Cover Story
Untitled Page
Marketing Masterminds, continued ...
• Sandy Keedy
Hayes Martin Associates president and creative director
With
the drop in real estate prices, home auctions have become quite the
rage. So when homebuilder D.R. Horton told Hayes Martin Associates that
it wanted a plan to help clear its inventory of new houses, Sandy Keedy
and her team tapped into the frenzy – but gave it a twist. The crew
created an UnAuction program, which resulted in buyer campouts and 200
sales in just one weekend – not bad in a down economy.
WHAT
YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT THE UNAUCTION CAMPAIGN: In an utterly flat market,
we created buyer campouts in numerous neighborhoods throughout six
counties. We sold the most expensive thing most people ever buy in
their lifetime – a home – and had the national press covering the story.
We
used a marketing concept that was more compelling than just a sale,
more concrete than incentives, and created urgency as a catalyst to
immediate sales. The concept built on a historic campaign from another
industry – the Un-Cola model. In the consumer mindset, the
“un-something” is immediately recognized as something very good and
very different – an advertising shorthand for “better than.” The
UnAuction was marked with a simple yet unforgettable mnemonic. The
UnAuction told buyers that it was better than an auction, with more
benefits.
It was a breakneck schedule: We developed and
launched in just 14 days. The campaign was collaborative and exciting
for all of us. It again enabled us to raise the bar as marketing
partners.
WHAT YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT YOUR JOB: I’ve been in this
industry since 1979, and fortunately, I learned from the best. These
people taught me incredible lessons and gave me a hunger to continue
learning. I love when the value of strategic thinking is recognized. I
love taking the strategy to results, delivering them with innovation.
And teaching and mentoring others is part of the priceless legacy of
what I’ve learned and done, and what my mentors gave to me.
Most
importantly, I appreciate building a partnership with clients. They
respect and need the assets we bring, and we respect their goals.
Building and maintaining these durable and lasting relationships is at
the heart of my professional satisfaction.
FAVORITE TV
COMMERCIAL EVER AND WHY: The introduction of the Macintosh personal
computer was a classic. It was riveting from start to finish, used
incredible psychographic skill in its images, and it blew everything
else completely out of the water.
And Target is a brilliant
marketer, able to speak to the diversity and upward aspirations of the
market and really connect. The music, the style of the visuals, the
cleverness and clarity of the message are all extremely effective
branding and marketing tools. The mnemonic device of reintroducing the
logo throughout each spot is one of the best branding programs I’ve
seen. The red circle and dot are instantly recognizable.
On
the side of seeing stories in the moments of peoples’ lives, I would
say AT&T is a leader in TV marketing. Its ads about parents
reconnecting with their families – real life stories, beautiful touches
of humanness – make those ads utterly memorable. And again, the litmus
test for me is that these ads really work.
FUNNIEST JOKE YOU
KNOW: A woman's husband had been slipping in and out of a coma for
months, yet she was at his bedside every day. One day, when he came to,
he motioned for her to come closer. He whispered, eyes full of tears,
"You know what? You have been with me all through the bad times. When I
got fired, you were there to support me. When my business failed, you
were there. When I got shot, you were by my side. When we lost the
house, you stayed right here. When my health started failing, you were
still by my side. You know what?"
"What, dear?" she gently asked, smiling as her heart began to fill with warmth.
"I think you're bad luck."
Marketing Masterminds, continued ...
• Sandy KeedyHayes Martin Associates president and creative director
With the drop in real estate prices, home auctions have become quite the rage. So when homebuilder D.R. Horton told Hayes Martin Associates that it wanted a plan to help clear its inventory of new houses, Sandy Keedy and her team tapped into the frenzy – but gave it a twist. The crew created an UnAuction program, which resulted in buyer campouts and 200 sales in just one weekend – not bad in a down economy.
WHAT YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT THE UNAUCTION CAMPAIGN: In an utterly flat market, we created buyer campouts in numerous neighborhoods throughout six counties. We sold the most expensive thing most people ever buy in their lifetime – a home – and had the national press covering the story.
We used a marketing concept that was more compelling than just a sale, more concrete than incentives, and created urgency as a catalyst to immediate sales. The concept built on a historic campaign from another industry – the Un-Cola model. In the consumer mindset, the “un-something” is immediately recognized as something very good and very different – an advertising shorthand for “better than.” The UnAuction was marked with a simple yet unforgettable mnemonic. The UnAuction told buyers that it was better than an auction, with more benefits.
It was a breakneck schedule: We developed and launched in just 14 days. The campaign was collaborative and exciting for all of us. It again enabled us to raise the bar as marketing partners.
WHAT YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT YOUR JOB: I’ve been in this industry since 1979, and fortunately, I learned from the best. These people taught me incredible lessons and gave me a hunger to continue learning. I love when the value of strategic thinking is recognized. I love taking the strategy to results, delivering them with innovation. And teaching and mentoring others is part of the priceless legacy of what I’ve learned and done, and what my mentors gave to me.
Most importantly, I appreciate building a partnership with clients. They respect and need the assets we bring, and we respect their goals. Building and maintaining these durable and lasting relationships is at the heart of my professional satisfaction.
FAVORITE TV COMMERCIAL EVER AND WHY: The introduction of the Macintosh personal computer was a classic. It was riveting from start to finish, used incredible psychographic skill in its images, and it blew everything else completely out of the water.
And Target is a brilliant marketer, able to speak to the diversity and upward aspirations of the market and really connect. The music, the style of the visuals, the cleverness and clarity of the message are all extremely effective branding and marketing tools. The mnemonic device of reintroducing the logo throughout each spot is one of the best branding programs I’ve seen. The red circle and dot are instantly recognizable.
On the side of seeing stories in the moments of peoples’ lives, I would say AT&T is a leader in TV marketing. Its ads about parents reconnecting with their families – real life stories, beautiful touches of humanness – make those ads utterly memorable. And again, the litmus test for me is that these ads really work.
FUNNIEST JOKE YOU KNOW: A woman's husband had been slipping in and out of a coma for months, yet she was at his bedside every day. One day, when he came to, he motioned for her to come closer. He whispered, eyes full of tears, "You know what? You have been with me all through the bad times. When I got fired, you were there to support me. When my business failed, you were there. When I got shot, you were by my side. When we lost the house, you stayed right here. When my health started failing, you were still by my side. You know what?"
"What, dear?" she gently asked, smiling as her heart began to fill with warmth.
"I think you're bad luck."
