"Interactive Food & Beverage Marketing" (PDF)

“On average, for a
specific IMV, we see 1.5
million people download
a particular IMV, send
over 100 million messages
within it, and spend
five to 10 minutes per
user per day per IMV.
This time spent is a
particularly impressive
statistic when you
compare it to how much
time in one day that user
would spend watching a
particular TV commercial
for that advertiser.”
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Interactive Food & Beverage Marketing | The New Digital Marketing Landscape
Infiltrating IM
According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, approximately 16 million
teens in the U.S. use instant messaging, with about half using it every day. 143 IM can be
sent and received from PCs, cell phones, and—soon—even television sets. It has also
become a popular marketing platform, useful not only for its peer-to-peer distribution
capabilities but also as a branded environment that can permeate and surround ongoing
casual conversations, “24/7.” “Instant Messaging is the quick-fix of digital communications,”
remarked Joseph Jaffe, marketing guru and author of Life after the 30-Second
Spot. “It’s the addictive rush that is just impossible to let go once you get a hold of it….
It’s also a cool way to put bums in seats on a Friday night; introduce a new malt liquor
beverage; launch a new album; drive tune-in to an upcoming program; recommend a
lunchtime meal option.” 144 Adds Paul Martecchini, director of marketing services in the
Network Services Group at Yahoo!, “It’s viral, builds community, is a communications hub
and indicates a users’ ‘presence!’“ 145
The three major IM formats—AOL’s AIM, Yahoo!’s Messenger, and MSN
Messenger—all promote themselves aggressively to advertisers that want to reach
teenagers. Calling itself “the leader in Instant Messaging,” AOL’s Instant Messenger
Service (AIM) promises access to nearly 3.3 million 12-to-17-year-olds, and offers companies
a panoply of ways to engage young people as they communicate with their friends,
by surrounding them with branded content and encouraging them to interact with advertising.
146 For example, marketers can embed “large flash ads” into the service’s welcome
screen, ensuring that teens see their brands every time they log on. Or they can employ
“roadblocking” and “takeover ads” to flood the site with interactive commercials. 147
Instant message services are also building entire communication “environments” around
particular brands. Users are encouraged to select these backgrounds as a way of defining
who they are to their friends and acquaintances. Yahoo!’s “IMVironments (IMVs)” are promoted
to customers as “interactive backgrounds that you can select when talking with
your friends. Choose from a variety of different IMVs to express yourself.” 148 For marketers,
they are “special branded backgrounds that provide additional color and personality
to a conversation,” surrounding users with “unique rich media features” that are “fun
and effective advertising.” 149 Users not only experience the ad themselves throughout
their IM communication activities, but also spread it virally as they communicate with
their friends. As one marketer explained, “On average, for a specific IMV, we see 1.5 million
people download a particular IMV, send over 100 million messages within it, and
spend five to 10 minutes per user per day per IMV. This time spent is a particularly
impressive statistic when you compare it to how much time in one day that user would
spend watching a particular TV commercial for that advertiser.” 150
Food and beverage brands are taking full advantage of these multiple opportunities
for permeating the instant-message environment and engaging young people in
relationships with their brands. The following recent IM campaigns are illustrative of the
techniques used: