My View From The Shore

That's all you got?

2012-02-01T07:58:00.001-06:00

Lexus released its Super Bowl ad yesterday and all I can say is, "meh."

There's so much wrong with this spot, I almost don't know where to begin. So let's just start with the fact that it's on the Super Bowl.

I know other luxury manufacturers are there, but other than ego, is there really a reason for niche products to advertise on the only mass media event left on television? There's enough waste in this $4,000,000 buy that it makes a Real Housewives' shopping spree look thrifty.

Then there's the concept. Seen it. Over and over and over and over again. There's absolutely nothing surprising here. What's behind that steel door? Oh, a car. And not just any car, it's a souped up Camry. Oooooh.

The art direction is okay if you liked the lab scene in Jurassic Park.

They should have saved a couple of million bucks, cut their time in half and run their teaser.

At least there is a little intrigue at the end of this version. Maybe, just maybe people would have gone to the web or even visited a dealership to see what was behind the door.

Welcome back

2012-01-31T12:04:00.000-06:00

Funny thing about branding. Unless you keep reminding people who you are, what you do and why you're worth the price, they tend to forget about you – no matter how big you are.

That's what Pepsi is finding out after underspending on marketing for the past decade.

Pepsi's market share peaked in 2004 has slowly slid to under 10% for their flagship brand. Yes, there are a lot of things working against Pepsi – health and diet trends, new competition, an aging population – but none of those are any real excuse. During those same years Coke's volume grew and their share increased to 17%.

What did Coke do right? Invest in good old fashioned advertising. They spent over $3 billion with a "b" last year, while Pepsi invested less than $2 billion.

While the wizards of Westchester were cutting budgets and chasing every shiny new marketing trend, Coke kept pounding away, sponsoring American Idol, buying Super Bowl spots, maintaining a very high profile and supporting it with great retail promotion.

This isn't rocket science. It's sugar water. It's not something people think a lot about. It's not something they want to engage with. They want to buy it, drink it, enjoy it and feel refreshed. Simple.

It's hard to admit your wrong. Even harder when that decision has cost you tens of millions of dollars or more in sales. But even worse than admitting your wrong is going down the same path and watching your business disappear. So Pepsi is expected to add $500 million dollars to its marketing budget this year.

Let's hope they've seen the light in time.

Throwing the brand out with the bathwater

2012-01-30T07:36:00.000-06:00

The folks at Priceline and their ad agency either have balls the size of Jupiter or the mental capacity of rock salt.

After 14 years of building one of the most successful travel brands around William Shatner and his character, "The Negotiator," they're throwing him off a bridge and moving on to a new campaign.

Creating iconic advertising that is both memorable and effective is hard. And while associating your brand with a single celebrity is fraught with peril – as many of Tiger Woods' sponsors found out – Priceline and Shatner have had one of the rarest and most successful brand/spokesperson relationships in recent memory.

It's not as if the campaign was losing steam. The spots have still been fun and entertaining and Priceline continues to grow. Just last quarter their revenue increased 45% over the previous year's.

So why would they do this?

Priceline is expanding their product beyond just name your own price, to pre-negotiated deals with over 200,000 hotels, and they feel "The Negotiator" will limit their ability to get this message out.

I'd suggest that a greater danger lies ahead: Priceline will not be able to come up with a campaign that either stands out or has the staying power of the current campaign featuring Shatner. In trying to broaden their message, they may just lose their voice.

Think of the great spokesperson campaigns in recent memory – Cosby for Jello, Jordan for Nike, Dave Thomas for Wendy's – what came after?

Only in the case of Nike has the subsequent campaign been able to maintain the level of consistency and awareness. That's only because Nike built Jordan's image on the idea of "Just Do It," a broader campaign idea that supports all of their efforts. Priceline has no such platform.

My guess is that the marketing executives at Priceline, much like Pamela Ewing, will wake up from a year from now to find William Shatner's character in the shower, ready to go for another season. And this will all have been just a bad dream.

Grow smart

2012-01-27T09:40:00.001-06:00

There are two dimensions to growth: proficiency and expansion.

Do the same thing over and over again and you'll become more proficient at it.

Do something different on a regular basis and you'll expand your knowledge and skills.

Most companies – and people – must do both. The trick is not to expand before you gain proficiency.

A specialized expert is more valuable then a mediocre generalist.

What's next

2012-01-26T08:14:00.000-06:00

We interrupt our regular blogging for this commercial announcement.

Yesterday, I launched my new business, OBX Thinking.

It's a product development and communications consultancy that creates customized project teams by bringing exceptionally talented people together at just the right time based on a client's specific project needs.

Got it?

Four factors have come together to make this vision (which I've had for some time) possible now

Near universal high-speed internet access
The rise of social networks
A wealth of supremely talented people who have chosen, for one reason or another, not to work at a traditional agency, design firm or corporate environment
Clients who understand that no single resource is right for every single project

So for the first time in the history of this blog, I'm asking for something.

If #3 describes you, get in touch with me. There's work to be done.

If you're #4 and have a project that doesn't exactly fit within your existing resources or are looking for a different point of view, feel free get in touch with me.

The OBX Thinking website – while a work in progress – has enough information on our philosophy and capabilities to get you started and has all of our contact information.

Thanks for your attention. We'll resume our regularly scheduled blog content tomorrow.

#McFail

2012-01-25T09:01:00.000-06:00

How could this possibly have turned out badly?

Last week McDonald's ran a promotion asking people to share their favorite stories about the hamburger chain on Twitter using #McDStories.

In just two hours McDonald's was forced to shut down the campaign but not before people shared some stories that were less than complimentary.

"#McDStories worked there for one month-unhygienic staff; managers, plus my boyfriend got a hair in his burger the day before I started-Sign!"

"Memories of walking into McDonalds: the sensory experience of inhaling deeply from freshly-opened can of dog food #McDStories"

"I haven’t been to McDonalds in years, because I’d rather eat my own diarrhea. #McDStories"

While a lot of people enjoy McDonalds and a lot of people have good stories, there are some who don't. There are some who think McDonald's is evil. There are some who'd rather McDonald's not be around.

And that's where McDonald's made their fundamental mistake. They forgot the old adage, "'Dog bites man' isn't news, 'Man bites dog' is."

Rick Wion, Social Media Director for McDonald's is quoted as saying less than 2% of the total tweets that day about McDonald's were negative.

McDonald's may have had 10,000,000 favorable tweets, but you're only ever going to read about the bad ones in the paper. Nobody ever writes news stories about all the planes that don't crash.

So just a few negative tweets was all it took for this to become a firestorm of bad publicity and a case history for how not to do social media marketing.

The lesson here?

You can't control what people say, but you don't have to give them a megaphone and put them in the middle of a crowd.

That sinking feeling

2012-01-24T07:39:00.001-06:00

Why do companies make this so easy?

Here's a tip.

When your cruise ship sinks, traumatizing thousands of people and killing dozens more, after refunding their money, offering a 30% discount on their next booking is probably not going to get them back on board.

I get that the people at Costa Conciere Cruises would like those passengers to come back, but my guess is not too many of them will ever come within ten miles of the ocean, much less set foot on another ship ever again.

Making this offer at this time isn't just dumb. It's insulting and it's driving those passengers who may have accepted a more thoughtful offer right into the arms of the class-action lawyers.

So now not only is a legal tidal wave headed their way, they're also being swamped by bad publicity. And people in the general public who may have been considering cruising have gone from thinking, "Cruise ships may not be as safe as I thought." to, "Cruise ships may not be as safe as I thought and they're run by heartless bastards? I think I'll go to Club Med."

This isn't easy, but after the obvious step of refunding their passengers' money, executives at Costa Conciere should have done nothing but listen and help the people who made it off the ship get back to their lives as quickly as possible.

Excuses, explanations and half-hearted offers have only helped to make matters worse.

This is one of those rare cases where, when it comes to PR, the best thing to do was nothing.

Game on

2012-01-23T08:06:00.001-06:00

Now that the NFL Conference championships are over, it's time to turn our attention to the Super Bowl. No, I'm not talking about the game, though it should be a good one.

You may not have noticed, but the hype for the Super Bowl began last week when VW released this teaser commercial to whet everyone's appetite for its sequel to last year's excellent commercial, The Force.

I'm not a huge fan of teasers. I figure advertising is supposed to sell a product so you ought to spend your time and money advertising that product. Advertising created to hype advertising is usually an exercise in navel gazing. My one exception is for Super Bowl ads.

It's important to get as many of the over 300 million people who will be watching the game to sit still long enough to view your $3.5 million 30-second epic.

In addition to teasing the spot, it also directs you to a microsite where you'll be able to create and send Star Wars themed invitations to your Super Bowl party. You'll have to follow them on Facebook to take advantage of that offer, but it's something to keep the conversation going.

This is a nice effort. And if it's any indication of the spot that's coming from Deutsch, I'm looking forward to it.

Branding lessons from Kiss

2012-01-20T08:54:00.000-06:00

In honor of Paul Stanley's 60th birthday.

1. Make sure your product is right

It took over three years and wasn't until they released their third album that Kiss finally found their sound with their signature song "Rock and Roll All Nite."

2. Be different

Yes they built on the success of artists like Alice Cooper, David Bowie and the New York Dolls, but no one would confuse Kiss, their make up and outfits, and their epic stage shows for any other band.

3. Get a great logo

No comment necessary.

4. Evolve, but don't change

Kiss certainly went through their ups and downs, but they managed to return to their core and find new ways to connect with new audiences through the years.

5. Don't be afraid to have people hate you

Great brands are polarizing. They have fans who love them and detractors who hate them. What they don't have are people who are ambivalent. If people just 'like' your brand, you're in trouble.

Happy birthday, Starchild.

Beautiful lies

2012-01-19T05:09:00.000-06:00

People have long accused advertisers of being shameless hucksters, weasels, liars and worse. This commercial from Nissan is a classic example of why.

While the copy doesn't actually say it, the clear implication is that the Nissan Leaf is better for the environment than a gasoline powered car because it runs on electricity.

Here's the copy for the spot so elegantly read by Robert Downey, Jr.

What is the value of zero?

Is it nothing?

Imagine zero dependency on foreign oil.

Zero pollutants in our environment.

Zero depletion of the ozone.

Suddenly zero starts adding up.

Which is why we at Nissan built a car inspired by zero.

Because zero is worth more than nothing.
Zero is worth everything.

The zero gas 100% electric Nissan Leaf.

Innovation for the planet. Innovation for all.

You see, the Leaf is inspired by zero, so it must be better than a gas powered car, right?

Wrong.

An electric car uses up to .3 kWh per kilometer of energy which creates about 200 grams of CO2 emissions at your typical U.S. power plant. The average gasoline-powered car produces 167 grams of CO2 per kilometer at the tailpipe.

So this shiny, happy plug-in electric that can barely go 40 miles before you need to recharge it, is actually responsible for putting more greenhouse gasses in the air than my Audi.

Electric cars are not the answer; not given our current battery technology and our antiquated power generation system that burns mostly coal.

If you're really concerned about the environment drive less, carpool, take the bus, ride a bicycle, turn down your thermostat, recycle your cans, but don't buy an electric car; at least until all our power comes from solar, wind and hydroelectric and that's going to happen right about... never.

No matter how Nissan and Chiat try to spin it, this car will not clean up our world.

DirecTV response

2012-01-18T07:08:00.000-06:00

I've been seeing these spots lately and it is probably my favorite campaign currently on the air.

