emily brown creative brand strategist
eab5050@gmail.com (757) 651-4945 Monday, March 14, 2011
Embracing Sanity
“ Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.�
- Albert Einstein
Monday, March 14, 2011
The story before the story - Why planning? Marpac - Identifying a new target audience Metabical - Launching a new weight-loss pill Sugar in the Raw - Creative brief Resume
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Have you ever wondered why so much mystery rests in the first line of a story? It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Once there was a tree...and she loved a little boy. All this happened, more or less.
It’s not because the ideas are new to you. It’s because before that first line, before the pages of adventure you’re about to consume, there’s a whole other tale—a backstory that formed your characters into the people they are now. There’s a hidden narrative that shaped the universe you’re about to enter. For me, the most compelling part of a book, essay or poem—is the unwritten. It’s what’s lingering in the whitespace right before an opening line. Because even though we may not see or hear the details of the past, they are undoubtedly driving the action in the present. Successful advertising works in this same way, relaying messages birthed from unique, yet universal, truths. As a creative brand strategist, I live and breathe backstory. Through research, brainstorming and observation, I unearth insights that make stories more meaningful.
Monday, March 14, 2011
the story before the story
Challenge sound conditioners
Identifying a new target market
Monday, March 14, 2011
Discover a new target market and appropriate touchpoints for Marpac Inc. Convey strong brand personality for the company that pioneered the sleep machine industry.
Brand Background
Marpac sound conditioners, commonly referred to as “sleep machines,” are unique devices that mask out unwanted noise. Since its inception, Marpac Inc. has employed very little traditional advertising, relying instead on word-of-mouth and positive online product reviews to spread the brand’s message.
Situation
Currently, millions of Americans suffer from lack of sleep. When unwanted noises keep people up at night, they often resort to to “stop-gap” or roundabout solutions (ceiling fans, radio static, etc.) to block out sounds. Many of these individuals are unaware that a product exists specifically to neutralize noise for a better night’s sleep.
Research
•Secondary research •One-on-one interviews •Survey of 120+ respondents •Extensive competitive analysis
Target Opportunity
Target Findings
Our research revealed an underserved target:
“Fresh-out-of-home collegians,” age 17-24.
• Part of the most sleep-deprived demographic in America • Uses “stop-gap” solutions out of habit when sleeping or studying • Does not acknowledge the correlation between getting enough sleep and success at school
• Sleep is a reward for hard work amidst a hectic schedule; when students have time to sleep, they want nothing standing in their way
•Perceives noise distractions as an inevitable part of cohabitation
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Strategy
Marpac Sound Conditioners are an essential tool for an enhanced college experience. When preparing for college, there’s an arsenal of products that students invest in to make dorm life more comfortable and convenient. They purchase laptop computers, new bedding, and small appliances. We want to add sound conditioners into the mix, making students view the product in the same way they’d view any other device that helps get them through their days.
Message More A’s through more ZZZ’s. Recommended Touchpoints
Understanding that college students are heavily influenced by parents, peers and physicians when dealing with sleep-related issues, we developed touchpoints that reach these secondary audiences, as well as our primary target.
•Orientation Sessions: Provide information about the WORDOF-MOUTH
importance of sleep and sell Marpac products at orientations, where students/parents are getting acquainted with campus life.
PRINT ADS
•Student Health Clinics: On-campus doctors frequently
STUDENT HEALTH CLINICS
POINT OF PURCHASE
interact with sleep-deprived students. Direct mail/sample products are sent to college healthcare providers, encouraging them to recommend Marpac. Follow-up phone calls are made.
•Word-of-mouth: Pay a panel of collegiate trendsetters
(student athletes, sorority and fraternity reps, etc.) to use and recommend Marpac products to their friends. ORIENTATION SESSIONS
STUDENTS
DIGITAL
•Print Ads: Run small print campaigns in campus
newspapers. Affordable placement rates with targeted reach.
•Point of Purchase: Marpac product displays in college PARENTS
bookstores. If doctors will be recommending Marpac sound conditioners, the product should be available on campus.
•Digital: Build a strong social media presence. Monday, March 14, 2011
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strategic tactics to reach our target
Dear Sleep Seeker,
letters to customers The Marpac brand story is truly unique. To share it with customers, we suggested that the Marpac team print letters to customers and place them inside every package.
