Since I do work in marketing, and since I've neglected that for the past two months or so, I'm going to correct that over the coming days with some new marketing-related posts. Today, I'm featuring the new Samsung Rogue ad with Ozzy Osbourne, which features more bleeps than an episode of Maury Povich. Ozzy really likes the Rogue. Or maybe he just likes puppies. Without Rosetta Stone language programs for Oz-speak, it's hard to tell.
Showing posts with label Marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marketing. Show all posts
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Popping the top of the Sprite Spec Commercial
Despite what you read here, I don't shock or offend easily. I've watched or listened to nearly every form of entertainment you can think of. Some of them you'd be hard pressed to defend as entertainments. And I can mount a defense of the depravity and dehumanizing acts depicted in Pasolini's Salo as a statement on our callow and base natures using American Idol as an example.
So when I rail against a non-commercial that has not been banned in Germany, a spec commercial created for Sprite and viewable here in this Young Turks YouTube clip, it's more out of sheer disappointment. Disappointment that so many creative types reduce sex in marketing to something leering, immature and creatively bankrupt.
BK has done it. Hardee's has done it. And I I summarily dismissed both for their sophomoric efforts some time ago. No doubt, other companies are looking to do it, too. In this case, the spec commercial, if you haven't checked the link above, shows a woman who appears to be performing fellatio getting sprayed in the face with the contents of a bottle of Sprite.
Sex can be funny. Sex can be rendered with sophistication. European ad campaigns have proved this time and time again. This spec commercial for Sprite, and the BK and Hardee's campaigns, is neither funny nor sophisticated. It's not even really a commercial at the end of the day. So why am I talking about it?
1) The spec commercial is likely to be circulated virally, thus becoming a de facto commercial, whether Sprite likes it or not. I gather the company does not. It creates a rather unfortunate and embarrassing public relations situation for Sprite that it probably hadn't anticipated (if the company played no part in encouraging the creation of this item).
2) Somewhere, someone is creating content using your brand or product, and they are sharing it with friends, posting for all to see on the web. So you need to be aware of what it going on with your brand and engaging and guiding consumers where possible in the creation of that content so it is in keeping with the brand and messages you want to communicate.
Obviously, you can't control all content or commentary on your brand, but you do have to be more vigilant than ever to protect ya neck. Your willingness to be transparent and engaging also goes a long way to maintaining your reputation when content like this pops up, pardon the pun.
So when I rail against a non-commercial that has not been banned in Germany, a spec commercial created for Sprite and viewable here in this Young Turks YouTube clip, it's more out of sheer disappointment. Disappointment that so many creative types reduce sex in marketing to something leering, immature and creatively bankrupt.
BK has done it. Hardee's has done it. And I I summarily dismissed both for their sophomoric efforts some time ago. No doubt, other companies are looking to do it, too. In this case, the spec commercial, if you haven't checked the link above, shows a woman who appears to be performing fellatio getting sprayed in the face with the contents of a bottle of Sprite.
Sex can be funny. Sex can be rendered with sophistication. European ad campaigns have proved this time and time again. This spec commercial for Sprite, and the BK and Hardee's campaigns, is neither funny nor sophisticated. It's not even really a commercial at the end of the day. So why am I talking about it?
1) The spec commercial is likely to be circulated virally, thus becoming a de facto commercial, whether Sprite likes it or not. I gather the company does not. It creates a rather unfortunate and embarrassing public relations situation for Sprite that it probably hadn't anticipated (if the company played no part in encouraging the creation of this item).
2) Somewhere, someone is creating content using your brand or product, and they are sharing it with friends, posting for all to see on the web. So you need to be aware of what it going on with your brand and engaging and guiding consumers where possible in the creation of that content so it is in keeping with the brand and messages you want to communicate.
Obviously, you can't control all content or commentary on your brand, but you do have to be more vigilant than ever to protect ya neck. Your willingness to be transparent and engaging also goes a long way to maintaining your reputation when content like this pops up, pardon the pun.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Denny's After Dark
Not long ago, my SigO and I took a brief sojourn to the bucolic state of Maine. One of the highlights was our first-ever trip to Denny's, where we ate breakfast. It struck me as a rather benign, 50s-style diner, the kind of place you take the family, and grandpa thinks he's a comedian when he orders Moons Over My Hammy.
But, to quote the Lovin' Spoonful, we found out that, at night, it's a different world at Denny's. It's a place that would strike grandpa as being disgusting and weird, even unAmerican. It's a place with a keen rock star menu featuring gustatory delights suggested by the likes of Sum 41, Good Charlotte, Gym Class Heroes and, um Rascal Flatts (very cutting edge there, Denny's). It's a place that Denny's thinks will appeal to young people, particularly young stoners. And why not? Young stoners have to eat. And if the stereotypes are to be believed, they like to eat a lot.