These spots start by doing a great job of reminding the viewer of the issues we've all experienced with cable – high cost, service interruptions, bad customer service.

Like all good stories, they have an arc that builds to a climax.

And they reward us with a nice twist to the story.

From the film to the acting to the voice over, they're well produced. And while the offer at the end is vague, it certainly feels like it's a lot less than the check I'm writing to Charter every month. Enough that I'm tempted to check it out.

And that's what good advertising is all about.

Thought for the day

2012-01-17T10:22:00.001-06:00

Innovation doesn't meet a need. It creates one.

Think about it.

I wonder about this winterland

2012-01-16T05:54:00.000-06:00

I'm not sure why I don't like this spot more, but I don't.

I really should like this.

It's different from the other spots in the category. No pictures of happy families on the slopes. No smiling kids at the waterpark. No snowmobiles busting through powdery drifts. No sleigh rides. No couples snuggling in front of a roaring fire in a rustic cabin. No insert other stereotypical image here.

It doesn't have wall-to-wall copy telling me how great it is to vacation in Wisconsin. We all know you can find a great vacation just about anywhere – okay, maybe not Jersey.

It's well directed. How could it not be? No less than Wisconsin native/comedy legend David Zucker – Airplane!, Naked Gun, Scary Movie, etc. – directed the spot. Who better to direct this slapstick tour de force?

It's kind of neat that the actors are all members of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and they also performed the music.

The tagline: "Winter's here. Sound like fun?" puts a nice button on the whole thing.

So why doesn't it work for me?

Maybe it's trying too hard to be different.

Maybe this Stooge-inspired mayhem doesn't reach a deep enough emotional place to trigger a memory that makes me say, "Man, I need to go THERE on my next vacation."

Different is important. Different gets you noticed. But unless you connect on an emotional level, you don't have the second major component of a great ad, relevance. And that's what this spot misses for me.

Great effort, but like most of the snowballs I've ever thrown, it just misses the mark.

We are the world

2012-01-13T08:15:00.001-06:00

I was lucky enough to participate in a discussion yesterday led by Paul Bloom, Chief Technology Officer from IBM. He posited that with the growth of mobile devices there would be no "Digital Divide" in 5 years. Meaning that a vast majority of the population world-wide will have access to the internet and no subgroup will be severely underrepresented.

Certainly the potential is there. Mobile devices are becoming ever more affordable. The infrastructure to connect these devices is fairly easy to set up and more affordable that traditional telecommunications networks.

So the question becomes, what happens to the world when nearly 7 billion people are connected to the internet?

How does that change not just communications, but business, health care, politics, and our world?

Obviously politics will play a role in this. I can't imagine the North Korean and Irani governments suddenly handing iPads to every citizen and letting them have unfettered access to the internet.

But if subsistence farmers in Africa can talk to agriculture specialists in Iowa, or a village doctor has access to the technology at Mayo Clinic, opportunities abound.

It's a brave new world, kiddoes. Are you ready for it?

Ford's on fire

2012-01-12T08:02:00.000-06:00

And not the way they were forty years ago when Pintos were exploding on highways and byways across the country.

In the category that matters most when it comes to volume in the U.S. Ford has laid down the gauntlet at this year's North American International Auto Show with the 2013 Fusion.

Not content to have Hyundai be the style leader in the category, they've updated the shape with a style that appears to be both contemporary and timeless without being generic.

Not content to have Toyota be the green leader in the category, they've updated their hybrid to reach 47 mpg city and added an electric model with a range extending gas motor that gets the equivalent of 100 mpg.

Not content to just offer something for the ecoheads, there's an available 2.0 liter engine that makes nearly 240 hp and can be had with all-wheel drive.

Last year when I bought my Audi, the Fusion was a very close second. With the new styling, engine options and other updates, it goes right to the top of my list when I start shopping again next year.

Thinning the herd

2012-01-11T06:36:00.001-06:00

Obesity is a health problem in the U.S. But for cities and states who have to pay for the effects of obesity through increased health care costs, it's an economic one. Thus, we're seeing a rash of new campaigns designed to scare people into eating less.

This effort from New York City is drawing criticism because it's "graphic" use of an amputee to demonstrate the effects of type 2 diabetes that results from eating too many super-sized fast food meals.

I don't really have a problem with the image. It's more with the strategy and tone.

Yes, sometimes in order to get people to see the truly destructive nature of their behavior we have to have an intervention. But usually those are held in private with a few close friends and family members shining a light on the ugly truth of one's life. Public shaming rarely has positive social effects.

My other issue is with the ham-handed copywriting and artless design.

Some may compare this to the "Truth" anti-smoking campaign that used much more graphic images and has been effective at keeping kids from starting to smoke, but there's one key difference.

In this ad, you're the bad guy. You made the choice to eat and drink to much. In the Truth campaign, the Tobacco companies are the target. Having a "devil" tempting you makes it easier rationalize walking away from something you desire.

Obesity is a problem that needs to be dealt with. This is just the wrong way to go about it.

The question is...

2012-01-10T06:01:00.001-06:00

The quality of questions we ask determines the level of the knowledge we gain.

If you want to get more out of work, school, meetings, life; learn to ask better questions.

What's in a name?

2012-01-09T07:16:00.001-06:00

Shakespeare famously wrote, "That which we call a rose. By any other name would still smell as sweet."

This is great advice for marketers, and the folks at Sunsweet have taken it to heart.

Remember prunes? Yeah, those wrinkly things that old people eat to help them go? Well, it seems as though they weren't selling so well to the younger generations. So rather than just trying to reposition prunes, they've renamed them.

Prunes are now, dried plums. Perfect. We like plums. We like dried fruit.

And now they've taken it one step further and consumerized them, creating Plum Amazins. They're chopped dried plums and a little sunflower oil.

New form. New positioning. New name. New life.

Well done.

This is not a Kodak moment

2012-01-06T07:51:00.001-06:00

Where did it go wrong for Kodak?

Their company was founded on incredible technical innovation that met a huge consumer need.

They continued innovating throughout their history.

They were consistent advertisers, developing memorable emotional pitches that drove their market share to near monopoly status. In 1976 they sold 90% of the film and 85% of the cameras in America.

They leveraged their expertise into new categories like videotape and memory cards.

And while they may have been a little late to the party, it wasn't as if they ignored the digital revolution. In 2005, four of every ten digital camera's sold in the U.S. was a Kodak. They developed the first camera/printer dock, the first WiFi enabled camera, in 2006 they introduced the smallest 10x optical zoom camera.

And now, just six years later they stand on the brink of bankruptcy while Nikon and Canon continue to sell on the high end while every smartphone and tablet has a camera function.

This is a tough one to figure out, but here goes.

They were too busy listening to what people said and not actually understanding what they really wanted.

Kodak built their business on preserving memories. Yet, while most people have albums and keep some pictures for the long term, today photography is really about sharing moments.

Yes, we can still go back and look at our pictures. But in the main, photographs are no longer meant for albums or frames. We're happy to take a quick shot of questionable quality and then hit share button, uploading it immediately to Facebook, Photobucket or Twitter so our friends can see what we're up to now.

Kodak missed that. While they engineered ever more elaborate cameras and sensor systems designed to improve the image quality, the market was running the other way fast.

So now another great American brand is disappearing. And I for one, will miss them.

It's good, but is it original?

2012-01-05T07:32:00.002-06:00

Is it a case of plagiarism or coincidental creativity?

After universal praise for the ad featured in yesterday's post, my friend Gene share this cover from the 2005 Nada Surf album, The Weight is a Gift.

Interesting.

Unless I travel to Brazil and confront the creative team – which wouldn't be easy given my level of proficiency in Portuguese – we'll never know.

Here's my take.

The illustration styles are similar. The color palette is the same. In both illustrations the only lit window is the second from the left.

Coincidence? I think yes.

While the styles are similar, they're not that unique. There are a lot of freehand pen and ink cityscapes out there.

As for the cool blue tone of the evening light, I don't think the illustrator for the album invented that convention.

Yes, the images are similar. But this wouldn't be the first time two people have hit on the same idea years apart.

After all, ABC just aired the show Workin' It about two cross-dressing men working trying to earn a living in the big city 30 years after Bosom Buddies went of the air...

If it's plagiarized, at least the Corre Cutia ad is good.

Simply brilliant

2012-01-04T07:09:00.000-06:00

When your target is literate and understands the concept of metaphor, you can do a lot more with your advertising.

Or as this ad demonstrates, less.

This insightfully concepted, beautifully illustrated ad for Corre Cutia Bookstore in Brazil captures the universal benefit of a great book in one simple visual. Just as important, it communicates why Corre Cutia is different from big box book and toy sellers.

From what I can gather of the google translation of their website, Corre Cutia was founded by psychologists who wanted to provide a fun and nurturing environment that also sold books and toys.

I hope they are successful, if only because it means we'll get to see more ads like this.

Thanks to Andy Wallman for the tip on this one. If you want to see a hi-rez image of the ad, go here.

Tools and talent aren't enough

2012-01-03T08:27:00.002-06:00

I've been engaged in an interesting conversation on Twitter this morning on the value of tools in the innovation process.

What makes conversations online (and thus on Twitter) so interesting, is that the positions are usually black versus white. "I'm right. You're wrong." It's hard to get a lot of subtlety into a 140 character post. Especially if you want to throw a few hash tags on the end.

In response to the question "If we reduce innovation to a set of tools, do we kill it?"

My answer was simply, "Yes."

This of course led to responses (mostly sellers of innovation tools) that argued tools were an essential part of the process.

Of course, they're right. You can't build a house without a hammer. But if you want to build an architecturally significant house, you need a great plan.

In any endeavor the magic comes not just from having the tools and knowing how to use them. It's the vision behind the project that make their application special.

Every artist can mix paint and put a brush to a canvas, but it took the genius of da Vinci to create the Mona Lisa.

Every programmer knows how to code an app, but it took the twisted vision of Peter Vesterbacka to create Angry Birds.

Every blogger can use a computer, but few attract the daily readership of Seth Godin.

It takes more than tools and talent to create a masterpiece. It starts with a vision. A mindset. A mission. That's what separated Apple from Dell. That's what drove Google past Yahoo! Unfortunately, that's what's lacking in most innovation programs today.

The era of opportunity

2012-01-02T08:24:00.003-06:00

What does opportunity look like?

An entrenched market leader that's taking its customers for granted
A throw-away comment from a friend about how his cell phone could work better
A new application for an existing technology
A forum where everyone has a voice
100 million bored smartphone users
Depressed real estate prices
An engaged Facebook, Linkedin, or Twitter network
America's obesity epidemic
A freeway at rush hour
An outdated power grid
The 10% unemployment rate
Low interest rates
A tight money supply
Gridlock in congress
Information overload
Media fragmentation
The end of the 9 to 5 workday
A pink slip
Communitarianism
Escapism
Personalization
Globalization
Altruism
Vanity

Opportunity is everywhere for those who are willing to look, listen, think, and act.

Welcome to 2012, the era of opportunity.

Inspired advertising

2011-12-30T06:20:00.001-06:00

Yesterday, I revealed my favorite automotive spot of 2011. Today it's my favorite for any category from any country.

If you have three minutes, watch it and you'll see why.

You don't have to love motorcycles like I do. You don't have to be getting old like I am.

You just have to be a fan of great storytelling, great film making, and people who have the ability to take an inspirational story and connect it ever so subtly to the brand in question.

My hat's off the the crew at Ogilvy in Taiwan for this truly memorable gem.

Happy new year to one and all.

And the winner is...

