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- [00:00]
A
This on the Spot series is brought to you by System One. What if you could predict whether an ad or product or an idea was going to connect with consumers and be successful even before it launched? That's where System 1 comes in. They're the creative effectiveness platform that uses emotional measurement and norms to help brands predict what will truly drive growth and how to further improve it. From new product concepts and packaging to super bowl spots and social Campaigns, System System 1 enables you to create with confidence across all of your creative to learn more, check them out@systemone group.com that's system1group.com and by tracksuit. Tracksuit is the affordable, always on brand tracking tool that helps marketers and agencies answer the question is what we're doing working companies pay $100,000, which I still can't believe, or even more for brand tracking which is out of the question for most modern brands. Their in house research experts do the heavy lifting using best in class practices to craft your survey and get you results fast. Tracksuit gives you brand tracking you can afford. Check them out@gotracksuit.com that's gotracksuit.com so I just got back from the from the Grand Fe judging session in New York City. I was lucky enough to be in the judging room and a group of creatives, strategists, CMOs were judging the work. 12 people, 12 individual judges. So it is now Friday 8th May. The Grand FB winner will not be announced until the gala, the awards gala in New York City on I think it's the 20th, it's the 27th. So if you're in New York or you know, should go check it out, I won't be there for the actual EFFIE gala this year. I decided to do an episode on the judging process so that'll come out the day after the Effies. So here it is the 8th of May and I know who the Grand Effie winner is, but I am not accepting bribes. But it's really exciting to see it happen. We interviewed the judges afterwards and talked about the winning case and the others because all the other cases are gold winners already and they're going to be announced of course on the gala night. But then the Grand Effie winner is the best of all the gold winners. So pretty exciting stuff. I got to tell you, being in the judging room is a pretty eye opening experience. So hopefully I'll be able to share more about that in the episode that will drop the night after the Effie Gallas, which is May 28th. Now, speaking of May 28th, we are going to be live in Kansas City on the night of May 28th at Barclay okrp. It's a Thursday night. We would love it if you would come and hang out with us. These things are amazing opportunities to network and to meet new people. So I hear a lot that people come to our shows and they reflect upon the fact that so many, there are so many are so few opportunities, I suppose, to meet other people in your market. We tend to think that we connect with each other, but we really don't. So this is a great way to network, connect and meet some really great people. The Panel so far we have a fantastic panel for Kansas City. Brad Jones, Chief Creative Officer at Barclay okrp. Lara King is Chief Marketing Officer for the Kansas City Chiefs. So we're gonna have her explain last season's result. Howard Lobsher is Chief Strategy Officer at vml. Chris Cardetti is CSO at Barclay. And we'll have one other guest who is gonna be joining us at the roundtable. Now we always do roundtables at live events Cause I've just sort of fallen in love with that idea of people sitting around the table having a conversation versus panels of people sitting on chairs facing the audience. And it feels like a present. That's become our thing now to do actual roundtables. If you are in the Kansas City area, we would love to see you. You can get your tickets@onstrategyshowcase.com onstrategyshowcase.com under the live Tour tab. And we thank Tracksuit and we thank System One. System One is joining us as a tour sponsor this year for the first time, which is amazing. And our great friends at the Effies for helping make this live tour possible this year. This is the start of a new season of live tours and we're gonna be going to 11 cities this year, which is a record. So I'm excited about that. Now one thing I wanted to mention is that as we all know, awful lot of people are getting laid off in our industry and it sucks. And so when we're in Kansas City and we're in all of our city stops throughout this tour, we're going to be offering comp tickets for people who are finding themselves out of work in the industry. Maybe you've gotten laid off, maybe you're struggling finding a new thing. This is a great place to come and network. We bring a lot of senior people. So if you want to network, meet other people. If you're out of work, please shoot us an email at. Hello, onstrategyshowcase.com hello, onstrategyshowcase dot com just put in a note that you're, that you're looking for a comp ticket. We'll get right back to you and make it happen. Also, if you're a student now, I know it's in late May, probably all the students are gone home. But for those that consider Kansas City home, maybe you go to go to school locally, you guys are also invited. We always put aside a block of tickets for students. So the same thing. Hello, @onstrategyshowcase.com, tell us where do you go to school and we will bounce back to you and set aside a ticket. So I think it's important to do that. So we're excited and happy to do it because we love to bring everybody together at these events. So let's see, what else have I got? I think that's it. So let's talk about today's episode. This is on the spot where planners talk about brands they've never worked on. And I'm super, super excited to welcome to today's show. Landy Day is chief strategy officer at BBDO Chicago. And Omar Quinones is the Chief Strategy Officer at Lerma out of Dallas, Texas. And Lerma does the brilliant he gets us campaign, what people refer to as the Jesus campaign. Phenomenal work, some of the best work of the last five plus years in my opinion. They also do Home Depot. They do a lot of other things out of Dallas. And we're of course joined by Vanessa chin, who is SVP marketing for System 1. And our other misfit is Isaac Saracki. He is partnerships at Tracksuit. So this is our band of misfits. And this month we are talking about Subaru, which we all love, by the way, and Vaseline Verified. Hope you enjoy this one. One of the things we were talking about last week was we should also start having drinks when we're doing this show.
