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Fighting Fire with Desire

1/12/2020

by David Hagenbuch, founder of Mindful Marketing & author of Honorable Influence

Earthquakes, hurricanes, floods—natural disasters are unfortunate reminders of how powerful earth is and how weak humans are. Yet, in the wake of such tragedies it’s encouraging to see caring people help others in need. So why has one woman’s philanthropy aimed at fire relief for Australia sparked a media firestorm?

Since late July, “Australia is [still] being ravaged by the worst wildfires seen in decades.” A terrible drought and record-high temperatures are helping fuel the horrific flames. So far, the tragic toll includes 27 people dead, over 2,000 homes destroyed just in the state of New South Wales, smoke 11-times the hazard level in Sydney, more than 17.9 million acres of land burned, and millions of animals likely dead.

Thankfully there are organizations and individuals responding to the tragedy. One of those people is Kaylen Ward. An attractive 20-year model from Los Angeles, Ward tweeted a promise on January 3 to send a picture of herself to anyone who sent her proof of a donation of $10 or more to a legitimate fire relief organization such as the Australian Red Cross or Salvation Army Australia. Ward kept her promise, and within four days, her efforts helped raise an amazing $1 million!

Why has Ward’s work been so successful and controversial? It was because she wasn’t wearing anything in the photos; Ward was nude.

The people receiving the pictures, weren’t surprised—they got exactly what Ward promised and what might be expected from an “influencer and sex worker” who makes a living from nakedness, often by selling nude photos and videos of herself on OnlyFans. Recently, she’s come to call herself “The Naked Philanthropist.”

One reason people have taken issue with Ward’s promotion of wildfire relief was a perception that she must somehow be skimming money off the top for herself. However, she quickly clapped back at such allegations, tweeting that “none of the donation money to Australia has or ever will go to me. The only money I have made is money from my [Only]fans. I guarantee I am not pocketing any donation money.”

Given that people donated directly to the relief organizations and just direct messaged Ward copies of receipts, she had no access to the money. In contrast, Ward apparently incurred some direct costs from her philanthropy. After her initial tweet went viral (over 88K retweets and more than 226K likes), she said she had to hire four people to help her sort through all of the messages, verify the donations, and send out over 10,000 nude photos.

It’s likely, though, that whatever those cost were, they were more than offset by all the free media ‘exposure’ (sorry) she’s received, probably worth at least tens of thousands of dollars, not to mention the contact list of future customers she undoubtedly built from all those who direct messaged her for a free pic.

Likewise, Ward’s social media following exploded. Before her first ‘fire relief post’ she had about 176K Twitter followers. She now has over 387K.

Knowing those positive personal outcomes, some may argue that her philanthropy was intentionally self-serving. Ward takes issue with that assessment, however, saying that she had seen the impact of the recent California fires firsthand and knows “how devasting” they can be.

Also, soon after stopping her nude photos promotion, Ward started a GoFundMe campaign aimed at raising money for the New South Wales Rural Fire Service and the World Wildlife Fund. She stated: “I want to continue raising funds to save the people and animals of Australia,” because the causes are “very important to me.”

It’s hard to judge motives. There’s also not necessarily anything wrong with a person wanting both to help others and to advance his/her own career. Many forward-thinking organizations take a similar strategic approach to their philanthropy such that they do well financially while doing good socially.

But, then there’s the specific nature of Ward’s career. It’s pornography.

Many individuals and organizations believe that there are standards of decency that should be upheld, including ones involving sexual explicitness. Facebook, which owns Instagram, is one of those organizations: It disabled Ward’s Instagram account because she apparently violated the site’s prohibition of offering nude images.

Some may say, though, that the means justify the ends, i.e., given the devastation Australia has endured, ‘baring’ oneself is acceptable in order to provide relief to those in need. Such an argument usually stems from a belief in consequentialism, or that the greatest net happiness is what determines whether an action is ethical, not freestanding moral principles like decency, dignity, and decorum.

But, if one considers consequences, there’s a need to look at all the consequences likely to come from Ward sharing her nakedness. Those include consequences associated with pornography. Here are several of the negative outcomes that individuals often experience from using porn, provided by Caron Andrews:

Changes the brain: Through the release of dopamine each time, the brain requires more and more porn.
Affects behavior: Porn users often have more violent attitudes toward women and exhibit more domineering and harassing behavior toward them.
Leads to sexual dysfunction: Actual physical intimacy becomes less stimulating.
Harms one’s sense of sexuality: Porn can cause people to have deviant and even dangerous sexual tastes.
Stunts real-life relationships: Users often draw away from others and keep secrets from them.
Teaches that women are sexual objects: Women are often ‘stripped’ of dignity and presented as vehicles for men’s sexual satisfaction.
Makes people feel bad about themselves: The lack of congruity between one’s values and actions causes stress and feelings of hypocrisy.
Changes moods: People who use porn are often easily annoyed, angered, and depressed.

The preceding list isn’t comprehensive. Besides negative impacts on individual users and those close to them, some suggest that pornography carries a major economic price: $16.9 billion a year in lost productivity.

Again, it’s impossible to know Ward’s true motivation, but even if she really did mean well, her philanthropic approach was greatly misguided. The nude photos probably pleased their recipients and the corresponding donations likely helped ease Australia’s pain, but Ward discarded basic decency while fueling the flames of a terrible social problem, which makes her work “Single-Minded Marketing.”

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Burberry after its Burning Ban

12/28/2019

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by David Hagenbuch, founder of Mindful Marketing & author of Honorable Influence

Did you give or receive clothing this holiday season? You may not know that if that sweater, jacket, or hat hadn’t been purchased, it might have been burned. In an age of increased environmental consciousness and frequent corporate cutbacks how can companies tolerate such waste? It has to do with building brands.