2011-12-29T08:10:00.000-06:00

2011 saw very few examples of great automotive advertising. Basically only two spots come to mind and both were in the Super Bowl: Volkswagen's "The Force" and Chrysler's "Imported From Detroit".

Both spots stood out in the crowded and overhyped environment. Both spots generated a lot of "buzz." But most important both spots drove sales.

Sales for the Chrysler 200 grew 113% in 2011 over the car it replaced, the Sebring

Sales for the 2012 Passat increased 29.9% over the 2011 model.

Yes, the bar for improving on the Sebring was frighteningly low. But even with the improvements, when compared to the Fusion, Camry, Malibu, Accord, Altima and Sonata and Passat, the Chrysler is mid-pack at best.

Even getting to consider Chrysler after its recent struggles is a Herculean achievement. But actually making them cool enough to buy amidst this competition is fairly unbelievable. And that's why "Imported From Detroit" is the best Automotive spot of the year in 2011.

The first commandment of business: Honor thy offer

2011-12-28T07:54:00.001-06:00

Here's a tip for all the business owners and managers out there:

When you're running a special, put a plan in place to so your employees actually honor the deal when your customers request it.

Seems pretty obvious, right? Apparently, it's not.

Last week we held our annual holiday "shopping" men's night in Madison. The night always begins at one of State Street's legendary establishments and since I'm trying to fully understand this whole social media/mobile marketing phenomenon, upon arrival I checked in on foursquare where I was pleasantly surprised to find the watering hole in question was offering $5 off your tab when you checked in.

After ordering, I asked the bartender about the deal and his response was, "I don't even know what foursquare is." Upon showing him the screen on my phone, he still had no idea about the special.

Needless to say, he didn't honor the deal.

Needless to say, I was less than satisfied with that response.

Being that it was the holidays and I was with friends, I let it go. But the lesson here is pretty clear.

A lot of decisions in a business are made at levels way above the front line employees. Whether it's a daily deal offered on the web, a change or update to your product, a customer service policy or any other decision that directly impacts your customer, you must communicate with the front lines.

Nothing makes a brand or business look worse than confusion.

Chevy produces a Sonic boom

2011-12-27T06:07:00.000-06:00

I'm a sucker for a good event. Something big, fun and brand relevant. I think this giant 3D claw game that helped introduce the Chevy Sonic in Los Angeles qualifies on all accounts.

My only issue is there doesn't seem to have been a lot of mainstream media PR generated by the stunt. There's been a lot of advertising and production trade press on the stunt, but to maximize the effectiveness, it would have been nice to find a way to make this newsworthy for local TV, newspaper and other consumer media outlets.

Still, nicely done by all involved: Goodby Silverstein & Partners, Pearl Media, and the marketing team at Chevrolet.

Customers before shareholders

2011-12-26T08:51:00.000-06:00

One of the long-term problems with our economy is short-term thinking. Too many CEOs are worried about creating shareholder value when they should be creating value for their customers.

When you manage for increased shareholder value, you minimize investments in R&D. You value engineer products and compromise quality. You send your manufacturing to the lowest bidder. You cut your marketing expenses to the bare minimum. You do everything to maximize this quarter's profits regardless of the effects on the long term health of your company.

When you manage for increased customer value, you improve your products on a continuous basis. You ensure your products are built to last for their intended useful life. You make sure people know what you sell and why you're different. You invest in the communities that support your business. You don't let pennies get in the way of a remarkable customer experience.

You can't have happy shareholders if you don't have happy customers.

If you want to be around in 50 years, build your business to satisfy Main Street, not Wall Street.

A fine demonstration

2011-12-22T07:57:00.000-06:00

Product demonstration ads are often boring and expected. Not these ads from Grey Advertising for the Pilot EXTRAFINE pen.

They do a great job of advertising's two most important jobs: Grabbing your attention and proving a point.

Well done.

Innovation lessons from Christmas past

2011-12-21T07:08:00.000-06:00

Back in the day, Sears used to produce its "Holiday Wishbook" a big, thick catalogue filled with all kinds of wonderfulness for everyone in the family. These were the latest, coolest, must have gifts for the season.

Looking back at the Wishbook from 1975 has me wondering, "What were we thinking?"

Actually, as a marketer and innovator, it's pretty instructive.

The best innovations strike an emotional chord with the user.

Hot new products are often driven by technology.

Sometimes you can put a new twist on an old favorite.

Great ideas are often borrowed from pop culture

And don't forget, kids of every age are always in a hurry to grow up.

I hope you'll find these tips helpful in your innovation program for the upcoming year.

The third m of marketing

2011-12-20T07:17:00.002-06:00

For decades marketing has focused on two key elements, the medium and the message. What we tell consumers about our products and where we tell that story are both incredibly important. Our media choices, however, have exploded over the past decade and how we interact with media has changed. It's time to add a third layer to the strategy...

The moment.

Watching an episode of Parks and Recreation on an iPhone in an airport is different from watching it on the couch in your living room. Receiving a tweet when you walk into a store is different from reading a newspaper ad at the breakfast table (okay, that's not a fair comparison since no one reads newspapers anymore).

It's not just where your message is delivered, but when. What frame of mind is the person in? What else is going on around him? With smartphones, tablets and 4G connected laptops, we're receiving marketing pitches 24 hours a day. Just as telemarketers were excoriated for calling during the dinner hour, there are better times than others to deliver your message based on who you're talking to, where you reaching them and what you're selling.

Take a moment to understand the moment before you send out your next communique.

Saab dies a second death

2011-12-19T08:06:00.000-06:00

Two years ago, Saab was dead. Until Spyker worked out a last minute deal that has kept the brand on life support while looking for someone with deeper pockets to help resuscitate the ailing company. Unfortunately, the only place where that kind of money is still flowing is China, and GM isn't about to hand over all the technology it put into Saab cars since they purchased it in 1989.

A lot of people are making GM the bad guy in this. But they're just protecting their intellectual property from a culture and country that doesn't know how to spell piracy much less respect its meaning.

Saab's demise actually goes back a lot further than its sale to GM.

Never able to fully fund its own ambitions, Saab has had a number of bad marriages throughout its lifespan, including a 10 year tryst with Fiat that began in the late '70s. Over the years, Saab products have shared platforms with brands that include Alfa Romeo, Opel, Subaru and Chevrolet.

This lack of consistency and vision has cost the brand in the past two decades. Nothing that Saab has produced since it replaced the 900 was particularly unique or interesting.

I always had a soft spot for the brand after driving a Model 96 from Washington, D.C. to Vermont in the late '70s, and was genuinely interested in it when I went shopping last year. But Saab's inability to find its rightful place in the automotive landscape, to have the discipline to define its core purpose and maintain its differentiation from other cars, finally caught up with it.

And what was once a very nice niche brand is no more.

Lincoln gets serious

2011-12-16T08:36:00.001-06:00

It looks like Ford is ready to put the full-court press on to revitalize the Lincoln brand.

Yesterday, they announced a new marketing initiative being put together by the WPP group that will be based in New York.

Okay, nothing earth shattering there. Everybody changes agencies whether they need to or not when their in rebuilding mode.

What interested me most in this article in Ad Age is that they are planning on launching seven new vehicles in the near future. So it appears that they've taken the resources that were deployed on Volvo, Aston Martin and Jaguar and have invested them in Lincoln.

Excellent.

Ford has done a terrific job with it's blue oval branded products. The Focus that my son just bought is a terrific car. How do I know? We shopped them all: Toyota Corolla, Hyundai Elantra, Honda Civic, Mazda 3 and the Chevrolet Cruze (you can thank me for not subjecting you to that process). The interesting thing was his decision came down to the Cruze and the Focus. What tipped the scale for him were the dealer experience and he felt the Focus was a little sportier.

I can't wait to see what Ford has planned for Lincoln and what niche they want to own in the luxury market. It's a crowded space. While BMW and Audi remain almost invincible, there are chinks appearing in the armor of brands like Lexus, Mercedes, and Volvo.

In my mind, this is the automotive story to watch in 2012.

Lexus has a December to forget

2011-12-15T07:44:00.001-06:00

The holidays are here and that means everyone's getting a new car for Christmas, right?

That's what you'd be led to believe if you've been watching any TV over the last few weeks. After all, who wouldn't want to find a shiny new Lexus with a big red bow on top under their tree?

Apparently no one.

According to a new study by Ace Metrix, the Lexus holiday ads aren't just ineffective, they're actually hurting the brand. I'm not surprised for two reasons.

First, if you're not going to buy your loved one a convertible or something special, you might as well buy her a toaster. Buying someone sedan or SUV even a Lexus, is just buying them a big, expensive appliance.

Second, there's context at work here. A lot of people are struggling right now, people who may someday want to buy a really nice car when the economy improves and they're doing better. But here's Lexus thumbing their metaphorical nose at them, delivering the exact same message they were in the mid 2000s when the economy was booming.

Empathy is an important trait for a marketer. I'm not suggesting they be a downer during the holiday season and they don't have to be. Mercedes has done a nice job with their spot, putting their brand at the center of a holiday message.

It's important to remember that in advertising, even during the holidays, context matters.

Indeed

2011-12-14T05:20:00.000-06:00

In the midst of the madness that is the holiday season and the crush to wrap things up by the end of the year, the BBC reminds us that there is a lot around us to observe and enjoy.

What follows is a wonderful mash up of their brilliant cinematography and the poignant words of Bob Thiele and George David Weiss.

Enjoy.

Putting Bud in a better light

2011-12-13T07:24:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, the ad agencies McGarryBowen and Translation won shared duties on the Bud Light account.

I have four words for the two agencies: Good luck with that.

As I wrote in a post last year, there's never been a better time to be a beer drinker. There are so many good, interesting beers out there, including light lagers that there's really no need for people who like beer to drink the tasteless colored water that Bud and Miller have been passing off as beer for the past few decades.

Not that it can't be done. In the food and beverage industry, taste has very little to do with mainstream success. After all, Kraft still sells a lot of its blue box Mac & Cheese. What Bud Light must become is interesting.

Right now it isn't.

The ads, the promotions, the packaging, have all been as predictable as a Justin Beiber chart topper.

Frat boy humor and scantily clad women can only take a brand so far. Especially when we've seen it all before a million times.

Here's to hoping the new agencies try to add some flavor to this stale brand.

No good deed goes unpunished

2011-12-12T06:16:00.001-06:00

Saturday night, Chase Bank sponsored the "American Giving Awards" on NBC. Well, sponsored isn't exactly correct. This was a one hour infomercial for the centerpiece of Chase's annual corporate giving program where five charities were awarded between $125,000 and $1,000,000 based on an online vote that took place on the Chase Community Giving Facebook page.

I've always been a believer in the "Do good. Take credit." school of public relations, but something about this feels a little unseemly.

With negative PR continuing to taint the big banks from the "Occupy" movement and huge pay and incentive programs for bank CEOs – Chase's James Dimon earned over $11 million last year according to Forbes, down from $30 million in 2007 – it makes sense that Chase does everything possible to tell its side of the story. I'm just not sure this is the best way.

Yes, 1.5 million people watched it (for reference over 5 million watched Rudolph which aired on CBS at the same time).

Yes, To Write Love on Her Arms is an incredibly deserving charity.

Yes, Chase has every right to promote its charitable giving.

Maybe that's the problem I have with it.

Chase is promoting their good works as they would a new checking account or rewards credit card. It feels like they're more interested in taking credit than actually doing good. Packaging it as an awards show, making it seem as though it's endorsed by an independent third party is disingenuous at best.