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B
Yes.
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A
Yeah. The unfortunate thing is we're recording this at 9am on a Monday morning.
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B
You don't know what's in this.
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A
Yeah, I'm thinking here, this cup is actually full of what I Normally drink at 6pm but hey, what can we do? But we should do that to be slightly inebriated while we're doing the show.
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C
Totally.
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D
Maybe.
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A
So we're going to be talking about two brands this month. Two brands that I think have done terrific work. One brand I know others on this call also love which is Subaru. And we have tried on many occasions to get Subaru on this show. We, we are getting closer, closer, closer. They have worked with Carmichael lynch in Minneapolis for the last 18 years or something like that. It's extraordinary the body of work that has come out of that relationship. I think Subaru is sort of a highlight in a category that is so generic. So for the most part uninteresting, for the most part has decided to sort of stick with the tropes of automotive. They must feel it works for them and the mass brands. It does, obviously. And you can talk about the science of all of that, but when you're a challenger, Landy, you can't really act that way. And I think that's at the spirit of what's going on with Subaru as a challenger. What do you think that brand stands for, Landy? And why does it act the way it acts?
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B
Well, I, I think the brand has for a long time stood for love. And I think that like you were saying, Fergus, in a category that's really selling specs like miles per gallon and horsepower and all of that, they knew that they couldn't compete in the same way as competitors with massive budgets and mass appeal. And I think when you look at a lot of other car brands, they are ultimately trying to make the car desirable. Like the car is the fantasy object. And I think what Subaru does really well is their storytelling is built around the owner and the owner and the car as the enabler of the life that the owner wants to lead and the people and the pets and the values that this person wants to protect. So I think that Subaru has veered into a space that's about making the owner's life more meaningful, where the car and the RTBs of the car become in service of that.
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A
What do you think, Omar? I mean, I own, just for disclaimers, I own two Subarus. I have an Outback and my wife drives an Ascent which is their full
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E
size SUV that tracks and for. I also used to own a Subaru when I lived in Colorado. I lived in Boulder and I had
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A
a total cliche right there, Omar, because that's where everybody thinks the Subarus are. I think it's a mandate when you become a state resident that you have to get a Subaru.
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E
I, I, I live in Austin, in Texas now and I have a pickup truck. It, it's I, I again, stereotypical.
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A
Right, I hear you.
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E
It is. But it's the thing that is interesting. Yes. The platform love has been around for a Long time and, and, and the brand really like there's an element of care that it has and a connection to emotion, to the life of his drivers that other automakers are not messaging. But I think what's interesting is it's, it's. Subaru is the anti status status symbol like cars and automakers and I've worked on Nissan and Infiniti in the past. A lot of it is driving batch value. Right. And how do you romance the metal? And I've heard our clients say this language over and over and most of the ads and the campaigns that you see, that's what they do and you see performance and they want to show features. And now that we're moving into a space of technology where cars are basically another extension and piece of tech, that's where everything lives in the space of performance. And instead of doing that, what they're doing that is really, really great, it's putting up a mirror to the lives of their audience, of their drivers. And I think that's the emotional connection they've been able to build to again punch above their weight and be a challenger brand in the space.
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B
I think this is a really interesting case of knowing who you're for as a brand and not trying to appeal to absolutely everyone. They were not trying to appeal to everyone who is in the market for a car. They did a lot of work to really understand their audience which are, you know, these sort of progressive, outdoorsy, socially conscious people and then really committing and demonstrating their. Yeah. Their commitment to this audience and really understanding them. And I think that as they go forward, I think the, the way that they can hold on to that is again, to make whatever, whatever changes they're making to their, their cars meaningful through the lens of that audience.
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D
Drafting off what you were saying, Omar, around that sort of platform that they've really invested in. And a little bit what you were saying landy around kind of. How do you open the aperture of that in terms of the new product features? One of the things that I found really interesting for Subaru specifically, and apologies if I say Subaru, that's my New Zealand coming out, but they really.
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A
Is that. How do you pronounce it in. Did they pronounce that in New Zealand or Australia?
