The campaign is asking consumers to help reinvent the Wagon Wheel with a big social media play.

The objective of the campaign seems to be to create a new more youthful audience / consumer for the Wagon Wheel.

One observation is that the retro 1970s angle seem more tightly aligned with the original consumer (now in their 30s), rather than the new. It is nostalgic, the prizes (a random selection of iconic yet low value 80s products and games – there is an $8008 ‘Random. But Right’ cash prize on offer) take us back to our childhood, more innocent days that probably featured the Wagon Wheel.

The campaign is fronted by four crusty fictional characters (the Production Innovation Team) that I don’t think  resonate, engage or amuse. In fact, they simply reinforce the perception that the product is dusty, out-dated and un-cool.

Arnotts acknowledge the passion that consumers have for the brand (in this case ‘mums’):

“It really is an incredible brand that consumers have an amazing amount of passion for. And one of the main attractions in the acquisition was the fact that it hadn’t been looked after as much as we would like to look after the brand. It hadn’t had a great deal of investment.”

But does the campaign look after the brand? The older audience for this campaign (grocery decision makers now) are asked to reinvent something that they love. They’re being asked to change something that holds a special place in their hearts (by Arnott’s own admission).

Consumers can enter the competition via the microsite, either by submitting their own design for the ‘reinvent-ion of the perfect wagon wheel’ or by combining a variety of options to create their own version. They can chose from a variety of shapes (snowman, football, triangle, flower, dinosaur etc.) and select a flavour (chicken, pizza, white choc, marmalade) and then opt for one of six coatings, including white choc, dark choc, cheese and honeycomb.

Who is this campaign aimed at – the competition entry mechanic might appeal to a young teenager but its not going to work for the community that is famliar with the Wagon Wheel.

There are some tactical errors in my opinion as well. The campaign seems to carry too many ‘labels’. We have the ‘WagonWheeler‘ Twitter profile, the ‘EatZeeWagonWheel‘ YouTube channel, the ‘WagonWheels‘ Facebook Page/ ‘Wagon Wheels‘ campaign microsite (including images, which can’t be downloaded) and ‘Random but Right’.

The integration between the various social media elements seems haphazard, there are 5 videos on the YouTube channel but only two of those are included in the Facebook Page. The Community Guidelines are very formal, they’re not presented in the voice of any member of the Product Reinvention Team. The Info Tab on the Page looks like a cut and paste, it bears no resemblance with the campaign or its messaging.

The microsite does pop up in the first page of Google Australia search results for ‘Wagon Wheel’.

The social media elements of the campaign seem to have stalled from what I can see. The Twitter following(49 followers/following 57) is not going anywhere fast and the Facebook ‘likes’ are at a similar point to my last check a few weeks back. The most popular video on YouTube has received just under 1,500 views in a week (not bad). The microsite has gained 165 Facebook ‘likes’ since its launch a few weeks back.

This is just one part of an integrated campaign for the Wagon Wheel. It may all come together in a coherent package at some point but, for me, the various dots aren’t yet lining up. It seems like someone had a lot of fun creating this but I don’t think the result is engaging or compelling for the target audience, whoever that is.

Arnotts, as an Australian brand, has huge potential to do some fun stuff in social media but this feels like a campaign that is looking for an audience.

It certainly lives up to the ‘Random’ part of its catchphrase but is it ‘Right?’

It is particularly true today.  The Internet has empowered consumers to challenge, advocate and interact with the companies of their choosing via readily available and inexpensive forms of mass media.

Marketing conversations were largely one dimensionl pre-Internet.  Regular and hopefully relevant messages were filtered via various marketing channels and disciplines to the end customer.  They were generally self serving:

Look at this new product!
Take up this offer on this new package!
Here’s what we think about this. Aren’t we smart/committed/interesting?

The conversations were intermittent and short lived – more often than not the communication existed to drive sales, acquire new customers or build a brand image.  Budgets and marketing finance decisions were similarly focused on near-term outcomes.  Business priorities  were identified at the beginning of the year and then in quarterly planning cycles.  Dollars, Pounds, Rupee, Dinar etc. would be allocated.

Most companies still manage their marketing programs in this way today.

At the end of the fiscal year, if the marketing department has done its ‘job’ properly, all of the dollars are spent.   Like a deciduous tree all of the leaves have fallen off and the tree remains bare for a period of time .

The conversation goes on hold.

This isn’t a problem if the company is continually talking about itself but if the company has been successful in initiating a conversation, then consumer’s will notice – unhappily.

Many well established marketing practices are no longer relevant or useful in the context of social media, including traditional approaches to budgeting.  Social media demands that brands commit fully to the online conversation – you can’t pull in and pull out when it suits you.

One way for companies to tackle this issue is to embed social media engagement (and related costs) inside standard business process.

Ford has a plan to have 2% of its workforce telling the story of their lives at Ford via social media.  This combined with a dedicated resource for social media strategy and measurement allows the company to engage in authentic conversation over the l0ng term.

Failure to identify the necessary resources for social media engagement is one of the main reasons why projects fail to get off the ground, in my experience.  Lack of resources is one issue but cultural and procedural structural barriers to the long term view are another.

Senior marketing professionals need to adjust their mindset, and that of their organisation, to the new dynamics of social media and continuous conversation.

The challenge for this year’s competition, which is supported by the United Nations, is biodiversity.  The challenge for entrants is to communicate that our lifestyle and consumption habits have to change if we want to stop the destruction of our ecosystems and keep our planet alive.

The brief is wide open for creative interpretation.  Students must respond to the following criteria:

1. One big idea executed in a poster format.  This could be as an 8-sheet, 30-sheet or transit poster.
2. Entrants are requested to create a branding device or logo that can be instantly and international identified with biodiversity.
3. Taglines and headlines provide instant information on a topic.  Entrants should include either or both of these on their poster.
4. Entrants must support their ideas with a compelling rationale that identifies your target audience and explains the inspiration for the idea (max. 300 words).
5. Poster and rationale must be in English.
6. Entrants should not include either the IAA or Dentsu logos in their work.
7. Entries must be submitted by 1 March 2010.

Full details for the second IAA-Dentsu Global Student Poster Competition are available here.

The Global Winner will receive a trophy, cash prize of US$1,000 and the opportunity to present their work at the United Nations. 

• A travel allowance of US$3,000 is also included in the prize.
• The second prize is US$500
• The third prize is US$300

Regional Finalists will receive trophies and all entrants will receive an IAA-Dentsu Global Student Poster Competition certificates.

The Global Winner will be announced on May 1st 2010.  And, the top three winning entries will be exhibited at the 2010 IAA World Congress May 12th-14th 2010 in Moscow, and at the 2010 Cannes Lions.  The competition provides a great opportunity for aspiring talent to show off their creativity, insights and art work on a global industry stage.

The first Global Poster Competition focused on the issue of climate change.  The first prize (World Champion) went to Matias Fernandez, Universidad Argentina de la  in Buenos Aires for a piece of work entitled Thermometer.  

I am a Board Member for the Australian Chapter of the International Advertising Association.