But they have a very odd take on how to market to young people/young stoners. It's like they sat down in front of Adult Swim on the Cartoon Network and thought, 'hmm, stoners like absurd or surreal humor. Let's run with that.' How else to explain the recent series of ads that Denny's Allnighter - as its late night incarnation is known - has run?
The ads feature a guy called Gary sitting and eating with a Leprechaun in granny glasses, a dinosaur who thinks he's Animal from the Muppets, and a heavily sedated unicorn who says dude more often than Bill + Ted. Clearly, Denny's thinks young people/young stoners are 8-year old dino freaks, Irish and My Little Pony fetishists. Or, maybe they decided the unicorn was a good nod to Charlie the Unicorn, I don't know. Here's one ad:
And here's a more recent one where the dinosaur (Wade, if you must know), nattily attired in his Taking Back Sunday shirt, is the epitome of decorum as he gingerly nibbles on his nachos. Oh, who am I kidding. He slurps them up with a hideous, mucousy tongue the size of your head. Watch:
Look, it's not impossible to appeal to two different audiences. As I noted above, the relatively mild-mannered Cartoon Network changes into the wolfman that is Adult Swim and brays at the moon all night. If you like absurdity, like I do, you'll find that, by and large, the Adult Swim cartoons are appealing because they have a distinct voice and they are made by people who are clearly enjoying themselves, whatever you may think of the content.
But Denny's Allnighter effort is strikes me as that of a company seeking hipster credentials. So it adopts or adapts a trend or style that is popular and, in doing so, comes off as awkward, forced. Kind of like if Grandpa started wearing an Aqua Teen Hunger Force Shirt.
Sure there are positive comments on the Denny's Allnighter YouTube channel, but not many. Over a year after the company created its channel, they have 135 subscribers and 6,322 views. I'm not an expert, but those numbers don't suggest strong penetration.
Overall, the campaign seems like something that was concocted after an allnighter, one of those things you magically pull from your hindquarters at the last moment to save face. Or the kind of dream you have after a particularly bad meal. Though I can't speak with authority, I'm pretty certain stoners are more imaginative, and slightly more cutting edge, than this, Denny's.
But, to quote the Lovin' Spoonful, we found out that, at night, it's a different world at Denny's. It's a place that would strike grandpa as being disgusting and weird, even unAmerican. It's a place with a keen rock star menu featuring gustatory delights suggested by the likes of Sum 41, Good Charlotte, Gym Class Heroes and, um Rascal Flatts (very cutting edge there, Denny's). It's a place that Denny's thinks will appeal to young people, particularly young stoners. And why not? Young stoners have to eat. And if the stereotypes are to be believed, they like to eat a lot.
But they have a very odd take on how to market to young people/young stoners. It's like they sat down in front of Adult Swim on the Cartoon Network and thought, 'hmm, stoners like absurd or surreal humor. Let's run with that.' How else to explain the recent series of ads that Denny's Allnighter - as its late night incarnation is known - has run?
The ads feature a guy called Gary sitting and eating with a Leprechaun in granny glasses, a dinosaur who thinks he's Animal from the Muppets, and a heavily sedated unicorn who says dude more often than Bill + Ted. Clearly, Denny's thinks young people/young stoners are 8-year old dino freaks, Irish and My Little Pony fetishists. Or, maybe they decided the unicorn was a good nod to Charlie the Unicorn, I don't know. Here's one ad:
And here's a more recent one where the dinosaur (Wade, if you must know), nattily attired in his Taking Back Sunday shirt, is the epitome of decorum as he gingerly nibbles on his nachos. Oh, who am I kidding. He slurps them up with a hideous, mucousy tongue the size of your head. Watch:
Look, it's not impossible to appeal to two different audiences. As I noted above, the relatively mild-mannered Cartoon Network changes into the wolfman that is Adult Swim and brays at the moon all night. If you like absurdity, like I do, you'll find that, by and large, the Adult Swim cartoons are appealing because they have a distinct voice and they are made by people who are clearly enjoying themselves, whatever you may think of the content.
But Denny's Allnighter effort is strikes me as that of a company seeking hipster credentials. So it adopts or adapts a trend or style that is popular and, in doing so, comes off as awkward, forced. Kind of like if Grandpa started wearing an Aqua Teen Hunger Force Shirt.
Sure there are positive comments on the Denny's Allnighter YouTube channel, but not many. Over a year after the company created its channel, they have 135 subscribers and 6,322 views. I'm not an expert, but those numbers don't suggest strong penetration.
Overall, the campaign seems like something that was concocted after an allnighter, one of those things you magically pull from your hindquarters at the last moment to save face. Or the kind of dream you have after a particularly bad meal. Though I can't speak with authority, I'm pretty certain stoners are more imaginative, and slightly more cutting edge, than this, Denny's.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Microsoft Laptop Hunter courts ire of Apple Corp.