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D
Yeah, yeah. Subaru sounds like it's called the Uprak, I hope. Exactly. They really lead the pack on standing for something and I think that's kind of paid out in that consistency. I think Share the Love has been around 18 years now and so you're starting to sort of See, just like that, you know, takes them above all the category leaders in terms of brand growth. What's interesting though, is to kind of play back to your point, Landy, the innovation aspect. They're at the bottom of the pack. So, you know, it started to kind of separate their brand perception in the mind of the consumer as, you know, being something that's very emotionally resonant but is maybe less product resonant with some of the newer consumers who are entering the market.
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A
One thing before we go to Vanessa, I wanted to share is my Subaru story, right? So when I. When I got the Subaru, it was like three years ago. I wasn't looking for a Subaru. I was in search of sort of. I was sort of like this. I think you can kind of talk about it in search of a conscious alternative. I wanted an alternative to the mass brands. So I think a lot there's a segment of their audience that is probably people that just don't want the badge that is reflected by driving a Toyota, a Honda, a Hyundai, a BMW or a Lexus that they want that sense of, not because they're adventurous people, but just because they want something that's different, which they feel is more of a reflection of themselves.
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B
Did your wife own a Subaru before?
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A
No, we actually. She owned. No, she didn't own a Subaru before, but we owned, ironically, a Honda Odyssey for 15 years when our kids were growing up. And so we were getting out of the Honda Odyssey and then she had a Volvo, I think, or something like that. And so for me, it was like giving up a kid, giving up this Honda Odyssey. I literally had emotions like that. Like. Like I dropped it off at CarMax and I felt like it was calling my name to say, why are you leaving me here?
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C
We have the opposite. We've like the opposite life. So I had a Subaru because of the love campaign, because I wore my heart on my sleeve because I'm into the purpose driven, you know, messaging. And I sought out a Subaru and wanted to be a Subaru owner. And then I just traded it for a Honda Odyssey once. I had family, though.
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A
Vanessa.
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C
Yeah. So I have two kids and we like to take road trips and there's just. You cannot match the experience of a minivan on a road trip. You really can't.
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A
I mean, I know that. I know that Subaru talks about itself as a co conspirator for the life you love. That's their line. And the co conspirator for the life you love. And all of that came out of when Carmichael first pitched was a small franchise. There had been many years of flat sales, as I mentioned earlier. But they went out and they talked to what they defined as the loyalists, the people who own those Subarus, like what Vanessa's saying. They'd owned it for years. They, they, they named their cars as part of that. And they, they talked to these people and what they sort of realized is that that one of the insights was, I think it was a planner or somebody said it, maybe not a planner. How did they say when we, when we go to, when we. There was somebody studying it. And they said when we go to parking lots, you're always going to see the most stickers on the Subaru. Right. And that's become a bumper sticker thing with Subarus that people cover them with badges. And those badges were a sense of achievement. Those badges were adventures that were taken in life. So that's what led to this sort of a co conspirator of the life that you loved. The life that you love. And that's where the dogs came from too. The dogs, the Barclays came from the fact that in mri, Subaru owners over index for owning dogs and more importantly, they over index for owning multiple dogs. So all of that led to Subaru. It's what makes a Subaru a Subaru. The love. It's what makes a Subaru a Subaru. It was out of that original observation of stickers on a car in a parking lot. Landy. I mean as planners we know that we see these little observations that can sometimes scale up over time to being great brand platforms.
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B
Yeah. And I mean I love that because I feel like again, that's another demonstration of this. What you put into the car is what makes your car a Subaru for you. Like the love you put into it. And I, I mean there's, I can't imagine many car brands being proud to put stickers all over like and they had a spot, one of the ones that, that I watched in the past couple days about all those badges that you put on, on the brand or on the car. So. But I think that the dogs is interesting because it's sort of like, like the, the most charming proof of love. And I think if you're a brand that's going to stand for love, you have, you can't, you can't just assert it. I mean they actually do a lot of things that love is, you know, a platform that is, you know, they love pets, they love education, they love learning. Like, like they really do A lot, and they've stayed committed to that. And I. I do think that's commendable in our industry, where the. The tendency is to change and pivot every year and chase trends or chase numbers. And I feel like they've done an incredible job demonstrating the consistency can be a driver of growth.
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A
So Vanessa isn't feeling great today. So we've been sort of limiting Vanessa's poor throat, which is killing her. But this is the time for Vanessa to shine. So what we're going to do, we're going to play a couple of the spots we've been talking about, the dogs, and then I want each of you to guess what you think it scored on. System one's ranking of one to 5.9.
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C
5.9. Yeah.
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A
5.9.
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C
Yep.
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So let's play the spot. The first one is old friend. So here's that spot
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E
I found you so long ago, Andrew.
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D
On an endless road
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C
hey.
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A
Go home.
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C
Banjo.
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D
Hi. I was so worried. Sorry.
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A
It won't happen again.
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C
After 10 years, we've covered a lot of miles.
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B
Good thing I got a Subaru.
