Creating awareness: how do you meet the communication challenge of the century?

Communication World, April-May, 2003 by Claire Watson

Segment the market, define the audience and find out where they live. What are their media habits--favourite magazines, television programs, radio preferences? Are they likely to be online? Would you find your audience at a football game, in a coffee shop or both?

7. Once is never enough. Frequency builds top-of-mind awareness. Audiences must receive the same message a minimum of four times before it starts to sink in.

Combining above-and below-the-line tactics, use a variety of vehicles to deliver the message. A multimedia campaign anchored by television might be supported by outdoor and print. But don't stop there. Reinforce the program with media relations and special events.

Visible, consistent messages delivered over an extended period of time are more likely to be noticed and remembered. That is why people choose Heinz[R] over other ketchup or Kleenex[R] over other brands of tissue. The audience is constantly reminded to think of the brand name first. The same principle holds true for awareness initiatives.

REAL-WORLD RESULTS: SANTA CLAUS AND SUPERHEROES

Picture Spiderman in full costume on a golf course cursing a sand trap just over the next hill. Two seniors are nodding their heads in understanding as Spiderman stomps off, golf club in hand. The announcer presents the idea: "Eventually everyone retires--even superheroes."

This AGF Mutual Funds campaign was designed to create an awareness of retirement options among Canadians aged 50-plus, and portrayed such cultural icons as Gumby and Pokey, Spiderman and Santa Claus as new retirees.

Like most successful campaigns, this one was research-based. The audience believed that if they hadn't already put enough money away for their retirement, it was too late to start. Toronto-based AGF wanted to deliver a message to the contrary: it's never too late or too early to start saving for retirement.

With a targeted message delivered by familiar and fondly remembered characters, AGF was able to build awareness of its brand in the highly competitive mutual funds market. Five years ago, unaided awareness of the company polled between 3 and 6 percent. By 2001, it had jumped to 68 percent. AGF is now tied with Fidelity as the No. 1 mutual fund company in Canada.

UDDER SUCCESS

Got Milk?[R] is an American classic. Almost everyone who has seen the campaign has a favourite ad. Yours might be the one that shows a history buff with a mouth full of peanut butter who loses US$10,000 in a radio contest because he's run out of milk and can't say "Aaron Burr." Or, perhaps it is the minister who stuffs himself with devil's-food cake and then becomes violently upset because the vending machine won't give up milk.

Desperation might seem like a strange emotion to portray, but it represents the strategic underpinning for one of the most successful awareness campaigns.

What is it about this campaign that commands attention regardless of age, gender or socioeconomic position? The answer comes from a place where regular people, with all their longings and obsessions, are reminded just how bad the world would be without milk. Can you imagine pouring apple juice on cereal or dunking cookies in iced tea? Got Milk? works for one simple reason: It is relevant and meaningful.