Jim Buckwalter spent many nights awake wondering how he could block out the noises that were preventing him from getting the quality of sleep his body needed. Recognizing the need for a product that would foster a peaceful night’s sleep, Buckwalter invented WKH ÀUVW HYHU HOHFWURĦPHFKDQLFDO VRXQG FRQGLtioner known as Marpac. Marpac Corporations are operated out of Wilmington, North Carolina and all of our products are hand-assembled and signed by our employees. We are certain that this product will provide you with the reliable sleep experience that you seek. Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions or comments. From all of us at Marpac, Sweet Dreams.
collegiate themes To further our appeal to college students, we suggested the placement of collegiate logos on the Marpac sound conditioners that will be sold at campus bookstores.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Metabical Launching a new diet pill
Monday, March 14, 2011
Challenge Create a strategic campaign to launch Metabical, the first FDA-approved weight-loss prescription specifically for moderately overweight individuals.
Metabical
Creative Brief
Background In an industry saturated with unreliable OTC drugs, consumers seek FDAapproved weight-loss options. Prior to the creation of Metabical, no weightloss prescriptions were on the market to specifically treat individuals with a BMI of 25-30.
Objective Motivate moderately overweight individuals to ask their doctors about Metabical.
Target Primary: “Family Gatekeepers”
• BMI of 25-30 • Age 25-34 • HHI: $60,000.00+ • Household decision maker
Communications Strategy Strategy statement: Metabical makes weight-loss part of your routine, instead of interrupting it. For patients: Show “family gatekeepers” that weight-loss can revolve around something added to their life—not things that’ll be taken away. The product doesn’t just eliminate fat. It eliminates prior and future excuses for an unhealthy lifestyle. For physicians: Commiserate with doctors. Let them know the simplicity and support associated with Metabical increases the likelihood that patients will succeed in their weight-loss endeavors.
Secondary: Healthcare physicians
Reasons to Believe
• A welcomed voice of authority • Charged with prescribing Metabical
• Metabical is FDA-approved, which means it
What do we know about them? “Family Gatekeepers” insist on maintaining an adequate balance of work, family and social commitments. They juggle board meetings, book clubs, t-ball games and PTA fundraisers. Unfortunately, healthy lifestyle choices (diet and exercise) are neglected by these men and women as they attempt to carry the world on their shoulders. These individuals are highly educated, and as such, they understand that being overweight can negatively affect their health. Still, they struggle to incorporate healthy habits into their hectic schedules. Health and wellness is the only area of life where they make excuses for poor performance. They believe losing weight requires time and energy—two things they’re constantly running low on. Monday, March 14, 2011
won’t create dangerous side effects that could keep our target out of commission. • It’s proven effective. In clinical trials, Metabical patients lost 13-20 pounds more than individuals taking a placebo. Our target won’t feel like they’re wasting their time if they’re actually seeing results. • You aren’t alone. Metabical comes with a 2-year online support program. The unique sense of community available for Metabical users ensures support for a healthy lifestyle, even after they’ve stopped taking the pill.
Metabical
Launch Event
Creative Campaign
Our team realized that differentiating Metabical in such a crowded category would require gaining a lot of publicity in the days leading up to the drug’s release. To achieve this, we developed a unique launch event, designed to generate buzz while encouraging a large number of potential consumers to lose weight. The idea: Give moderately overweight individuals a tangible platform for destroying their intangible barriers to weight loss.
Teaser Ad
Building Demolition
1K Race
In the weeks leading up to the launch event, press releases are written and teaser posters are placed in high visibility locations. Individuals are prompted to log on to metabical.com to share any excuses they may have for being overweight. The poster reveals a date for the event but does not explain why individuals are being asked to submit their excuses.
On the day of the event, excuses submitted at metabical.com are painted on the inside and outside of abandoned buildings in select cities around the U.S. At a designated time announced online, the buildings are demolished. With them, hundreds of excuses for unhealthy living are destroyed. The demolitions will stream live online, so that individuals not in close proximity to the sites can still participate.
To jump-start weight-loss endeavors and celebrate an “excuse-free lifestyle,� a 1K race and information session will be held in conjunction with the building demolitions.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Metabical
Creative Campaign
Print A
B Fine print on consumer ads (A&B) reads: Metabical is an FDA-approved weightloss prescription. To learn more, visit metabical.com
C Fine print on physician ad reads: In clinical trials, Metabical proved to be safe and effective in stimulating weight-loss for moderately overweight individuals. Metabical is FDAapproved for doctor prescribed use.