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A
Looks like you got out again, huh, Banjo? Okay, so, old friend, I'm going to make. I'm going to write it down, what your guesses are, then whoever wins will get, like, a mimosa sent to them through the mail for next time.
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C
All right, so, Landy, the 1.1 to 5.9 is for. It's our star rating, and it's for long term brand growth potential.
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D
Right.
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A
So let's do that with that. What do you think, Landy?
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B
Oh, I'm gonna give it a 4.2.
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A
4.2. Isaac?
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D
I was gonna go 4.2, so I'm gonna go 4.1.
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A
Omar, what are you giving?
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E
I'm gonna go higher than. I'll. I will say 4.5.
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A
We're all in the four points. I'm gonna go 5.2.
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E
You're betting big on the dog.
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C
It's a Subaru owner bias. It's like a
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A
Subaru owner who doesn't have a sticker on their car, though.
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C
Oh, okay. We gotta get you one.
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E
Listen, dogs always pass well, too, so I think they're.
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A
Yeah, exactly. Right? Yeah. Yeah. All right, Vanessa, tell us about the spot, what works and what it rated at.
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C
Yeah, sure. So old friend was a 4.5 star rating. And I always like to give category context. So the automotive category is one of the lower ones, and it's 2.3. So this is significantly higher than that. When I say why would. Why Is it not in the five point range potentially because of branding? So it was 87, which is very, which was good, but it's not, it wasn't immediately recognizable as, as Subaru. And so, you know, what this work does is really just dynamic storytelling, which I know I talk a lot about on this show. But having a spectrum of emotions and having a beginning, middle and an end to a story even within 30 seconds can provide you with a really strong emotional response. So that's what you see here. And you know, as I mentioned before, this one reflects a functional RTB of, you know, been on the road for, you know, 90, 97 of the cars are on the road and you have that RTB solidified at the end. But the story is essentially sharing over the course of 10 years plus you know what that looks like.
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A
So really like a Super bowl spot to me, that one.
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C
It was like a Super bowl spot. And then when it comes to, I
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A
know you guys, maybe a horse would run in with a Budweiser 10 pack on its thing and the you dog would jump up.
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E
The only thing missing to get a five.
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A
Go ahead, Vanessa.
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C
Oh, no, I was just going to say, you know, I think I mentioned it before, but purpose work isn't dead, it's just purpose, you know, the right purpose work that is authentic to you. I mean how they're doing the, all of the pet care programs. When you buy a Subaru, you get to donate to causes and their connections to the SPCA and their connection to adoption events and they're living and breathing that day in and day out. Purpose work just, you know, needs showmanship and it needs authenticity and it can really work for you.
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A
Yeah, I agree, I agree. Okay. Squeak is the second spot. This is a little different. So this is the, this is the Barclays dog family as opposed to the Barclays podcast in the uk. For those in the UK listening, we want to give a shout out to the Barclays. And if you don't watch, if you've never watch the in betweeners, that, that, that wonderful show from back in the day, the Barkleys is, is James Barkley and his wife different Barkleys here. So this is the family of, of what are they? What's the breed of that dog? It's not. What the hell are they?
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B
Golden retrievers.
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A
Golden retrievers. So, so here.
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C
The fun just keeps going. The all new all electric Subaru Solterra dog tested dog approved.
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A
Okay, so let's talk about this one a little different style still has a dog. The family of dogs what do we think, Landy, on this one? What are you going to guess? You got to, you got to. You're going to. I think you're going to win this one, Landy.
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B
Oh, wow. Okay. No pressure. Well, I think that they're a recognizable asset for the brand. So I'm going to go a little higher. I'm going to go 4.6.
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A
Isaac.
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D
I'm going to go in at 4. I feel like the. There's a lot of dog stuff in
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A
there, but too much dog. A lot of dog.
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D
Subaru.
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A
Are you a dog owner, Isaac?
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D
No, I'm a prospective dog owner. Always looking. Never, never again.
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A
Omar.
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E
I would say 4.3. I'm gonna go.
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A
Oh, my God. I'm gonna go like, I'm gonna go back to 5.2. Because you can't get better dog. If a dogification of a spot than this. Everybody loves a dog. And then you got a family of dogs. It's like. It's like a Disney movie in a Subaru. All right, Vanessa, bust our bubble.
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C
All right. It's a 4.8. And what this spot is bringing to the table is they aren't just dogs, they're actually dogs providing you with human reaction. So they have these, like, knowing glances between one another and this implicit communication that's happening. It is really, really spectacular filmmaking when it comes to bringing these dogs to life. So that really gives you that extra, like, right brain boost. So, yeah, really strong with 4.8.
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D
I love that.