Here's one way to know you've made an impact with your commercials: a call from your competitor's lawyers telling you to stop airing your commercials.
It's not exactly new news, but according to Ars Technica, that's what happened recently to Microsoft. Kevin Turner, Microsoft's COO, recounted at the Worldwide Partner Conference, how Apple lawyers called him telling him to nix the Laptop Hunter series of commercials the company has been running because Apple dropped its prices.
In the ads, which are unscripted, Microsoft pays for PC laptops if the consumer can can find one for under $1,000. Here's one of the ads:
It's a pretty shrewd strategy on Microsoft's part, and perfectly timed. Much like the PC vs. Mac ads, Apple has always been branded and perceived as being the hip, smart choice for computers. What Microsoft has deftly done is to shift the discourse on computers in marketing from coolness to affordability, a major concern among consumers given recent economic conditions.
That's not to say that the people who are finding the PCs, and the PCs themselves, don't have a certain coolness about them. If anything, most of the ads I've seen feature very comely and relatively young people and sleek, rather stylish PCs to appeal to a youth demographic. But the main message is, 'You can find a PC for less that gives you everything you want.' How is that not appealing?
Of course, Apple has continued its successful series of 'Get a Mac' ads, and its new MacBook Pro, $100 less than the previous MacBook, is doing so well that the company says the Laptop Hunters campaign is not having any effect on sales.
Even so, if Turner is right, then Microsoft has made some inroads and managed to shift the focus back to value. It's probably not a position the company can afford to uphold forever - do you really want to compete on price when there is always the opportunity for someone to undercut you. But it could be a launchpad for something broader or more ambitious that changes the way people look at PCs. That'd shake Apple to its core, and Justin Long wouldn't be looking so self-satisfied then.
It's not exactly new news, but according to Ars Technica, that's what happened recently to Microsoft. Kevin Turner, Microsoft's COO, recounted at the Worldwide Partner Conference, how Apple lawyers called him telling him to nix the Laptop Hunter series of commercials the company has been running because Apple dropped its prices.
In the ads, which are unscripted, Microsoft pays for PC laptops if the consumer can can find one for under $1,000. Here's one of the ads:
It's a pretty shrewd strategy on Microsoft's part, and perfectly timed. Much like the PC vs. Mac ads, Apple has always been branded and perceived as being the hip, smart choice for computers. What Microsoft has deftly done is to shift the discourse on computers in marketing from coolness to affordability, a major concern among consumers given recent economic conditions.
That's not to say that the people who are finding the PCs, and the PCs themselves, don't have a certain coolness about them. If anything, most of the ads I've seen feature very comely and relatively young people and sleek, rather stylish PCs to appeal to a youth demographic. But the main message is, 'You can find a PC for less that gives you everything you want.' How is that not appealing?
Of course, Apple has continued its successful series of 'Get a Mac' ads, and its new MacBook Pro, $100 less than the previous MacBook, is doing so well that the company says the Laptop Hunters campaign is not having any effect on sales.
Even so, if Turner is right, then Microsoft has made some inroads and managed to shift the focus back to value. It's probably not a position the company can afford to uphold forever - do you really want to compete on price when there is always the opportunity for someone to undercut you. But it could be a launchpad for something broader or more ambitious that changes the way people look at PCs. That'd shake Apple to its core, and Justin Long wouldn't be looking so self-satisfied then.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Worthy Award for Chick-Fil-A
A long, long time ago, McDonald's had the slogan: You deserve a break today. Well, Chick-Fil-A has taken up the spirit of that slogan with its annual Cow Appreciation Day.
Now in its fifth year, the promo works like this: if you walk into a Chick-Fil-A dressed head to toe like a cow today, July 10, you get a free meal. Don't have a costume? Not a problem. You can download and make one, courtesy of the fast-food chain. If you can't go the full body route, you still get a free entree.
According to Advertising Age, Chick-Fil-A expects 132,000 people to participate at its more than 1,000 restaurants. Given the current economic conditions, there may very well be more showing up at its doors, so here's hoping they are able to come through.
This is not the only free food that the chain hands out through the year. It typically gives out meals when each new outlet opens, and people park outside the restaurant all night just to claim one breaded chicken sandwich. It's also planning a giveaway for Labor Day.
Free food tied to a fun campaign makes the bird the word. Or at least Words Worthy. Here's to you, Chick-Fil-A.
Now in its fifth year, the promo works like this: if you walk into a Chick-Fil-A dressed head to toe like a cow today, July 10, you get a free meal. Don't have a costume? Not a problem. You can download and make one, courtesy of the fast-food chain. If you can't go the full body route, you still get a free entree.
