Integrated Jaguar campaign shows the way forward
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Creative Director at Agenda Solutions
10 January 2001 16:58pm
Many in the advertising industry have been keen to downplay any idea of a ‘digital revolution’ (although why they believe their industry is the only one in the world immune to it is still a mystery). For a long time traditional agencies have been heard repeating a mantra – "Advertising is advertising no matter the channel or platform", and despite the wishful thinking there has always been truth in this: it always comes back to ‘knowing the customer’.
Yet many still fail to appreciate just what a key role the digital channels can and will play in leading integrated, cross channel/platform campaigns. Gaining a deeper understanding and therefore creating greater relevance to the customer is what it’s all about, therefore if true this report in Media Guardian is a high-profile example of the future…
"Jaguar is to launch its new sports car - the F-type - with a web-based campaign...Jaguar marketing director, said the car may be launched through 'viral' internet marketing and may be the first modern Jag to hit the roads without TV advertising support….Jaguar has brought in web agency Global Beach to devise a new type of campaign...It is planning to create a dedicated web chat room to create an ongoing dialogue with potential customers and fine-tune the car and its marketing accordingly…. As a result, he said, there may be no need to use the advertising might of Jaguar's retained agencies, J Walter Thompson London and Ogilvy & Mather New York."
(full story at Media Guardian http://www.mediaguardian.co.uk/newmedia/story/0,7496,420379,00.html)
"Viral internet marketing...without TV advertising support…web chat rooms to create ongoing dialogue…fine-tune the car and it’s marketing": this is all made possible by the changes of the last few years. Using a digital platform in the centre with traditional channels (literally channels) funnelling customers and data to it and then recycling the knowledge captured back into the campaign/s is a simple approximation of how we may all work.
"Whether the use of ‘Global Beach’ and not, "the advertising might of Jaguar's retained agencies, J Walter Thompson London and Ogilvy & Mather New York" is also a ‘digital’ issue is one to ponder.
CEO at Econsultancy
10 January 2001 19:00pm
I seem to remember another car manufacturer has also already done this? I think it was Ford in the US though I can't remember which model it was (can't have worked that well...). They launched it using no above the line advertising, just digital channels and online methods. Would be interesting to know how it went or how this Jaguar campaign performs.
It is part of the shift towards targeted, 'one-to-one' advertising which in theory should cost less and yield better conversion rates. This theory largely remains to be proven. One of the key problems is having the relevant data on a niche large enough to produce any signifcant returns.
The key is to build relationships with customers such that they trust you enough to let you have their details and are prepared to spend some time with your brand when you communicate with them. We know spam doesn't work. We know established offline brands have a big advantage over new brands (one of the dot coms biggest dilemnas). However, you don't build relationships over night, just like you don't build a brand over night. Trust can be built up over time through brand, through good customer experiences, through appropriate value exchange (e.g. customer gives their details in return for premium service or content) etc.
On this basis I think the success of this 'integrated campaign' will depend on the depth and quality of customer relationships that Jaguar has. This will include the quality of customer data that Jaguar has - what databases? what customer segmentations? how clean and accurate is the data? do they have e-mail addresses etc. etc.? High quality user profile databases will become an increasingly key company asset going forwards.
Whatever happens, I applaud Jaguar for trying and, if nothing else, they will learn a lot from the experience and could save themselves a lot in mass market advertising.
Creative Director at Agenda Solutions
11 January 2001 13:54pm
I agree with you that success is reliant on the quality of data, relationships, targeting and the brand experience that Jaguar has with, or can offer, its customers and I'm sure they have experience in this, not least from DM work.
Where things have changed is in the accessibility, quality of experience and service that Jaguar can offer customers and potential customers through digital channels. And in turn the deeper, more specific, more relevant information that can be gleaned when, or more importantly, if they visit.
The main point that I'm making is that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts: a web site or a series of DM pieces are more likely to work if they are part of an integrated campaign rather than separate. Traditional marketing methods create awareness and the web sites/iTV/etc build the brand experience but neither can be fully exploited without knowledge of the digital channels.
Jaguar was in the news yesterday but there are many others: last night I saw an advert for Pampers that didn't present any products, just a 'visit the web site' call-to-action.
Further support, examples and evangelising can be found at Saatchi-top-dog, Kevin Roberts' web site (www.saatchikevin.com). Not all of the old-school have their heads in the sand:
"We are just now in the process of launching a hair-care product for Procter & Gamble called "Physique."....But here's the thing: Instead of spending 90% of our money on a television plan, we spent 30% of it on TV and invested the rest in a Web site. Physique is already P&G's most-visited Web site. We've already converted more than 500,000 people in the United States into members of the Physique club through the site. But the best part is that the average amount of time that people spend on that Web site is about 11 minutes! Eat your heart out, 30-second TV commercial! We've got the consumers. We're talking to them; they're talking to us."