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A
Landy, you won 4.6 to 4 to 4.6, apparently. Okay, let's talk about the next one. Let's talk about Vaseline. So this one, this one got on my radar because I wanted to do. Because I've gotten some feedback that people say that you guys are always talking about campaigns that have TV spots. And so I was like, okay, I get that. That's a fair comment. And we do that because it tends to be that the TV spot is a great manifestation of the strategy. We don't screen cases for the show based upon whether they have a TV spot or not. But we look at that as a creative expression, not as a selection of a channel. But taking that in, I was thinking, okay, let's look at a campaign that's really social first and is a really strong example of that. And that turned out to be Vaseline verified. Landy, let's talk about what do you think of the state of that brand and what it stands for or stood for before this?
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B
I mean, they've had an incredible resurgence. I Think it's like one of those brands that's like a dusty brand that's been in your grandma's bathroom for forever and they've, you know, it's like that old.
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A
It's like that old jar of honey, that old jar of Marmite that's at the back of the shelf and you discover it one day and you're like, oh, shit.
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B
Yeah, we've. I feel like I've worked on a tons a ton of these kinds of brands where there's a lot of trust but low desire. And the interesting thing, I mean, I think that there was a little bit of luck and then of course they were smart enough not to ruin it with, you know, the fact of the skincare hacks and Vaseline becoming part of a beauty cheat code, like with slugging, where basically you lock in moisture with Vaseline. So I feel like that's something that kind of organically happened, but then they really took it and activated it in a brilliant way. Like they listened, they validated, they scaled it, they were part of a conversation and they just tapped into that and amplified it brilliantly.
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A
Yeah, it's sort of the idea, Omar, they went from, or they're attempting to go because Vaseline Verified is just one part of a platform called Healing that's been active for probably five or six years. But so they're on a journey. But it's this desire to go from sort of this mass market petroleum jelly, as Landy's saying, that your grandmother used to more of a social first skincare brand. Because that entire category has changed. Has completely changed. Right?
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E
Yeah. And that's really the brilliant thing about this because the whole thing around validated versatility, the thing that it's doing for them is they're playing into the social conversation and these hacks that people are sharing and they're adding an element to it which is again, they're actually validating these hacks in a category that is constantly messaging around. You think about survey, for example, and some of the other categories in the space. There's always the trusted dermatologist, scientific sort of take into these things. And this is like a nice little bridge between that. It's a fun way of sort of saying, great, we know you've got all these hacks, we're going to step in there and actually tell you whether or not they work stamp of approval from the brand. But also they get a chance to work in the platforms and the conversations that people are having and find new and different ways of using the product and inspiring the use of the product that isn't coming directly from the brand. They're not talking at you, trying to educate you, just coming from, from, from peers.
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B
I mean I think that they had a lot more to gain by recognizing all the utility that people were bringing to this product. And especially in the face of like the DTC skincare and you know, how expensive these products are. The idea that this is sort of like the anti, you know, expensive skin care that's just already in, in your, in your cabinet. So I feel like it was the fact that it was actually again already physically available for many people. Everyone already knows it. There's no friction. And so I think that there, there were with a lot of upside for them. I mean and now you know, they're actually creating products based on the hacks that people used. So again I what I also love about what they've done, I mean they, they stand for skin health for all and they've done a lot of things actually over time to demonstrate, you know, how they are trying to help people achieve their, you know, skin health in different markets and, and all over the world. But what I also like is that they, it's not a one and done it wasn't that they just did this activation and then they went back to whatever, you know, whatever they were doing, they're continuing to, to feed it. And I think that when you think about a modern brand, a culturally resonant brand, that's what you have to be doing. You have to be staying in the conversation and not, you know, just getting your win and then receding.
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A
What does it look like tracking wise Isaac?
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D
Yeah, it's super interesting and to the, to the cerave point it's really the story of large skincare brands is syrupy and Vaseline today, right. They are going after Gen Z and you've got Vaseline who's effectively the most trusted brand among Gen Z which you know, for 150-year-old petroleum jelly brand is a pretty impressive accolade.
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A
So to that point though, Isaac, is, is this about in the tracking? I assume it's more than the, the petroleum jelly because they have, they have a full line of skin care products. Right. Lotions and other things. But so you, are you looking at Vaseline as a brand or Vaseline as a product?
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D
Looking at Vaseline as a brand and I think as it's kind of what you were saying Landy. Right. Like you've got, I'm like I'm looking at my apartment today and I can see five different pots of Vaseline.
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A
Let's talk about that. Dude, are you serious? You can see five different packs of Vaseline.
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D
It's like, it's like, are you in a store showing up and. And I think it's like, it's connecting those emotionally resonant moments, right, that we were talking about into that every day. It is already right here. And I think it's very hard to do that for any kind of upstart brand. Right. Like, you know, from a pure availability perspective, instead of going out and spending on your subscription DTC product, you're starting to see that. And I think it's really interesting. Like we deep dived into the Gen Z component opponent and they're sort of, they're leading the entire category for 18 to 34 across pretty much all metrics.
