What is the key to successful online advertising? by Filipos Trineros

WHAT IS THE KEY TO EFFECTIVE AND SUCCESSFUL ONLINE ADVERTISING?

©FILIP TRINER

Graphic design [BA] Prague College, 2012 School of Art&Design

DISSERTATION Tutor: Date:

Jenni Lau 10.01.2012

â&#x2030;ĽACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible unless my tutor Jenni Lau who showed me throughout my essay writing and gave me support and guidance. In particular I would like to thank her for helping me finding the right thesis, to structure the content, providing me with new insights and conclusions, as well as correcting my dissertation drafts. Without Jenni`s dedication, my dissertation would not be nearly as good. I would also like to show my gratitude to Maryla Kourilova for the proofreading, error checking and especially for helping me with the Harvard referencing. I am also obliged to everybody else who supported me and provided help through my writing.

Filip Triner

≥CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

Introduction to the topic Aims and goals Overview of organisation Research methods Limitations of study Historical context

7 7 7 8 8 8

CHAPTER 1: EFFECTIVE INTERNET ADVERTISING I. INTEGRATING SOCIAL MEDIA/NETWORKING Introduction Familiar interfaces Meaningful content Word-of-mouth Flexible content II.BRAND STRATEGY Introduction Humanizing the company Building personal relationships and communities Customer benefit / redirection of resources

CHAPTER 2: CASE STUDIES

9 10 10 10 11 12 12 12 13

Introduction WHOPPER “SACRIFICE“ OLD SPICE “THE RESPONSE CAMPAIGN” PEPSI “REFRESH PROJECT”

14 15–16 17–19 20–22

CONCLUSION

REFERENCES LIST OF IMAGES BIBLIOGRAPHY

24–26 27 28–31

≥INTRODUCTION Today people are living in a world of nonlinearity and constant change. Especially when it comes to the worldwide web and the age of Web 2.0, a lot of brands have lost connection with their target audience and desperately struggle how to successfully reconnect. Web 2.0 websites enable interaction, communication and collaboration between online users within a social online community as prosumers, who are initiators of user-build-content, Techpluto (n.d.). Companies have to usher new methods how to engage and bind customers in these changing times. But the online world not only pose challenges, rather it provides unseen possibilities and chances to dominate with innovative advertising that has the ability to drive action. As a result what one can witness, is a shift in Marketing which leads to a change from traditional to interactive advertising. The outcome is a transformation from passive to interactive users, consumers are converting into prosumers, the content changes from a static into an active one and the timeframe of a campaign is progressively “open“ and expandable. This in turn not only affects “traditional“ marketing rules, but also leads to a redirection of resources from media outlets to the client. In addition, brands have to develop personal customer–relationships and build up communities instead of primarily selling the product. The objective of this paper is to explore the subject of effective online advertising in times of changing marketing strategies and rise of the Internet. Effective internet advertising includes meaningful/ sharable content and integrates social media and networking, creating campaigns that set up parameters within which users “do all the work“ –from providing feedback that influences the evolution of the actual campaigns, generating buzz and building communities around the brand, to redefinition of brand-identity and customer-relationship.

PROCESS (RESEARCH) The essay is divided into different sections. The first chapter concentrates on “the integration of social media“, as the central part of effective advertising campaigns, followed by “brand-strategy“ which is the overall requirement. The second chapter observes and proves the author`s analysis on three representative case studies. In the end, a conclusion summarizes the investigation of this paper with highlighted insights and provides suggestions about futures development of advertising.

The research of this article is based on a variety of secondary resources, such as books about social media and marketing strategies, social media server, articles of expertise– websites investigating social media or websites evaluating advertising campaigns. Throughout this paper one will also be confronted with statements of advertising, marketing or social media experts in order to support the author`s personal analysis of effective online advertising campaigns. However, the theme of this essay is about online advertising and most referencing is quoted from the internet, as it provides latest information which can not be found elsewhere. The investigation is recorded from the view of a graphic designer rather than a marketing specialist or a social media expert. Furthermore, the observation is primarily inspired by specialized literature and does not represent a scientific research. Moreover this essay is written from a suggestive viewpoint with the key outcome of gaining new insights on online advertising.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT The following section summarizes “the old marketing rules“ which are outdated and have to change, according to Scott (2011, pp.3 – 24) : Several years ago, traditional advertising, including TV, print, radio and direct mail used to be the only way of advertising several years ago. This traditional technique used to rely on interrupting people and forcing them to pay attention to the brand`s message. Moreover the content of an advertising campaign matters, was primarily about selling products and needed to appeal to masses without targeting a specific demographics with customized messages. In former times marketers had full control of the time-period their advertising appeared as well as the media which delivered the message. On the other hand, the more effective a company wanted to be, the more expensive it got, which resulted in a limited life time of the campaign according to the advertising budget. The whole market paradigm used to be linear and one-way targeted and customers were only passively integrated as “consumers“ into the advertising strategy which created a barrier to interaction. Traditional Marketing rules do not work anymore in the age of social media, especially not in the online world of web 2.0. Times have changed and brands have to figure out new ways how to attract, and more importantly actively involve customers with effective advertising campaigns to drive sales. Scott (2011, p.23) brings it to the point: “[Nowadays] people want participation, not propaganda.”