In 2017, the upscale British fashion label Burberry destroyed over $38 million worth of its own clothing, perfume, and accessories. BBC News says that over a five-year period, the brand scrapped products worth a total of about $121 million. Fortunately, Burberry announced last year that it would stop the ‘self-destructive’ behavior; although, it hasn’t said how it will handle the excess product. Unfortunately, Burberry isn’t the only brand known for trashing its own inventory.

According to Vox, other participants in the practice include luxury labels like Louis Vuitton, Michael Kors, and Cartier. However, even basic brands such as Eddie Bauer, Nike, and H & M, have been cited for incinerating unsold merchandise.

Why would any company destroy products it spent valuable time and resources making? Motives may vary for such a seemingly inexplicable practice, , but the main reason seems to be that high-end fashion brands, especially, need to preserve perceptions of exclusivity.

Some manufacturers, e.g., makers of snack foods and soft drinks, would like as much of their products sold as widely as possible. Certain other brands, however, seek to create an air of exclusivity in one of three main ways, either by not making the products available: 1) all the time, or 2) everywhere, or 3) for everyone.

For instance, although McDonald’s Shamrock Shake is available all over at a price that most people can afford, the ice cream is only sold for a limited number of weeks each year. Notwithstanding ever-increasing ticket prices, Disney positions its theme parks as entertainment for a very wide range of people, year-round, but it maintains ‘the magic’ by limiting the number of locations to just a few around the entire world.

Upscale fashion brands like Burberry, in contrast, place no real time restrictions on purchase of their products. Likewise, although they’re not as ubiquitous as MacDonald’s restaurants, these fashion retailers tend to have a decent number of brick-and-mortar locations. Burberry has about 50 stores in the continental U.S. in addition to its easily-available online storefront.

The main difference is that Burberry and similar luxury fashion brands aim for exclusivity by positioning their lines as prestige products sold at premium prices. For instance, a search for “all bags” on Burberry’s website returns a low price of $490 for a “Grainy Leather Card Case with Detachable Strap” to a high price of $2,750 for a “Medium Quilted Monogram Lambskin TB Bag.”

Of course, price alone excludes most people, who can’t afford to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on a handbag, from buying Burberry; however, other positioning of the products also adds to their exclusive appeal: They’re not the purses we see shoppers carrying into the average supermarket.

‘Mousingover’ specific products on its website, reveals images of the kinds of people Burberry envisions owning its bags: ultra- stylish, impeccably-attired, young, affluent, runway-model types. That description probably doesn’t apply to most people reading this blog, nor does it apply to the person writing it, but Burberry doesn’t mind.

While MacDonald’s considers it a win if hundreds of millions of people eat its hamburgers, and Disney is delighted to have an even wider variety of people visit its theme parks, Burberry and other luxury labels don’t covet consumption of their products by the masses. Their brands’ allure is based largely on limiting availability to the relatively few people who can afford their products and who live the more lavish lifestyles associated with their use.

If somehow ‘average people’ began buying Burberry’s bags, the brand’s true target market would be turned off. Though its loyal customers may not articulate it, one reason they like Burberry is because very few people own the brand. Burberry banks on feelings of exclusivity, allowing its users to assert, "I own something that not everyone else has."

That brings us back to the issue of over-supply and what companies like Burberry should do when they’ve made too many handbags, hats, etc. In the past, Burberry has justified burning excess inventory, saying that it captured the energy from the burning, making the annihilation environmentally-friendly.

Unfortunately, though, “the energy that is recouped from burning clothing doesn’t come anywhere near the energy that was used to create the garment.” In addition, burning garments that contain polyester, which comprises about 60 percent of the fiber market, means the release into the air of harmful CO2, as well as chemicals often present in clothes.

Other ways firms have attempted to destroy unwanted products have included shredding and landfilling. Of course, these methods carry their own negative environmental impacts and fail to qualify as sustainable solutions.

Some may wonder why excess clothing can’t be recycled or donated. Mixed fiber cloth, from which many woven clothes are now made, makes recycling especially challenging, as do buttons and zippers, whose removal is very labor-intensive.

Others may ask “Why can’t surplus clothing simply be donated or sold at a discount?” For many companies, such product disposition ‘makes cents’ (pun intended), but not for high-end fashion labels. These brands can afford to take a hit on their enormous markups, but as mentioned above, they can’t accept dilution of their brands’ images, which occurs if their products fall into the hands of the less-than-modish masses.

So, what can fix this problem that pits environmental stewardship against brand equity? Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be a clear solution. In a 2018 interview with Vox, Timo Rissanen, an associate dean at Parsons School of Design and a professor of fashion design and sustainability at the school’s Tishman Environment and Design Center, provided a thorough analysis of firms’ destruction of excess product, but in the end, the best solutions he offered were for consumers to avoid impulse-buying and to instead purchase secondhand products.

Those are valid recommendations for you and me, but unfortunately they don’t really address prevention of the problem, i.e., what companies can and should do. I’m no fashion expert, and the following thoughts are admittedly undeveloped, but I’ll offer two possible ways to decrease the production of excess goods:

Implement quick response processes: Fashion lead-times are often three months or more, making it challenging to match supply and demand. Spanish retailer Zara, however, has developed ultra-responsive production processes that allow it to move from product conception to consumer within a few weeks. If more brands would ‘follow suit’ (pun again intended), it might help to close the gap between what’s made and what consumers want to buy.
Use artificial intelligence: Firms have employed data-based demand forecasting for decades, but even more accurate prediction is now possible through artificial intelligence in which machines learn from past experience and use algorithms to very accurately estimate future consumption. Such technology holds great promise for synchronizing supply and demand.

Burberry’s decision of over a year ago to stop burning its unsold clothes was certainly laudable and might be considered Mindful Marketing if the company were to implement some of the strategies mentioned above or take other consequential action. However, in the absence of a clearly conceived and communicated plan for managing excess inventory, Burberry’s announcement now seems like “Simple-Minded Marketing.”