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A
Vaseline is Vaseline.
- [32:42]
D
Yeah, yeah. Pretty neck and neck with Cerave, interestingly. And I think CeraVe is quite an interesting sort of competitor brand because they're really kind of going after that same space, especially with that Michael Sierra work from super bowl, which is amazing. I think different use cases, but kind of.
- [33:00]
A
But I would think that the. I would think, Isaac, that that category is riddled with brands because Cerave and Vaseline, they're trying to reinsert themselves into a category that is driven by fame and popularity and TikTok creators and TikTok influencers rather than the way it used to be. Even the dermatologist recommended products or what's on shelf is mattering less than, you know, it's mattering less than what's on your website or in your ad because people are going to social platforms for insights and recommendations on new products. So I'm surprised that it's just Cerave and Vaseline.
- [33:37]
D
I mean, you've got other players there, but there's a massive delta. Like if I look at the preference data over the last six months and I think this is kind of where Vaseline Verified has really played a big role or, you know, things like that. They've gone up 3% in preference in the last six months for gen Z. You've got Evia, who is from what
- [33:57]
A
to what from what did they go from? I always hate when people say up three points. I'm like, okay, they went from 12%
- [34:04]
D
to 15%, which is pretty substantial preference for preference preference. Hardest metric to move Nivea in the same period, down five points. And the category as a whole is flat.
- [34:16]
E
What they're doing, the challenge is very common for cpg. Like physical availability is there for these brands. It's Just the mental availability that they're trying to drive and leaning into social conversation, meme culture hacks. I mean, that's a perfect way of driving that. I can see so many parallels in other brands that would benefit from doing the same. You think about Arm and hammer and baking soda and all the different uses for baking soda that people are constantly sharing, creating this, this content online with WD40. Right. Like everyone has a can of WD40 in a garage somewhere. You don't even know what it's for. When things squeak, you can use it for so many other things. And just finding these tips and tricks and inspiration, that's the thing that people are stopping, thumb stopping content on social platforms.
- [35:08]
A
That's interesting. You're right. Yeah, yeah.
- [35:10]
E
Huge opportunity for so many other brands to follow the playbook.
- [35:15]
A
So Vanessa, let's talk about. I don't even know, how did you go about testing? And Landy had a question for me the other day. Right. Which was like, go ahead and ask. No, no, no.
- [35:25]
B
I just was curious about how. Because I've had many Clients Use System 1, so I was just curious, how would you go about testing this social first platform?
- [35:35]
C
Sure. So what I decided to do in this instance, I mean the thing about this campaign is the sheer scale of it. It really is in a league of its own to completely. They've hacked the entire hack culture of, of, you know, of TikTok. But what I wanted to do is I, I tested a sample of creator and UGC led TikToks and then wanted to see if it reflected what we saw in our study, the long and short form of it, where we tested thousands of social ads and kind of categorized them in brand traditional TikToks. That would be like taking a TikTok ad from a campaign, like from a 360 campaign. TikToks that are a little bit more brand native. So like social first kind of social, only built for social and then creator led. And what we found in our study was that the most powerful TikToks were those that were creator led but had really great early branding because we know the scroll is so important on that platform. And so when I tested the Vaseline work, I saw that same thing play out. So the norms are very low for social. They're like in the one range. Like the average social asset gets like a 1.2 or something like that for emotional appeal.
- [37:00]
A
Is that how we would define it?
- [37:01]
C
Yeah, we do the same rating star spike and fluency. And what I saw was the creator led work that had the strongest early branding, had the strongest scores. And that's what's so incredible about this campaign is that it's a product demonstration, but not. They've totally flipped that on its head, but they've still put the product and branding in context at the heart of it. And it's unexpected context too. Yeah, unexpected. And that's that flip that like unexpected from what you expect a product demonstration to be is what makes this campaign just light up the right brain and make it really emotionally strong. But of the body of work, seeing the creators have the brand right at the start, start and give that story were the highest scores that I saw across the valley of work.