≥CHAPTER 1:

EFFECTIVE INTERNET ADVERTISING

I. INTEGRATING SOCIAL MEDIA AND SOCIAL NETWORKS

INTRODUCTION The first step a brand has to do in order to be effective, is to get socially engaged and connect with its customers directly as social media offer best premises for interactivity, Brown (2010, pp.7–8). Social media and networks are basic working components of effective advertising campaigns. Kaplan and Haenlein (2009) define social media as a class of online-based services that make use of preconditions offered by Web 2.0, as well as allow interaction and interchange with user-build-content. Social networking as part of social media, are web-based platforms or pages which concentrate on setting up and visualising social connections beneath people, who have common interests or features, Boyd and Ellison (2007). One key aspect of the compelling social engagement is the grievous number of users who spend plenty of time on social media platforms. In the past years, social networking has grown immensely and has changed the world of communication, Brown (2010, p.7). Statistics from the “digitalbuzzblog”, posted by Daniells, K. (2012) has revealed several important facts: Twitter has currently over 100 million active users, Facebook has over 800 million active users and YouTube is sharing 3 billion videos per day. The most important social media platforms include: YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIN. More importantly, “30% of B2B marketers are spending million of dollars each year on social media marketing.“ Another aspect prooving the requirement of brands social media participation, is the rise of modern technology with instant Internet access (i.e. smartphones, tablet pc), which allow people to keep in contact with the rest of the world through social

engagement around-the-clock, Abraham and Behrendt (2010, p.156). Considering this, what one can witness here is a fast turnover rate of information which relates to a rise of interaction between people. This not only changes the paradigm of distribution, but also offers potential for brand engagement.

FAMILIAR INTERFACES Through everyday interaction with social media platforms, people quickly develop habits as they use familiar formats and interfaces which they intuitively know how to use. Advertising on social media platforms do not face any barrier to interaction and do not require additional learning curves. The majority of social advertising does not necessarily require users to leave the website and do not obtrusively interrupt the users impulsive customs. In fact, effective advertising make use of comprehensive tools, provided by social media, which embed themselves into customers` interaction inconspicuously. For instance, companies use the “friend-tag“ and “like” feature as well as status messages on Facebook, on YouTube they build up complex stories through embedded video–links or on Twitter they use the “retweet“ or “hashtag“ feature.

MEANINGFUL CONTENT Beside the integration of social media and networking, what an effective advertising need is meaningful content. According to Scott (2011, p.7), customers are no longer being manipulated by interruptive advertising. What a company needs in times of social media, where tons of information is being broadcasted daily, is meaningful content to stand out from the crowd. “The message what a company talks about and the way how it is delivered to the customer is more important than ever before… Today, people respond to content that moves or entertains, so make sure your content is relevant and riveting.“ Parr (2011). The campaign has to interest, engage and entertain the customer to provoke conversation and make it easy to interact. Considering this, marketers are challenged to generate unique, socially aware and innovative ideas with focus on the customer to catch their attention. The content should always evoke an emotional response, for example make the consumer laugh, make him feel great, being part of the community, or even inspire and teach something new, Spiers (2011). Otherwise the campaign has no meaningful value and the customer simply dismisses the advertising as he regards it as dull and boring, Parr (2011). The foundation of an effective campaign is meaningful content that mobilizes customers and has a lasting impact.

WORD-OF-MOUTH One essential key aspect of social media, especially social networking, is the users` aspiration of being constantly informed of what is happening around them. Besides, people are becoming more and more proactive as they share data and interact with one another and things that interest them. One might call it a transformation of consumers from “listeners into broadcasters.”, Cotton (2011).

A brand has to include its campaign into social media as it is the only effective way being spread willingly through word-of-mouth. Fernandez, the founder of Klout –a social media analytics company (Fawkes, 2011), points out that “word-of-mouth is the only really effective form of advertising”. Social network users rely on word-of-mouth recommendations of their friends because they interest and trust them. If the user`s message mentions a corporation or product through “tweeting“, “retweeting“ on Twitter or through “liking“ and “posting“ on their personal Facebook profile, the chance of being detected and shared as a brand by others instantly multiplies. According to one statistic: “Nielsen found that people are 68% more likely to recall a message when a friend is part of the message, twice as likely to remember the message and four-times likely to purchase.”, Cotton (2011). On the contrary, brands can not force nobody to share their message, instead they have to create meaningful and sharable content that encourages word-of-mouth spreading and leads to success of a campaign. Word-of-mouth is becoming the most effective promotional tool on social media and beside that, it is completely free of charge as it relies on peoples own will to share the message with their personal social networks.

FLEXIBLE CONTENT Marketing is changing and todays marketers do not have full control of their advertising anymore. Integrating and reacting to customer input is becoming key to successful online advertising. Brands have to focus on the customer, especially in times where traditional consumers are transforming to “prosumers“. These also called “Professional consumers“ are consumers who have an impact on global markets and are well-informed and productive, Prosumer Report, (n.d.). This change not only results in a redirection of resources, but also in a flexibility of brand advertising, which have to adapt in forms of media, time period and content. First, the company has to find the right social media funnel as each one of them has various characteristics and different target groups. The content of a campaign has to be flexible as the customer is integrated and to a certain point creates the program in a pre-defined action frame. Sometimes campaigns are even evolving in real time adapting to users as important participants of advertising programs. The same happens with the time-period of an advertising. The display time can be short or long-termed. The whole campaign can be adapted according to customers engagement as finances are not main restricting criteria in the world of social media. The flexibility of a campaign is playing an important role enhancing the chances of becoming viral and gaining free media and user impressions.