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Peloton's Psychological Problems

12/13/2019

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by David Hagenbuch, founder of Mindful Marketing & author of Honorable Influence

“If my husband gave me a Peloton for Christmas, I’d give him divorce papers.” Such raw emotion has typified reactions to the spin cycle maker’s “Gift that Gives Back” commercial. People are permitted their opinions about the ad, and Peloton is entitled to explain its position, but a few principles from psychology might help both sides see how the cycle commercial could have avoided such a controversial turn.

Many reactions to the spot suggest that ‘no husband should surprise his wife with a piece of exercise equipment,’ regardless of her body-type. That’s a valid point; however, before dismissing Peloton’s ad as complete incompetence, Abraham Maslow’s classic hierarchy of needs may remind us that there is often more than one reason for riding a stationary bike:

Physiological Needs: Exercise doesn’t satisfy hunger or thirst; in fact, burning calories increases those needs. Similarly, anyone ‘spinning’ isn’t resting; however, exercise can lead to better sleep. That connection proves true for many, as it did recently for me: After walking around New York City one day with family for hours, I enjoyed one of my best night’s sleep in months.

Safety Needs: Exercise doesn’t immediately make us safe; however, cardiovascular fitness is an investment in long-term health, which connects to the second level of Maslow’s hierarchy. Many viewers of Peloton’s ad have bemoaned that “Grace in Boston,” an already slim woman, even needs to exercise, but they’re missing the point that working out isn’t just about losing weight. Thin people also reap health benefits from aerobic activity.

Social Needs: In one tweet about the ad, a Peloton user mentioned that she appreciates the bonding that comes with working out with others. People don’t need to be physically present to build relationships. Social benefits can also accrue when interacting in the virtual realm, which apparently happens for at least some Peloton users.

Self-Esteem Needs: All of us want to feel good about how we look and the kind of person we are. Sticking to an exercise regimen can bolster both of those self-concepts. Most viewers of Peloton’s ad don’t notice any physical change in Grace, but perhaps she experiences something intangible, like feeling more self-disciplined or self-confident.

Self-Actualization Needs: There aren’t many products that can legitimately claim to help people reach their full potential in some significant area of life, but a piece of exercise equipment used seriously might produce such top-level benefits, partly like the way basic training transforms marines. We don’t know exactly what Grace meant by the statement, “A year ago, I didn’t realize how much this would change me,” but if it wasn’t physical change, maybe a year of Pelton transformed her mentally or emotionally.

The five levels of Maslow’s hierarchy offer consumers useful lenses for processing the controversial commercial. A psychological principle can also teach Peloton an important lesson, summed up in one sentence: “Perception is reality.”

We perceive when a stimulus crosses our senses, we attend to it, and we make an interpretation, for example: “The big dog bounding toward me looks dangerous.” Sometimes our interpretations are correct; other times they’re wrong. However, whether they’re accurate or not, our perceptions determine our reactions.

As thousands of social media posts have suggested, people perceived things to be true of Peloton’s ad that the company apparently didn’t intend, for instance:

that Grace was initially overweight
that she wanted to become even thinner
that her husband pressured her to use the bike

Peloton can argue that these interpretations are incorrect, but ultimately the court of public opinion rules based on objective judgment of cues in the ad, prevailing social norms, and the broader cultural context, because perception is reality.

Some may suggest it was Peloton’s plan to cause a controversy that would capture publicity. If so, the company probably didn’t anticipate a 14% stock price decline in three days. Consumers can use Maslow to better understand what the cycle maker likely intended, but more importantly, companies like Peloton can learn to more effectively pretest their ads so corporate perceptions better align with consumer reality and don’t spin into “Mindless Marketing.”

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Marketing Giving

11/29/2019

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by David Hagenbuch, founder of Mindful Marketing & author of Honorable Influence

Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday . . . the biggest shopping season of the year can excite even the most apathetic shopper. Some, however, would have us believe that we should do something different with our money, instead of buying things for ourselves or others. But, isn’t shopping a key to holiday happiness?

Over the last few years, you’ve probably heard of an initiative that seems contrary to the capitalism often associated with holiday shopping. In contrast to the plethora of promotion persuading us to buy more, “GivingTuesday” boldly encourages people to give to others. The day targeted for philanthropy is typically the Tuesday after Thanksgiving; this year it’s December 3.

GivingTuesday’s website describes the initiative, which began in 2012, as “a global generosity movement” that “inspires hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity,” “unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the world.”

Those are admirable and far-reaching claims, but is it really possible to market giving?

For many people, marketing is inextricably linked to buying and selling products, so much so that ‘marketing giving’ seems like an oxymoron, along the lines of jumbo shrimp and civil war. If people give their money, they’re not spending it, which may seem antithetical to marketing.

However, marketing concepts can be applied to virtually any endeavor. Besides marketing physical goods, like food, and intangible services, like haircuts, organizations and individuals can market ideas like “Don’t drink and drive” and mindsets like “Do well in school.”

So, there’s no reason that giving can’t be marketed, but effective marketing must include more than just a simple message like “give!” Most of us have seen similar appeals in social media and elsewhere. GivingTuesday, however, has created what many would consider to be a full-fledged marketing plan, incorporating each of the iconic Four Ps:

- Product: Unlike receiving something tangible in return when one shops, GivingTuesday promises intrinsic rewards like satisfaction from providing greater dignity and opportunity for others and helping to build “a more just and generous world.”

- Price: The cost of GivingTuesday is up to the organization and individual. While some might give millions, the average online gift is $105.55, but money isn’t the only thing that can be given. Participants also can donate goods or volunteer their time to serve others.

- Place: As the previous P implied, GivingTuesday can occur virtually anywhere in the physical world or in the virtual realm in a variety of ways. Meanwhile, having a specific date, the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving, helps build consistency, as well as create some sense of urgency, which is often needed in order to encourage consumers to act.