- [38:05]
A
For those who haven't seen it, I want to just explain it a little bit about what this whole thing is about. Vaseline verified. So the agency, by the way, is Ogilvy in Singapore that did this and it came out last year. But what we're talking about is in Vaseline verified is the social listening aspect of this. They began to notice and I'm assuming the agency did this, we're going to give them credit for it. And just one other shout out. I know other agencies were involved in this too. I think Edelman was involved, I think VaynerMedia was involved. Sometimes we get emails, people saying, you forgot to mention us. But anyway, so in the social listening, they began to see how people were using Vaseline. But some of these things in ways people were using Vaseline were just plain bizarre, right? People were, well, I mean bizarre. For example, some dude suggested that he was swallowing it to better improve his skin quality. So you don't want that shit going on. But then other people would use it. Like I put Vaseline on my nose of my dog when it's dry. I put it on the lens of my camera to give me an instant sort of a moody look. I brush my teeth with it, right? So there was all of these things that were going on that were fun user generated content, right? So then what they decided to do is to then take these ideas and give it to their in house scientists and dermatologists inside Vaseline to either verify them as real or to debunk them. And then what they did was they took the ones that were verified and they sent those people this kit that says you're Vaseline verified in terms of your application. And then to Landy's point, some of them got turned into products of bottles of Vaseline with the label on them that said. I don't know what the wording was, but it wasn't the distinct product, but it was a suggested use for it on the label. So all of these layers of activity were creating layers of energy and social virality that had every. A lot of people talking about it. And it had a significant impact on sales. I don't think it's one. I may be wrong with this. I know it won at Cannes last year big time.
- [40:14]
B
Yeah, massive.
- [40:15]
A
Yeah, massive, right? And I don't know if it's won in FE yet, but I can imagine based upon the data that was in the case that it probably. It probably does. But that's what this whole campaign is about, right?
- [40:30]
C
TikTok has become one of the most
- [40:32]
B
alarming in terms of setting trends that are unsafe.
- [40:34]
C
Filtering out the good advice to some dangerous recommendations can be tricky.
- [40:43]
D
For the first time, our scientists tested viral hacks in the lab.
- [40:47]
A
Hacks that worked were officially verified and
- [40:49]
D
dangerous ones were unverified.
- [40:55]
B
I made a video showing a hack
- [40:56]
A
of how I look after my beard using Vaseline.
- [40:58]
B
Vaseline said, okay, let's test it out. And they took it to the lab and it works. I'm verified. Verified.
- [41:03]
A
We're taking this to the lab. We're getting scientists involved.
- [41:06]
B
I made a silly video showing this hack years ago, and now it's been officially verified and turned into a brand film.
- [41:12]
D
Official trophy box from the team at Vaseline. Thank you very much. Much to Vaseline for making my hat Verified.
- [41:17]
E
This may be my promise award.
- [41:19]
B
Yeah, I think a lot of brands to. The conversation we were having earlier could have really fumbled the moment, you know, by either missing the moment or, you know, overclaiming or trying to step into it too soon. Like, I think that what they did so well was they let it grow organically and they didn't try to interrupt it too early. And I think that it was. Their timing was also unbelievable. And I think that they'd already started to do some of the repositioning work before, like, you know, slugging really exploded in terms of skin health. And they're, you know, dermatologists recommended and they're everyday accessible. But I think that just the. They had lightning in a bottle. And then the way. The way. And the timing in which they activated against it was, you know, was why they. Why they're going to have huge success. They're having huge success.
- [42:10]
E
That's also that. That thing that figures that you mentioned that there's a power in the fact that they are. It's putting the arms around the subcultures and social communities because like all these different hacks, they actually Live in different spaces. Like what comes to mind particularly for the Latino community here, Vicks VapoRub as an example. Like if you were to talk to Latinos, Viva por. Which is how the shorthand for how you would even say it's, it's, it's almost, it's a. I can't, I can't even tell you the emotional equity that that brand has within that community because it's used for everything. Like, so like a traditional Hispanic mother, you can have Covid or you can have a cold and doesn't matter. And like this is the thing that cures everything. You use it for absolutely everything. There is no other community that uses the product in the way that that cultural segment does. So why not lean into that? Like what Vaseline is doing now, it's opening the door for them to have like a deeper conversation into these segments and subcultures. And again, it's all about driving growth. I can imagine how this is going to then give them extra inspiration for product development. I can see how this can drive a lot of innovation.
- [43:32]
B
Yeah, they actually did launch a line called Vaseline Originals that was developed with Ogilvy Singapore that is based on the hack. So like, for example, there's like the eyebrow, you know, brush or whatever, or like the highlighter jelly. So like they actually are now creating products that they are selling. And I guess they launched on TikTok shop and it sold out like within minutes. This just happened like in the past month or two.
- [43:58]
A
So. God, you know, so I suppose I was wrong to say in the first half of this when we were talking about Subaru and that some of the fun, most fun you'll have is on Challenger brands. Hey, maybe I'm wrong. I mean, maybe it's. I mean, some of these big legacy brands are doing some really great shit. I mean, Sarah V. I mean in this category and in others, they're. I think they're reinventing the way they go to market and how they think about what a brand is and how they think about how a brand needs to behave. And the curse of what we always faced back in the day, which was, oh, it's not against the brand guidelines. I mean, Jesus, come on. So, you know, brand is not a static thing. So there's a lot of exciting things happening, right?