According to Advertising Age, Chick-Fil-A expects 132,000 people to participate at its more than 1,000 restaurants. Given the current economic conditions, there may very well be more showing up at its doors, so here's hoping they are able to come through.
This is not the only free food that the chain hands out through the year. It typically gives out meals when each new outlet opens, and people park outside the restaurant all night just to claim one breaded chicken sandwich. It's also planning a giveaway for Labor Day.
Free food tied to a fun campaign makes the bird the word. Or at least Words Worthy. Here's to you, Chick-Fil-A.
Palm Pre girl is a rock, she is an island
Though visually very impressive (Tarsem!) I just feel enervated by the The Palm Pre Girl commercials. I mean, here's this girl talking in disconnected vaguely poetic speech patters more halting than William Shatner about her life never once noticing that she is surrounded by people twirling and rearranging themselves for her. Talk about solipsistic. It's like the Palm Pre ads are saying, 'Forget about the world beyond you. Enjoy this shiny object that makes you think you control it.'
So I'm pleased to say that someone has decided to chronicle the life of the Palm Pre Girl on Twitter with brilliant non-sequiturs like, This rock. I've decided. To name it Sylvester' and 'It's hard to tweet. And juggle.' If the Palm Pre ads had half this much wit, I'd take more notice of them...
So I'm pleased to say that someone has decided to chronicle the life of the Palm Pre Girl on Twitter with brilliant non-sequiturs like, This rock. I've decided. To name it Sylvester' and 'It's hard to tweet. And juggle.' If the Palm Pre ads had half this much wit, I'd take more notice of them...
Microsoft IE8 ad triggers gag reflex
If you've been reading my marketing and communications perspectives on a regular basis, you know I can come off a bit, um, hectoring and parental when it comes to watching what you say. Even in supposedly private conversations. I know, we should all expect some consideration or discretion. But that's not how the world works. Any time you open your mouth or do something and someone is witness, it's public.
Not only that, everything you say and do can have a very, very long life, one much larger than you might have imagined. Thanks to the very tools I'm using to type this missive, your offhand remark, rash blog entry or revealing Polaroids can be exchanged and archived all around the worldwide web within moments, and endure forever. People whose cultural and moral backgrounds differ greatly from yours will weigh in on perceived transgressions with all the precision and pithiness of Judge Judy dismissing the claims of comely young ladies seeking the return of damage deposits and bail money.
So, with that in mind, let's turn our attention to Microsoft, which recently distanced itself from a very bile filled Internet Explorer 8 commercial known as OMGIGP Internet Explorer 8 Puke Vomit Girl. Directed by one of my favorite comedians Bobcat Goldthwaite, the ad, a parody of 50s commercials with intrusive experts, consists of a woman spewing pea soup repeatedly as one-time Superman Dean Cain explains the wonders of In-private Browsing. I'd have loved to have sat in on the confab Cain had with his agent about that gig.
It's a relatively recent ad, and the company made news last week for, as this story puts it, pulling 'the worst technology ad ever". So why are we talking about old news? Because, despite Microsoft distancing itself from the ad, it the spot is in Advertising Age's list of the top viral ads, thanks to people posting it on YouTube. (The ad was removed from Microsoft's site and YouTube channel, as well as the website of its advertising agency.)
Currently, 750 thousand people have watched the disowned ad, and not many of the comments I waded through are very favorable ranging from 'seriously gross' to 'she was using IE8, thats (sic) why she ralphed'. So the ad continues to draw interest and eyes. And thus, in a perverse way, it continues to do the job it was intended to do: promote IE8, even if in a rogue way and generate discussion around it. The talk may not all be rah-rah for IE8, but the mission has been accomplished. I'm one of many who have given attention to the ad, thus perpetuating its life and the promotion of IE8.
You could accuse MS of being disingenuous, knowing that distancing itself from the ad would create more interest in it and possibly IE8. I don't think that's the case. I think they knew a vomiting girl would appeal to a particular segment of their target audience, but they didn't think about how it would go over with a broad and worldwide consumer base.
Still, for all the talk, all the attention, I don't know that this ever could have been an effective, or affective, ad for MS because it is too out there for the masses. Instead, it's an object for debate over standards and scorn over execution. It comes down to this - sometimes, the decisions you make are like a bad lunch; they have a way of coming back on you. Know your message, your audience and always ensure your creative goes down smoothly, with no unpleasant aftertaste...
Not only that, everything you say and do can have a very, very long life, one much larger than you might have imagined. Thanks to the very tools I'm using to type this missive, your offhand remark, rash blog entry or revealing Polaroids can be exchanged and archived all around the worldwide web within moments, and endure forever. People whose cultural and moral backgrounds differ greatly from yours will weigh in on perceived transgressions with all the precision and pithiness of Judge Judy dismissing the claims of comely young ladies seeking the return of damage deposits and bail money.
