The Teaser: Alive and Well In Automotive Marketing

[The following is an article originally posted via my Examiner column on automotive marketing which can be found here: http://bit.ly/zFaQe]

It’s one of the oldest tricks in the book for launching a new, highly anticipated product, but it’s still alive and well in automotive marketing. Indeed, the slow tease has become a staple in the arsenal of an increasing number of automakers lately. Acura did it with the ZDX. Lotus did it with the Evora (Eagle). Tesla killed us with the Model S. Rolls Royce tortured the insanely rich with a little Ghost tease. And now Audi’s decided get in on the fun and tease us with a little peek at the potential redesign of their flagship, the A8. It’s the “it” thing right now, and I'm guessing it'll stay that way.

But why are so many automakers turning to the tease as they launch new products? Aside from the fact that it usually escalates the level of anticipation in the market, I think they’re realizing that when they release their products in small, vague doses they can take advantage of massive amounts of media coverage available via blogs and automotive news sites like Jalopnik, GoTryke, Autoweek, Autopia, Motortrend, etc. that are rabidly covering ALL of the developments in the automotive world. And those combined with conversation on Twitter, Facebook and all of the other social media tools, the word-of-mouth generated is immense.

I love this as a tactic for a product reveal. Especially when given a unique twist, like the Lotus Evora, where the automaker sent press outlets a series of images of the technologies and components that made the car innovative, rather than just images of the design itself (That's called sticking to the brand message). One thing I’m hoping to see is a teaser campaign that ties in better with interactive media. We’ve seen microsites that release the teaser images, but none that integrate in a meaningful way with a cohesive social media or guerilla marketing effort.

Interested in hearing more of our innovative thoughts on what the perfect automotive teaser campaign might look like? Contact me via our website - http://www.sutter-group.com - or send me an email: garret [at] sutter-group [dot] com.

by Garret Ohm

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A Simple Rule About Brands

I was reading an email from HARO’s Peter Shankman recently, and he wrote something I thought was worth passing along because it very closely echoes what we preach here at The Sutter Group. Here's what Peter wrote:

“Simple rule: Your brand is more than just your logo or website. It’s the core, the essence, the soul of your company and it’s the main story you want to tell to the world. You have to know what that brand story is so that you can communicate it to the world with your logo, your website, your business card, your [physical environment] — EVERYTHING. Branding does not have to be a months-long engagement that costs tens of thousands of dollars. If people think about brand the right way and stay true to that story across everything, their marketing investments will yield great, targeted results.”

Amen. If your brand development and marketing firm is telling you that they can create a brand for you, they’re misguided. Truthfully, YOU create the brand, and as your marketing partner we work with you to uncover and enhance that story and tell people about it. Need some help with this process? We're glad to help! Give us a shout HERE.

And if you haven’t signed up for Peter’s service, go do it now. You’ll be glad you did.

by Garret Ohm

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UA : Image vs. Innovation

When Baltimore, Maryland-based Under Armour exploded onto the scene 13 years ago, they were known for fabric that wicked moisture and kept you cool and dry. Their apparel was the first of its kind, and the product established them as a company that developed innovative performance gear that was miles ahead of the curve.

About 10 years later they extended the brand to include footwear, starting with cleats, which were promoted with the highly regarded “click clack” advertising campaign. While the campaign went on to win numerous awards, I always had a feeling that the strength of the campaign was its reach and frequency (read: $), and not its creative or strategic merit. After all, the marketing never really made clear what was truly unique and different about the cleats (truthfully, there were many new technologies integrated into the product). There was no mention of innovative new features or materials — just the promise that they make noise on paved surfaces…

Shortly after debuting footwear that actually claimed innovative technologies like Footsleeve, Armourlastic, Armourguide and Armourbound, news broke that they’re coming out with a new technology that when worn helps athletes recover faster from vigorous workouts. This is exactly the type of groundbreaking product that consumers expect from Under Armour. But will they choose to focus on a slick image campaign as they did with their cleats, or will they focus on the innovative aspects of the product?

I hope it’s the latter. While the big spending on an image campaign does work in the short-term, typically when that stops, it’s crucial to make sure customers understand the product (or service) benefits, because those are what are going to carry the product. Sure, image advertising has worked for Nike, but that’s both because they’ve been around for a while and have grown to a size where they can spend TONS of money on brand advertising. As Under Armour develops a campaign, it can and should still have a strong creative “big idea” but I truly believe that they need to make sure that it develops the product, not just the brand.

Curious to know what type of advertising strategy will help you get the most bang for your buck? The Sutter Group knows marketing strategy. And the best part is that not only can we help you develop marketing strategy, but we do some pretty amazing creative too. Talk to us. 

by Garret Ohm

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TSG Brings Bioscience Brand To Life

We're happy to be finishing up a new integrated marketing communications exercise for ReGenX, a Washington, DC-based bioscience startup. ReGenX is a biologics company focused on the development of gene therapy as a platform for advancing human health. (Read more about biologics HERE)

The company produces a type of proprietary viral vector, which is a microscopic tool that molecular biologists use to transfer different kinds of genetic material into cells. This transfer allows for advances in biotherapeautics, drug discovery, vaccines, target identification and target validation. These are all REALLY important things for fighting disease.

Our goal for ReGenX was two-fold: First, we wanted to clearly establish ReGenX as a reputable player in the cellular biology space. We accomplished this by crafting a brand identity that established credibility and clearly spoke to the company's purpose and service offerings, in addition to linking the company to technological developments from the University of Pennsylvania and a team of well-respected scientific advisors.



We also wanted to create a range of consistent, polished marketing materials that makes it easy for cellular biologists to understand ReGenX's product offerings and provide a clear path to purchase. One of the key tools we created was http://www.regenxbio.com. Clean design, simple navigation and well-organized content converge to allow users to easily find their desired information and the integration of a NetSuite enabled form allows them to easily request a quote.






We're extremely proud of the work we've done for ReGenX and look forward to continuing to support them. Interested in finding out how we can help you craft a new brand from scratch or reenergize an existing brand? We'd love to talk.

by Garret Ohm

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TSG To Sponsor CRTC Event In Annapolis

I’m excited to announce that The Sutter Group has signed on to be a Bronze Sponsor for the Chesapeake Regional Tech Council’s 5th Annual BBQ on the Bay to be held at The Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s headquarters in Annapolis on Thursday, July 9, 2009. You can find more information about the event at the following links:

Website
Facebook Event

The event is from 6:00 to 9:00pm at the following address:

Chesapeake Bay Foundation
6 Herndon Avenue
Annapolis, MD 21403
Click HERE for a map

As a Bronze Sponsor, we’ll have a table at the show where we’ll be displaying some of our creative work and meeting a lot of really great people in the Maryland/Washington D.C./Virginia technology world. Please stop by our table and say hello!

by Garret Ohm

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