhat about the idea of CRM that never mouth. In a digitally networked era, the dynamic sleeps? Does this mean brands must participate is much more interesting. Fans now have the in every conversation among fans and friends? digital tools to amplify their voice and to shape While marketers rush to make their imprint in and create new brand experiences. the social networking sphere, they must show Lets take a look at this phenomenon restraint and opt for quality over frequency in action with the story of the Snickers and forced ts. A perpetual conversation Betty White commercial. What started as a that loses importance can quickly become an 30-second TV spot that aired in the US during interruption. Now, more than ever, brands the Super Bowl launched a conversation among need to edit their conversations. The old fans that took actress Betty White and the adage that less is more holds even more Snickers brand across several media platforms weight when the potential is boundless. We and into pop culture. What should have been run the risk of polluting the very channels that one commercial exposure on 7 February 2010

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