So, with that in mind, let's turn our attention to Microsoft, which recently distanced itself from a very bile filled Internet Explorer 8 commercial known as OMGIGP Internet Explorer 8 Puke Vomit Girl. Directed by one of my favorite comedians Bobcat Goldthwaite, the ad, a parody of 50s commercials with intrusive experts, consists of a woman spewing pea soup repeatedly as one-time Superman Dean Cain explains the wonders of In-private Browsing. I'd have loved to have sat in on the confab Cain had with his agent about that gig.
It's a relatively recent ad, and the company made news last week for, as this story puts it, pulling 'the worst technology ad ever". So why are we talking about old news? Because, despite Microsoft distancing itself from the ad, it the spot is in Advertising Age's list of the top viral ads, thanks to people posting it on YouTube. (The ad was removed from Microsoft's site and YouTube channel, as well as the website of its advertising agency.)
Currently, 750 thousand people have watched the disowned ad, and not many of the comments I waded through are very favorable ranging from 'seriously gross' to 'she was using IE8, thats (sic) why she ralphed'. So the ad continues to draw interest and eyes. And thus, in a perverse way, it continues to do the job it was intended to do: promote IE8, even if in a rogue way and generate discussion around it. The talk may not all be rah-rah for IE8, but the mission has been accomplished. I'm one of many who have given attention to the ad, thus perpetuating its life and the promotion of IE8.
You could accuse MS of being disingenuous, knowing that distancing itself from the ad would create more interest in it and possibly IE8. I don't think that's the case. I think they knew a vomiting girl would appeal to a particular segment of their target audience, but they didn't think about how it would go over with a broad and worldwide consumer base.
Still, for all the talk, all the attention, I don't know that this ever could have been an effective, or affective, ad for MS because it is too out there for the masses. Instead, it's an object for debate over standards and scorn over execution. It comes down to this - sometimes, the decisions you make are like a bad lunch; they have a way of coming back on you. Know your message, your audience and always ensure your creative goes down smoothly, with no unpleasant aftertaste...
Thursday, July 9, 2009
MrWordsWorth on Pepsi, Olive Garden Slogans, For What it's Worth...
Slogans are vital. They encapsulate the essence of your company, your product, your service. They're like a promise, or a come-on. People hear them and immediately they know who you are and what you do, and why they want to make you their hero over some other brand zero.
Advertising agencies have produced many great slogans over the years. 'You're in good hands with Allstate.' 'Reach out & Touch Someone' 'The quicker picker upper.' 'Raise your hand if you're sure.' 'It takes a licking & keeps on ticking.' These slogans tell a story, make a promise. You hear them and you know what the product or service is all about.
There are two things that slogans shouldn't do: confuse or raise questions that undermine the warm and fuzzies you want to evoke. Take Pepsi Canada, for example. Last month, it unveiled, with creative from BBDO, a new slogan: Joy it Forward. I'm guessing someone was channel surfing and came upon the movie Pay it Forward and had a revelation.
The movie, and the book it was based on, are several years behind us. So it's hard to believe that it would have served as the inspiration. But that's not the real problem I have with the slogan. My real problem is it neither makes sense, nor does it say anything specific about Pepsi. Joy it Forward is generic enough that any company, from Hallmark Cards to Betty Crocker, could use it. It's meaningless. And it feels like it was created by pouring a box of Magnetic Poetry on a table and determining the constituent words through a process of elimination. 'Well, we want to say something about happiness, and progress, but in a very vague way.' It lacks substance, specificity and effervescence.
Meanwhile, Olive Garden has been running a commercial that ends with the line: 'When You're Here, You're Family.' Nice sentiment, but it raises an unnecessary question in the mind of the consumer: what am I when I'm not at Olive Garden? Inconsequential? Contemptuous? Do you talk trash about me and my clothes? These are the kinds of ruminations you don't want your slogan to inspire, Olive Garden.
Of course, these are just my perspectives. Perhaps you like these slogans, and you're not even affiliated with the companies above. I hope you'll share why. More important. I hope you'll think on this when it comes time to tell your story in a slogan. And I hope you'll leave the magnetic poetry on the fridge.
Advertising agencies have produced many great slogans over the years. 'You're in good hands with Allstate.' 'Reach out & Touch Someone' 'The quicker picker upper.' 'Raise your hand if you're sure.' 'It takes a licking & keeps on ticking.' These slogans tell a story, make a promise. You hear them and you know what the product or service is all about.
There are two things that slogans shouldn't do: confuse or raise questions that undermine the warm and fuzzies you want to evoke. Take Pepsi Canada, for example. Last month, it unveiled, with creative from BBDO, a new slogan: Joy it Forward. I'm guessing someone was channel surfing and came upon the movie Pay it Forward and had a revelation.