- Promotion: “GivingTuesday” is a memorable moniker that likely builds brand recognition and supports understanding of the initiative through paid and earned media. GivingTuesday’s website also offers a variety of helpful resources for organizations and individuals inclined to participate, e.g., “Ideas and Case Studies” and a “GivingTuesday Toolkit.”

Those are strong inputs, but what matters ultimately for marketing are outcomes, and at least one person believes GivingTuesday isn’t effective for many organizations.

In an article in the Fundraising Authority, Joe Garecht praises GivingTuesday as “a noble effort,” yet he discourages nonprofits from participating in the initiative, particularly small and mid-sized ones. His rationale includes reasons such as an overabundance of organizations asking for gifts at the same time and the encouragement of one-time “spot giving” versus building long-term donor relationships.

Garecht raises some valid concerns, particularly related to potential return on investment; however, if his two arguments mentioned above were applied to organizations marketing traditional products, companies wouldn’t participate in the holiday shopping season because: 1) their promotions would be lost among those of other companies advertising at the same time, and 2) first-time transactions wouldn’t lead to future purchases. Clearly that rationale doesn’t apply to most for-profit firms during the holidays, and it probably isn’t relevant for many nonprofits either.

Instead, GivingTuesday appears to be an initiative that keeps gaining momentum. Among nonprofit participants who seem to find the program productive are World Vision, the American Red Cross, and St. Jude. All together, GivingTuesday saw 3.6 million gifts given in 2018, including $400 million online. In the U.S. alone, GivingTuesday has raised over $1 billion since 2012.

In his 1789 sermon titled “The Use of Money,” English cleric and theologian John Wesley famously urged listeners to “earn all you can, save all you can, and give all you can.” In a 21st century sense, Wesley was ‘marketing’ giving. Marketers today have many more tools at their disposal, yet any tactics that encourage organizations or individuals to give of their money or time to help others in need can be considered “Mindful Marketing.”

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Pay to Pray

11/16/2019

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by David Hagenbuch, founder of Mindful Marketing & author of Honorable Influence

“The best things in life are free,” for instance, an evening with family, a walk on a sunny morning, a conversation with a friend. For many people, going to God is another 'free'dom they cherish. Why, then, does one religion appear to be putting a paywall between its people and God?

The Catholic Church recently surprised many of its parishioners and others by introducing an eRosary, “a wearable device connected to a mobile app that's activated by making the sign of the cross.” While paying homage to traditional rosary bracelets, the new product’s black agate and hematite beads, paired with a “carefully finished” gunmetal-color cross, make the modern version appear very ‘apple-esque.’

Many have heard of people praying with rosary beads, but if you’re not familiar with Catholicism, here’s a quick primer. The Holy Rosary, or Dominican Rosary, is a very important prayer for Catholics that is arranged in sets of prayers called decades. Holding a rosary bracelet or chain in one’s hand and feeling each individual bead helps followers recite the prayer’s Hail Marys and other specific petitions in the proper sequence.

The Rosary is a central part of many Catholics’ spiritual lives, as praying it guards against trials and temptations and serves as a buffer against all types of evil. Pope John Paul II declared that the Rosary was “among the finest and most praiseworthy traditions of Christian contemplation.”

The Vatican’s eRosary offers much more functionality than just feeling beads with one’s fingers. Working with an app, the digitally-designed bracelet lets users choose the specific rosary they would like to recite (e.g., standard or thematic), then charts the devotee’s prayer progress and tracks completion with “the guide of special audiovisual contents.”

The Vatican suggests the device serves as “a meeting point between technology and spirituality” that “unites daily life and prayer,” helps one “pray deeply,” and unites people around the challenges that confront humanity and the mission of the Church.

The eRosary also touches the physical realm, acting as a “personal health assistant” by recording fitness data and providing wellness information. In doing so, the device encourages people to live healthier lives.

However, wearable technology can’t just do things; it also needs to look good on those wearing it. Fortunately, the eRosary marries form and function. The Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network suggests that the device lies where “simplicity meets elegance” thanks to its stylish black and silver colors and its “simple lines and curves.”

So, why is the Vatican marketing a ‘faith-based fashionable Fitbit’? Engadget suggests the Catholic Church is “hoping to attract tech-savvy youngsters.” It’s true that Gen Zs increasing expect digitally connected experiences. Also, any organization that wants to stay in existence must remain relevant to the next generation of ‘consumers.’

Still, we’re talking about the Church and faith. Doesn’t technology distract from meaningful spiritual experiences? Or, perhaps even more important, is it right for the Catholic Church, which has about 1.28 billion adherents, many in countries with low per capita income, to sell a product that costs 99€ (about $110) on Amazon?

First, it’s helpful to remember that technology influencing faith isn’t just a recent phenomenon; it’s interface dates back as least many hundreds of years. In 1452, Johannes Gutenberg printed 180 copies of the now famous Gutenberg Bible. In many ways, the use of moveable type technology to mass print the Bible and other religious books democratized Christianity and formed the foundation for a revolution in the Church.

Over the years, other new technologies also have impacted people’s spiritual lives in, often in positive ways. For instance, radio and television have allowed people to share religious information with others thousands of miles away. Advances in construction have enabled the building of larger and more functional places of worship. And, automobiles are what many people use to travel to those worship centers.

However, when one arrives at a church, synagogue, or mosque, there’s usually not a fee at the door. The notion is that religion should be free to all. ‘Growing closer to God shouldn’t be based on one’s ability to pay.’

Fortunately, there’s nothing to stop even the poorest person from offering prayers of petition and gratitude to the Divine. And, if people are mobile, they might walk or share a ride with other believers to a place of worship where they can venerate God and learn together for free.

Some religions also make copies of their key texts available to others for free. For instance, Wycliffe Bible Translators, a nonprofit mission organization, has translated the Bible into hundreds of different languages since its founding in 1942. Likewise, the Gideons International gives away thousands of Bibles a year in most of the world’s countries.