- [44:42]
D
Yeah. And I think you see it in the data as well. Like because of all these new brands, the barrier to entry has never been lower to create effectively a one to one product. And so if you have enough money and you put some spin behind it, you know, a DTC brand can grow. You saw it with, you see it with grunts who just sold for however much is, you know, fiber gummies. Right. Like not a terribly hard product to make. Well, I say that but I've never done it. But you know, relatively speaking. And I think the big brands have to respond in a way that is creatively relevant, emotionally resonant and protects the brand equity that they've built. And you know, I think there's an opportunity for that them to keep the space that they already own and really lock that mental share in.
- [45:28]
A
Let me go around the table. I forgot to mention this to our guests, so I'm putting them on the spot. Is there any observations you have when you look at Vaseline and you look at Subaru that you think are important to sort of highlight? Just give us like a, just give us 15 sec, 10 to 15 seconds of what are you struck by when you look at both of these brands? And as you'll see, probably can tell I'm talking for a lot longer than I normally talk. So I can give you time to think. So just kind of maybe a quick comment on each one. I'm going to start with, I'll start with Vanessa, then I'll go to Landy, then I'll go to Omar and we'll wrap up with Isaac. So Vanessa. Did I say Vanessa first? Yeah. So Vanessa, what do you think? Learnings?
- [46:12]
C
Sure. With Subaru, I really think that major learning is compound creativity. They've stuck with the same agency, they stuck with the same campaign and we've measured the impact of that and it's significant. So I, I commend them for that. When it comes to Vaseline, when you are building creative for social, please do not fear your product. Get that early branding in its power is only second to a sonic asset. So really think through where your products can be featured.
- [46:48]
A
Landee.
- [46:49]
B
Yes, I would say that for me, what is consistent for both of these brands we talked about today is that they both know what they stand for at the core and that they live it every day. And I think that in the case of Subaru, I mean they had to behave differently. They had to find a space that they could uniquely own and then they stuck with it for decades. Obviously where they, how they've gotten here and where they need to get to, they might have to to evolve. But I feel like they, they still know and have stuck with what they're about. And same thing with Vaseline, they're about skin health for all. Democratizing skin health and then they had an opportunity to actually validate the skin hacks that were happening with their product and they, they went out and did that in a brilliant way.
- [47:39]
A
Yeah, super smart. Omar.
- [47:42]
E
Again, I think we're going to be really consistent in our takeaways. But like, at the end of the day, both of these brands are navigating something that we do for all of our clients, which is this tension almost between consistency and reinvention. And you have some brands that have built equity. How do you maintain that equity? How do you still support the core but still find ways of generating new energy behind those efforts and campaigns and engaging with new customers? And on the other side, on the fact of almost like reinvention, innovation, like even a brand as established as Vaseline, finding new ways of engaging with, with audiences and particularly where they are and, and, and moving their brand from something that was maybe dusty on a shelf to something that is this live has all this energy on, on social. That's, that's, that's what we do for all of our brands.
- [48:35]
A
And now Isaac, wrapping up with you.
- [48:38]
D
Yeah, I mean, I think both of these brands are very pleasing to, I think ad nerds like us. Right. You've got emotionally consistent, you know, long relationships being sort of taken down, a, you know, building distinctive brand assets with Subaru. And I think on the Vaseline side, you've got a brand and an agency really listening to their consumer and making work for their consumer. And I think both are just great case studies and how to build strong, emotionally resonant brands. And, and back when I was agency side, that's the kind of conversation we'd be having and it's great to see it in market and proven out in the data.
- [49:16]
A
Thank you guys. Wanna let everybody know that we are back on live tour. We're sucker for punishment. We're back on live tour. This new season starts May 28th. We're in Kansas City at Barkley okrp. We're gonna have a conversation about ideas born in, in Kansas, or maybe it's Missouri because, you know, Kansas City. There's two Kansas Cities. One's in Kansas, one's in Missouri. So we're a little bit confused, but we're at Barclay okrp May 28th. You can get tickets on our website at onstrategyshowcase.com, they're available now and we have a great panel including the CMO of the Kansas City Chiefs who we are going to interrogate about last season. So we'll figure that all out. I want to thank Omar Quinones. Quinones, chief Strategy Officer at Lerma in Dallas. Brilliant work out of the agency. Landy Day is chief Strategy Officer at BBDO in Chicago. Vanessa Chin, svp, marketing at System One, and Isaac Saracki's partnerships for Tracksuit. You guys were awesome. Again, thank you so much for doing this. Applause all around. And next time we will have cocktails as we make it all happen.
- [50:29]
E
You did it already.
- [50:30]
A
Yes. Good man. And we'll see everybody next month on the spot. Have a great month, guys.