II. BRAND STRATEGY AND BRAND CONTENT

INTRODUCTION Brand-content and brand-strategy is playing a much bigger role these days and has to adapt to the consumers. Corporations have to adapt their brand-strategy and redefine brand identity and brand-values to humanize the company, build personal relationships and communities as well as provide customers with benefits. The goal is to focus on customer`s brand-image according to the new market paradigm to produce effective advertising, as well as being meaningful as a corporation. As Scott (2010, p.33) explains: “An effective web marketing and PR strategy that delivers compelling content to buyers gets them to take action.“

HUMANIZING THE COMPANY Companies need to humanise their brands. As Clapperton (2009, p.xii) depicted: “People buy from people, not companies, and in social media they really need to feel that this is happening.“ The article from Mackay (2011) describes that, in order to humanise a company, the brand has to adapt its tone in language into a personal one and constantly engage the customer with valuable information. A brand also has to be authentic in its strategy as social media is mainly about building connections among people. Companies have to listen to its customers as well as provoke conversations regularly to connect with people on an equal level. It is certainly also recommendable to put a human face with names behind the corporation`s online identity. “As a result, being authentic and humanizing a brand, ensures customer identification with brand-values which generates loyalty and involves trust“, Brown (2010, p.69).

BUILDING PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS & COMMUNITIES At the Adweek 2011, Marylee Sachs (book author) commented on the current changes in Marketing: “I had a couple of CMO`s talking about how important PR [public relationship] is ...[Nowadays] PR is taking a much bigger role within the Marketing mix ...“, MicrosoftAdvertising (2011). Building personal relationships with customers directly is more important than ever before to succeed as a brand. The corporate personalization on social media allows to contact the customer on an “one-to-one”– basis, Cotton (2011). The way the message is communicated affects consumer relationship. Therefore the campaign itself has to build up a sense of emotion enabling a personal connection with the product and brand-values.

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After all, it is essential to build up a fundamental community around the brand. As the article from Olmstead (2011) mentions: “...large engaged communities are incredible powerful things, both commercially and socially... the community generates content too, ...[moreover] your community can build on the strength of the ideas and the links that the users come there to share.” In a community, customers are willing to interact with the brand and each other, which is one of the premises for becoming viral. A consolidated view indicates that brands have to personalise its relationship with the customer and build communities in order to be influential and to broadcast effective campaigns.

CUSTOMER BENEFIT / REDIRECTION OF RESOURCES Both, in the online and real world, companies need to reconsider the way they value customers. In exchange for word-of-mouth, they have to pay the customer back in form of incentives, which is an essential part of sharable content. Brown (2010, p.75) explains: “Essentially, the consumer wants you to acknowledge that they are valued.” The ongoing change in Marketing results in redirecting resources towards the customer. Rather than spending their budget on media outlets (as social media is free of charge), corporations indirectly pay the customers. The benefit can consists of various facets, like paying the customer in form of freebies or incentives, providing an experience through storytelling to funding community activities. As Brown (2010, p.2) proves: “One of the cardinal rules of social networking is that it`s all about giving rather than receiving.” Overall, a brand should integrate its campaign and bring a benefit for the customer instead of interrupting and forcing, Abraham and Behrendt (2010, p.62). These changing strategies are leading to new market paradigm, where brands are providing incentives for customers in order to be shared with their wider social networks. The result is a changing economic model, where brands are re-evaluating customers and focus on humans.

≥CHAPTER 2:

CASE STUDIES

INTRODUCTION The following three case studies showcase remarkable examples of effective social media advertising and examine what lessons they can provide. In specific, the investigations focus on Burger King`s “Sacrifice”, Old Spice`s “Response campaign” and Pepsi`s “Refresh project”.

I.WHOPPER “SACRIFICE“

Fig.1 Burger King. (2009) Whopper Sacrifice – Proving love

Burger King`s social media campaign called “Sacrifice“ is a typical contest format with a subversive twist. Launched in January 2009, the campaign quickly became viral and is regarded as one of the top interactive social media advertising ever. As the video report from the creators “Porter+Bogusky“ ad agency describes, Americans admire the Whopper Burger and Burger King wanted to test their love as they invited an innovative Facebook application. Customers got rewarded for deleting ten friends from their Facebook`s friend lists to receive a voucher for a free Whopper. As a result, people had to face a moral dilemma who to “sacrifice”, to prove their “love” for the Whopper burger, Oliviermermet (2009).

Fig.2 Burger King (2009) Whopper Sacrifice – Sacrificed friends

STRATEGY / RESULTS Rather than spending a fortune on traditional media commercials, such as TV or print, Burger King focused on social media to get in touch with its demographic directly and evolve an emotional tie. The whole concept of the campaign relied on the customers` social contacts, which transformed it into a very personal issue. Beside building up a personal relationship between brand and customer, Burger King managed to come up with a totally unique idea. Instead of enhancing social network-