I'm sure Chase does a lot of good in the communities they serve. They've given out over $18 million to 500 charities since 2009.

I'd just feel better about it if I actually believed their primary intent was to do good, not just enhance their image.

My hiatus

2011-12-07T06:19:00.001-06:00

As you may have noticed. I've taken a few weeks off from the blog. The view's been pretty cloudy lately. I'll be back with new posts beginning next week. Thanks to all who inquired as to where it's been...

Fiat's failure

2011-11-22T06:34:00.001-06:00

Yesterday, AutoBlog.com reported that Fiat has sold only about 30% of the new 500s they had planned to sell this year after investing millions each to build a stand-alone Fiat dealership.

Oops.

Not having a strategy is expensive.

Not having a clue is disastrous.

This kind of failure goes way beyond bad advertising. After all, if bad advertising was all it took to kill a product, we wouldn't have Mentos, AT&T, or Velveeta.

The real question here is what led Fiat to believe that the 500 would be a success in America in the first place? Was there a need in the market for an Italian Mini? Does it offer anything substantially different or better than what's currently on the market?

Cool, competent and interesting isn't enough in a competitive market. It has to be better.

Strategy matters

2011-11-18T06:20:00.001-06:00

Fiat seems to belong to the "Throw it onto the wall and see what sticks" school of advertising.

So far none of the spots they've done have anything to do with one another.

Their first effort was this attempt to position their micro car as a cultural icon with the likes of Elvis and rock and roll, and drive-in movies...

Okay.

Their next campaign was an epic exercise of advertising cliches, hiring the oh so irrelevant J. Lo to pitch a car that she would never drive to a place she rarely visits, delivering a message that makes no sense.

Right.

And now we get this. A little bit of sex with your latte for their performance model, the Abarth.

Of the three the last feels closest to right to me. Italian, a little sexy, and a bit more fun. But it shouldn't take millions of dollars of wasted spots, over a year, and what appears to be blind luck to get this right.

A bad launch can hamper a product's success for years, just ask Infinity. There are too many good agencies, too many smart people in this business for Fiat to have botched it this badly. Hopefully, it's not too late, but after a start like this, you never know.

Pure advertising

2011-11-09T06:08:00.000-06:00

Wieden+Kennedy is back to doing what it does best; advertising that is confidently understated and has its tongue planted firmly in its cheek.

These new ads for Ivory soap are a great example of moving in the opposite direction of the rest of the category by honoring the brands "99.44% pure" heritage in a voice that's as contemporary as it is jaded.

This is classic Wieden. Right up there with their This is SportsCenter and the original High Life Man commercials.

The lesson here is just because your product isn't "on trend" doesn't mean it can't be successful.

Tomorrow

2011-11-07T06:27:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow is a figment of our imaginations. It's a myth, a hope, a trap, a day that will never come.

There are thousands of hypothetical tomorrows. There is only one today.

Use it wisely.

Big things brewing at MillerCoors

2011-11-03T08:13:00.001-05:00

If I'm reading this clip from Ad Age right, MillerCoors may be about to ruin the best thing it has in its portfolio.

Mr. Long (Tom Long, CEO) said MillerCoors intends to make its craft business (Leinenkugel's, Blue Moon, etc.) "much, much bigger," noting that it needs to "transform to meet those consumers needs" of "these fuller, bigger-tasting beers."

MC's craft beer portfolio works precisely because it isn't big. It's seen as different, interesting and special. Limited advertising means people "discover" the beer and can make it their own.

I can understand their desire to grow the most profitable part of their business while watching their flagship brand fall by nearly 15% last quarter, but they need to be careful here. The brand graveyard is full of regional and niche beers that have attempted to become national players.

Anybody remember Schaefer or Stroh's?

Sure it can be done. But it will take real marketing savvy and a deft hand, neither of which have been evident in any form of Miller or Coors marketing for the past 20 years.

If I were a member of the Leinenkugel family, I'd be worried about my legacy.

When the going gets tough

2011-11-01T07:11:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I was interviewed by a national magazine on how food businesses can find success in a tough economy. Here are some of the highlights of my advice. Remember what you're paying for it, so take it for what it's worth.

Stop trying to be all things to all people. Find the 20% of your market that loves you and do everything you can to make them love you more.
Connect your products and brand to something that's trendworthy and newsworthy
For every trend there's a counter-trend. Head in the opposite direction of the market leaders and you'll find a lot less competition.
Make sure people know the story behind your product.
Just as in society, the middle class is vanishing from the shelf -- if you're not the least expensive or incredibly special, I wish you luck. You're going to need it.

It's a tough time for business right now. But no one ever got through tough times by laying low. That doesn't mean you have to buy TV commercials, distribute coupons, or slash prices.

There are more ways to reach consumers and distribute products than ever before, but they require work rather than money. We're in a 'sweat equity' economy and those marketers who are willing to roll up their sleeves and work social media, work events, work mobile, work public relations will earn their way to the top as long as they have the right position.

Good enough isn't

2011-10-28T06:34:00.000-05:00

I saw this headline in this morning's AdAge and I just had to laugh.

Quality matters when developing a new product? Who knew?

Whether it's an economy car, a gourmet appliance, or a local restaurant, quality is the only thing that matters.

If you're making something, anything and you find yourself saying, "that's good enough..." you're in trouble.

The world has plenty of crap that's "good enough."

Make your product special, or don't even bother.

All atwitter...

2011-10-27T06:46:00.002-05:00

With all the Twitter faux pas that have occurred over the past year or so, it's not surprising to hear that a celebrity had bad-mouthed a brand in what they thought was a private message, then sent a positive tweet about it a few minutes later.

Oops!

That seems to have been the case Tuesday when Rainn Wilson (Dwight from the office) posted the three tweets pictured here. (If you're not a part of the twitterati, the timeline reads bottom to top).

So there are three possible explanations for this.

It's 100% honest. He posted all three not meaning for his fans to see the first one.
This was all a set up worked out between him and Del Taco to help the tweets go viral and gain more awareness for Del Taco.
And finally, it's a bit that 100% fabricated by Wilson with no input, direction or payment by Del Taco.

Here's why I think it's #3.

This ain't no Paris Hilton we're talking about. Wilson is a pretty smart guy and has been tweeting a long time. I can't see him making this mistake. Also why would he use the @ symbol in a "private message?"

Del Taco would never pay someone to call their food "shitty." Crappy? maybe. Lousy? Yes.

And finally, Wilson's been known to tweet some outrageous things about himself, other people and brands. On Monday one tweet from Wilson read "McRib is people! @McDonalds McRib is PEEE-PULLL!!!!!"

I doubt the folks in Oak Brook paid him to tweet that.

A fourth, more plausible, option occurred to me on my drive to work: Del Taco attempted to hire Wilson to send a positive tweet and this is his way of saying "Fuc.." I mean "no."

America's game?

2011-10-26T06:48:00.000-05:00

Football is doing to baseball, what Ndamukong Suh does to opposing guards.

On Monday night, when the NFL was on cable (ESPN) with a terrible game – the New Orleans Saints against a Peyton Manning-less Indianapolis Colts – more people watched a 62–7 blowout than a 4–0 nail biter.

I'm not saying that baseball is dead, but if a World Series that's tied at 2-2 with all-star names like Pujols, Hamilton, and La Russa can't outdraw a meaningless mid-season matchup in the NFL, America's pastime is clearly past its prime.

I get it. We don't have the biggest teams with the biggest stars so the ratings are bound to be lower than a Yankees/Cubs series, but that's exactly the point.

Nobody tuned in to MNF to watch Curtis Paynter. They tuned in to watch the game. So obviously, it doesn't matter who's playing. Even if it had been the Browns and the Seahawks it Monday Night Football would have out-drawn the baseball game.

This is baseball's biggest event. A week long festival that's supposed to be an exclamation point on a grueling 162 game trek where a champion is crowned and a loser sent home saying, "There's always next year."

Can baseball ever compete with football without a series of hall-of-famers on the field? Probably not. But if TV ratings are important to MLB (and they are) at some point their going to have to objectively look at the product as it's presented and make some changes.

Until then, their long slow slide into sports niche-dom will only continue.

A fitting tribute

2011-10-24T06:02:00.000-05:00

In case you hadn't noticed, this year marks the 100th anniversary of the Chevrolet brand.

Aside from building some of the best cars in the brand's history, they've also produced this really nice ad for the occasion.

No, the technique of holding an old photograph over the same scene isn't new (see dearphotograph.com). But expecting advertising to be new is like expecting congress to get something done. You'll waste a of energy complaining about either. The technique is artfully deployed in service of commerce to remind those who may not know of Chevrolet's distinguished past without completely overshadowing their relevance today.

Using Ray Charles' classic version of America the Beautiful sets the tone without being overly patriotic. Over the years in all the automotive research I've witnessed, the vast majority of people don't buy a car because it's American. They would gladly purchase a good car, however, that happens to be American.

Who knows what the future holds for Chevrolet? But today I feel better about the brand because of their product and this spot.

Nicely done.

Brilliant beer marketing

2011-10-20T06:35:00.001-05:00

In a category rife with awful advertising, it's nice to see when someone gets it right.

Funny, relevant, memorable and it does a great job of bringing their theme to life.

I wonder if the folks in St. Louis and Milwaukee are paying attention?

Thanks to JLK Davis for the tip on this one.

The worst of the worst

2011-10-18T06:27:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago The Consumerist magazine invited its readers to nominate and vote to determine which commercials are the worst on television. A sister publication of Consumer Reports, The Consumerist is the perfect place for this type of competition because of its overall disdain for advertising and its readers heavy skepticism of businesses.

That having been said, this is one of the best lists I've seen in a long time. It includes the AT&T spot I ranted about last week, the incredibly horrible Summer's Eve Hail to the V spots, and this gem from Luvs, voted Worst Ad in America...

Creating spots this bad isn't easy. You have to come up with a horrible idea, convince the creative director, the account team and the client that it's really not that bad. Then somehow you persuade the songwriter's agent that money is more important than his dignity while finding an animator who has the sense of humor of a seven year old.

Congratulations to the folks at Saatchi for this well-deserved win.

Boring is boring

2011-10-17T06:54:00.001-05:00

Over the past 30 years, the Toyota Camry became America's best-selling nameplate specifically because of its rock-solid reliability, uninspiring design and lackluster performance.

Now Toyota wants to change that.

According to this article in the New York Times, they're feeling pressure from others (read Ford and Hyundai) who have caught up in the area of reliability while offering products that are just a little more interesting.

So they're injecting "attitude" into their campaign with the slogan "It's ready. Are you?" and spots that feature smoking tires...

Maybe it's time someone told auto company executives, most of the country finds NASCAR boring. Just check out the ratings and attendance figures over the past few years. Putting the car in this context does not make my heartbeat race. And neither does a "reinvented" Camry.

I'm sure the Camry's a great car but sportier body panels won't make it more interesting, any more than dressing Mr. Rogers in a track suit will all of a sudden transform him into Usain Bolt.

The new VOC

2011-10-14T08:11:00.000-05:00

For today's post, follow this link to Innovation Management, where my thoughts on innovation and product development are published every week or so. Enjoy.

BoA is DoA when it comes to PR

2011-10-13T07:00:00.000-05:00

Whoever is running the PR department at Bank of America better own stock in Rolaids.

This summer a homeowner in Florida foreclosed on a BoA branch after it refused to abide by a court order and pay his legal bills after they tried to foreclose on his house, even though the home was bought with cash and BoA never held a mortgage on the property.