Then, how do eRosaries, iPhones with Bible apps, and other faith-related merchandise fit with the notion that religion should be free? All of the items that cost money to aid reverence are optional. They may be helpful to those who can afford them, but they’re not essential for a relationship with God.

A useful metaphor might be a social medium like LinkedIn. Some people who have needs for more advanced features pay for LinkedIn Premium. In contrast, for many years I’ve used the free version of the platform, which meets all of my professional networking needs and more. Just as I’m not precluded from enjoying LinkedIn because I don’t pay, people who don’t buy eRosaries or similar religious products are not prevented from relationships with God.

It is possible to live without digital devices. Also, sometimes when we have them, we let them get in the way of fruitful living. Used properly, however, it’s not hard to see how technology can benefit religious practice, much as it enhances other areas of life. It’s great to be able to share prayer requests via email, send text messages of encouragement to others, study the Bible on an iPad, and listen to podcasts of sermons online.

Because I’m not Catholic, I’ve never experienced confirmation, gone to confession, or prayed the Rosary. It appears, though, that an eRosary can help those participating in one of Catholicism’s central religious practices. For people of faith, digital devices that enrich their spiritual lives and bring them into closer relationship with God and others, seem to be “Mindful Marketing.”

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Promotion in Disguise?

11/3/2019

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by David Hagenbuch, founder of Mindful Marketing & author of Honorable Influence

Halloween was here and gone, but its effects live on. For kids, that may mean ongoing sugar rushes from a huge candy haul. For adults, it could be as serious as a DUI arrest after too much partying. However, one company you probably wouldn’t expect, stepped in to deter Halloween-related drunkenness.

It may come as a shock that the “King of Beers” created a unique Halloween-themed advertising campaign to discourage drinking. Budweiser, flagship brand of the iconic American beer company Anheuser-Busch, which is now a subsidiary of Belgium-based ABInBev, used the marketing firm David-Miami to develop some edgy Halloween-inspired ads to decrease drinking.

Budweiser’s promotion featured photos of several real people wearing Halloween costumes and funny looks on their faces. While there’s nothing unusual about pictures like that, especially around Halloween, what made these shots different was that they were mugshots. One of the photos, for instance, had a woman in a cat costume with black and white face-paint. Below her was the caption “Don’t let Halloween haunt you forever,” the Budweiser logo, and the tagline “Drink Wiser.”

In many ways, what Budweiser did was great. While alcohol is an important part of many people’s lives when socializing and celebrating, it’s also an addictive substance that when used in excess can wreak havoc on those using it and those who cross paths with them (e.g., physical and verbal abuse, drunk driving). Some call alcohol a drug and describe its use in the U.S. as an epidemic.

Still, it’s reasonable to ask the question: Does a company whose livelihood depends on beer sales really want people to drink less? There just aren’t many examples of organizations trying to decrease demand for their own products. The only two I can think of off-the-top are power companies asking residents to use less electricity during peak consumption times and casinos providing 800 numbers for those with gambling problems. I’m not sure the second example even qualifies.

Budweiser does, however, have a history of prodding people to ‘drink responsibly.’ Over 100 years ago, the company used the tagline “Budweiser Means Moderation,” and about 35 years ago the firm’s ads challenged consumers to “Know When to Say When.” The current “Drink Wiser” campaign, which kicked-off last year, urges customers to “hydrate between Buds.” Also, beers bought in certain locations between October 21 and November 1 on Drizly entitled drinkers to a $5 Lyft gift card “for a safe ride home.”

So, Budweiser has taken some steps to mitigate overindulgence, but do these measures really make a difference? In a 2008 study, Atkin, McCardle, and Newell found that consumers tended to perceive alcohol moderation advertisements as ambiguous and self-serving. Jones, Hall, and Kypril’s 2017 research produced similar findings: Consumers had difficulty interpreting many of the alcohol industry’s moderation messages.

The results of these studies and similar ones don’t bode well for alcohol moderation messages overall, but perhaps Budweiser’s “Drink Wiser” Halloween photo campaign was an exception. In lieu of research specific to the campaign, it may be helpful to dissect the ads and predict consumers’ likely response. So, here’s this marketer’s assessment of the campaign using communication's well-known AIDA model (attention, interest, desire, action):

The ads’ colorful and unusual photos of costumed people, probably grabbed viewers’ attention.
The curious-looking pictures likely also kept viewers’ interest, as they wondered why the bizarre subjects were posing for the camera and what they had to do with Budweiser, whose large logo was prominently displayed with the ad copy, i.e., more than just a small tag at the bottom.
The use of a humor appeal probably impacted viewer’s interpretations of the ads and ultimately their desire to accept the ads’ supposed call for drinking in moderation. The funny looking photos likely acted as “dissonant visuals,” serving to counteract the ads’ serious message. One might even say the comical pics made light of drunk driving.
What’s more, with the tagline “Drink Wiser” appearing just inches below the large Budweiser logo, it’s conceivable that consumers interpreted the ads’ call-to-action not to ‘drink smarter’ but simply to ‘drink Budweiser.’ In other words, people may have seen “Wiser” simply as an abbreviation for Budweiser, in the same way Pizza Hut is sometimes call “the Hut.”

So, were Budweiser’s Halloween-themed mugshot ads effective in deterring irresponsible drinking? I don’t know, but to the Gen Ys and Gen Zs to whom to the campaign most likely appealed, the ads probably just seemed like another application of the irreverent humor brands often try to use to attract young consumers to their products. In other words, the supposed deterrent actually may have acted more as a purchase stimulant.

It’s hard to judge motives—Did Budweiser really want to keep people from irresponsible alcohol consumption, or was it secretly banking on higher Halloween-holiday beer sales? We don’t know, but analysis of the ads makes it seem improbable that people were inspired to “drink wiser” as much as they were reminded to ‘drink Budweiser.’ As a result, the company’s likely misinterpreted mugshots are a snapshot of “Single-Minded Marketing.”

