Getting contextual on the 'Net: Ogilvy coins brand relevance for all

<p>Give the new Pond's Institute website the once over and you'd be </p><p>forgiven for thinking you'd navigated yourself onto a beauty portal. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But since when did translating a brand onto the Web get this sexy? </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>According to OgilvyInteractive Asia-Pacific CEO Kent Wertime, since the </p><p>moment ecommerce took off and the consumer was put in the driving </p><p>seat. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Coining "Contextual Marketing" as the change in marketing tactics for </p><p>clients making the 'Net leap, Ogilvy has equated product, education and </p><p>information as the new marketing tenets. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"We've seen that clients are genuinely befuddled about how they can </p><p>begin to get on the 'Net in a relevant way," Mr Wertime told </p><p>CReATION. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Contextual marketing crystalises the way in which clients are going to </p><p>have to reassess their communications to consumers when they get on the </p><p>'Net". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Featuring the product and its attributes on a website no longer cuts the </p><p>mustard - today's consumers are lifestyle, not product-driven, </p><p>junkies. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>And a journey to Pond's Institute website (www.pondsinstitute-hk.com) </p><p>shows the site's key draws - funky graphics and consumer-centric </p><p>customisation/personalisation. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But products are only a fraction of the offering, with areas such as </p><p>Your Skin, Skinformation, and Let's Talk, a chatroom for users to </p><p>contact celebrities online. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"It was very important for the site to be totally on-brand," said </p><p>Unilever Hong Kong marketing controller, Helen Chow. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Both the website and (real-world) counters reflect the Pond's values of </p><p>an honest approach to beauty". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>According to Mr Wertime, for many OgilvyInteractive clients launching </p><p>Web-ward, being willing and able to address a wider range of topics </p><p>outside the brand alone is essential. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"But, again, they need to be prepared to understand more about what the </p><p>context (of the brand) is. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"If you go back over the last 40 years, product marketing has been about </p><p>the soup in the can or the brand image around the can - everything under </p><p>the sun was done to improve soup sales with new ingredients, secret </p><p>ingredients, all natural ingredients," he said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>This time, the 'Net is ringing the changes, throwing open extra brand </p><p>dimensions, and in the mindset of contextual marketing, soup becomes </p><p>more than just soup - it's about family nutrition; likewise, babies' </p><p>nappies are more than just nappies - they are synonymous with </p><p>parenting. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"The 'Net has provided a way of inculcating a depth of consumer </p><p>understanding in a way that, frankly, other forms of marketing and </p><p>communication weren't able to do in a mass sense," Mr Wertime said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Once on the Web, the context of a product within a richer, broader, </p><p>lifestyle framework is the key to a consumer's heart - and 'vortal' is </p><p>the latest buzzword. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"In the context of the Internet, people are used to portals; however, </p><p>the goal of a lot of our clients is not to develop a portal per se, but </p><p>a vortal - vertical portals featuring everything about a particular </p><p>subject," said Mr Wertime. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>While FMCG companies such as Unilever are largely leading the contextual </p><p>marketing revolution, the Web has forced them to change die-hard </p><p>marketing habits. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Today, they have to be about product and service and this seems strange </p><p>for an FMCG, because they'll say 'what I'm selling is a product that </p><p>sits on a shelf'. Increasingly in the wireless world, you're going to </p><p>see that all companies have to have more of a service element to their </p><p>brands." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Taking Coca-Cola Europe's lead for easier location of its products on </p><p>the Web - even going so far as having WAP-enabled vending machines which </p><p>use wireless virtual credit as payment - Mr Wertime remains pragmatic: </p><p>"The 'Net is an exciting opportunity for marketers but it's also a </p><p>demanding new space. It's not something you should walk into lightly, </p><p>without understanding what consumers really want." </p><p><BR><BR> </p>