They're the butt of jokes regularly on Colbert, The Daily Show, Letterman and other late night talk shows.

And just a few days ago, when two customers, following an Occupy Santa Cruz rally, tried to close their accounts, the bank manager refused and threatened to have the customers arrested.

I'm not here to talk about the politics of the situation, rather the marketing.

Here's a tip. If your customers don't want to be your customers anymore, let them go as quickly and quietly as possible. If the manager had just said, "I'm so sorry you feel that way. Come with me, we'll take care of the paperwork and get you your money right away." The video would have ended there and the protesters would have looked like whiny, privileged middle-class suburbanites out for a thrill.

Instead the bank looks like a bully and those they are trying to silence have been able to amplify their voices via Youtube and the news.

The lesson: Don't deal with difficult customers by being difficult. Kill them with kindness and you'll lower the noise.

(Oh and for all you would-be documentarians out there, don't do what this woman holding the camera did. Keep your mouth shut and let the action play out. You're not the star of your movie, they are.)

Does mean sell?

2011-10-12T06:38:00.000-05:00

This commercial has been running a lot lately and I wish it would stop.

I know humor is subjective, but who finds this funny? These two people so completely unlikeable, their relationship so completely dysfunctional, that this spot is hard to watch. And it's not the only one. There are a number of spots on the air now using protagonists who are just flat out mean and ugly individuals.

My question is whatever happened to wanting people to like your brand? And how does this trend of commercials featuring bitches and jerks help that?

I know this is intended to be a parody, but whoever at the agency wrote and approved this should leave comedy to the professionals because it's just not funny.

And if it's not funny, it's not going to sell.

The saga continues

2011-10-11T06:31:00.000-05:00

So Netflix finally came to its senses and killed not just the Qwikster name, but also the concept and will continue to distribute both streaming content and DVDs on one sight. Good.

The damage, however, has been done.

Brands are about trust, and trust comes from consistency. Lately, Netflix has been anything but.

Between its price increases, inexplicable communications, the decisions to split into two companies with two separate websites, and now this tersely worded post on their blog, Netflix has been as consistent and focused as an 8-year-old with ADHD at a carnival.

I know they're hoping this will all go away and maybe it will over time. But in these last 60 days they've given their subscribers a reason to look elsewhere, and over a million have taken them up on it.

Brands are fragile things, my friends. The only way to protect a brand, is to know what it stands for and work hard at being that every single day. All it takes is one mistake an you're the next Oldsmobile, as Netflix is finding out the hard way.

Stay crazy

2011-10-06T06:30:00.001-05:00

Why Kindle Fire will torch everyone except Apple

2011-09-30T08:36:00.003-05:00

Amazon is smart.

Yes, they're late to the tablet market, but they used that time to create a strategically superior product to the tablets from Motorola, HP, Dell and the other iPad wannabes.

Unlike those brands, who looked at the market leader and asked, "how can we give iPad users more for a little less?" Amazon asked, "How can we give others exactly what they need at a price that radically realigns the category?"

At $199, the Kindle Fire is 60% cheaper than the least expensive iPad. Since most tablet usage is at home, it has only WiFi, gives you access to Amazon's huge catalogue of books, music, magazines and video, and offers a limited suite of the most popular Apps.

It only has 8 gigabytes of memory, so storage is limited, but that's part of the strategy to make users reliant on the Amazon cloud service, generating significant amounts of annuity revenue through purchase and storage of Amazon's content.

This is a classic disruption strategy. While everyone else is battling for the same customers at the top end of the category, Amazon found a way to open the market to a huge swath of people for whom a $500 tablet just doesn't make sense.

Very few people who "need" an iPad will trade down to get one of these. But those tablets stuck in the middle will see their volumes fall to a product that's just good enough but a whole lot cheaper. The fact that Amazon is being launched with an integrated multimedia ecosystem guarantees it.

I hope Amazon has their production ramped up because they'll sell every one they can make this holiday season.

Reset

2011-09-28T06:53:00.002-05:00

Knowing history is important. What's been done can offer lessons for the future. But often history handcuffs a company and its future.

Every business is on a path and it's hard not to look back at milestones, strategies, and tactics that worked just a few years ago. As they say in the brokerage business, however, past performance does not guarantee future success.

Kodak's success selling film in the '70s, doesn't necessarily make it relevant in the world of digital photography.

Miller and Bud's historic strength in distribution doesn't help it in a world that's looking for better beer.

Miles of paper, barrels of ink, and presses as big as a battleship won't help the New York Times distribute information in a world that wants its news on a smartphone.

Every once in a while, every business should press the reset button. If for nothing else than to see what's happening in the world around them and determine if where they've been has any relevance to where the world is going.

Preaching isn't marketing

2011-09-27T07:49:00.003-05:00

If you want to get people to change their behavior, don't tell them they're stupid, ignorant, fat and going to die, as the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is planning to do.

The objective of this billboard is to convince the people of Green Bay, Wisconsin (it's scheduled to be installed on the main route to Lambeau Field) to reduce their cheese consumption.

The problem is, the head of PCRM thinks Wisconsinites are ignorant as evidenced by this statement: "People have really no idea that cheese can cause what makes them fat and what makes their children fat," said Dr. Neal Barnard.

We know. Cheese, like just about every other food, when eaten to excess can make us fat. Some of us choose to indulge in moderation. Others not so much. But you're not going to alter that behavior by vilifying something they love, something so fundamental to the culture, something so damn delicious.

"We know what's best for you" never works in cause marketing. Especially when there's little truth behind the message.

This research has a bad aftertaste

2011-09-21T07:04:00.002-05:00

A few months ago Burger King dumped its ad agency. About a month ago it debuted this well-shot, if extremely ordinary spot.

And now a research company, YouGov says that consumer's perceptions of the number 2 burger chain have nearly doubled on their "BrandIndex."

Two things.

First, As much as I hated the previous campaign, I find it hard to believe that dumping the creepy king character and running 30 seconds of food shots would really push Burger King's image past McDonald's. The folks at YouGov had better check to see what the people on their survey panel have been smoking over the past month. That may explain their increased appetite for Whoppers.

Second, even if the results are accurate and people think Burger King's food is more appetizing than McDonald's, they'll be sorely disappointed once they get into the store. I haven't been into a Burger King that looks either like a) it has been updated in the last 30 years or b) anyone in the place knows how to use a mop.

As McDonald's continues to prove with same store sales increases throughout the recession despite burgers that have as much aesthetic appeal as a root canal, fast food is about much more than the food.

Until the franchisees that operate their restaurants get this, Burger King will continue to be a distant number two in the category.

Why Netflix will flame out

2011-09-20T06:11:00.000-05:00

Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix messed up. Now he's apologizing for it. If you're a subscriber as I am, the email was in your inbox yesterday morning. If you're not a subscriber, you can read his mea culpa here on Netflix blog.

The problem is, he's apologizing for the wrong thing to the wrong people and taking the wrong steps in an effort to correct the problem.

He's apologizing to customers for not communicating about the service and pricing change that caused over a million of them to leave. And in response he's splitting the company in two and making it harder for people who want access to both DVDs and streaming video.

First of all, he doesn't need to apologize to his customers. He needs to provide then with the service they want at a price their willing to pay and all this will be over. Too many businesses overestimate the power of social media and how it can help them maintain a "relationship" with their customers. Here's a clear demonstration of what that relationship is really about. Give me the service that I want and I'll give you money. Period. End of story.

Stop wasting so much time and money trying to be "friends" with your customers.

The people he needs to apologize to his investors who lost half their money when Netflix stock price plummeted over the past two months thanks to their inability to anticipate consumer rejection of their business decisions. He will also need to apologize to those who will be losing the rest of their money in the coming months thanks to the incomprehensible business model they've created moving forward.

How did this happen? Just read the blog post and see how many times the pronouns "I," "me" and "we" are used versus "you." (It's funny the only time he uses "you" is when he describes the inconveniences of the two company structure).

Netflix is operationally focused around what's best for them, not their customers. and that's ultimately why they will fail. Not because they communicated a pricing change badly. If that were the case most companies would be in trouble.

Things die for a reason

2011-09-19T07:00:00.002-05:00

This week a production company called Oink Radio announced the winner of its 14th annual Dead Radio Contest. It's going to a script written by a freelancer to promote the power of radio, which will now be produced for free by Oink. If it's like any of the spots from past winners, the client may have been right to kill the script.

The few that I've listened to, though funny, were either off brand or didn't succeed in communicating a relevant message that differentiated the client's business from its competition in any meaningful way.

Like any writer, I have a file folder full of scripts I've written that clients didn't buy for one reason or another. Many are scripts I still think would have helped move the needle for their brands. But I've never been a fan of these types of awards.

First of all, it's my responsibility to sell my best work to the client. That's what separates great agencies from good ones.

You have to know how to present your work in a way that makes it easy for your client to buy what you're recommending. If you find clients are killing a lot of your great ideas, then stop blaming them and get some help. There are a lot of good training programs that will help you become a better presenter. Here's my favorite.

Second, Dead Radio Awards, and others of this ilk, only reinforce the "us versus them mentality" that runs rampant inside the walls of most advertising agencies. Clients are not the enemy. Entering work in competitions like this says "you were too stupid to see the greatness of my idea." I can promise you, that attitude won't endear you to them.

And finally, the only reasons competitions like this exist is for the ego gratification of the idea's creator. This is advertising. It's a business where we make money by selling things of value to clients. If you want to make stuff for yourself without pay, become an artist.

Fiat aims 'Lo

2011-09-13T07:49:00.001-05:00

This spot interrupted my football game last night and I thought, huh, this seems a little off of the strategy I remember them talking about when the Fiat 500 was launched a few months ago.

So I went back and looked and damned if I wasn't right. The Fiat 500, the reincarnation of a classic European marque, was originally pitched this way, "as time changes and things become modern, the simple things in life are what matter," by Laura Soave, Fiat Marketing director.

In case you hadn't noticed this spot is not simple.

Now, I know strategies change. Sometimes your first idea doesn't move the needle so you have to try something else. But this something else seems to be from a brand that isn't really sure what it stands for.

How do I come to this conclusion? Here's what Fiat CEO and Chrysler Corp CMO, Oliver Francois had to say in Ad Age.

"Like the Fiat consumer, Jennifer Lopez sees the world as her canvas and is not afraid to express herself; she is continuously drawn to projects that are authentic and real. Jennifer fits perfectly with the brand not because of who she is but because of what she is -- authentic, passionate, modern and a fighter determined to stand out from the rest. As you look at her career path, she embodies the Fiat philosophy, 'Life is Best When Driven.'"

Huh?

Yes Fiat and J-Lo have been adored as sex symbols. The 124 Spider is still one of the most iconic automotive designs ever produced. And they've both seen their share of failure. Anyone remember Gigli? Anyone?

These similarities do not a brand match make.

This is just another case of a marketer not having a clue and covering it up with some borrowed interest and a huge production budget. Work like this for a brand that's so rich in heritage, style, differentiation and relevance is just plain sad.

Cool marketing

2011-09-09T07:10:00.001-05:00

It's time once again for life to imitate art, that is if you consider popular television to be art.

Ben & Jerry's announced a new flavor to it's line up based on this Saturday Night Live sketch.

The newest pint – vanilla ice cream with fudge covered rum balls – is bringing a lot of attention to a brand that had lost a little momentum over the past few years.

It may not become my favorite ice cream, it's going to remind a lot of people that Ben & Jerry's is still out there. And that's what good marketing is all about.

