Will hiring Ronda Rousey increase Pantene's sales?

Mixed Martial Arts are big.  How big?  Worldwide the sport has 300 million fans, more than Major League Baseball.  And when New York ended their 19 year ban against the sport last April, Ronda stood next to Governor Cuomo when the announcement was made. (Reinsmith, 2013)

But how many American women actually watch and who are they?  Data shows that ~27% of MMA fans are female.  41% of those are minorities.  Viewers are 18% more likely to be Hispanic and 40% more likely to be African-American.  53% of them are 18-34. (2012)

Does this sound like a good target for Pantene?  Parent company P&G has been shedding brands and cutting costs to restore profitability, but as near as I can tell Pantene sales were flat this year.  Their annual report says they are interested in growing users.

But I can't help thinking that Selena Gomez, their 2015 spokesperson was a better choice since Latinas are more likely than the general population to spend on hair care, and are responsible for 16% of sales.  Oh, and she has 120 million social media followers. (Romero, 2015)

Here's a look at the commercial.  "The tagline is: Don't hate me because I am strong."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TIQBnCSiik

So what do you think?  Are there enough Ronda fans in the US to make this campaign a success?  What about you?  Does it make you want to buy Pantene?

Reinsmith, T. (2013, October 15) Worldwide, MMA is bigger than MLB.  bloodyelbow.com.  retrieved December 18, 2016, from

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2013/10/15/4841272/ufc-mma-bigger-mlb-ronda-rousey-superstar-anderson-silva-georges-st-pierre-jon-jones

(2012, November 16)  UFC 154 Audience Demographics.  scarborough.com.  Retrieved December 8, 2016, from

http://dialog.scarborough.com/index.php/ufc-154-audience-demographics-spotlight-on-female-ufcmma-tv-viewers/

Romero, A. (2015, June 15)  Selena Gomez Named New Pantene Spokesperson.  billboard.com.  Retrieved December 8, 2016, from

http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6598155/selena-gomez-pantene-spokesperson-endorsement-deal-haircare

Is the time right for men to be more tea?

Last week I saw a commercial for Bigelow tea.  It stars Phil Simms, former quarterback of the Giants. 

Apparently I am a bit out of the loop as Bigelow has been featuring male sports figures in their marketing communications since 2005 when Joe Torre began drinking tea after his prostate cancer diagnosis. (Lefton, 2011)

But, when I saw this ad I was reminded of how NutriSystem used Dan Marino - another former QB, to reach out to men in 2006.  Before the campaign started, men accounted for 13% of the company's business.  By early 2008, their share had increased to 30% .  (Newman, 2008)

Tea consumption, by both genders, continues to rise as the health benefits of tea have become more widely known.  And since men have finally begun to show a willingness to drink Diet Coke, perhaps they are now secure enough in their masculinity to also drink tea.  So the question is, will this ad do the trick?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kItXjzuPYOk

What do you think?  Does it make you want to drink tea?  Will it make Millennial men want to partake in a cup?

Lefton, T. (2011, June 27)  Bigelow makes tea manly through spots.  sportsbusinessdaily.com. Retrieved December 1, 2016, from  http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2011/06/27/In-Depth/Bigelow.aspx

Newman, A. (2008, April 7)  The Skinny on Male 'Dieting.'  adweek.com.  Retrieved December 1, 2016, from  http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/skinny-male-dieting-95443?page=3

If Millennials don't like your brand, should you buy a brand they like?

I've noticed a trend lately.  Unilever bought Dollar Shave Club.  Estee Lauder bought Too Faced Cosmetics.  And this week Neiman Marcus announced a new partnership with Rent the Runway.

Rent the Runway is an online company that rents designer apparel and accessories.  It has recently  begun to expand into brick and mortar locations and now Neiman Marcus is incorporating Rent the Runway units into their stores.  

The idea is to surround the rental clothing with appropriate accessories that the customer can buy to enhance their rented designer items..  There will be in-store services such as styling and purchasing advice, and an app for checking avails and reserving merchandise.

Currently the average age of the Neiman Marcus customer is 52.  The average age for a Rent the Runway customer is 29.  Of course they are hoping that once they have gotten Millennials into the store they will become customers. 

So what do you think?  Do you shop in department stores?  Will you go to Neiman Marcus?  Do you think this idea will work?  And what about the other brands I mentioned?  Is buying brands popular with millennials the best way for companies with Boomer brands to remain in business?

Loeb, W. (2016, November 22)  Neiman Marcus Partners With Rent the Runway To Attract Much Needed Millennial Consumers.  forbes.com.  Retrieved November 23, 2016, from

http://www.forbes.com/sites/walterloeb/2016/11/22/neiman-marcus-partners-with-rent-the-runway-to-attract-much-needed-millennial-consumers/print/

Is web site design impacting your choices?

I was looking for a topic for this week's blog, so I went to adage.com.  I haven't visited in a while.  In the interim, they redesigned their site. 

It's an interesting approach.  The landing page is fairly typical - with one ad in a box.  No banners.  But if you scroll down you get a series of squares with ads intermingled.  I find the ads less intrusive in this environment.  And at the very least I am looking at the visual and registering the brand name.  I tend to tune the boxes out when they are along the side.

The ads were a mix.  The first was for a company I buy from regularly.  The next one was from a site I looked at, but didn't buy from.  The last was for Cats -- been there done that, showed no interest online.  But I do live in Manhattan.

You can take a look at the design here...

http://adage.com/

This got me wondering about your favorite website designs and how you think they are impacting your decision-making when they serve you ads for other products.  Are the ads integrated?  Are they still using banners?  What about pop-ups? Do you have a preferred approach?