Peek Inside

Irin

a To

neA

cco

unt

Pla

nner

I spent 4 years studying the antithesis of Advertising: Philosophy I fell in love with writing and became a Copywriter I think reading Dostoyevsky is more insightful on human nature than a hundred consumer research projects I sometimes trust my gut more than my reason, so I left everything in Romania and moved to America I’m 60% left brain

I am a planner

even though

Because looking at soccer fans cheering on a stadium will always be more fascinating than watching Nike ads. Because living in too many places gave me an insider’s eye but an outsider’s perspective. Because my curiosity nearly killed me when I was 7 and I gulped gasoline from my dad’s canister, to see if I could run faster. Because I can imagine a world without ads but not without The New Yorker, Isabel Allende or Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Because I think our habit of standing on our feet is the biggest obstacle in seeing things differently.

The following is an account of how Miami Ad School helped me think like a planner.

2

A Case ofBrand Anemia

Patient: The Vitamin ShoppeAccount PlannersIrina TonePamela Gant

Art DirectorMiranda Peterson

CopywriterJulio Aenlle

3

A SCHIZOPHRENIC SITUATIONThe Vitamin Shoppe is caught between the ‘muscle-milk’ male-targeted market and wellness-minded women who shop there for vitamins, but don’t feel they belong to that 110% masculine store environment.

GROCERIES HOLD THE BIGGEST SHARE OF HEALTHGroceries and supermarkets account for 70% of the vitamin sales. A two-fold explanation: first, people look for convenience, and second, because vitamins are a commodity product, there’s no brand loyalty at the purchase moment.

+ the third one...Talking to women in stores, we found out that our ‘grocery shoppers’ don’t see any value in going to specialized vitamin stores, because they feel that sales associates there don’t know what to recommend anyway.

OBJECTIVE Drive young, wellness-minded women to the stores

INSIGHT ALWAYS LOOKING FOR A SECOND OPINION WHEN IT COMES TO HEALTH ISSUES. Shoppers are supersavvy and know what supplements to buy before they go in the store, because they’ve done their research, but they need a second credible source to assure them.

THE ‘BIG AISLES’The VS’s real competition are not other retail chains, e.g. GNC, but the BIG AISLES: wholesale stores, supercenters, and drugstores.In this case, the VS needs to give ‘grocery shoppers’ a strong enough reason to go there and to fulfill a need that the ‘big aisles’ don’t.

STRATEGYEVEN EINSTEIN WOULD ASK US QUESTIONS. Creating a strong differentiator for VS which no one in the market owns now: being the knowledgeable health advice source at the moment of purchase.

Checking out the store and talking to women there gave us a clear sense of the problem...

Step 1: Looking at the industry to confirm a hunch:’grocery shoppers’.

Step 2: Find the enemy.

Step 3: Digging for insightsFinally, finding them on the health section of Yahoo Answers. Women ask complicated questions on health issues. Their posts clearly show they are health-savvy above the average, but still, they are looking for validation.

Task: Position the brand in order to attract a young female target.

4

Why are we advertising?Drive new customers to The Vitamin Shoppe store and existing customers more often.

Whom are we talking to?25-55 year-old women, health savvy, informed and who take care of themselves.

They are health mavens, who get their health-related information from their doctors and third-party sources (magazines, peers, online health portals). But, they are looking for a second credible source to validate what they know.

What do they currently think?‘I don’t really care where I buy my vitamins, because people there don’t know what I need anyway.’

What do we want them to think?‘The Vitamin Shoppe is my doctor’s “supplement”.

What is the single most persuasive idea that we can convey?EVEN EINSTEIN WOULD ASK US QUESTIONS.

Why should they believe it?- The Vitamin Shoppe Sales Associates undergo training focused on health conditions (“The Vitamin Shoppe University”) and not products. - Education is continuous: Sales Associates need to pass an internal exam every month.

ToneSmart and fun.

Creative guidelinesWebsite redesign a must (the site is disconnected from the philosophy of the store display that is focused on health needs, and not products).

Creative Brief

DIY DOCTORS

5

CREATIVE CONCEPT

INCREASE YOUR VI-Q

The idea behind this concept was to give our audience instant gratification. If they’re looking for answers everywhere, then why not give them on the spot?

Instead of just another campaign saying something, why not exchange something valuable to them for interaction?

6

Placed in malls and trafficked areas, inviting women to find out their health i n d e x , a n d w h a t v i t a m i n s a n d supplements help relief pains and aches.

How it works?The touch-screen captures the body silhouette and people can target a body a r e a o n t h e s c r e e n . N e x t , a recommendation for a supplement vitamin and a medical explanation of how that supplement works would appear on the screen.

Interactive displays placed in stores to test your Vitamin IQ.