ing through the advertising campaign, Burger King pushed the boundaries of Facebook to the limit. They subverted its original aim of socializing and rewarded customers for anti-social behavior in a funny way. In fact, Burger King exploited social media as a means of reaching audience and connecting with people. The brand managed to create a playful and edgy campaign with a cynical tone. At the same time the advertising faced a more ethical and philosophical issue. People were asked to value or devalue their “friends“, whom they traded in exchange for a Burger. The customers adored the new interactive application as they could delete “untrue“ friends which provided a qualitatively better Facebook experience and also for being rewarded with a free voucher, Marketing keynote speaker (2010). Based on these facts, the campaign instantly became viral trough word-of-mouth and quickly turned into a race of being the first to dump a friend. Additionally, a report appeared on the “sacrificed“ user`s Facebook wall with witty phrases that mentioned: “You were sacrificed for a Whopper“, which embraced the campaigns edgy character. Moreover, this provocative advertising reached so many friends of friends who were teased to explore the meaning behind the message, resulting in a viral effect, Oliviermermet (2009). The campaign also helped to improve Burger King `s brand-image and to remain an “innovative“,“cool” and “rebellious“ brand. With a clearly defined strategy of a certain product, Burger King wanted to feature and focus on areas where they wanted to improve sales. The company managed to provide highly sharable and meaningful content solely based on a simple, but strong idea. What more, Burger King took full advantage of Facebook`s properties without spending any budget on promotion. Overall, the statistics show that 233,906 friends were removed by 82,771 people in less than a week, according to the article from Arrington (2009). Unfortunately, Whopper “Sacrifice“ had been stopped and forbidden within just eight days by Facebook, for “disdaining users` expectations of privacy“. Facebook`s spokesman explained in an updated statement, Arrington (2009): “We encourage creativity from developers and companies using Facebook Platform, but we also must ensure that applications meet users‘ expectations.“ Regardless to that, “Whopper Sacrifice“ –a short-term advertising, brought a longterm effect as the program received 35 million free media impressions, according to the YouTube case study, Oliviermermet (2009). The result was a very successful advertising campaign which generated a lot of noise and drove sales even after its drop-off. Essentially, if a company wants to get inspired how to generate buzz through strong content with no or low advertising budget, Burger King`s “Sacrifice” campaign is an excellent go-to example.

II.OLD SPICE “RESPONSE CAMPAIGN”

Fig.3 OldSpice (2010) Old Spice original Campaign

Fig.4 OldSpice (2010) Old Spice “Response” Campaign

The following case study focuses on the narrative Old Spice campaign called “Response campaign“, produced by the famous Wieden+Kennedy advertising agency. The campaign is a perfect example of an advertising which used various social media and evolved in a nonlinear way, based on user-interaction and feedback. The “Response campaign“ developed originally from the previous campaign, called “The man your man could smell like” after its huge follow-up. The original campaign, was launched as a 30 sec. video commercial on YouTube just before the 2010 Super Bowl. Shortly after, it was followed by the TV-commercial and rapidly generated buzz, Hepburn (2010). The advertising campaign shows a half-naked, handsome and muscular black man called Isaiah Mustafa, facing the audience directly with his exaggerated, but strongly amusing speech about Old Spice body wash, OldSpice (2010). Mustafa is a picture of virility who combines charm and a strong personality and perfectly fitted to represent Old Spice`s masculine and fresh site. Due to the success of the original advertising, Old spice invented the “Response campaign”, which has been integrated into social networking pages. The agency described at Nosharbstuff (n.d.): “On the heels of this success, we challenged ourselves to leverage `The man your man could smell like` to engage with these fans in a more intimate, democratic conversation ... As a result, we created the `Response campaign` [which contained]186 personalized YouTube response videos to Old Spice fans who commented on Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, Digg, 4chan and more.“ The videos were shot in the same “homemade“ style as an extension to the first campaign within just three days and replied directly to fans and stars in almost real-time,

Hepburn (2010). Mustafa faced the audience half naked, with a towel in front of a bathroom. Only several things were included according to the customer`s request, while the actor directly responded with his cynical, humorous and charming way. One of the famous response videos was from Demi Moore who tweeted: “I want a special video response!” and Mustafa responded by beating up a piñata with a fish, while saying her name, Oldspice (2010). Another hit was a tweet from “Jsbeals” who asked: “Can you ask my girlfriend to marry me?” and Mustafa made a marriage proposal with his irresistible charm, Oldspice (2010).

Fig.5 OldSpice (2010) Old Spice “Beating up a pinata”

Fig.6 OldSpice (2010) Old Spice “Marriage proposal”

STRATEGY / RESULTS Due to the old sailor men advertising in the 1990s, Old Spice once used to be associated with white older men, Berner (2004). Additionally, the name “Old spice“ and the logo with an old-script type combined with a four-masted sailing ship conveys a sense of tradition and history. The challenge and shift in brand-strategy was to revive this once tired brand and target men from 18-25 years, Prospectmx (2010). Through market research the brand found out that woman were the primary purchasers of men`s body wash products. Therefore Old Spice was challenged to target both genders and embrace a conversation about Old Spice body wash, according to Christ (2010). The aim of the campaign was to engage customers directly through real time interaction with entertaining content. Old Spice managed to create personal moments through amusing real time responses. Prospectmx (2010) explains: “...History has shown that there is nothing they like more than surreal, nonsensical humor that they can quote endlessly. This is the demographic that spreads things on the Internet first and foremost, and are often the chief drivers of what is considered `cool`.“

The nonlinear storytelling defined how the campaign evolved according to user-interaction. The audience was no longer a passive observer, but co-created the campaign within a given frame as well as formed a sense of community. Until that time the approach was unique as the advertising resulted in a flexible campaign according to content and time. Another aspect which supported the viral effect, was that the videos had a homemade look and supported the personal level of the campaign. Therefore it perfectly fitted to social media as a broadcasting platform, as people like to watch and share short entertaining videos. Old Spice achieved to reposition its brand by a redefinition of their brand-image and from that became market leader in men body-wash products. The company also managed to keep its masculine and rugged attributes while it gained a young image and addressed a whole new target group, Berner (2004). The image change also resonated through casting a black actor who activated the modern generation. According to the statistics from O`neill (2010), Old Spice’s extended “Response campaign” was the fastest growing interactive campaign in history. Besides, the campaign has generated 1.4 billion free media impressions within just six months after its first appearance in 2010. Since the campaign has launched, sales of premium body wash have doubled. Additionally, the promotion of the “Response campaign” was completely free of charge and only relied on spreading through word-of-mouth. The brand accomplished to meet a rich fandom on social media platforms, where customers had no barrier to interaction and spreading, as they already were familiar with the interface. Old Spice is a perfect example of effective nonlinear advertising on social media with a lasting impact.