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Live Streaming Funerals

10/18/2019

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by David Hagenbuch, founder of Mindful Marketing & author of Honorable Influence

What will you watch on TV tonight? Maybe you’ll catch a movie on cable or stream season five of your favorite sitcom. Or, maybe you’ll tune-in to Uncle Walter’s wake. That’s right: Some funeral homes now make it possible for mourners to stay home, thanks to live streaming of memorial services.

Live streaming has been around for more than 20 years, but it’s more recently that funeral homes have entered the virtual realm. Some say the delay is due to the funeral industry being more conservative than most. It also might be because those most in-tune with the newer technology tend to be the Netflix-watching younger generations, who probably aren’t the biggest drivers of demand for funeral services.

Every year in the United States, around 19,000 funeral directors conduct approximately 2.4 million memorial services, yet some estimate as few as 20% of funeral homes offer streaming services. But, why does anyone want to watch the memorialization of someone they knew online?

The main reason is simple logistics. As people find new jobs or move for other reasons, family members and friends are “increasingly scattered around the country—and the world,” making it hard to travel to far-away cities and towns for funerals. Also, some people have health conditions or other constraints that make travel very difficult, if not impossible.

Our family appreciated live streaming firsthand recently, not for a funeral but for our son’s orchestra concert. Given that he’s enrolled in college over 10 hours from home, it’s not possible for us to attend most performances, but we were able to watch the first concert of the fall in real-time, thanks to the school live streaming the event.

Still, a funeral is very different than a concert, a sports contest, or other audience-driven entertainment. Should such a somber event be so widely shared? Is it disrespectful to ‘digitize the deceased?’

Whether it’s a wedding or a wake, almost anything can be filmed tastelessly or tactfully. Small ceiling-mounted cameras and wireless technology are some of the ways that videoing can happen unobtrusively. Plus, in the age of social media and selfies, most people are pretty used to cameras and picture-taking.

Of course, a primary consideration in deciding whether to live stream a funeral should be the final wishes of the departed—Did they want/not want their last remembrances broadcast? Short of any such directive, the decision lies with loved ones, who, in reality, are the ones the memorial service is truly for.

For family members and/or close friends of the deceased, a funeral service is a very important part of the grieving process. They’re the ones dealing most with shock, grief, and worry. They also probably want to honor the memory of someone about whom they cared deeply. Key questions, then, are: What brings loved ones comfort and what helps them commemorate?

The most likely answer is other people. When tragedy strikes or there’s an occasion to celebrate, we usually want to be with others. It’s at those times that we really appreciate the presence of people.

That need for social support reminds me of a funeral I attended last March. A dear friend of mine, with whom I had served on a church leadership team, played basketball and softball, and socialized with our spouses, passed away suddenly at age 58. I was shocked to hear the news and imagined that his wife and two children in their twenties were devastated.

Our careers had taken us to different parts of the state, but I wanted to attend his memorial service, even though it was on a weekday and about two hours away. I drove to the church and reflected on my friends’ impactful life during what was a very moving service. I also spoke briefly with his children and wife, giving her a hug and telling her how much I had appreciated her husband.

A couple of months later, I received a handwritten note from her in which she said how happy she was that I was able to come to the service and how much it meant to see an old friend from a special time in their lives. I had barely spoken with her at the funeral, so it seemed that just my being there made a big difference for her.

That experience makes me wonder whether live streaming funerals keeps people from being present at times when their presence is needed most? I doubt there’s data to shed light on that question, so I’ll try to answer it based on the reading I’ve done in preparation for this piece.

Journalists who have spoken with funeral directors suggest that live streams are most important to those who are unable to attend funerals because of factors like distance, cost, and health issues. No one mentions people who could attend services in person, choosing to watch live streams instead.

Such decision-making also resonates with my own experience. When my friend passed away suddenly, I really wanted to be there, and thankfully I was able to. I’m not sure if his memorial service was live streamed, but even if it was, my choice would not have changed. I suspect most people feel similarly—For someone important to them, they would like to be there in person, if at all possible.

Live streaming funerals is almost certainly a win-win: The opportunity to watch from afar doesn’t dissuade people from attending but gives those who can’t travel the ability to also experience a very meaningful moment. Even when it involves death, digital technology can deliver “Mindful Marketing.”

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Kidfluencers

10/5/2019

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by David Hagenbuch, founder of Mindful Marketing & author of Honorable Influence

Do you remember doing ‘connect the dots’ as a kid? You probably liked seeing a picture appear as you drew lines from one number to the next. Today’s online influencer marketing makes it difficult even for adults to connect the dots between product users and corporate sponsors. Imagine how hard it is for kids, who some companies intentionally target, to put together a picture of that influence.

Influencer marketing, or influence marketing, “is a form of social media marketing involving endorsements and product placements from influencers, people and organizations who possess an expert level of knowledge and/or social influence in their respective fields.”

Although influencer marketing has been around for ages with celebrities (movie stars, TV personalities, famous athletes, etc.) endorsing products, it’s different now because social media have democratized the process. Now anyone with a significant following on Instagram or other popular platform can become a paid product ambassador.

One of the most popular influencers is a 7-year old named Ryan Kaji who has an astounding 32.3 billion views on his YouTube channel Ryan Toy Review. His 21.7 million subscribers ‘tune in’ to watch him unpack and play with a wide variety of toys provided by sponsors such as Hasbro and Walmart.

However, Ryan’s YouTube channel is just part of his ever-expanding commercial influence. His parents also record Ryan and his younger siblings’ visits to commercial tourist attractions, like Legoland California, for Ryan’s Family Review. In addition, Ryan stars in a Nickelodeon cable and online series called Ryan’s Mystery Playdate. Other signs of his great popularity are branded products, including a “a Ryan Kaji action figure, T-shirts and a plastic dinnerware set.”