Flying blind online

2011-09-08T06:51:00.001-05:00

Apparently college students at University of Wisconsin have more disposable income than I thought. Either that or Blue Star Jets doesn't have a clue that it's online ad is running on the website of the university's independent student paper.

Now, I may be wrong about the readership of the Badger-Herald online, but my guess is there aren't a lot of C-suite executives regularly stopping by the site.

If they're really interested in reaching people who can drop $3,400 an hour on air travel, I'd recommend my friend Christopher Parr's new site, Pursuitist.

A meal with a really bad aftertaste

2011-09-07T07:04:00.001-05:00

Conagra, one of the largest manufacturers, distributors and marketers of food in the U.S. manufactured a little PR problem for themselves last week after creating a marketing event that was just about as genuine and fresh as their food.

According to the New York Times, they hosted an event for food bloggers featuring "a delicious four course meal" by Food Network Chef, George Duran at was supposedly his new "intimate Italian restaurant." They invited the bloggers to bring a couple of their readers to share the experience with them.

The twist on this evening (you guessed it), the food being served wasn't Mr. Duran's. It was Frozen Lasagna and Razzleberry pie from another famous American chef, Marie Calendar. The idea was that the bloggers would be so impressed by the food that they would talk about it on their sites and also agree to appear in commercials that were being taped with hidden cameras.

As you can imagine, not every blogger was happy to find out they had been deceived, especially right in front of one of their loyal readers.

Conagra and Ketchum, their PR agency, made a couple of key mistakes.

First, they didn't know their audience. They should never have invited true foodies to an event like this. Even if the bloggers liked the food, they'd never admit it. They can't. It goes against everything they stand for and write about.

Second, they lied. Okay when you look a the fine print they didn't actually lie. They never "said" the food was going to be actually cooked by George, they never said Sotto Terra was an actual restaurant. But it's pretty clear that's what they wanted those invited to believe.

Third, they didn't give the guests a way to save face. Bloggers write because they're passionate about a topic (it's certainly not for the money). Their readers trust them to tell them what's good and what's not. By exposing their naivete to the invited readers, they put at risk the one and only thing of value that bloggers have, their reputation.

A good lawyer never asks a question he doesn't know the answer to. A good PR person doesn't host an event that they don't know the outcome of. This was a failure that is spreading like wildfire around the web. And anyone who's any good at this business could have seen it coming from a mile away.

The greatest car ad ever

2011-09-02T08:42:00.002-05:00

DC shoes has yet another installment of its wildly popular viral video series. The latest, posted here, has already been viewed seven and a half million times on Youtube since August 16th.

As my friend, Rick Rusch, said when he emailed the link to me, "I think I want a Ford Fiesta..."

DC may have paid for this. They're logo may be all over it. But undoubtedly the stars of this epic production are Ken Block and his Fiesta.

Yes, DC shoes it's products right up front – the shoe on the foot of a leg being eaten by a zombie, the jacket exploding, the hat sliced in half by a samurai – but by the time you get to the end of Block's amazing feats of automotive acrobatics, I don't remember anything but the car.

Not that I'm complaining. I'd rather see this than glamor shots of their products. Plus, I'm sure they do a lot of event and in-store marketing to close the loop on these.

I have no idea what DC's sales are like, but I applaud their effort and hope it's paying off for them. It's certainly paying off for Ford.

Pen and ink and pixels

2011-09-01T06:51:00.000-05:00

Now this is cool.

If I were a designer, illustrator, animator, art director or just knew how to draw a straight line, I'd be first in line for one of these.

Coming soon from Wacom, the Inkling (great name) is a pen that writes in ink on paper while it also captures your sketches digitally in vector layers through a receiver. You can then import your sketches and refine them in Photoshop or Illustrator.

If it works in practice as well as it seems to in the video, I can see a lot of these in agencies and design firms in the very near future.

How not to use a celebrity in a commercial

2011-08-31T08:23:00.002-05:00

Let me start this post by saying I like Tim Gunn. I like him on Project Runway. He's a good mentor to the designers, a tough critic of their work with a lot of experience who provides enough support through the creative process to help them through their task.

But this commercial for Expedia makes him look like a buffoon and I blame the agency.

First, it's a lazy concept.

"Hey, with expedia people get to 'design' their own vacations, let's have Tim Gunn coach people on how to do that!" Ugh.

Second, the writing is insipid.

"Let's take every catchphrase the man uses in on Project Runway and cram them randomly into the spot connecting our copy points." This felt like it was written between sips of coffee a few hours before the client meeting.

Third the direction is terrible.

They couldn't possibly have made him look any worse or any more stiff. Clearly they didn't do any research before the spot to see how direct-able he'd be. Just because someone is on TV doesn't mean they can act. Appearing on an unscripted reality show is different from hitting a mark an reading lines off a teleprompter. Not everyone can do it, that's why we pay actors.

Featuring celebrities in your spot is not always a bad idea. I've worked with Dabney Coleman, Bjorn Borg, Ernie Harwell, John Candy and others over the years. They can bring interest, credibility and humanity to your message when used correctly. But too often they're reduced to two-dimensional caricatures which leads to ridiculous spots like this.

Is BMW on the right road?

2011-08-30T06:22:00.000-05:00

BMW has a new agency. Well, kind of.

After a five month review that included agencies from across the country, BMW parked it's brand in New York at KBS+P, an agency that's been doing dealer and other special projects for BMW over the past few years. Their work includes this spot for the BMW clean diesel.

It's a spot that gives me hope for two reasons. First it positions it as the "performance diesel" designed to deliver a superior driving experience. Second it closes with BMW's iconic tagline, "The Ultimate Driving Machine."

After the failed experiment with the "emotional" tagline of Joy, I hope they've come to their senses and will let BMW be BMW again. Time will tell. And I'll be watching.

Friday Repost

2011-08-26T16:16:00.000-05:00

The most powerful word in the world

No.

Toddlers know how to use it with great efficacy. But somewhere along the way, we forgot its power. It's especially tough to wield it in these recessionary times, but now we need "no" more than ever.

No. We won't do the project for 25% less because someone else will do it cheaper.

No. We won't change the design to please the president's wife who took a design class in college 30 years ago.

No. We won't take on that project because the extra money would be nice, but doing so would compromise the outcome of your project and the work we already have.

No. We won't give you our ideas for free just to show you how we'd approach the problem.

No.

It's a great little word. And when used judiciously, it does wonders for your self respect.

Thanks Steve

2011-08-25T09:39:00.000-05:00

I'm not going to go deep into any analysis of his career, the difference he has made (and hopefully will continue to make) on technology, business and our world.

I'm just going to say "thank you" for being a champion of advertising and helping to lift the state of our industry by approving and paying for the production of some of the best commercials and campaigns of my lifetime.

Here's a great video of Jobs introducing the "1984" spot to people at Apple a week before it ran on the Super Bowl. Enjoy.

Toyota "learns" from Detroit

2011-08-24T06:47:00.005-05:00

Yesterday Toyota unveiled the 2012 Camry to the press at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, California and webcast the event online for all to see. After watching the entire video live during my lunch hour (I've embedded an edited version for you here), I have just one question, why?

Why would they hire dancers, actors, acrobats, free runners, and bmx riders, dress them in red and have them pretend this is the coolest car they've ever seen?

Why would they have Bob Carter (a very nice man, I'm sure) act as the main presenter and not coach him on the proper pronunciation the word hybrid?

Why would you have the chief engineer, Yukihiro Okane drive the car to the stage, introduce him and then not let him say a word to the automotive journalists gathered there?

This kind of "theater" is what Detroit excelled at years ago when they'd introduce car after car with nothing new to say. The lame jokes, the pointless pomp, the indie L.A. rock band, they all add up to nothing.

I understand the new Camry is a big deal to Toyota. It's a big deal in the auto industry. It's been the best-selling car in the U.S. for the past seven years. Everybody – Chevrolet, Ford, Nissan, Honda, Hyundai, Kia – has it in their sites. But an event like makes it feel as though Toyota has nothing to say about the product so why not just put on a show.

Most automotive journalists I know are a pretty jaded bunch. They see events like this and roll they're eyes while accepting the free travel, food and other entertainment that surrounds the launch from Toyota. But none of that is part of the story. None of it will make the pages of the magazine on the posts on their site.

And that's what's wrong with a launch event like this. The redesign looks good (if still a little on the blandtastic side). The performance numbers look good. The fuel economy has been improved. They lowered base prices across the line. All good things. And all made a little less credible by this incredibly irrelevant event.

Riding with the past

2011-08-23T06:16:00.000-05:00

If you're tired of riding the same Moto Guzzi, Ducati or Husqvarna that everyone else is, then maybe you should look at a Hammarhead Motorcycle.

Manufactured in Philadelphia by the handful, these bikes are inspired by some of the most iconic motorcycles of the past. My favorite, the Jack Pine, recreates the Triumph Scrambler to the smallest detail, except for the oil leaking all over your legs.

At $16,500 it seems like a bargain considering they're only building two next year. Put your order in now.

Pier 18 from Hammarhead Industries on Vimeo.

When advertising gets ugly

2011-08-22T13:46:00.000-05:00

One of the necessary evils of the advertising business is the agency review.

Pitching new business is exhilarating, demeaning, exhausting and costly. When you win, you feel like you're on top of the world. When you lose, you wonder why you even bothered.

A major pitch, like the one just announced by Bud Light, will cost participating agencies hundreds of thousands of dollars each on research, travel, spec production and all the other things required by the process. It will take the time and attention of each agency's top talent away from their best clients putting those relationships at risk. And in the end, only one will walk away with the prize.

It's a rare business that gives its product away on than 20% chance of winning. Until somebody figures out a better way to pick a new agency, we'll continue to be put through the wringer by clients who either are naive or have unrealistic expectations about the process.

Either way, a lot of good people will waste a lot of time developing good ideas for bad beer. And that, my friends, is a damn shame.

Inertia

2011-08-19T06:43:00.001-05:00

Ideas without action are worthless.

Don't wait for permission. Don't assume someone else will take care of it. Don't let the enormity of the task prevent you from taking the first step.

The only way to add value is to do something.

What are you waiting for?

The web isn't clicking

2011-08-18T07:08:00.000-05:00

Here's a little secret for the folks at Google and marketers everywhere:

People don't come to the internet for the ads.

You can stop scratching your head over why only .09% of people actually click on your rich media creation and try to figure out a way to be relevant online.

Unlike TV, the internet is an active media. People are doing things while they're here. They're connecting with friends, researching a new car, spreading conspiracy theories, searching for recipes, and lying about the size of their body parts.

What they're not doing is waiting for your cool new ad to show up so they can stop what they're doing, click on it and go to your irrelevant microsite.

I'm not saying advertising online is worthless. Your presence builds awareness, and sponsorship of content that people want to interact with will build your credibility, likeability or whatever -ility you're hoping to achieve.

Just don't go online expecting people to click on things that don't really matter to them.

20 years of stuff

2011-08-17T07:32:00.005-05:00

It's hard to understate the importance of the web in both society and business. So much so that it feels like it's been around for generations, when in reality the world wide interweb is just 20 years old.

Invented in 1991 by a scientist at the European Organization for Nuclear Research – not Al Gore – as a way to share scholarly research, it's amazing how how quickly it has come to be essential to our lives.

Imagine what the world would be like had it never been invented...

