The Clutter Busters

The gremlin of the media business, clutter, has grown exponentially, particularly in media that are under greater pressure to meet or exceed revenue goals in a recessionary environment. Wisely, many clients have forged ahead with their own clutter-busting ideas.

For example, Stephen Quinn, CMO of Wal-Mart Stores U.S., says that the only clutter-proof medium he's aware of is the one that the company created itself, the Walmart Smart Network, which debuted last December (relaunched from a satellite-fed network that's operated in its stores for a few years). When it's fully rolled out next year, it will include some 27,000 in-store video screens in 2,700 stores. The content includes both infomercials and advertisements from Wal-Mart suppliers, and the schedules are customized to individual stores and shopping occasions.

While a wholly in-house channel might seem to be the creative responsibility of the marketing department alone, that's not the case. "We need collaboration from both our media partners and our vendor partners to work on the messaging that goes on those screens," the CMO says. "That's a relatively new medium, so the level of understanding from the people who work on the content [is key]."

Quinn is taking a separate clutter-busting tack online with Wal-Mart's "ElevenMoms" social-network concept, which features select female bloggers who provide money-saving tips on Wal-Mart's site as well as on a YouTube channel.

The original mom team has now expanded to 21 women who post videos and interact with hundreds of people that respond to the mom postings with their own ideas about how to pinch pennies.

Meanwhile, Honda is attempting to carve its way through the media clutter in a different way. The automaker's online components have involved homepage takeovers and roadblocks on portals like Yahoo! and Facebook. They're especially effective "if you use a floating ad unit that really grabs people's attention. We can see the impact that has immediately," says Jenny Howell, Honda's manager of interactive marketing.

Honda also buys a lot of ad placements on TV network Web sites that offer full-series episodes. The Honda and Acura spots run in pods that, in their online iteration, involve the placement of one commercial per pod. The fact that users can't fast forward through the messages is an obvious benefit. "You can own the whole show, running three ads in three commercial pods," Howell says. On NBC's site, Honda not only places spots in shows, it has a rich-media experience that has included a gallery of car images on the page, or an interactive image where users can change the colors of a car.

Walgreens' marketing challenges go beyond clutter. A major problem for the company is overcoming widespread consumer perceptions about the 7,000-unit chain. Walgreens sells everything from toaster ovens to pet products, but "people often don't think of us as more than a pharmacy," says Christine Kubisztal, Walgreens manager of media strategy. "We want to find venues to tell our stories and connect our brand in new and exciting ways."

Which is where its media partners come in. Walgreens recently signed on as a sponsor of The Bonnie Hunt Show. The daytime talk show features Walgreens integrations in a beauty segment that runs on Thursdays. The initiative goes beyond simple product placement or name dropping. Host Bonnie Hunt "is actually in our stores," Kubisztal says. "She's shopping with our beauty advisors and getting a makeover."

What Kubisztal likes about the partnership is that "it showcases things that we don't get in a 30-second commercial." What's more, it's a benefit that Walgreens is already familiar with. The retailer previously inked a similar deal with The Ellen DeGeneres Show that focused on Walgreens' photo department. Like Bonnie, DeGeneres is distributed by Warner Bros. Television Distribution. The company's Warner Bros. Media Lab is able to determine viewers' biometric response to different segments of shows, taking into consideration such factors as pupil dilation and heart rate.

The lab "actually measured people's emotional responses as they were watching [the DeGeneres] show. Our integration actually showed a spike in interest, and when the integration was over, it would go down again," Kubisztal says. "It spoke to the fact that if you put engaging content [in shows], people will respond to it favorably."

Similar integrations have been favorable for MillerCoors, according to Jackie Woodward, vp of media and marketing. ESPN's hugely popular SportsCenter show contains a Thursday night segment called "Cold Hard Facts" sponsored by Coors Light. It features a "six-pack of questions" fielded by a sports expert. Woodward considers the segment to be a "precision play," given that beer drinkers tend to plan out their weekends on Thursday night.

It is also, she says, an effective way to cut through the clutter. But the effort isn't the only move the brewer is trying. MillerCoors has signed to become a charter advertiser of the new ESPNChicago.com site that's expected to launch in April. It's the sports brand's first city-specific Web site dedicated to sports fans.
-By Janet Stillson
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