TMW Unlimited has created a candid digital campaign for Lynx about what it means to be a man in 2017.
The ‘Men In Progress’ campaign comprises of nine videos featuring a cross-section of British men talking honestly about a range of personal topics, from the last time they cried to how they feel about their body and even their relationships with their fathers.

The stripped-back, monochrome films put the viewer’s attention squarely on the men, their opinions and their stories.
The final film in the series, called ‘Boys Don’t Cry’, features professional boxer Anthony Joshua and footballer Bobby Petta. The film sees men talking about the last time they cried.

The 9-month long campaign has run across digital and social media platforms.
David Titman, Marketing Manager, Lynx, Unilever, said: “’Men In Progress’ was created to highlight what it means to be a guy living in the UK in 2017 and is designed to challenge labels that prevent men from expressing themselves.”

Jeff Bowerman, Creative Director at TMW Unlimited, said: “We’re proud to have created a space where men can talk freely about the pressures they feel to conform to a certain idea of masculinity, and to help debunk some of the myths around what it means to really be a man.”

CREATIVE CREDITS:
Creative Director Jeff Bowerman
Account Director Kathryn Bryan
Agency Producer Tracy Woodford
Director/ Production Co David Stoddart/Dark Energy
Media planning/buying Mindshare

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Trends Across Emerging Markets: Three To Watch In 2017 Emerging market economies pack a serious economic punch, but will they fire on all cylinders in 2017? At my research organization, The Conference Board, we project emerging markets to grow at a dismal 3.6% in 2017. Just above half the long-term average growth rate they achieved […]

By Sally Falkow The 2016 Aon Global Risk Management Survey that polled CEOs, CFOs and risk managers ranked damage to brand and reputation as a top concern, displacing the financial and economic risks that have traditionally dominated this survey in the past.  KPMG’s 2017 On the Board’s Agenda report also has crisis and reputation management […]

At a time when consumers continue to assume that brands will simply provide more, it may seem strange to suggest that brands should be more generous. And yet the case for brands delivering greater profits by bringing greater joy makes complete sense.

The concept of giving in order to receive was first raised here on Branding Strategy Insider several years ago. Reena Amos Dyes observed that as times become more difficult, people seek out care, empathy, sympathy and generosity. The writer suggested eight ways that organizations could do more to signal kindness and caring:

1. They could be more socially responsible, co-donating to causes that their customers also cared about;
2. They could make changes to their ways of working that actually boosted the environment instead of just limiting damage;
3. They could give things away;
4. They could help customers make better use of products;
5. They could offering new style perks that rewarded consumers in new ways;
6. They could offer more ways for customers to trial products before making purchase decisions;
7. They could engage in random acts of kindness; and
8. They could be warmer and more human in the ways they interact with people.

It’s a sign of just how quickly things change in marketing, and the extraordinary impacts of social media on customer interactions generally, that many of Dyes’ suggestions are now commonplace. In updating what the concept means today, Paige Lansing Valle has suggested that generosity is a powerful way of building bonds with consumers who now value authenticity and the contributions that brands are making to a better world.

Valle suggests that generosity today stems from purpose, uses social media to channel giving and creates a social halo where those that buy from brands that are seen as generous are in turn perceived as generous themselves. Furthermore, brands that engage in these ways to instigate change in the world take that push for change out into the world by building giving-communities that help people work together to achieve mutual goals.

There’s little doubt that social consciousness is emerging as a powerful purchase consideration factor, particularly among younger consumers. The challenge for brands today is to channel that commitment towards a better and more generous world without looking like they are taking advantage of shoppers’ idealism.

