Champion a cause that makes sense for your product.

This time last year, Honey nut Cheerios started a campaign to "Bring Back the Bees". The declining population of bees in North America is a topic that concerns all of us. Without bees, we risk losing all of our food crops dependent on bee pollination. And it came as no surprise that Honey Nut Cheerios chose to champion this cause, raise awareness and help the bee population.

Their goal (2016)
Get Canadians to plant 35 million new wildflower seeds (one for every Canadian).

Results (2016)
Over 100 million seeds were planted by the end of the campaign and Honey Nut Cheerios increased sales by 10%.

So how did they do it? Simply put, they championed a cause that people care about and combined this with a carefully crafted marketing campaign. The campaign educated consumers and gave them a way to help out.

"We’ve proven in the past that if you champion something that matters to consumers, you connect them closer to the brand. We’re hoping to create brand love and brand affinity for Honey Nut Cheerios as a result.” - Emma Eriksson, director of marketing at General Mills Canada.

An emotional TV spot told viewers about the problem and then asked them to help "Bring back the bees". Anyone who loves nature and interested in helping the planet will without a doubt be taken in by this video.

They end the video by introducing the new website dedicated to the cause and invited all helpers to "Get Free Seeds". Did you also notice how mascot Buzz disappeared? It artfully makes the point.

This year, on top of the TV spot, giving away free packages of wildflower seeds and removing brand mascot Buzz the Bee from Honey Nut Cheerios packaging, Honey Nut Cheerios plans to do two new things.

They added a awl-through experience by setting up a pop-up grocery store in Toronto this month to show what life without bees would be like. They included science activities for kids, meeting beekeepers and trying on their equipment. Added the experience factor!

In addition, General Mills has partnered with children's network YTV to show bee related segments to educate kids on the importance of bees. Programming is set to in just a few days on March 18th.

This year's campaign goal will be to get another 100 million wildflower seeds planted and will be taking the campaign to the US where it hopes to create even more BUZZ.

“That element (enabling people to get involved) on top of the ads got great response last year and proved that Canadians were interested in supporting the cause, so we will continue the conversation and evolve it from last year.” - Emma Eriksson, director of marketing at General Mills Canada.

Advertising for the social good and is becoming more and more popular.  Companies want consumers to know they care about something other than themselves and meaningful marketing is certainly an effective way of doing that. Especially when it's about an issue people feel passionate about.

What worthy cause can your company champion?

Morty Silber, CEO

Mad Strategies Inc.
a Wizard of Ads Partner

The persuasive power of brutally honest advertising. 

Almost everyone is familiar with the cough syrup that makes people make "that face". The one that makes people brace themselves and psych themselves up right before swallowing a spoonful.

Buckley's cough syrup was invented by W.K Buckley (Frank Buckley's father) in his pharmacy in 1919. He recognized that it had a 'less than enjoyable' taste but was more interested in its effectiveness. Old radio ads used to refer to the cough syrup as having a "brisk taste". It wasn't until 1986 that the "It tastes awful and it works" catchphrase started being used in ad campaigns. At that time, companies typically didn't like having even a hint of negativity in their campaigns so the fact that Mr. Buckley was willing to insult his own product was quite unusual.

The simple yet memorable campaign featuring a smiling Mr. Buckley ran for many years. Consumers were captivated and amused by his overly honest description of his awful tasting product and loved watching people make faces as they tasted Buckley's cough syrup.  Every Buckley's ad, whether it was TV, radio or print, always ended with a memorable catchphrase.

Before long, people started making videos of themselves and their reaction after tasting Buckley's. The squishy face people made would eventually become known as the "Buckley's face".

In 2011, Frank Buckley, then aged 90, was accepted into the Marketing Hall of Legends, which recognizes Canadians "whose ideas and contributions to marketing and brand building have made a tremendous impact in the Canadian marketplace." He was recognized as a Visionary, i.e. entrepreneurs who have launched companies and built iconic Canadian brands.

“Undoubtedly, Frank Buckley is a marketing legend. How he grew a small product into a category leader by staying true to the brand and taking a chance with kitschy one-liners is certainly an inspiration. – Catherine Rocher, senior marketing manager, Cold-Fx

Mr. Buckley's honest approach to advertising was so successful that he was able to outsell multinational companies occupying the same pharmaceutical space at a fraction of the media cost.

By 1992, Buckley's was the No. 1 selling cough syrup in Canada and it held on to that spot without needing to increase its media budget. Competitors Benylin and Robitussin each spent around $2 million on advertising in 1996 while Buckley's spent just over a quarter of that amount with $522,000. 

Today, the use of risk-taking ad strategies such as negative messaging to sell a product has become a model for many advertising agencies.

Do you have a negative that you can leverage in your advertising?

Morty Silber, CEO

Mad Strategies Inc.
a Wizard of Ads Partner

Not all billboards are created equal.

My creative director, Christin, sent this funny video to me. It's a short clip from a comedy television series that shows, with some exaggeration, the level of influence and persuasion billboard ads can have. It's only 52 seconds long. Watch it.

So I figured I'd share my rules for billboard advertising.

Creating a billboard ad can seem simple but it cannot be treated like a magazine ad. It's a channel with its own set of rules. One bad decision can easily ruin your ad and be a waste of your money. Below are strategies to help you get the most from your billboard advertising.

Keep it concise and clean. Billboard ads are meant to be read while on the move, so it would make sense that they not contain a huge amount of text. Keep your message short: 8 words or less. Readers only have 5 to 10 seconds to read your message so it is important to stay on point. This is not the time to write a paragraph of creatively written text. If you can convey your message with a compelling image rather than words, now is the time to do it. Ditch the fancy fonts. Keep it clean, clutter-free and easy to read. Less is more.

Extend beyond the limits. Billboards can be boring but adding an extension can leave a lasting impression that regular billboards can't. When you realize that you can add elements that extend beyond the limits of the billboard itself, the creative possibilities become endless. Today, companies are adding extensions, 3D elements and animation to capture the audience's attention. Billboard ads may cost more but a clever, creative and well-crafted ad could create buzz and pay for itself in PR exposure alone.

Size and location. Beware of billboards that are too small, on the left side of the road or too far from the road. You'll end up "paying" for a drastic reduction of eyeballs. Your billboard should be decent in size (the standard is about 48 wide by 14 feet tall), facing oncoming traffic and located on the right side of the road. Otherwise, your brain won't have time to take it all in.

The final test. Still not sure if it will be readable once it's on the billboard? I suggest printing your ad in the size of a business card and hold it out at arm's length. Is it just as impactful? Can you still read it? If not, go back, make adjustments and repeat the test until you are happy with the results.

Morty Silber, CEO

Mad Strategies Inc.
a Wizard of Ads Partner