The movie, and the book it was based on, are several years behind us. So it's hard to believe that it would have served as the inspiration. But that's not the real problem I have with the slogan. My real problem is it neither makes sense, nor does it say anything specific about Pepsi. Joy it Forward is generic enough that any company, from Hallmark Cards to Betty Crocker, could use it. It's meaningless. And it feels like it was created by pouring a box of Magnetic Poetry on a table and determining the constituent words through a process of elimination. 'Well, we want to say something about happiness, and progress, but in a very vague way.' It lacks substance, specificity and effervescence.
Meanwhile, Olive Garden has been running a commercial that ends with the line: 'When You're Here, You're Family.' Nice sentiment, but it raises an unnecessary question in the mind of the consumer: what am I when I'm not at Olive Garden? Inconsequential? Contemptuous? Do you talk trash about me and my clothes? These are the kinds of ruminations you don't want your slogan to inspire, Olive Garden.
Of course, these are just my perspectives. Perhaps you like these slogans, and you're not even affiliated with the companies above. I hope you'll share why. More important. I hope you'll think on this when it comes time to tell your story in a slogan. And I hope you'll leave the magnetic poetry on the fridge.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Pretty good guitarist strums pain of United Airlines baggage handling with his fingers
Companies sure have embraced social media, haven't they. They're tweeting this, vlogging that. They gush like gossip columnists over how wonderful life is with these tools in the world. What they forget is that consumers can use these tools to put the screws to you.
Submitted for your approval, the story of David Carroll , who constitutes 50% of the Nova Scotia-based band Sons of Maxwell. In spring of 2008, while traveling in the US to a gig, someone witnessed his $3,500 Taylor guitar being thrown by United Airlines baggage handlers during a stopover in Chicago. The guitar was smashed, and Carroll took action.
Being Canadian, and thus genetically hardwired to be polite, Carroll pursued the matter through official channels. He writes about the process in vivid detail on his blog, noting that, although no one at United denied the incident took place, no one was willing to take responsibility for it.
Well, polite as we Canadians can be, Mr. Carroll's dander rose over the next nine months as airline officials played hot potato with his complaint. When a Ms. Irlweg informed him the company would not accept responsibility, and that would be her last email on the matter, he responded that he would be writing 3 songs about his experience with United. A kind of Canadian Railroad Trilogy if you will, only this one about how United smashes the guitars of Canadian musicians.
And on July 6, Carroll posted the first song of his promised trilogy, United Breaks Guitars on YouTube. It's a very witty ode to incompetence and indifference that has, as of Wednesday July 8, been watched by more than 100,000 people. The ballad of the smashed guitar has also been featured in the Chronicle Herald, Nova Scotia's main daily newspaper, and highlighted on the LA Times travel blog.
As you may have guessed, the folks at United want to talk to Carroll about the matter now that he has drawn public attention to his plight. This demonstrates how effective social media tools can be in pushing a customer complaint. The thing is, it shouldn't have taken a video to force United's hand. If the company had dealt with Carroll in an appropriate timely manner*, the situation wouldn't have escalated into a very public complaint, one that puts the company at a significant disadvantage.
For one, Carroll's story and video encourage scrutiny and discussion of United's conduct from people who are not agreeably disposed to the airline's brand. His experiences have also encouraged others to share their own grievances about United and threaten boycotts. Just look at the talk back about his YouTube video. Attendant media coverage has been unflattering and dominated by Carroll's experiences. Thus the company is stuck in reaction mode. It is wasting time and money on efforts to undo the damage of a situation it could have avoided, even resolved more efficiently and cheaply, by quietly replacing Carroll's guitar. At the very least, it should serve as a tutorial to the company on the power of social media tools to damage a brand, and how not to handle such disputes in the future.
So, if you take anything from this story, it should be this: treat your customers with respect, take responsibility for your actions, and make sure private matters remain private. You never know when you're going to come up against a talented musician with an ax to grind, and a forum in which to grind it.
*I had said proactive + private when I originally posted this, but on reflection, those words seemed ill-chosen...
Submitted for your approval, the story of David Carroll , who constitutes 50% of the Nova Scotia-based band Sons of Maxwell. In spring of 2008, while traveling in the US to a gig, someone witnessed his $3,500 Taylor guitar being thrown by United Airlines baggage handlers during a stopover in Chicago. The guitar was smashed, and Carroll took action.
Being Canadian, and thus genetically hardwired to be polite, Carroll pursued the matter through official channels. He writes about the process in vivid detail on his blog, noting that, although no one at United denied the incident took place, no one was willing to take responsibility for it.