III.PEPSI “REFRESH PROJECT”

Fig.7 Pepsi (2011) Pepsi Refresh Project - print advertising

Based around the central question “Could a soda really make the world a better place?“, Pepsi (2009), Pepsi’s “Refresh Project” is representative example of a social media campaign that capitalises on currently changing worldwide marketing strategies fostering in real world communities. Masterminded by the Brooklyn-based creative agency HUGE, the campaign began with an open call, asking people to submit “great ideas” that would change the world for the better, either socially or environmentally. The call generated wide interest, and a very broad demographic of individuals, businesses or non-profit organisations participated in the project – both by submitting their ideas and voting for their favorite ones, Pepsi (2009). The program was a multi-part long-term project divided into 12 courses and submission periods and is still ongoing, Ehrlich (2010). By the end of each submission period, entries that received the most votes, were realised with funding from Pepsi.

So far, “Pepsi has granted more than $20 million to 400 ideas..”, according to Drell (2011) As a result, a major part of the fundings was donated for “education”. For instance, “54 schools have been improved and 159 iPods/smartboards have been installed in classrooms.” Other donations went to support the environment, where “3,800 animals have been saved or treated” and 1.3$ million were donated to recover the gulf after the BP oil spill, Wassermann (2010). As the article from Wassermann (2010) shows: “The program ... not only funded various philanthropic initiatives presented by consumers ..., but set the benchmark for [social] engagement, says Shiv Singh, head of digital for PepsiCo Beverages North America.” Its overwhelming success led to launch a second phase of the campaign again in 2011 and even considered to expand it internationally.

STRATEGY / RESULTS According to Moran (2011): “…In part, the strategy was to use social media to promote the image of PepsiCo as the good company…“ For the first time, Pepsi`s new prosocial campaign was allowing fans to have a real say in the company’s new marketing direction. Instead of entertaining the masses or concentrating on selling the product, Pepsi put customers and their ideas at the center of their campaign. Moreover the brand managed to humanise its corporate image and establish a strong emotional tie with its customers. The result was a highly personal campaign based on trust and loyalty, which people took to heart as environmental and social matters were the central issue. Pepsi`s personal content is the perfect example of how brands can effectively connect with customers and witness a flurry of social engagement. The virality of the campaign also relied on the interface. According to Drell (2011) –HUGE, the creative agency of the campaign was known for a “user-friendly approach” and simplicity as they created the official web interface (http://www.refresheverything.com). The simple and well-designed website, was divided into different ideacategories (i.e. health, arts&culture, education) where people could easily contribute, submit or vote for ideas. As social media becomes a dominant vehicle to social engagement, Pepsi came across advertising by leveraging multiple social networking channels, which carried the new layout to engage with customers. They provided clues to their official website, where the central discussion and election took place. To heighten the anticipation, the company has put out several teaser videos on YouTube and launched additional paid promotion on Twitter and Facebook. Instead of spending advertising budget on traditional TV commercials at the Super Bowl as usual, Pepsi (US) surprised as they invented a social media campaign and redirected their budget towards their customers. The “Pepsi Refresh” project got viral based on personal recommendation. Each time someone proposed a new idea, he automatically linked it with his social networking profile and promoted it himself through word-of-mouth.

As a result, “The project garnered 3.3 million “likes” on Facebook and 75 million votes, more than 60% of which were generated through referral traffic.”, Drell (2011). Kate Watts, the Pepsi ”Refresh Project” account lead at Huge summarized the campaign: “The keys to its success were a `brand-agnostic platform for doing good and cause marketing` and making the project immensely `shareable`“, Drell (2011). Pepsi`s Marketing strategy might become cutting-edge and set the benchmark for futures advertising evolution and brand alteration.

Fig.8 Pepsi (2011) Pepsi Refresh Project - official website

≥CONCLUSION The aspiration of the essay was to investigate the effectiveness of online advertising campaigns, preliminary focusing on theoretical examination, followed by representative case studies to prove and underline the analysis. As the paper has shown, in order to be successful, brands have to integrate themselves into social media and networking. Social media offer best premises for personal customer-relationship, interactivity, using word-of-mouth for promotion, but also for customer feedback. To become viral, advertising must include meaningful content that has to be flexible, offer some form of advantage and connect with customers on a personal and emotional level. It is also necessary for brands to have an overall brand-strategy to humanize the company and build communities around the brand in order to create a lasting impact. The overall research revealed a change in Marketing, as people have changed in the era of Web 2.0 and mobile 24h internet access. Subsequently it is not possible to carry on traditional advertising strategies to generate effective online advertising. What one can witness is a transformation of the consumer-society where marketers must react to people`s wills. Therefore brands have to attract and bind people through their brand-content and brand-strategy, as participants take more responsibility and identify with the brand. Advertising is not about the product anymore, but about people. The power no longer rests with the company, but with the customer. Moreover people are the new currency and customers become products traded by brands. Corporations are redirecting their budget from media outlets, towards the customers. According to the ongoing changes, the question arises how corporations and advertising will evolve? Presumably, customer interactivity will play an increasingly more important role, and customers will assumably keep control of advertisers. Hence, brands will be forced to generally be better, what will lead to improvements in corporate responsibility and morality. Moreover, individuals will become central parts of brands, as they are going to be directly involved, forming campaigns and brand-identities through interactive social communities. Nevertheless, it is impossible to predict the future – one can only examine the current situation and provide expectations. However, one thing will last forever – it is all about people – and people will increasingly be the focus of brands.