Ryan Kaji is far from the only “Kidfluencer”; however, and he’s not close to the youngest. For instance, a four-year old named Samia has over 203,000 YouTube subscribers and 143,000 followers on Instagram, where she attracts paid promotions from HomeStyle Harvest chicken nuggets and Crayola, among other brands.

Then there’s Kyle Fisher’s two-year-old identical twins, Taytum and Oakley, who have over 2 million Instagram followers. Advertisers like Mattel pay between $10,000 and $20,000 to sponsor a single post featuring Fisher’s daughters.

Of course, children have long been cast in commercials, which many of us older adults remember when we were kids. Who can forget young actor Tommy Okon asking Pittsburgh Steeler Mean Joe Greene, “Do you want my Coke?” There are some important differences, however, with today’s Kidfluencers.

First, the Internet is still like the ‘Wild West’ in terms ‘lawlessness.’ Thanks to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), advertisers on television and radio must abide by rules that separate program content (the show) from commercial content (the ads) and that limit a character’s or program host’s use of promotions or product placement, but the Internet has no such restrictions.

So, there’s not much to stop the families of Kidfluencers from blurring the lines between programs and ads. Unlike when we watch traditional television that has distinct commercial breaks, online media often blend the two together such that influencers like Ryan Kaji are playing with and promoting sponsored products at the same time.

That blending leads to the second issue, mentioned above. Even adults can have a hard time distinguishing an unbiased product user from a paid endorser. Kids often have no concept that another child might only be playing with a toy online because his/her family received it for free or because they’re being paid to promote the product.

Children tend to take what they see and hear at face value. They’re unfamiliar with the notion of ulterior motives. As a result, kids can be easily misled.

I gained a sense of this vulnerability while teaching classes in Advertising Ethics for about a decade. Each year I was able to have my college students spend a little time talking with much younger students (sometimes just 4-6 years old) about advertising. Although the kindergarten-age kids could recognize almost any consumer-products brand from its logo, very few could explain what advertising was or why we had it.

Josh Golin, the executive director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, affirmed those observations by saying that it’s not until they’re 8 or 9 years old that most children recognize advertising. Similarly, in a complaint it filed against Ryan Toy Review, the nonprofit organization Truth in Advertising contended that preschoolers can’t differentiate an unbiased product review from a commercial.

Deception of young consumers isn’t the only potential ethical issue involving Kidfluencers. There’s the question of whether it’s right for parents to make their children promote products and whether such promotion constitutes work that might be subject to child labor laws.

But, back to the original issue: Although, Kidfluencers are very effective at ‘moving product,’ the deception used to accomplish those ends plays on the inexperience of some of society’s most vulnerable consumers--children. So, connecting the dots, the use of kids to influence the consumer behavior of other kids makes a picture of “Single-Minded Marketing.”

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Companies that Want to Make Us Mad

9/21/2019

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by Keith Quesenberry, Associate Professor of Marketing, Messiah College

Some people have a real knack for ‘pushing our buttons.’ They’re good at taking us to the point of frustration, then backing off just before we unravel. Now some companies are perfecting this tactic with the help of data analytics.

A friend recently shared with me his exasperation in dealing with one of the big Internet-TV-phone providers. For many months, his home Wi-Fi was having significant problems, which the provider finally sent a technician to fix, but only after many futile and often infuriating phone calls.

When the contract ended, my friend considered all his options, including giving the current provider a chance to keep his business. After several more frustrating phone calls, however, the best the provider would offer was a price about $20/month higher than he had been paying and than “new customers” could get.

So, he cancelled his account and switched to another company. Only then did the original provider call him with a competitive price and a plea, “Please come back to us,” but it was too late.

Unfortunately for it, the company passed the point of no return. Some other firms, however, have found how to step right up to that loss line without crossing it. Their secret is ‘big data.’

According to a recent Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article, certain companies now use data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) to determine “how far a customer can be pushed until their heads explode.” The practice gauges how angry a customer can get right before they leave a business, then uses that knowledge to guide customer service and other marketing practices.

At first glance, such tactics may seem questionable, but could it be that these companies are on to something and consumers just need to consider ‘the bigger picture,’ beyond their immediate ire? Although these organizations might minimize customer support, maybe the cost savings and efficiencies they find will lead to lower prices or benefit customers in other ways.

Some question the ethics of AI, particularly whether it will take people’s jobs, but AI used properly can improve marketers’ performance and better serve customers. “How AI Can Improve Your Job Not Steal It” highlights these benefits, including the automation of time-consuming manual processes. Marketers also can use AI for data analysis, personalization, optimization, testing, digital asset management, automated campaigns and offers, content creation, and programmatic ad buying.

“How AT&T Uses Machine Learning to Better Serve Customers” describes how the communication giant uses AI in customer service to make predictions and provide intelligence to managers in near real-time that helps them answer questions like: “Were my customers happy or not?” “If I put them on hold did that make them unhappy?” and “Did my agent solve their problem the first time?”

In a recent post on AT&T’s technology blog, the firm explains how it’s using AI to improve experiences for customers, such as by building 5G, optimizing network traffic and speed, fighting robocalls, and making sure technicians arrive on time. AT&T adds that it uses AI to personalize customer interactions and “to enable friction-free, always available, customer powered problem-solving solutions.”

But, do systems that push consumers to the brink of breakdown solve problems or create them? In those tenuous cases, AT&T’s customers probably aren’t experiencing the standards set out in the firm’s AI Guiding Principles, which suggest that the technology should be: 1) By people, for people, 2) Accessible and shared, and 3) Secure and ethical.

These new analytics systems track things such as how long a customer will wait for a human to answer the phone and how many ads they will listen to before hanging up. AI can analyze behavior, personalities and tone of voice to determine what each person will tolerate. One expert, Mark Shaefer, author of Marketing Rebellion: The Most Human Company Wins, calls this use of AI “the worst marketing tactic ever.”