Would we have ever heard the terms e-commerce, disintermediation, and ROTFLMFAO?
Where would we get all of our coupons, news, and hollywood gossip?
Where would we be without those companies that transformed business like Pets.com, Outpost.com and AOL?
How would we meet our soul mates?
Where would we go to watch videos of cats?
How would we learn about lowering our mortgage rates?
Who would deliver our letters from deposed Nigerian princes?
What would we do with all our free time?

And most importantly who would we turn to for advice on all manner of topics, including marketing?

Happy 20th birthday, www. Thanks for giving me this forum along with a lot of other useful stuff. Just think, next year you'll be old enough to drink and then the fun really begins.

The apple of GM's eye

2011-08-16T07:08:00.000-05:00

This statement from Joel Ewanick probably didn't make it into the mainstream press, but I found it interesting.

"...it's time to clearly differentiate our brand and align closer to a true global brand like an Apple. It's time for an automotive company to step out and address consumers and their needs in a way that's never been done before."

I know, every company wants to be Apple, and having a stretch goal is a good thing. But there are significant challenges ahead if that's their path.

First, GM is four brands – Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac and GMC – not one, and these brands need to be differentiated. They can't all be the Apple of automobiles.

Second, Apple controls the retail environment from pricing to staffing to training to design to POP to advertising. GM's dealers have a little more say in which products will be pushed, how they'll be displayed and serviced. That has an incredible impact on the brand, and the fact that the manufacturer has little to no control over most of the sale and after-sale experience will continue to pose problems for their brands.

Finally, Apple is only Apple because of Steve Jobs. He's the visionary who led the development of not just the products but the ecosystems that made those products indispensable. The iPod would be just another mp3 player without iTunes. The iPad would be just another tablet without the App Store, iChat and other utilities.

Who is GM's Steve Jobs? Who's the visionary who's going to lift the company from one that makes excellent products (and they still have some way to go to get there) to a company that becomes woven into the very fabric of our lives.

It's one thing to say you want to be Apple. Making it happen is a whole other matter. Given the realities of 10-day sales reports, quarterly analyst calls, and the constant pressure to offer financial incentives because that's all that dealers know how to sell, it's not going to be easy.

Content is king

2011-08-12T08:06:00.003-05:00

The NFL may be America's most popular sports league, but it's not a miracle worker.

"The shield" makes money by the millions for players and billions for owners, but if Bud Light expects their partnership with the NFL to resurrect their image and their sales, they may be disappointed.

Bud CEO Carlos Brito thinks otherwise and has bet $50 million on this premise. "When you become the exclusive sponsor of something as huge as the NFL, the biggest sports franchise in the U.S., you have tons of content and that's what consumers are looking for. They're not just looking for nice ads before and after games. They are looking for content ... and we can provide those contents."

Here's an idea, instead of worrying about the "content" you get from the NFL, what if you invested fifty million bucks in the content of your bottles? What if you did something to differentiate your product? And then what if you owned that instead of trying to borrow interest from the NFL.

Everyone knows Bud Light isn't great beer. It's the stuff you drink when you don't really care about taste. And since nobody cares about taste, they won't care if you make it taste good.

You can still have your gimmicky bottles. You can still put on your singles' cruise. Hell, you can still advertise on the NFL. But at least now you'll give people something to talk about.

Protecting what matters

2011-08-11T08:29:00.000-05:00

Earlier this week Tag Heuer announced it was not renewing its contract with Tiger Woods, even though he's on tour and has pronounced himself ready to resume his normal schedule of events.

So if Tiger's back, why are his sponsors still dropping him nearly two years removed from the scandal?

Because Tiger's not back.

Tiger hasn't won a tournament since 2009. That's the only reason that sponsors flocked to him up until two years ago. He was a winner. The most spectacular winner in the history of golf.

Brands like Accenture, Buick and others aligned themselves with Tiger, not because he was a good guy, but because he set a new standard for excellence and they wanted some of his mojo to rub off on their brands.

Winning is the core asset of the Tiger Woods brand. Not his smile. Not his soft spoken style. Not his red and black outfits on Sunday. Until Tiger wins and wins regularly, he will be just another golfer.

And that's the lesson brands can take away from this.

There's always one thing that's most important to your brand. One asset, one facet, one benefit, one attribute that sets you apart from the others. Don't let anyone take that from you and don't, like Tiger, let yourself be distracted by all the shiny things that don't matter. Or one day you'll wake up to find you've lost everything.

Brands need their space

2011-08-10T06:33:00.004-05:00

In spite of all the good news swirling around the Renaissance Center these past few weeks, this article in today's the Detroit News has me a little concerned.

"By 2018, she (Mary Barra, GM Product Chief) told the Wall Street analysts at the annual briefing, GM hopes to build 90 percent of its vehicles on 14 platforms — half the number now — and boost manufacturing efficiency by 40 percent. About one-third of its globally sold vehicles now share the same underpinnings."

I have just two words in response to this: Cadillac Cimmaron.

These guys can't be that bad at history that they can't remember 1982, can they? Maybe they'll be a little more subtle about platform sharing than Roger Smith and his cronies were. Maybe they won't just take a base Chevrolet change the fascia, add some gold trim, bolt in leather seats, and call it a Cadillac.

Efficiency is important. The financial realities can't be ignored. Some sharing of components between brands is necessary – Lexus and Toyota do it, Infiniti and Nissan do it – but it can't come at the expense of the identity of each brand. That's why GM shed Pontiac, Oldsmobile and Saturn, to make sure there was room to maintain differentiation between brands.

When the lines start to blur too much on the product side all the marketing in the world won't help them. Chevrolet needs to be Chevrolet. Cadillac must be Cadillac. And Buick has to be Buick.

If they're not?

Well, lets just say we've seen that movie before and everyone dies at the end.

There's no substitute for quality

2011-08-09T06:56:00.009-05:00

Yesterday Volkswagen announced the creation of a new post, "VP of Customer Experience."

Considering all the VW customers out there who have had less than stellar experiences with their cars and dealers over the last few years, this could be a good thing.

Unless it's not.

Of course it's important to have dealers who know how to "live the brand." (If you know what the brand is) And yes, customers must be treated consistently and well at every touch point. But if the wizards in Wolfsburg don't fix their quality problems, it's all just whitewashing.

99% of the customer experience in the automotive world is your interaction with the product. No amount of dealer hand-holding can overcome a slew of bad product experiences. VW ranks near the bottom in the latest J.D Power initial quality survey behind Kia, Chrysler and Jeep. That means a lot of people have had a bad experience where it matters most.

A good dealer can only do so much to ameliorate the damage done by poor vehicle quality. If VW doesn't get the product right, all the "experience" in the world won't help them.

Just ask the folks at Saturn.

Making it at GM

2011-08-05T07:37:00.001-05:00

A funny thing happens when you make products that people want. They're willing to pay for them.

As the New York Times noted, General Motors' earnings were up 89% in the second quarter largely because sticker prices are up about $500 per car and GM is spending $800 less per car in incentives.

Yes, the earthquake and tsunami helped by reducing the production capacity of Toyota and Honda, but in general buying a new car is not a "now" decision. If people really felt if it were worth waiting for their Camry or Accord they would. Apparently, it's not.

This is a far cry from the dark days of the late 1980s when all I had to promote were the Corsica, Baretta, Celebrity and Caprice. But 30 years later, they seem to have figured it out.

Things will get tougher for GM in the third and fourth quarters, but at least they're on the right track: listening to their potential customers, benchmarking their competitors like never before, and producing cars that are actually surprising and delighting both owners and critics.

And as long as they do that, they have a fighting chance.

An unhappy coincidence

2011-08-04T06:26:00.001-05:00

On the heels of yesterday's post comes the news that Bubba Smith passed away.

His play on the field made him feared and famous among football fans. His performance in Miller Lite's campaign made him loved and famous among the rest of the country.

RIP Bubba

A good question

2011-08-03T06:39:00.012-05:00

And one I tackled before.

Ad Age asks, "What's wrong with Miller Lite?"

And while Miller/Coors' CEO blames the weather and the economy, I'd lay this one straight at the feet of DraftFCB. The work they're doing for the brand right now is not just bad. It's historically bad.

Let me get this straight. I don't drink Miller Lite, so I'm not a man. Here's a tip. Insulting the people you want to have drink your product is not a way to create a strong emotional bond.

Taste Greatness? That's all you got? Telling us how great your beer tastes isn't a great idea when we can very easily open a bottle and taste how average it is. Miller Lite isn't a bad beer. It just isn't my beer. At least in the old days "Tastes Great" was qualified by "Less Filling" which managed to make the claim more believable. But that's just a red herring. Taste isn't really even an issue in this category as is proven by the rising sales of Coors Light.

And finally, there isn't one spot in this campaign where the joke is even mildly funny. Who's writing these things, Jay Leno?

Miller can point to all the other factors: weather, the economy, sunspots, Oprah quitting, etc., but there's only one reason fewer and fewer people are drinking their beer...

They don't want to be associated with stupid.

Where ideas go to die

2011-08-02T06:38:00.000-05:00

It has long been said that a camel is a horse designed by committee. That does not do justice to the camel, which is incredibly well designed and adapted to its desert environment.

Committees are notoriously bad at creation, invention and judging creative ideas, which should come as no surprise to anyone who's served on a steering, product or marketing committee. Why?

Simple, committees are about consensus, consensus requires compromise and compromise kills truly new and unique ideas.

Facebook didn't capture the imagination of 750 million users as a result of compromise.

Academy awards are not given out for compromise.

J.K. Rowling didn't revitalize an entire industry because she compromised.

Great innovation takes a strong point of view and an iron will. Committees have neither.

That's why nothing great was every created by committee.

Friday Repost

2011-07-29T07:49:00.000-05:00

This is from 2009. It's a timeless message that all business people need to be reminded of from time to time.

Save the best for now

Do you know who your best customers are and how much they're worth to you? Their value extends way beyond the money spent in your store or on your product. Yes, they're your most consistent revenue stream, but they're also your most important marketing tool and an infinite source of information about your product or service. The question is, what are you doing to maximize their value?

Do you have a system in place for them to tell you what they like and don't like about your product? Have you made it easy and do you reward them for telling their friends about you? And most important, have you thanked them in a meaningful way for their patronage? With so many social media tools like Twitter and Facebook, it's easier than ever to stay in touch with your biggest fans. Your customers, however, have more choices than ever these days and other businesses would love to take them from you. If you're not willing to give your best to your best customers, it won't be long until you find yourself with no customers at all.

Because you can never have enough zombies

2011-07-28T05:38:00.000-05:00

I love this idea.

Not so much the spot. It's just okay. The acting could be better. The joke could have been set up better. And there should have been a lot more zombies.

What I really like is the event it's promoting: "A Zombie Infested 5K Obstacle Course Race." I'm not sure who came up with the idea, but this is genius, a combination of cross country running, a military obstacle course, flag football and Shaun of the Dead.

How cool is that.

The first Run For Your Life is scheduled for 22 October in Baltimore and they're planning on more in other cities. If there's one near Milwaukee, I might just have to dig the old Nikes out of the closet and get back in running shape.

And that, my friends, is the power of innovation.

MGD Lemonade goes sour

2011-07-27T07:07:00.007-05:00

Here's a tip when you're developing your next new food or beverage product.

Make sure people like the taste.

I know that may seem obvious, but apparently it wasn't to Miller/Coors when they developed MGD 64 Lemonade. I haven't tried it myself, but upon reading review, after review, after review, it doesn't sound like I or the rest of the country is missing anything.

How bad is MGD 64 Lemonade?