OOH
Billboards are erected that feature disappearing ink. The message reads, “I’m too busy to lose weight.” Over several weeks, the message gradually fades until it merely reads “lose weight.”
Digital
To maintain efforts in recruiting new Metabical users, we will continue to sponsor the creative “extermination of excuses.” On the Metabical homepage, individuals can submit the obstacles that are currently preventing them from weight loss. A Metabical spokesperson will choose one excuse every week to destroy in a creative way. A video of the destruction will be uploaded to the Metabical website for users to view alongside information about the prescription.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Generating brand awareness for a no-nonsense sweetener
creative brief
Why are we advertising? Target Audience Target Observations Message
In a world where refined sugar is a long-reigning king and calorie-conscious consumers are buying artificial sweeteners more than ever, Sugar In The Raw (SITR) is an elusive product to many shoppers. It doesn’t fit into the tidy confines of white sugar standards or zero-calorie powders and is often mistaken for brown sugar. SITR is a fairly new concept, and since many consumers can’t pinpoint what the product actually is, they’re leaving it on the shelves instead of placing it in their shopping carts.
“Supermarket Risk-takers” Grocery stores are experimental playgrounds for these shoppers. They aim to be healthy in their food selections, but certainly aren’t fitness buffs. They have a raw personality that manifests into a natural outer appearance. For them, what you see is what you get. They’re open to trying new products, especially ones that offer nutritional perks.“Supermarket Risktakers” are always on the prowl for useful ingredients that can make their culinary creations a unique reflection of their character.
SITR is sugar the way nature intended: straight from the cane, never bleached or over processed.
Brand Personality
SITR would be voted “most well-rounded” in his high school yearbook. He’s vegan. He’s Kosher. He’s Gluten-free. He’s immortal (unlimited shelf-life). But one thing he’s not is artificial. SITR is the guy you befriend, not because he’s the most popular, but because you see some aspect of yourself in him.
Reasons to believe
• Sugar In The Raw's distinctive shade and taste comes from the cane juice that naturally occurs in the
Monday, March 14, 2011
crystals. • When sugar is tampered with (refined), it loses both color and nutrients. The purity of SITR is evident in its color.
education VCU Brandcenter, Class of 2012 - M.S. in Mass Communications, Cumulative GPA: 3.75 - Concentration: Communications Strategy - Brandcentral (student government) representative, Alumni Committee Member University of North Carolina Wilmington, Class of 2008 - Bachelor of Fine Arts: Creative Writing, GPA: 3.8 - Concentrations: Nonfiction/Publishing, Minor: Psychology - Honors: Graduated Magna Cum Laude, Received Chancellor’s Achievement Award 2006-2008
brandcenter experience Live Client Work - My group delivered the winning repositioning strategy to the CEO of Marpac Inc., maker of the number one sleep machine in America. Creative Brand Campaigns -Wrote creative briefs and developed integrated communications plans for international brands like Nike, NFL and Williams-Sonoma. Provided strategic recommendations for extending each brand’s core audience. Segmentation Study - Segmented vinyl record purchasers in order to help Plan 9, a local music store, effectively target potential customers. Qualitative and Quantitative Research - Experience writing discussion guides and moderating focus groups using a variety of projective techniques. - I have written and fielded surveys regarding numerous topics and have experience analyzing results. Target Audience Analysis - Created thorough target profiles using the Simmons MRI database. - Incorporated uncovered insights into creative campaigns.
professional experience Publishing intern, University of North Carolina Wilmington Press, Fall 2008 - Acted as project director/editor of a multi-genre anthology. Created a publication schedule and participated in design, layout and editing of the book. Generated advertising, organized a public reading and gained experience in writing press releases. Proofreader, Lumina News, Wilmington, NC, Jan 2009 - July 2010 - Proofread articles for content, grammar and spelling errors. Performed edits for a weekly publication according to the Associated Press Stylebook.
skills Tech: MS Office, iWork, Adobe Indesign, Final Cut Pro, Twitter, Tumblr, WordPress Personal: Haiku master, cupcake baker, power walker Monday, March 14, 2011
emily brown
creative brand strategist eab5050@gmail.com (757) 651-4945