The WSJ shares a story similar to the unfortunate personal experience mentioned above. An AT&T customer had to make six calls and spend four hours on the phone to get the company to change her plan. Only when she asked to have her number transferred to Verizon did AT&T honor her original request.

So, what’s the bottom-line? Data analytics and AI certainly can make customer service more efficient and effective, which should mean better company performance and increased income that can benefit both shareholders and employees.

However, even if a company can ‘get away with it,’ using these tools to push people to anger isn’t strong support for societal values like fairness and respect. There’s enough anger in the world and angst in people’s lives. We don’t need companies intentionally adding more.

It’s great that more organizations are leveraging the latest technological trends to help power customer service, but using those tools to manage human emotions and manipulate people to madness should be seen as “Single-Minded Marketing.”

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Who's to Blame for Opioid Abuse?

9/8/2019

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by David Hagenbuch, founder of Mindful Marketing & author of Honorable Influence

‘It’s hard to protect people from themselves.’ That saying resonates with everyone from EMTs who wish motorists would wear seatbelts, to parents who demand that their kids “Stop climbing on that!” So, who’s responsible when a significant portion of the population harms itself with prescription painkillers?

If you’ve been following the news, you’ve heard of America’s troubling opioid epidemic, which unfortunately has seen:

Misuse among 21-29% of those who are prescribed opioids for chronic pain
Use disorders in 8-12% of those who take the drugs
Transition to heroin for 4-6% of those who misuse prescription opioids
More than 130 people a day dying from opioid-related drug overdoses

What are opioids? They’re types of drugs that come naturally from the opium poppy plant that are often used to reduce pain. They also “can make some people feel relaxed, happy or ‘high,’ and can be addictive.”

The most common prescription opioids are Vicodin and OxyContin. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid, “50 to 100 times more potent than morphine,” that’s often used to treat pain from advanced cancer. Then there’s heroin, “an illegal, highly addictive drug processed from morphine.

Recently, the name often heard in the same sentence as opioid epidemic is Purdue Pharma, the Stamford, Connecticut-based company that makes OxyContin, the brand name for oxycodone hydrochloride. The drug’s position at the center of the opioid crisis has made Purdue Pharma the focus of frequent legal scrutiny.

Used to “help relieve severe ongoing pain (such as due to cancer),” OxyContin should be a ‘medication of last resort.” In other words, if people suffering from very serious illness cannot find relief from anything else, OxyContin can be used to mitigate their pain.

Sufferers of significant, relentless pain, however, are not the ones driving the opioid epidemic. The problem stems, instead, from those who don’t need the drug but take it to get high and, if they don’t end up overdosing, often become addicted.

Should Purdue Pharma be accountable for this abuse by illegitimate users? More broadly, to what extent is any company culpable when consumers don’t use its products as intended. Are organizations responsible for protecting people from themselves?

Since the advent of mass-production, there have been continual examples of consumers injuring themselves by misusing products, often despite clear warnings from manufacturers, e.g., “Don’t stand on the top of this stepladder”; “Don’t put this plastic bag over your head.”

One of the most recent examples of widespread abuse was called the Tide Pod Challenge, which involved mainly teens videoing themselves chewing on the small detergent sacs and posting clips of their reactions on social media. Tragically, several people died as a result of ingesting the liquid.

Procter & Gamble (P&G), the maker of Tide, responded to its product’s misuse by offering advice on Twitter to those affected by the Challenge and by asking YouTube and Facebook to remove Tide Pod Challenge posts. P&G also produced a television commercial with former New England Patriots tight-end Rob Gronkowski urging viewers not to eat Tide Pods. All of these efforts were in addition to the company coating the Pods with a bitter-tasting substance in order to discourage children from biting into them.

P&G hasn’t stopped making Tide Pods, and as far as I know, the company hasn’t assumed responsibility for the Challenge-related injuries and fatalities. Is the firm wrong for failing to take those actions? No. The Tide Pod Challenge is an example of consumers' blatant product misuse, despite the company’s multifaceted, good-faith efforts to avoid it.

The same cannot be said, however, about Purdue Pharma and OxyContin. Here’s why the two cases of consumer abuse are very different:

In contrast to the Tide Pod Challenge, which was a short-lived ‘fad,’ Purdue Pharma knew for decades about OxyContin abuse but avoided addressing it. A New York Times piece details the timeline, beginning in the late 1990s, when the company concealed its knowledge that the medication was being stolen and sold illegally to abusers. Meanwhile, the firm promoted the exact opposite—that OxyContin was less prone to abuse than other prescription opioids.

Although serious, there never was an “epidemic” of Tide Pod misuse; cases were relatively isolated. As the earlier opioid statistics suggested, however, opioid abuse has been shockingly widespread. For instance, during the early 2000s, prescription drug distributors “sent enough pain pills to West Virginia over a five-year period to supply every man, woman and child there with 433 of them.”

Unlike Tide Pods, OxyContin is highly addictive. Probably no one who did the Tide Pod Challenge wanted to try it again, but those who start using OxyContin often can’t stop.

Despite the added exposure it brought the brand and the additional revenue it produced, all evidence supports that P&G did not want anyone eating Tide Pods. On the other hand, the New York Times suggests that Purdue Pharma, essentially encouraged abuse of its product by claiming that the company “planted the seeds of the opioid epidemic through its aggressive marketing of OxyContin.”

As I’ve read and heard about the opioid epidemic, I’ve wondered about the responsibility of doctors who liberally prescribed the drugs and of the consumers who misused the medication. I now understand that these persons share responsibility with at least one company that knowingly fueled the crisis. Purdue Pharma’s profiting from the nation’s opioid pain is a clear case of “Single-Minded Marketing.”

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Fighting Fire with Desire

Burberry after its Burning Ban

Peloton's Psychological Problems

Marketing Giving

Pay to Pray

Promotion in Disguise?

Live Streaming Funerals

Kidfluencers

Companies that Want to Make Us Mad

Who's to Blame for Opioid Abuse?

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