It was only supposed to be on store shelves from Memorial Day through Labor Day, yet yesterday, Miller/Coors announced they were pulling it from the market early, paying distributors for their troubles, and creating a massive amount of negative publicity for the brand, rather than let the product quietly fade out of site in five and a half weeks as scheduled.

Beer and lemonade isn't the problem. That combination has been around for a long time and it's actually possible to make it taste good. The problem is M/C boxed themselves in with the need to make it 64 calories and the only way to produce the product to that spec was with artificial lemon flavor and sweeteners that taste like... well we all know what they taste like.

And that's the problem with the whole MGD 64 brand, nothing is more important than the 64 calories and that's not the most important benefit in the category. It forces you to make choices that no rational person would make. And oh, yeah, when you're largest competitor comes out with a beer that's only 55 calories, you've lost your entire reason for being.

That's why you should never build a brand (or in this case a sub brand) around a feature or functional benefit. They're too easy to copy. Someone will and before you know it you'll be out of business.

We're not that "Mad"

2011-07-26T05:58:00.009-05:00

AMC, the network that brought you "MadMen," wants to bring you a more modern view of the craft of advertising this fall with a new show called, "The Pitch."

The basic premise is this. An advertiser – they already have Kodak and Yahoo! signed up – gives two or three real ad agencies a chance to put together a pitch for real project assignment, all while being documented by video crews for the 10 days between the briefing and the pitch. The winning agency gets to execute their campaign and earns the revenue from the project. The losing agencies get nothing.

Not surprisingly, the producers of the show are having trouble getting agencies to participate.

New business pitches have been a part of advertising as long as there's been advertising. Clients are smart enough to know that they own the power in the relationship and often pit agencies against each other to see who has the best ideas, which team has the best chemistry, and who will give it to them cheaper. Even in private, its a grueling and demeaning process.

Aside from the fact that the show is asking the losing agencies to give the client their ideas for free, to commit significant resources to this pitch, and bring an even more unnatural element into an already unnatural process. It also exposes one of the industry's dirty little secrets...

There is no difference between agencies.

Every agency claims to have:

A "Proprietary Process" for coming up with great ideas.
A model for branding that will reveal your brand's true power.
A research methodology that will uncover incredible insights that no other agency can possibly duplicate.
A secret algorithm for effective media buying.
An integrated system that leverages all campaign elements to maximize impact.
A team of all-stars that you won't find anywhere else.

If any agency goes on the show it will make it clear to the world once and for all that J. Walter is just like Ogilvy. That Goodby isn't any different from Wieden. That Grey and Strawberry Frog have more in common then their names would suggest. And that would be bad for business.

As a friend of mine used to say as he was ready to jump ship to yet another agency in an effort to forward his career, "Same circus. Different clowns."

Oh, and if the producers are hoping to find alcohol fueled rages, office sex scandals, and a client getting his foot severed by a riding lawn mower, I hate to disappoint them, but that stuff went out with the '60s.

Pure bullsh*t

2011-07-20T07:01:00.007-05:00

Bottled water is big business.

Walk down the beverage aisle and you'll find a water for every taste. You can buy water that's smart, water that's flavored, municipal water that's been purified using reverse osmosis, even water from places as far away as France and Fiji. Each brand is pure bunk designed to separate a fool from his money.

How do I know this? I did a few projects for Pepsi on the Aquafina brand.

But now there's a brand that elevates the art of aqueous bullshit to a whole new level. Llanllyr Source claims to come from "beneath certified organic fields in west Wales in the UK."

It must be fantastic. Look at the stunning packaging. Read the fabulous story on their website. Ooooo, they have a recyclable can! (Hey, wait a minute, aren't all cans recyclable?)

I can just see the sheep smugly loading this overpriced H2O into the back of their Prii blissfully thinking they are doing their part to help the environment.

As for me. I'll continue to fill my glass with the tap water that comes all the way from Lake Michigan. You can almost taste the lake trout in every glass.

The magic of discovery

2011-07-19T06:45:00.001-05:00

I grew up listening to the radio. WABX in Detroit to be precise, a station that broke new ground when music was breaking new ground in the late '60s and early '70s.

An underground station run by music fanatics, WABX introduced me to the music of artists like Jimi Hendrix, Cream, The Doors and other bands that had no place on top 40 radio. As a kid who's musical exposure was pretty much limited to the Beatles and other mainstream artists, this was a revelation.

So here's my question. In the era of iTunes and Spotify, how do I happen upon new music? Sure, iTunes 'recommends' artists to me using algorithms to generate suggestions based on what I've already bought. And there are 15 million tracks on Spotify that I can stream to my computer or smartphone. Both are great services that I use. But they're both missing something for me.

The magic of discovery.

That moment when you're listening to the radio and something so new, so powerful comes through the speakers that time stands still. I can still remember where I was when I first heard the Hendrix version of Watchtower. Just thinking about the power harp on J. Geils Band bluesy Whammer Jammer sends chills down my spine.

When I discovered these tunes, they became mine, something I could share with others. They became a part of who I was and helped make me who I am. And even though my discovery came through the radio thanks to a forward thinking program director, it was still my discovery. It wasn't recommended to me by a friend. It wasn't spoon fed to me through a promotional campaign. And that's why these songs and so many others stick with me through all the years.

There's great power in discovery. Whether it's a song, a restaurant, a secluded vacation spot, or a product. That's why, while I'm using iTunes and Spotify, I still listen to both internet and terrestrial radio stations that do their own programming. Hoping to find that next great discovery.

Nothing to everyone

2011-07-15T08:08:00.002-05:00

The next time you're trying to justify a marketing program to your boss, try using this as an argument...

"These spots position our product as something that people will find they enjoy only on very, very rare occasions."

How do you think that will go over?

That appears to be how Heineken Light is being positioned in this spot.

I get it. Heineken Light isn't perfect for every occasion. (Actually for me it's probably not perfect for any occasion). But why would you compare your product to something that is basically relegated to the dustbin of history?

It almost seems as if they're insinuating this beer has no relevance today.

Rather than trying to say to everyone that there may be a time, however rare, when our product could possibly be something you might enjoy, Heineken should find a segment people for whom Heineken Light is perfect most of the time, and market it to them.

Really slow growth

2011-07-14T07:42:00.003-05:00

The Morgan Motor Company was founded in 1910 when the auto business was a cottage industry. A century later, selling just a few hundred cars a year, it still is.

Everything about Morgan is the antithesis of today's modern automobile industry.

At the company's facilities in Malvern, England 163 craftsmen assemble cars by hand. There are no robots nor any assembly lines.

Its latest model, the Morgan 3 Wheeler, is an open roadster that features a two-cylinder S&S motorcycle engine mounted ahead of the front axle.

What Morgan proves is that not every business needs to be a growth business to succeed.

At about $50,000,000 a year in sales, they seem to be quite successful.

In fact, if Morgan were to focus on growth, it would actually kill what makes the company successful. Morgan is still around and thriving today because of its exclusivity, its classically beautiful designs, its craftsmanship. All of that would disappear if they tried to sell thousands of cars to a broad target.

It's not always about selling more. Sometimes it's about selling better.

Assumptions vs Hypotheses

2011-07-13T08:02:00.002-05:00

Assumptions are rooms without doors or windows.

They freeze the world at a moment in time.

They keep you from discovering new information.

They are lazy.

They are what everyone "knows" about a business, category and consumer.

They protect the status quo.

They lead to me-too products.

Assumptions are arrogant and kill innovation.

Hypotheses are a series of signposts that lead to a destination.

They are the foundation of experimentation.

They are subject to change based on new knowledge.

They require work.

They change what everyone knows about a business, category and consumer.

They identify and even create new opportunities.

They lead to breakthrough products.

Hypotheses are humble, yet they drive innovation.

Successful companies think hypothetically. Failed companies make assumptions.

The naked truth

2011-07-12T08:21:00.001-05:00

Zappos.com, one of the internet's most successful retailers, has a problem.

It's not their sales. In just over ten years, their annual sales are well over one billion dollars.

It's not their profits. Even in this down economy, they seem to be hanging in there.

It's that 80% of their revenue still comes from the sale of shoes.

That's not entirely surprising since they began as an online shoe store and only started to add accessories and clothing in 2007. But now they're making a concerted effort to change that perception with a bold, new advertising campaign.

Strategic nudity is nothing new in advertising. Certainly not in fashion retailing. What makes this work for me is that nudity isn't the strategy, it's the executional idea that brings the strategy to life.

The strategy is: Zappos sells all kinds of clothes with the same fun attitude and great customer experience you've come to expect over the last ten years.

Is nudity a gimmick to grab your attention? Yes. But like all great advertising the gimmick is tied directly to the promise of the ad and reinforces the message. It's not a superfluous gag as is the case with the humor in most light beer advertising.

I'm sure some people will take offense to the ads. But that's okay. In the end, as long as the campaign drives sales, it's better to have a few people hate your ads than nobody notice them.

Your brand is not the center of my universe

2011-07-11T08:35:00.003-05:00

The problem most marketing executives have is perspective.

They spend eight, ten, twelve or sixteen hours a day thinking about their brands. They're in meeting after meeting where the topic is the brand. They're writing marketing plans about the brand. They're obsessing over brand identity and packaging details. Attending brand discovery focus groups. Picking apart the competitive brands. They're listening to their agency tell them how cool the brand is. In short, their brands occupy most of their lives.

Meanwhile, here's what's happening on the other side of the fence.

I see your commercial, say "that's cool" then get a phone call from a friend who wants to play golf tomorrow. Poof, you're gone.

I'm rushing through the store, filling my cart, trying to get home in time to make dinner. Your brand may be just one of fifty that I've thought about for ten seconds during that trip, if you're lucky.

I'm at the bar after our round of golf where there are fifteen taps and thirty other bottled beers available. Which brand is yours again?

There are thousands of brands in my life every day. From my computer to my toothpaste to my cereal to my shirt and on and on.

I barely have time for relationships with all the people I know. I certainly don't have time for a relationship with every brand I use.

I'll use your product and if it works I'll buy it again. If it doesn't, I'll probably move on. But I'm not going to have a conversation with you. I'm not going to 'like' you on Facebook so you can tell me how special you are every day.

Your brand may mean everything to you. It means very little to me.

Make it interesting. Make it different. Make it easy. Make it good. Then I'll give you money for the privilege of using it.

That is the extent of our 'relationship.'

Friday Repost

2011-07-08T08:52:00.002-05:00

I'm not going to do this every Friday, but I've decided that on days when I don't have anything new to say, I have enough older content that some of you may not have seen, so I'm reposting a favorite of mine from last February. Enjoy.

You might be wrong

You never know. In fact, in most cases you can't know until you do something.

Some of the most successful marketing and new product ideas could have been killed for one logical reason or another.

Apple's board of directors thought Steve Jobs was wrong in 1984 and tried to kill the most successful commercial of all time. After all, it mentioned the brand name only once and didn't even show the product.

Focus groups hated Absolut Vodka's bottle design because it didn't conform to the norms of the category, yet six years after its introduction, Absolut became the best-selling imported vodka.

At one point, Fred Smith couldn't find anyone to invest in his new delivery company, Federal Express, so he went to Vegas and won the $27,000 he needed to keep the company afloat.

So while all the people who know better are telling you, "you might be wrong." Just remember this: they might not be right.

Enough already

2011-07-07T05:55:00.001-05:00

Okay. We can stop now with the guy-walking-from-left-to-right-through-a-continuous-series-of-scenes-all-in-one-take-as-he-looks-directly-at-the-camera commercials.

Unless you're a brand named Old Spice, it's time for a new technique du jour.