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≥REFERENCES

BOOKS Abraham, L. and Behrendt, Ch. (2010) OH MY GOD WHAT HAPPENED AND WHAT SHOULD I DO?. Norderstedt: Books on Demand GmbH Brown, E. (2010) WORKING THE CROWD. Swindon: British informatics Society Limited [BISL] Clapperton, G. (2009) This is social media: tweet, blog, link and post your way to business success. Chichester: Capstone Publishing Ltd. Moran, M. (2008) Do it wrong quickly: How the web changes the old marketing rules, Boston: Pearson Education, Inc. Scott, D. M. (2011) The new rules of marketing and PR. 3rd ed. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Cotton, E. (2011) ` Ed Cotton: Facebook`s Firehose Of Brand Data`, PSFK, 02 November [Online]. Available at: http://www.psfk.com/2011/11/ed-cotton-facebooks-firehose-of-brand-data.html (Accessed: 27 November 2011) Daniells, K. (2012) ` Infographic: Social Media Statistics For 2012 `, Digitalbuzzblog, 3 January [Online]. Available at: http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/social-media-statistics-stats-2012-infographic/ (Accessed: 03 January 2012) Drell, L. (2011) `Top 5 innovative digital marketing agencies`, Mashable, 29 March [Online]. http://mashable.com/2011/03/29/innovative-digital-marketing-agencies/ (Accessed: 23 October 2011). Ehrlich, B. (2010) `Pepsi: Refresh Project racks up more votes than last presidential election` , Mashable, 21 September [Online]. Available at: http://mashable. com/2010/09/21/pepsi-refresh-project-racks-up-more-votes-than-last-presidentialelection/ (Accessed: 24 November 2011). Hepburn, A. (2010) Òld Spice Social Campaign Case Study Video`, digitalbuzzblog, 11 August [Online]. Available at: http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/old-spice-social-campaign-case-study-video/ (Accessed: 25 November 2011). Mackay, C. (2011) `5 Ways to Humanize Your Company With Social Media`, Social Media Examiner, 27 October [Online]. Available at: http://www.socialmediaexaminer. com/5-ways-to-humanize-your-company-with-social-media/ (Accessed: 8 November 2011). Moran, T. (2011) `Need to know`, CMO.com, 27 May [Online]. Available at: http://www. cmo.com/social-media/there-meaning-pepsico-s-refresh-campaign-failure (Accessed: 24 October 2011). Nosharbstuff (n.d.) ÌNTEGRATED CAMPAIGN OVERVIEW`, WIEDEN+KENNEDY, [Online]. Available at: http://nosharpstuff.com/oldspice/integrated/ (Accessed: 24 October 2011). Olmstead, T. (2011) `Prioritizing Discussion: Why Community Is as Critical as Content` , Mashable, 14 December [Online]. Available at: http://mashable.com/2011/12/14/discussion-community-content/ (Accessed: 24 December 2011). O`neill, M. (2010) Òld Spice Response Campaign Was More Popular Than Obama`, Social Times, 5 August [Online]. Available at: http://socialtimes.com/old-spice-response-campaign_b19329 (Accessed: 24 November 2011). Parr, S. (2011) `Content Is The New Currency`, PSFK, 19 October [Online]. Available at: http://www.psfk.com/2011/10/content-is-the-new-currency.html (Accessed: 8 November 2011).

Pepsi Refresh Project (2011) Pepsi Refresh Project. [Online]. Available at: http://www. refresheverything.com/ (Accessed: 24 October 2011). Prospectmx (n.d.) `5 of the best viral marketing campaigns`, Prospectmx, [Online]. Available at: http://www.prospectmx.com/15-of-the-best-viral-marketing-campaigns/ (Accessed: 24 November 2011). Prosumer Report (n.d.) `Prosumer Reports`, Prosumer Report, [Online], Available at: http://www.prosumer-report.com/ (Accessed: 27 November 2011) Kaplan, A. and Haenlein, M. (2009) SciVerse, 13 October [Online]. Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0007681309001232 (Accessed: 27 November 2011) Spiers, K. (2011) `Virality Is For B2Bs Too: How To Create Shareable Content`, Wisdom London, 11 February [Online]. Available at: http://wisdomlondon.wordpress. com/2011/02/11/virality-is-for-b2bs-too-how-to-create-shareable-content/ (Accessed: 06 November 2011). Techpluto (n.d.) `Core Characteristics of Web 2.0 Services`, Techpluto, [Online]. Available at: http://www.techpluto.com/web-20-services/ (Accessed: 27 November 2011) Wassermann, T. (2010) `Pepsi Refresh Project netted 61 million votes`, Mashable, 15 December [Online]. Available at: http://mashable.com/2010/12/15/pepsi-refresh-vote/ (Accessed: 27 October 2011).

VIDEOS Fawkes, P. (2011) Joe Fernandez: Everyone Has Influence. Available at: http://vimeo. com/31531667 (Accessed: 7 November 2011). Marketing keynote speaker (2010) Successful example of social media in Restaurant & Hospitality. Available at: http://vimeo.com/13734605 (Accessed: 24 Novemer 2011). MicrosoftAdvertising (2011) Marylee Sachs examines the effect of digital media on marketing at AdWeek 2011. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGl1zKyG0OE&c ontext=C3572a8dADOEgsToPDskKfPRAm0sA2MDQOMWoxR-NR (Accessed: 28 October 2011). OldSpice (2010) Old Spice | The Man Your Man Could Smell Like. Available at: http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE (Accessed: 24 October 2011). OldSpice (2010) Re: @Jsbeals | Old Spice. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-fLV28SkZ8 (Accessed: 28 October 2011).

