active cultures: linking value and digital marketing as told through yogurt
DESCRIPTION
Using case studies from three yogurt brands, I explore the ways companies can combine social and traditional "passive" media to resonate with audiences on a cultural level.TRANSCRIPT
![Page 1: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Active Culture
sLinking Value and Digital
Marketing as Told Through Yogurt
by Steve Gottschling
![Page 2: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
Last May, Andrew Blakely repeated for us a tragic
story his boss had told him.
(you can read the whole thing here)
![Page 3: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
“This morning my yoghurt told me to find it on
Facebook. It didn’t tell me why, it just told me to find it. Why on Earth would I
want to find a yoghurt on Facebook? It’s a yoghurt!”
![Page 4: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
Up until that moment, the poor yogurt brand probably
thought they were doing everything right.
For starters, they understood the importance of engagement, of tapping into the new “empowered,
connected consumer.”
![Page 5: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
They knew the internet had changed the relationship
between brands and audiences, and they chose
to act.
![Page 6: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
But, as it turns out, simply being there
wasn’t enough. They lacked an
understanding of the ways their brand fit in their audience’s lives.
And the result was not just rejection but
complete bewilderment.
![Page 7: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
To Andrew’s boss, yogurt was a commodity with no
other meaning. He therefore had no reason to
engage with it online.
![Page 8: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
In the coming slides, we will show how brands can
successfully combine digital platforms with traditional
“passive” media to resonate with their
audience on a cultural level.
![Page 9: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
We will show how this sort of cultural resonance allows
even commodities like yogurt to weave
themselves into the stories consumers tell each other, the stories they tell about
themselves.
![Page 10: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
When everything goes according to plan, the audience
will not be scratching their heads,
wondering why they should ever engage
with your brand online.
It will make sense from the start.
![Page 11: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
Before we continue, it’s important to realize that the ingredients that
make for effective digital strategy are the same ones that helped traditional
“passive” media win over audiences for
years.
![Page 12: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
And the key ingredient is what Bernard and
Veronique Cova call Linking Value.
Source: Tribal Marketing: The Tribalisation of Society and its Impact in the Conduct of Marketing
![Page 13: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
In other words, good brands help audiences situate
themselves in their social landscape, to imagine themselves as part of
something bigger.
![Page 14: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
Modern identity is malleable, able to
be shifted and bended in an
entirely conscious way.
Every social interaction can be seen as an act of maintaining or
reshaping identity.
![Page 15: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/15.jpg)
On the social web, this is more true than it ever has been before.
Participation in social spaces
online requires users to construct
digital selves from the ground
up.
![Page 16: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/16.jpg)
With linking value, brands function as building blocks
in that process.
They connect our identity to ideologies, to broader
contexts, to communities of peers with similar
enthusiasms.
![Page 17: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/17.jpg)
And the best part…
![Page 18: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/18.jpg)
Most of this takes place inour imagination.
Although social interaction is key for identity building,
no one else needs to be present for us to change
the way we see ourselves.
![Page 19: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/19.jpg)
I can be completely alone in my favorite chair and still imagine myself as part of the Go Green movement, as a LOMO enthusiast, as a modern health-conscious mother. The
list is endless.
![Page 20: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/20.jpg)
This imaginary component is what makes passive
media like print or television a primary
provider of linking value.
![Page 21: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/21.jpg)
We’re all familiar with the ability of passive media to
illustrate and dramatize benefits.
But its real power is to create linking value by imbuing
brands with cultural meaning.
![Page 22: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/22.jpg)
Let’s see some examples.
![Page 23: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/23.jpg)
(Click to see video)
![Page 24: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/24.jpg)
Note the use of familiar symbols: the cubicles, the
muted colors, the clear social roles of the
characters, the business attire.
This TV spot uses these symbols to conflate AT&T’s Blackberry Torch with the middle-class white collar
milieu.
![Page 25: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/25.jpg)
The Torch thus becomes a way for its audience to
identify with the values of that milieu and to imagine themselves as part of it.
Even though the Blackberry’s features can be found on many other smart phones, it is the
cultural associations that differentiate the Torch.
![Page 26: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/26.jpg)
The Pepsi ads of the 1960s are a slightly more obvious
example.
![Page 27: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/27.jpg)
![Page 28: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/28.jpg)
Here, the source of the linking value is right in the
tag line.
Audiences are asked to imagine themselves as part of a broader “generation,” a spirit or a movement.
![Page 29: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/29.jpg)
And now for a completely different kind of medium, observe the changes that
have taken place in McDonalds restaurants.