INTERACTIVE KIOSKS

IN-STORE VI-Q TESTS

7

Magazine prints with an interactive feature: peel-off stickers that can be placed on the silhouette on the print, to show the areas with problems. The call-to-action on the print encourages people to bring the print to the store, for a personalized supplement plan.

PRINT

8

The current website is a mess, but in spite of that, people join the community section of the site to ask questions and to get recommendations. This was an insight into their desire for information and interaction. So, we wanted 2 things:

1. Build the navigation on body needs, not products. People want to solve their body problems, not look for products. This also matches the store’s display philosophy, focused on body conditions. 2. Give as much practical information around those body issues as possible, to engage users and exchange value for them to return.

The app syncs with the Outlook calendar or iCal to give supplement recommendations based on what the body needs in each season, store offers...and a few extras.

WEBSITE REDESIGN

CALENDAR APPLICATION

V-ICAL

9

10

THE PROBLEM The twin on the web is struggling to change his identity , but he’s dressed the same, he looks the same, he is called the same. Acts the same. And we are told in the client briefing we can’t change anything. The interactive and multimedia platform positioning sounded like “the emperor’s new clothes” story. Everybody sees them, but are they really...

THE SHARE OF MINDAmong news sites and news aggregators, CNN.com holds the biggest share of eyes. But, talking to NYT hardcore users, it was clear that what drives them is self-enrichment and not transactional headline skimming, like on the other sites. In other words, the online share of minds belongs to NYTimes.com.

OBJECTIVEIncrease traffic and time spent on the website.

INSIGHTYOU’RE ONLY AS INTERESTING AS THE STORIES YOU HAVEThe core audience we wanted to target was the young, social, digital native, curious intellectual. He wants genuine experiences that enrich and deliver depth and create social currency.

THE UNTAPPED CONTENT Only 20% of traffic goes to the vertical content on the site. Even the traffic is a replica of the way a paper is read. WHAT IF WE COULD TURN IT AROUND?And engage more users with the vertical sections: culture, politics, economical, fashion, social, ar ts, enter tainment. And make NYT a hub of rich information and not “the paper.”

STRATEGYNYTIMES.COM HELPS YOU MAKE YOUR OWN STORIES.

Business ObjectiveMore eye-balls to generate more ad revenue

Step 1: Headache. What is NOT wrong?

Task: Develop a fully integrated campaign that changes the perception that nytimes.com is “just the newspaper on the web to a fully multimedia and interactive news and information platform.

When it’s such a mess, only the evangelists can help...

Next, we looked at the traffic to see what readers were doing...

This was our REAL Pitch presented to the client

Understanding why people scavenge for stories

11

Why are we advertising?Change the perception of the of the NYTimes.com is just “the newspaper on the web” by making the NYTimes.com the online destination for rich content on various topics, and not just the news.

Whom are we talking to?Male/Female, 25+, Hardcore Internet user, undergraduate degree43.2 MM

Young, curious intellectuals, avidly looking for everyday discoveries: a new Taschen catalogue on architecture, Lars von Trier’s latest movie, the newest gadget, a gallery opening, the new bar around the corner or a documentary on the genocide in Sudan.

They are looking for stories and experiences that enrich their lives. Stories communicated through conversations, blogs, articles, a photographer’s lenses, a musician’s lyrics.

What do they currently think?I go to the Times when major crisis happen, but I don’t go often because they’re mainly for news.

What do we want them to think?The NYTimes.com is a hub that connects me to the new world of politics, culture, technology, entertainment, and social.

What is the single most persuasive idea that we can convey?NYTIMES.COM HELPS YOU MAKE YOUR OWN STORIES.

Why should they believe it?NYTimes.com is a rich information platform that covers everything from fashion, politics, arts and economy to International topics.

ToneClever.

Creative Brief

SUBS

TANCE S

EEKER

S

12

What if everything we know is 6 degrees away from anything we could ever know

The six degrees of separation theory was the idea behind our creative concept. We wanted to find a clever way to bring to life 2 things:

the fact that you can find so much different stories, pictures, videos on the verticals of the nytimes.com, that you could literally connect them and build something new out of that.

the way our audience scavenges the world for new stories: through discoveries.61

2

13

PRINTPrint campaign that makes connections between different things, for example, Obama and the Oscars, through articles from different sections of the site: /movies/blog/arts/business/politics

The idea is to stress that the content on the website goes beyond the paper’s.

14

DIGITAL BILLBOARDS

The billboards change everyday to show interconnected subjects, for example:NFL and FDA.

15

VISUAL MEDIA TOOL

The tool illustrates visually the 6 degrees of separation idea, showing interrelated multimedia content and articles from nytimes.com on the searched subject, Obama, for instance.

It uses the same technology like the Visual Thesaurus.

16

DESKTOP APPLICATION An application that pulls images from Nytimes.com and displays them on the desktop, linking them to the articles or multimedia content online.