Well, polite as we Canadians can be, Mr. Carroll's dander rose over the next nine months as airline officials played hot potato with his complaint. When a Ms. Irlweg informed him the company would not accept responsibility, and that would be her last email on the matter, he responded that he would be writing 3 songs about his experience with United. A kind of Canadian Railroad Trilogy if you will, only this one about how United smashes the guitars of Canadian musicians.
And on July 6, Carroll posted the first song of his promised trilogy, United Breaks Guitars on YouTube. It's a very witty ode to incompetence and indifference that has, as of Wednesday July 8, been watched by more than 100,000 people. The ballad of the smashed guitar has also been featured in the Chronicle Herald, Nova Scotia's main daily newspaper, and highlighted on the LA Times travel blog.
As you may have guessed, the folks at United want to talk to Carroll about the matter now that he has drawn public attention to his plight. This demonstrates how effective social media tools can be in pushing a customer complaint. The thing is, it shouldn't have taken a video to force United's hand. If the company had dealt with Carroll in an appropriate timely manner*, the situation wouldn't have escalated into a very public complaint, one that puts the company at a significant disadvantage.
For one, Carroll's story and video encourage scrutiny and discussion of United's conduct from people who are not agreeably disposed to the airline's brand. His experiences have also encouraged others to share their own grievances about United and threaten boycotts. Just look at the talk back about his YouTube video. Attendant media coverage has been unflattering and dominated by Carroll's experiences. Thus the company is stuck in reaction mode. It is wasting time and money on efforts to undo the damage of a situation it could have avoided, even resolved more efficiently and cheaply, by quietly replacing Carroll's guitar. At the very least, it should serve as a tutorial to the company on the power of social media tools to damage a brand, and how not to handle such disputes in the future.
So, if you take anything from this story, it should be this: treat your customers with respect, take responsibility for your actions, and make sure private matters remain private. You never know when you're going to come up against a talented musician with an ax to grind, and a forum in which to grind it.
*I had said proactive + private when I originally posted this, but on reflection, those words seemed ill-chosen...
My horn. Tooting it.
If you have been reading this blog lately, you'll know I've been doling out some tough love to GM on its Reinvention. Well, today I'm in the Chronicle Herald's Marketing Monitor saying that GM's reinvention needs someone to stage an intervention . Sure, it's what I've been saying all along, only this time it is in a convenient, easy-to-carry format.
My opinion differs from some of my colleagues, so let me know your thoughts - am I right or wrong?
My opinion differs from some of my colleagues, so let me know your thoughts - am I right or wrong?
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Not-so-close shave with Remington
Like most people, I'm impetuous. If I have a bad brand experience, I typically take my money elsewhere.
Like today. A few weeks ago, my trusted Philips electric razor lost its will to live after many years of faithful service. Disappointed, I gave it a decent burial and headed out to a bargain behemoth to purchase a new one. I know, I get what I deserve for being cheap when it comes to my pretty face, but these are tough times. Pennies will be pinched.
So, I buy a Remington razor, bring it home, charge it and the next morning I eagerly apply it to face after a gentle wash. I stretch the skin, apply both blades, do a little circular motion. Yet despite my best efforts, it's not giving me a nice, smooth even shave. There are stubborn little patches all along my neck and around my jaw that prove impervious to the double row of blades.
The booklet says to give it about three weeks, but I wasn't noticing any improvement. I constantly had to take a trimmer and run it all over my neck and face to clear out the many stragglers. So I decide to call Remington to voice my concern about the product's performance. I explain what I bought, that I'd been using it for about three weeks and that I hadn't encountered such an ineffective electric razor before. That was that. The person on the other end, huffy, shut down the call by telling me to take it back to the store where I bought it if I was unhappy. And that was that.
Despite my disappointment with the razor, I was willing to hear out Remington to see if they had suggestions to get better results, if there had been problems with that product, anything to address my experience or concerns. No dice. And they made no attempt to ask any questions about the product or how I used it. In short, the company acted like it didn't care that I had a negative experience and wanted to be done with me.
Now, you may see nothing wrong with what Remington did. I was an unhappy customer and they told me to return the product. Which I concede I could have done. But I figured they'd want to know if someone was unhappy with their product and have a chance to do something about it. Instead, I'm sharing my experience with you and a few hundred people on Twitter, and telling you I won't be buying Remington products again.
It comes down to this: if you care about and stand behind your products or services, then you do so when someone isn't happy with them. You make an attempt to uphold their brand integrity, or set things right. You work to please that customer with an eye to ensuring he or she remains a loyal customer. You hear out his or her concerns. You make some effort to address them. It creates a positive association. The customer feels better about the situation and may be willing to work with you to a resolution. Do it right and you not only retain a customer, you enjoy positive word of mouth.