In a presentation to Retail’s Big Show earlier this year, Fitch Group’s Tim Greenhalgh pointed out that generosity encompasses more than giving away things. Generosity, he suggested, extends not just to things but also behaviors and experiences. Marketers’ earlier attempts at generosity were bait-and-switch. They talked to people’s love of a bargain, but what they lacked was the fundamental ability to move people emotionally. Today, experiences are the new currency of brands, and companies need to recognize that the generous provision of experiences is now elemental to brand building. What’s more, says Greenhalgh, brands that create experiences that customers judge to be extraordinary achieve financial returns that are more than double the market. Do this, he suggests, in four ways:

• Stand for something unique
• Deliver on your most important needs
• Have better digital services and truly engaging content
• Strive to make people’s lives better

For me, the take-away from these three viewpoints is that generosity is not something you get to judge and quantify as a brand. Generosity truly is in the eye of the receiver and in the community that the receiver is part of, because only they can decide whether what they are getting exceeds both what they expect and what others are prepared to give. And it’s not about largesse. The most generous doesn’t always win – especially if that gift is perceived to come with fish-hooks.

If you’re looking to infuse generosity into your brands in order to bring your customers closer, here are six ways to provide more in order to profit more:

1. Give your customers something to contribute to through buying from you. That contribution might be literal (like it is with TOMS) or it may be more abstract (in that it is linked to the support of an idea). Either way, it should deliver your customers a feel-good, do-good premium that uplifts them.

2. Bring customers together by instigating and supporting a community for good that enables people to celebrate what they are doing to change the world through your brand. That’s about more than having a Facebook page. It’s about proving real progress and engaging people to share what difference that progress is making for them.

3. Treat experiences as gifts rather than as gimmicks or promotions. Give because you want people to be happy through you – but, quid pro quo, tie your brand strongly to the distinctive emotion that the experience provides and appeal to that through your marketing. Too many marketers simply provide experiences that they haven’t linked back to their brand emotionally.

4. Meet a powerful need, powerfully and consistently. Too many brands pull on the heartstrings to attract interest, but then fail to carry that through into the long-term relationship. As a result, consumers feel they have met a brand that feels right to them, only to discover as they continue to interact, that the brand hasn’t translated that idea past that initial touchpoint.

5. Remind people of the difference you have made together. This isn’t about bragging or self-congratulations. It’s about quantifying what has happened in ways that consumers will react to with warmth and belief. Show how you are being a force for good in the world, and remind your customers that the more they do with you, the closer they get to a world they want to be part of.

6. Frame your generosity within commercial parameters. Brands that keep on giving simply change the expectations of their consumers, meaning generosity becomes the new everyday. To avoid this, understand where your business is going to be generous and how that will contribute to your bottom-line. But at the same time, know your limits.

Don’t Let The Future Leave Your Brand Behind. Join Us At The Un-Conference – Marketing’s Only Problem Solving Event. May 1st – 3rd, 2017 West Hollywood, California

The Blake Project Can Help: Accelerate Brand Growth Through Powerful Emotional Connections

Branding Strategy Insider is a service of The Blake Project: A strategic brand consultancy specializing in Brand Research, Brand Strategy, Brand Licensing and Brand Education

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ANA’s Ask the Expert research service answers the question, “What are the current trends in coupons and promotions, and how are consumers utilizing them?”

ANA’s Ask the Expert research service answers the question, “How can marketers leverage emerging AI technologies to help build their brands and enhance their campaigns?”

Confectionary brands Hershey’s, Mars, and Sour Patch Kids have found innovative ways to leverage social and digital platforms to target new audiences and boost brand engagement.

“I have absolutely no regrets that I voted for Trump and that he’s our president right now,” says economist Diana Furchtgott-Roth, at right, in conversation with TED curator Chris Anderson, left, and Eliot A. Cohen at TED Dialogues, March 8, 2017, New York. Photo: Ryan Lash / TED

At TED HQ in New York on Wednesday, TED curator Chris Anderson moderated a lively conversation between Eliot A. Cohen, professor of strategic studies at Johns Hopkins University who served in the State Department during the George W. Bush administration, and Diana Furchtgott-Roth, an economist and Manhattan Institute Senior Fellow who held positions in the Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush administrations and was on the Trump campaign and transition team. Although Cohen and Furchtgott-Roth both consider themselves conservatives and agree that health care, climate change and terrorism are among the most important issues facing the country, they remain sharply divided on President Trump.