![Page 30: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/30.jpg)
![Page 31: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/31.jpg)
McDonalds recognized its audience had developed
epicurean aspirations– a taste for good design, comfortable public space, glimmers of the
upscale.
By overhauling its interior spaces, McDonalds created an
ideological bridge to the cultural context its audience
desired.
![Page 32: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/32.jpg)
Why do we spend all this time with passive media?
Because effective digital engagement harnesses the same principles of “cultural
invocation.”
![Page 33: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/33.jpg)
While passive media has the power to invoke imagined cultural membership, social media makes that membership more real (or at least makes it seem
that way).
![Page 34: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/34.jpg)
Users can locate other users in the same
community rather than merely having to imagine
their existence.
![Page 35: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/35.jpg)
But in the end, nothing has changed.
The real magic of social media, like passive media, is to give consumers a way to situate their identities within a larger cultural
context.
![Page 36: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/36.jpg)
Now, let’s look at three yogurt brands that infuse their product with linking value, elevating it above mere commodity status.
![Page 37: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/37.jpg)
First, let’s discuss Fage
![Page 38: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/38.jpg)
Though Fage Greek Yogurt has received a brand tune up from both Ogilvy and Mullen since 2007, the
brand has always aligned itself with an upscale epicurean worldview.
![Page 39: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/39.jpg)
(click any image to
see video)
![Page 40: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/40.jpg)
Notice how this TV spot excises altogether rational
benefit descriptions.
No one even mentions what the product is.
![Page 41: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/41.jpg)
Instead it presents a view of the world– a passion for beauty and aesthetics with
a slight bourgeois undertone.
To purchase Fage is to align yourself with a community
of aesthetes.
![Page 42: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/42.jpg)
You can see this cultural association in past work as
well.
![Page 43: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/43.jpg)
![Page 44: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/44.jpg)
![Page 45: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/45.jpg)
![Page 46: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/46.jpg)
How does this meaning-making translate to the
digital space?
![Page 47: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/47.jpg)
Currently, Fage’s Facebook page promotes
heavily its “Greek Getaway” contest.
By doing so, it performs a balancing act of advancing
the brand and inciting discussion.
![Page 48: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/48.jpg)
The page presents themes of “getting the best from life,” of leisure with an
upscale bent.
It then asks users to participate.
![Page 49: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/49.jpg)
![Page 50: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/50.jpg)
Also worth noting are the Facebook updates that do not align with the themes expressed in the passive
media.
![Page 51: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/51.jpg)
![Page 52: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/52.jpg)
The brand creates engagement by asking its audience to discuss more
everyday topics like recipes and flavors, departing from its main brand message but still holding the community
together.
![Page 53: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/53.jpg)
Now let’s talk about Stonyfield Farms
![Page 54: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/54.jpg)
Digging up any sort of passive media campaign for Stonyfield is a challenge, as Stonyfield invests less than
half the amount its competitors invest in
traditional paid media.
![Page 55: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/55.jpg)
Instead, the bulk of Stonyfield’s
marketing takes place on its
website, which then serves as a sort of factory for cultural
meaning.
![Page 56: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/56.jpg)
More specifically, Stonyfield positions itself and its
audience as part of the same grassroots activist
movement.
In Stonyfield’s narrative, the brand and consumer don’t exist in separate
camps. Everyone is part of the same whole, the push
for sustainable living.
![Page 57: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/57.jpg)
Indeed, almost all of Stonyfield’s marketing
efforts ask us to imagine “real live” people in order
to invoke feelings of bottom-up mobilization.
![Page 58: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/58.jpg)
One example is Stonyfield’s invitations for users to submit content of their
own.
Stonyfield then posts the submissions, effectually
depicting an entire virtual community as it
participates in the brand narrative.
![Page 60: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/60.jpg)
“Just Eat Organic” is the quintessential visual
representation of a brand community.
Users post videos of themselves following a
specific set of rules (in this case, shouting “just eat
organic”), and others can see the results.
![Page 61: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/61.jpg)
With so many visible participants sharing the same ritual, a
feeling of solidarity emerges, an esprit de corps around organic
food.
![Page 62: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/62.jpg)
Stonyfield achieved a similar effect with the Your Organic Moment campaign.
![Page 64: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/64.jpg)
In place of videos are written anecdotes, but the idea is the same– a visual
representation of the community surrounding the
brand.
Stonyfield doesn’t just ask its audience to imagine a
cast of likeminded peers– it uses visuals to make that
community real.