OldSpice (2010) Re: @mrskutcher | Old Spice. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPlg9ez4L1w (Accessed: 28 October 2011). Oliviermermet (2009) Whopper Sacrifice video by crispin porter + bogusky. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxXxhEjnJA0 (Accessed: 24 Novemer 2011). Pepsi (2010) The Pepsi Refresh Project. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=srY7Wkl2IbI (Accessed: 24 October 2011).

LIST OF IMAGES Fig.1 Burger King. (2009) Whopper Sacrifice – Proving love [Online]. Available at: http:// digitaldaybreak.wordpress.com/2009/01/29/456/ (Accessed: 28 October 2011). Fig.2 Burger King (2009) Whopper Sacrifice – Sacrificed friends [Online]. Available at: http://digitaldaybreak.wordpress.com/2009/01/29/456/ (Accessed: 28 October 2011). Fig.3 OldSpice (2010) Old Spice original Campaign [Online]. Available at: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/gossip/2010/02/isaiah-mustafa-old-spice-commercial.html (Accessed: 28 October 2011) Fig.4 OldSpice (2010) Old Spice Response Campaign [Online]. Available at: http:// latimesblogs.latimes.com/gossip/2010/02/isaiah-mustafa-old-spice-commercial.html (Accessed: 28 October 2011). Fig.5 OldSpice (2010) Old Spice “Beating up a pinata” [Online]. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPlg9ez4L1w (Accessed: 28 October 2011). Fig.6 OldSpice (2010) Old Spice “Marriage proposal” [Online]. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-fLV28SkZ8 (Accessed: 28 October 2011). Fig.7 Pepsi (2011) Pepsi Refresh Project - print advertising [Online]. Available at: http:// adsoftheworld.com/media/print/pepsi_refresh_project_what_do_you_care_about (Accessed: 23 October 2011). Fig.8 Pepsi (2011) Pepsi Refresh Project - official website [Online]. Available at: http:// adsoftheworld.com/media/online/pepsi_refresh_project_refresheverythingcom (Accessed: 23 October 2011).

≥BIBLIOGRAPHY BOOKS Abraham, L. and Behrendt, Ch. (2010) OH MY GOD WHAT HAPPENED AND WHAT SHOULD I DO?. Norderstedt: Books on Demand GmbH Brown, E. (2010) WORKING THE CROWD. Swindon: British informatics Society Limited [BISL] Clapperton, G. (2009) This is social media: tweet, blog, link and post your way to business success. Chichester: Capstone Publishing Ltd. Halligan, B., Shah, D., Scott, D.M. (2010) Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs (Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media, & Blogs). Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Kirby, J. and Marsden, P. (2006) Connected Marketing: The Viral, Buzz and Word of Mouth Revolution. Burlington: Elsevier Ltd. Moran, M. (2008) Do it wrong quickly: How the web changes the old marketing rules, Boston: Pearson Education, Inc. Parkin, G. (2009) Digital Marketing: Strategies for Online Success. London: New Holland Publishers (UK) Ltd Ryan, D. and Johnes. C. (2011) The Best Digital Marketing Campaigns in the World: Mastering The Art of Customer Engagement. London: Kogan Page Limited. Scott, D. M. (2011) The new rules of marketing and PR. 3rd ed. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Scott, D. M. (2009) World Wide Rave: Creating Triggers That Get Millions of People to Spread Your Ideas and Share Your Stories. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Scott, D. M. and Sterne, J. (2010) Social Media Metrics: How to Measure and Optimize Your Marketing Investment (New Rules Social Media Series). Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

WEBSITES Arrington, M. (2009) `Facebook Blows A Whopper Of An Opportunity`, TechCrunch, 14 January [Online]. Available at: http://techcrunch.com/2009/01/14/facebook-blows-awhopper-of-an-opportunity/ (Accessed: 20 November 2011). Axon, S. (2010) `Top 10 funniest Old Spice response videos`, Mashable, 19 July [Online]. Available at: http://mashable.com/2010/07/18/old-spice-guy-videos/ (Accessed: 19 October 2011). Berner, R. (2004) `Old Spiceâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s Extreme Makeover`, Bloomberg Businessweek, 1 November [Online]. Available at: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/ content/04_44/b3906116.htm (Accessed: 24 November 2011). Boyd, D. M. and Ellison, N. B. (2007) `Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship`, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1), article 11., [Online]. Available at: http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/boyd.ellison.html (Accessed: 27 November 2011) Christ, P. (2010) ` What`s Really Behind the Popular Old Spice Ad?`, knowthis.com, 15 July [Online]. http://www.knowthis.com/blog/postings/whats-really-behind-the-popular-old-spice-ad/ (Accessed: 25 November 2011). Cotton, E. (2011) ` Ed Cotton: Facebook`s Firehose Of Brand Data`, PSFK, 02 November [Online]. Available at: http://www.psfk.com/2011/11/ed-cotton-facebooks-firehose-of-brand-data.html (Accessed: 27 November 2011) Daniells, K. (2012) ` Infographic: Social Media Statistics For 2012 `, Digitalbuzzblog, 3 January [Online]. Available at: http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/social-media-statistics-stats-2012-infographic/ (Accessed: 03 January 2012) Drell, L. (2011) `Top 5 innovative digital marketing agencies`, Mashable, 29 March [Online]. http://mashable.com/2011/03/29/innovative-digital-marketing-agencies/ (Accessed: 23 October 2011). Ehrlich, B. (2010) `Pepsi: Refresh Project racks up more votes than last presidential election` , Mashable, 21 September [Online]. Available at: http://mashable. com/2010/09/21/pepsi-refresh-project-racks-up-more-votes-than-last-presidentialelection/ (Accessed: 24 November 2011). Hepburn, A. (2010) `Old Spice Social Campaign Case Study Video`, digitalbuzzblog, 11 August [Online]. Available at: http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/old-spice-social-campaign-case-study-video/ (Accessed: 25 November 2011).