Character is destiny, says Cohen, borrowing a quote from Greek philosopher Heraclitus. And in Cohen’s opinion, Trump displays weaknesses in temperament and character that undermine his leadership. “Sooner or later, in every presidency, there comes a moment when he has to go into the Oval Office, sit behind the Resolute desk, and say, ‘I’ve decided to do something serious’ — usually involving the use of force — ‘and the reason I’m doing it is XYZ,’” says Cohen. “He has to be believed. And the people who didn’t vote for him, the 53%, will have to give him the benefit of the doubt.” Trump’s actions and statements, Cohen argues, seem to be “setting up for a situation in which the president does not deserve the benefit of the doubt.”

Trump’s economic policies are more important than character, contends Furchtgott-Roth. “I believe they’ll lead to economic growth that gets more young people into the workforce, reduces our debt, lowers taxes, brings more companies back to the US, gives us more school choice, and gets us more of the things we all want.” She singles out the president’s support of mandatory paid maternity leave, a pro-women measure and one usually favored by progressives. Even though some Americans may be displeased by Trump’s behavior, she points out, “People wanted something different. They wanted someone who gets up in the morning and tweets, who goes around to all his hotels.” But will his repeated attacks on the media work against him, Anderson asks? No, she says: “Many people who voted for President Trump like what he’s saying to and about the media, so he’s probably making himself more popular with them.”

“I was a big fan of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush,” says professor Eliot A. Cohen, center. “And I don’t think they thought of our country as crippled and that our greatness was in the past.” TED curator Chris Anderson, at left, speaks with Cohen and Diana Furchtgott-Roth at TED Dialogues, March 8, 2017, New York. Photo: Ryan Lash / TED

Regardless, people dissenting with their political leaders is nothing new, according to Furchtgott-Roth. “Think of any politician you supported, and there will always be something he or she said with which you disagree,” she says. “I see the president as someone whose main function is to sign into legislation the bills that Congress sends him. Congress sent legislation to President Obama that he vetoed time after time, and I believe President Trump will sign into law what Congress sends, something that’s very important.”

It’s not Trump’s veto that worries Cohen; it’s that his authority, for now, rests upon a majority in Congress. “One thing that was very unfortunate about Obamacare is it was passed on a purely partisan basis, and I fear its replacement will be rammed through by the [Republican] majority,” he says. “The Civil Rights Act, Medicare, Medicaid — these were all bipartisan efforts, and if we’re to stabilize our domestic politics and deal with really big issues, it needs to be done in a bipartisan way. For that, you need leadership to be inclusive and to bring people together.”

Another concern: Trump’s approach to foreign relations. Calling for a tougher border policy is entirely reasonable, says Cohen. But the president’s initial immigration ban was “willfully cruel,” and saying that Mexico will pay for a wall between it and America could erode years of careful bridge-building policy between the nations. “We’ve been working for decades, Republican and Democratic administrations alike, to make this a close neighborly relationship,” says Cohen. And while Americans may applaud Trump for his brash tweets — or at least tolerate them — “President Xi Jinping [of China] may have less of a sense of a humor. Reckless statements could lead to conflicts.”

Like Trump or not, we all owe him a chance, says Furchtgott-Roth. “We tried eight years of president Obama, and it didn’t get us the results we need, especially in states where people are really hurting. That’s why people elected Trump — they didn’t want another four years of the same.” And no matter the length of his time in office, politics is cyclical. “Sooner or later, the other side will come back,” says Cohen. He references Johnny Cash’s song “This Old Wheel” — its lyrics go “That old wheel is gonna roll around once more / When it does it will even up the score.” Posing one final rhetorical question to President Trump, Cohen wonders, “Do you want to make any effort to unify the country and find some bipartisan consensus?” Now that would truly be something different.

In this webinar, Vikki Rohrer, Global Agency Finance manager – Ford Motor Company hared how they were able to simplify the Agency Performance Evaluation process to deliver one integrated comprehensive assessment per region.

The first Marine Corps commercial without “The Few, The Proud”

“Battles aren’t won solely on the field
That’s a common misconception
Battles are won within
Over enemies of fear
Enemies of doubt
In that place where promises are kept
Promises to oneself
Promises to one’s community
Promises to one’s country
In the heart of every Marine
You’ll find a promise
A promise forever kept
A promise of Battles Won”

CREATIVE CREDITS:
Ad Agency: JWT

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