![Page 65: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/65.jpg)
And we haven’t even mentioned the interviews
with the farmers who supply Stonyfield’s milk.
![Page 66: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/66.jpg)
(Click image to visit site)
![Page 67: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/67.jpg)
Meanwhile, Stonyfield’s yogurt lids create a bridge
between this virtual community of activists and
“the real world.”
![Page 68: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/68.jpg)
![Page 69: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/69.jpg)
![Page 70: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/70.jpg)
Stonyfield is certainly not the only brand to surround
itself with a virtual community.
But what sets the brand apart is the way these
tactics work toward one cohesive brand narrative.
![Page 71: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/71.jpg)
Ultimately, Stonyfield’s digital efforts are about voices– rounding
up a small choir of different stories from the people connected with
the company and with the causes it
champions.
![Page 72: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/72.jpg)
To purchase Stonyfield yogurt is to lend your voice to that choir, to become a
part of its grassroots environmental movement.
![Page 73: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/73.jpg)
And, finally, Yoplait
![Page 74: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/74.jpg)
What sets Yoplait apart from Fage and Stonyfield is the huge role that gender
plays in its brand narrative.
![Page 75: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/75.jpg)
Featured in Yoplait’s passive media efforts are
not just descriptions of the yogurt itself but portrayals of what it means to be a
modern American woman.
![Page 76: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/76.jpg)
Here are some TV spots to illustrate my point.
Click each image to see the spot.
![Page 80: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/80.jpg)
First, note the use of movement in each ad.
There is always at least one character in fluid motion.
In the 2010 and 2011 ads, this motion is backed by an
equally locomotive soundtrack.
![Page 81: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/81.jpg)
The ads’ constant motion helps imply something
larger than the individual– the 2008 ad whizzes
through one woman’s life from childhood to
motherhood, while the 2011 spot features
strangers passing the yogurt from one person to
another.
![Page 82: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/82.jpg)
Next, note the use of rational statements of fact.
These explanations are then coupled with collective language like “we’re on the move
and we don’t want anything to slow us down.”
![Page 83: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/83.jpg)
The collective language creates linking value by
implying a greater community of modern
health conscious women.
“We will not let a lack of calcium slow us down! We
will act together!”
![Page 84: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/84.jpg)
Yoplait also creates linking value with its extensive line
of flavors, which many of the ads mention either
visually or verbally.
The following TV spot makes the flavors is chief focus (click the image to
view).
![Page 86: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/86.jpg)
The ability of these flavors to spur community
engagement becomes much more clear when you visit Yoplait’s twitter page.
![Page 87: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/87.jpg)
![Page 88: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/88.jpg)
![Page 89: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/89.jpg)
On Twitter, Yoplait spends almost all its time responding to individual
tweeters, often asking them to engage with the community by discussing their favorite flavors.
In this way, talking about flavor (especially identifying with a
certain one) becomes a way of identifying with the community as
a whole.
![Page 90: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/90.jpg)
Ultimately, the flavors alone drum up respectable community engagement,
but what’s even more important is the way Yoplait uses passive media to align
itself with a desirable cultural identity, thereby creating more excitement around its digital spaces.
![Page 91: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/91.jpg)
So what can we recommend to that ill-fated yogurt brand that tried to
court Andrew Blakely’s boss?
![Page 92: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/92.jpg)
First, using only the popular digital touchpoints like
Facebook and Twitter is not enough to create meaning.
Brands need to find another way to connect themselves
to broader cultural contexts, whether through
traditional paid media or, as Stonyfield shows, through digital properties of their
own.
![Page 93: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/93.jpg)
Second, companies should view
engagement on those social platforms as the reward, the result of consumers imbuing
their brand with greater meaning.
Only when a brand has become more than a commodity will users advocate it digitally.
![Page 94: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/94.jpg)
Third, there is absolutely no better time than now to
understand what communities surround the
brand already, what meanings the brand has
already adopted.
![Page 95: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/95.jpg)
After all, linking value is only useful when it
connects people to the community or ideology with which they genuinely want
to identify.
![Page 96: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/96.jpg)
In the end, it’s tempting to see
digital media as an upgrade, a “next
step up” from traditional passive
media.
![Page 97: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/97.jpg)
But this would be a mistake. Instead, we should look at both media as equally important in the
creation and dissemination of
meaning.
![Page 98: Active Cultures: Linking Value and Digital Marketing as Told Through Yogurt](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081513/55668585d8b42ad5798b54b6/html5/thumbnails/98.jpg)
Thank You
by Steve Gottschling