17

A Recipe For Campbell’s Soupremacy

Account Planners

Irina TonePamela Gant

Copywriter

Julio Aenlle

Art Director

Miranda Peterson

18

OBJECTIVE Increase sales for Campbell’s entire soup family.

INSIGHTNOBODY WANTS TO DRESS, FEEL AND...EAT LIKE A ‘LOSER’. People are comfortable with the idea of cutting back on food only if they feel they’re doing the smart thing and it doesn’t make them feel like they’ve given up on their standards of living. The human need for self-esteem is essential.

STRATEGY CAMPBELL’S IS FRUGAL CHIC

Everyone we talked to was embarrassed to say it...

THE BIGGER PICTURECampbell’s rise in sales in the past quarter due to the bad economy shows that recession-proof eating is having a big impact on the food industry.

1, 2, 3 GO

From a habit of checking the stocks more often than the email, we found our first lead: Campbell’s had been the only one among the Fortune 500 whose stocks hadn’t tumbled.in the past months..

BUILD SOUPREMACYWith a 7 to 1 market share versus General Mill’s soup brand, growth doesn’t come from the competitor’s pockets. But, given the shift in spending habits due to the economy, Campbell’s has a chance to steal share from eating out and all other low-cost meal options: fast-food, Mac&Cheese, Lean Cuisine meals.

Step 1: What makes sense in terms of business: conquer new territory.

REMOVING THE ‘RICE AND BEANS’ STIGMAThe general consensus is that saving money is smart, but not when it comes to food. Stats confirmed it: recession in the picture, but food spending hasn’t declined in 2008. Everyone thinks that cheap food means LESS. Less nutritious, of less quality and less tasty. People will cut back on everything else( movies, clothes, before they will buy generic store brands or staple food. For many people, soup-in-can is the ‘last resort meal’.

Step 2: The way to the brand strategyGlamourizing a ‘staple brand.

Task: Expand Campbell’s soup empire.

19

Why are we advertising?Create appeal for Campbell’s soup among light soup consumers.

Whom are we talking to?Young Aspiring Cosmopolitan Women

Andrea is a 27-year-old Account Executive. She was accomplished and successful until she was laid-off, due to the economic downturn. Now she is struggling with the economic challenges, but she hasn’t given up on life’s pleasures.

To strengthen her budget, she curtailed her love for dining out, and she is now spending more time in the kitchen. She is a New Kitchen Convert. She realizes that when the economy rebounds, she will not want to go back to the prodigal lifestyle, because she’s become the savvy recessionista.

What do they currently think?Soup in a can is for people who have no other choice. It’s ‘rice and beans’.

What do we want them to think?Campbell’s Soup is a nutritious meal.

What is the single most persuasive idea that we can convey?CAMPBELL’S IS FRUGAL CHIC.

Why should they believe it?Campbell soup is nutritious, inexpensive and comes in lots of ‘styles’.

ToneUpbeat, optimistic, CHIC.

Creative Brief

RECESSIONISTAS

20

Admit it. It happened to you too...

Campbell’s was our first brief working together in a new team.

Although the team’s excitement was palpable after the brief, the creative for Campbell’s had nothing to do with the strategy. It was about being warm in a cold economy. No need to go on.

We tried resuscitating the strategy, making a little Frankenstein baby, but nobody was happy with the creative concept either.

After seeing the creative in the book, 2 uberminds of Planning went more or less like “what was that”, so I decided I wasn’t going to make the third one ask the same.

Note to self : don’t worry about hurting the creatives’ feelings. They will survive. You too. And they will still love you if you take them to beer after.

21

Find out more about me: education, work and life story

Irina Tone: My Life MAP

BARCELONA, Spain

B.A. Philosophy 2006University of Barcelona

After 4 years of hardcore readings, brain-wrecking Logics, and a passion for Philosophical questions that will last a lifetime, I graduate and leave one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. Going back home for the next adventure.

BUCHAREST, Romania

Jr. Copywriter and Strategy Planner 2006-07Agency: Kinecto Interactive

My Planning journey started here, migrating from Copywriting. Started building strategy muscles on digital campaigns for L’Oreal, Renault, Lipton, City Bank, Bayer, Colliers.

MIAMI, US

Digital Strategist April 08 - Dec 08Agency:McCann Worldgroup Miami

Nurtured my passion for interactive and planning, working on GM’s brands in the LAAM region (Latin Am, Africa and ME)Developed digital channel strategy and digital

customer experiences for the Chevrolet brand.

MIAMI BEACH, US

Miami Ad School Jan 09-March 09Account Planning Boot CampAccomplished one of my dreams of learning here from the uberminds of Planning.

My next adventure

?

954 274 0071irinatone@yahoo.com

22