Hutchings, E. (2011) `KLM Crew Become Human Alphabet To Reply To Customerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Posts & Tweets`, PSFK, 3 November [Online]. Available at: http://www.psfk. com/2011/11/airline-crew-become-human-alphabet-to-reply-to-customers-poststweets.html (Accessed: 8 November 2011). Mackay, C. (2011) `5 Ways to Humanize Your Company With Social Media`, Social Media Examiner, 27 October [Online]. Available at: http://www.socialmediaexaminer. com/5-ways-to-humanize-your-company-with-social-media/ (Accessed: 8 November 2011). Moran, T. (2011) `Need to know`, CMO.com, 27 May [Online]. Available at: http://www. cmo.com/social-media/there-meaning-pepsico-s-refresh-campaign-failure (Accessed: 24 October 2011). Nosharbstuff (n.d.) `INTEGRATED CAMPAIGN OVERVIEW`, WIEDEN+KENNEDY, [Online]. Available at: http://nosharpstuff.com/oldspice/integrated/ (Accessed: 24 October 2011). Olmstead, T. (2011) `Prioritizing Discussion: Why Community Is as Critical as Content` , Mashable, 14 December [Online]. Available at: http://mashable.com/2011/12/14/discussion-community-content/ (Accessed: 24 December 2011). O`neill, M. (2010) `Old Spice Response Campaign Was More Popular Than Obama`, Social Times, 5 August [Online]. Available at: http://socialtimes.com/old-spice-response-campaign_b19329 (Accessed: 24 November 2011). Parr, S. (2011) `Content Is The New Currency`, PSFK, 19 October [Online]. Available at: http://www.psfk.com/2011/10/content-is-the-new-currency.html (Accessed: 8 November 2011). Pepsi Refresh Project (2011) Pepsi Refresh Project. [Online]. Available at: http://www. refresheverything.com/ (Accessed: 24 October 2011). Prospectmx (n.d.) `5 of the best viral marketing campaigns`, Prospectmx, [Online]. Available at: http://www.prospectmx.com/15-of-the-best-viral-marketing-campaigns/ (Accessed: 24 November 2011). Prosumer Report (n.d.) `Prosumer Reports`, Prosumer Report, [Online], Available at: http://www.prosumer-report.com/ (Accessed: 27 November 2011) Romano, T. (2010) `The Old Spice Manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Internet Triumph`, The daily beast, 18 July [Online]. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/07/18/old-spice-guy-post-racialcommercial-genius.html (Accessed: 20 November 2011). Kaplan, A. and Haenlein, M. (2009) SciVerse, 13 October [Online]. Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0007681309001232 (Accessed: 27 November 2011)

Spiers, K. (2011) `Virality Is For B2Bs Too: How To Create Shareable Content`, Wisdom London, 11 February [Online]. Available at: http://wisdomlondon.wordpress. com/2011/02/11/virality-is-for-b2bs-too-how-to-create-shareable-content/ (Accessed: 06 November 2011). Techpluto (n.d.) `Core Characteristics of Web 2.0 Services`, Techpluto, [Online]. Available at: http://www.techpluto.com/web-20-services/ (Accessed: 27 November 2011) Wassermann, T. (2010) `Pepsi Refresh Project netted 61 million votes`, Mashable, 15 December [Online]. Available at: http://mashable.com/2010/12/15/pepsi-refresh-vote/ (Accessed: 27 October 2011).

VIDEOS Boondoggle Amsterdam (2011) Nike Take Mokum. Available at: http://vimeo. com/18499121 (Accessed: 24 October 2011). Fawkes, P. (2011) Joe Fernandez: Everyone Has Influence. Available at: http://vimeo. com/31531667 (Accessed: 7 November 2011). Marketing keynote speaker (2010) Successful example of social media in Restaurant & Hospitality. Available at: http://vimeo.com/13734605 (Accessed: 24 Novemer 2011). MicrosoftAdvertising (2011) Marylee Sachs examines the effect of digital media on marketing at AdWeek 2011. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGl1zKyG0OE&c ontext=C3572a8dADOEgsToPDskKfPRAm0sA2MDQOMWoxR-NR (Accessed: 28 October 2011). OldSpice (2010) Old Spice | The Man Your Man Could Smell Like. Available at: http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE (Accessed: 24 October 2011). OldSpice (2010) Re: @Jsbeals | Old Spice. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-fLV28SkZ8 (Accessed: 28 October 2011). OldSpice (2010) Re: @mrskutcher | Old Spice. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPlg9ez4L1w (Accessed: 28 October 2011). Oliviermermet (2009) Whopper Sacrifice video by crispin porter + bogusky. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxXxhEjnJA0 (Accessed: 24 Novemer 2011). Pepsi (2010) The Pepsi Refresh Project. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=srY7Wkl2IbI (Accessed: 24 October 2011)