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Men with Cramps. At last, Proctor & Gamble gets Risky and Wins

January 22, 2007

When I see a good viral marketing campaign, especially from a major brand like P&G, I have a hard time NOT telling people about it. It's only good etiquette in the online world to at least tell your closest friends and family (if it's clean enough). The crazy thing about this viral campaign is that it got 13 million visitors and I wasn't one of them until I was recently asked by iMediaConnection to write a Creative Review. So here it is:

I’m shocked. Procter & Gamble actually takes a risk with their “Men with Cramps” online viral campaign site. And, it’s really engaging and funny on top of it all. Another shocker-- there have been 13 million visitors to this site since it launched in September, but a P&G emarketing exec and I didn’t know about it when asked about viral campaigns at a panel event at the Email Insiders Summit in Utah two weeks ago. At that event, I asked him “a lot of the campaigns you showed are good but safe, what is P&G doing to compete with the caliber of viral sites like favorite Philips’ ShaveEverywhere site?” His response was that P&G has taken risks before with viral sites targeted in Europe, but plays it safe in the U.S.

After reviewing the site, MenwithCramps.com is now among my Top 5 favorite viral sites for 2006. To see the entire creative review, go to http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/13011.asp

This goes to show that when P&G gets in the game, they do it right. So, what makes this campaign site so good? First, the concept is brilliant. It’s really challenging to break the mold and gain attention, authenticity and loyalty when discussing an uncomfortable subject like menstrual cramps. To make it an easier conversation, P&G created a site that shows just how wimpy men would be if they had to deal with this kind of pain on a monthly basis. Second, the primary call-to-action on the site immediately draws the viewer into a series of hilarious video clips starring the fictional Dr. Fardel, who is on a mission to cure four different men with cramps with a unique remedy for each man. The tone of each video clip (15 in total) is playful in nature and opens our minds to how sensitive men can really be.

Lastly, the storyline is consistent and the content keeps coming. There is so much depth to this site-- it has captured my attention for at least half an hour, viewing all of the Dr. Fardel video clips and the Seven-Part Video Documentary of the “History of Men with Cramps.” I have been profoundly informed that my forefathers had this very serious disease known as “Cyclical Non-Uterine Dismenorrhea.” My only critique is that my eye was never drawn to the viral aspect of sending it to friends until I stumbled upon the “Educate your Friends” link. Kudos to P&G for creating such a sticky online campaign that holds the viewer’s attention and laughter for far longer than any other viral site I’ve seen.
-- Ryan Buchanan, president & CEO, eROI

Comments (0) | Posted by ryan at 2:33 PM | Permalink

eROI did well last year; what will 2007 bring?

January 21, 2007

Normally, I don't mention anything in one of our press releases, but this was a recap to 2006 and I'm feeling a bit philosophical from a business perspective. If things go well for us this year ('07), we will grow smart and build employee evangelists and customer evangelists. Halleluiah! (I'm not religious, but I couldn't avoid it with all the evangelist talk). There's a lot more to it then that, but let's start the discussion there. I hope to gain a lot of insight from other creative agency owners in an Agency Owner Roundtable (among Portland agency owners) discussion that begins tonight and hopefully will continue to happen every couple months.

Our Press Release:
eROI Delivers Strong Finish to 2006 with 61% Revenue Growth; Adds Over 150 New Clients and Expands Management Team

PORTLAND, Ore. (January 22, 2007) eROI, Inc., a full-service e-marketing company, today announced that the company continued its pattern of profitability, recording its fourth consecutive profitable year as a 4-year old company. In 2006, the company grew their revenue 61%, making 2006 their strongest year. Last year, the company brought on over 150 new clients, including The Ohio State University's Fisher College of Business, Montinore Vineyards, Annie’s Natural Foods and Digimarc Corporation. Furthermore, eROI grew to 32 team members and expanded its management team through well-deserved promotions.

eROI’s positive growth continues partly because of its consistent high quality of service and distinctive creative approach to online marketing. Additionally, the strong momentum is fueled by an increase in the demand for email marketing, e-commerce functionality, and social media tools and platforms. New and current clients such as retailer Dunderdon, gamer Konami and foodie Kettle Foods are realizing the value of direct consumer feedback that social media tools provide. “We’ve helped implement some very successful online viral marketing campaigns for clients by using customized versions of available social media tools. Social media allows organizations to build online communities of loyal brand evangelists,” said Maureen Pimley, recently promoted Vice President of Client Services. “These tools are key to tapping into a much larger audience of interested prospective customers.”

See the Full Press Release on our site >>

In order to maintain and further improve its exemplary level of customer service, eROI expanded its team by adding Meggan Shadel as Production Artist, Ryan Vogel as System Administrator and Charles Voloshin as an Account Manager. Additionally, the company promoted Maureen Pimley to Vice President of Client Services (formerly a Director of Client Services), George Huff to Emerging Technology Manager (formerly a Production Artist), Sydney Dixon to Senior Account Executive (formerly an Account Executive) and AJ Mounsey – Copywriter (formerly an Account Executive). Joining the eROI Executive Team will be Sam White as Associate Creative Director (formerly Design Manager) and Julie McCreery joins the eROI Executive Team as Production Manager.

Additional eROI 2006 business highlights include the launch of its next-generation emailROI product providing customers with superior software usability and navigation and improved speed and efficiency. eROI also formed a strategic alliance with e-mail performance management expert, Return Path to provide advanced email content rendering and enhanced deliverability reporting for clients.

“eROI grew at an impressive pace during 2006 and we are very proud of the team’s hard work and accomplishments," said Ryan Buchanan, CEO of eROI. "We continue to deliver valuable new products and services to our customers through our partnerships and investments in our business. Our strong performance results from our incredible team, clear focus on increasing the quality of our service and truly understanding the needs of our clients.”

About eROI
eROI, Inc. helps its clients generate and capture qualified leads online through email marketing, e-commerce, search engine marketing, and Web site development. eROI's unique approach transforms clients' Web sites into effective vehicles for capturing leads. The company's email campaign management services include planning, email design and email list management and their award-winning technology platform enables clients to build, send and track HTML emails. Clients include Hewlett-Packard, InFocus, Kettle Foods, Konami, Learning.com, Microsoft, NW Natural, OHSU, PGE, Planar, Papa Murphy’s Pizza, Providence Health Plan, Red Bull, Salomon and SEGA. For more information, please visit our Web site at www.eroi.com.

Comments (0) | Posted by ryan at 3:00 PM | Permalink

Fascinating Interactive Marketing Event, Portland, Jan 19th

January 6, 2007

If you are in the Marketing or Advertising industry, you really don't want to miss this event. Register today >>

OgilvyInteractive Partners Paul Beck and Jeanniey Mullen, based in New York, discuss how Ogilvy got into the interactive online creative business. Paul and Jeanniey will share their experiences at Ogilvy as well as smaller agencies and technology companies that they led. They will provide a framework of how Ogilvy is structured and all of the different marketing channels where Ogilvy helps its clients. Paul and Jeanniey are dynamic and engaging speakers who speak often around the country on the newest trends in Interactive Marketing.

When: January 19, 2007 at 11:30 AM
Where: Kell's Irish Pub. 112 SW Second Ave. Portland, OR 97204
Cost: PAF Members: $30.00, Non-Members: $45.00

Comments (0) | Posted by ryan at 5:48 PM | Permalink