But if you shrug and dismiss concerns, you lose that opportunity to engage a customer, to transform a negative experience and to avoid poor word of mouth. Word of mouth that, I might add, spreads further and faster than ever thanks to the world wide web and its wonderful social media tools. Word of mouth that damages your brand.
So now several hundred people know my experience with Remington. Will it influence their purchasing decisions? Who knows. But why take that risk if you don't have to. Make the effort; show you care about your products and customers. It's one way to ensure your reputation remains blemish-free and looking good.
Like today. A few weeks ago, my trusted Philips electric razor lost its will to live after many years of faithful service. Disappointed, I gave it a decent burial and headed out to a bargain behemoth to purchase a new one. I know, I get what I deserve for being cheap when it comes to my pretty face, but these are tough times. Pennies will be pinched.
So, I buy a Remington razor, bring it home, charge it and the next morning I eagerly apply it to face after a gentle wash. I stretch the skin, apply both blades, do a little circular motion. Yet despite my best efforts, it's not giving me a nice, smooth even shave. There are stubborn little patches all along my neck and around my jaw that prove impervious to the double row of blades.
The booklet says to give it about three weeks, but I wasn't noticing any improvement. I constantly had to take a trimmer and run it all over my neck and face to clear out the many stragglers. So I decide to call Remington to voice my concern about the product's performance. I explain what I bought, that I'd been using it for about three weeks and that I hadn't encountered such an ineffective electric razor before. That was that. The person on the other end, huffy, shut down the call by telling me to take it back to the store where I bought it if I was unhappy. And that was that.
Despite my disappointment with the razor, I was willing to hear out Remington to see if they had suggestions to get better results, if there had been problems with that product, anything to address my experience or concerns. No dice. And they made no attempt to ask any questions about the product or how I used it. In short, the company acted like it didn't care that I had a negative experience and wanted to be done with me.
Now, you may see nothing wrong with what Remington did. I was an unhappy customer and they told me to return the product. Which I concede I could have done. But I figured they'd want to know if someone was unhappy with their product and have a chance to do something about it. Instead, I'm sharing my experience with you and a few hundred people on Twitter, and telling you I won't be buying Remington products again.
It comes down to this: if you care about and stand behind your products or services, then you do so when someone isn't happy with them. You make an attempt to uphold their brand integrity, or set things right. You work to please that customer with an eye to ensuring he or she remains a loyal customer. You hear out his or her concerns. You make some effort to address them. It creates a positive association. The customer feels better about the situation and may be willing to work with you to a resolution. Do it right and you not only retain a customer, you enjoy positive word of mouth.
But if you shrug and dismiss concerns, you lose that opportunity to engage a customer, to transform a negative experience and to avoid poor word of mouth. Word of mouth that, I might add, spreads further and faster than ever thanks to the world wide web and its wonderful social media tools. Word of mouth that damages your brand.
So now several hundred people know my experience with Remington. Will it influence their purchasing decisions? Who knows. But why take that risk if you don't have to. Make the effort; show you care about your products and customers. It's one way to ensure your reputation remains blemish-free and looking good.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Worthy Award - Banner achievement in Banner ads
So many banner ads, so little reason to click through. So when you hear that one actually earned a Cannes Lion , you can't help but be curious.
So I'm pleased to say that this Pringles ad is not only Canne worthy, it's Words Worthy. It looks like just another dumb banner (a fact it eventually concedes), until you do its bidding and start clicking. Once you start clicking, you're compelled to work your way to the end, much like your favorite Pringles Flavor. Well, maybe you haven't. Man, I'm so embarrassed.
It's entertaining and, occasionally, absurd, making hay of other banner ads for their execution and results. But most important of all, it's delightfully fun. And much like the Pringles canister, you will eventually reach the end if you do click long enough. So congratulations Bridge Worldwide . You're not only Cannes worthy, you're Words Worthy. I know, I know, it's a big deal for you. Too bad I don't have any awards. I might could buy you a can of Pringles and bronze it...
So I'm pleased to say that this Pringles ad is not only Canne worthy, it's Words Worthy. It looks like just another dumb banner (a fact it eventually concedes), until you do its bidding and start clicking. Once you start clicking, you're compelled to work your way to the end, much like your favorite Pringles Flavor. Well, maybe you haven't. Man, I'm so embarrassed.
It's entertaining and, occasionally, absurd, making hay of other banner ads for their execution and results. But most important of all, it's delightfully fun. And much like the Pringles canister, you will eventually reach the end if you do click long enough. So congratulations Bridge Worldwide . You're not only Cannes worthy, you're Words Worthy. I know, I know, it's a big deal for you. Too bad I don't have any awards. I might could buy you a can of Pringles and bronze it...
Monday, June 29, 2009
Billy Mays
When I heard the news about ubiquitous TV pitchman Billy Mays passing away yesterday, I had two immediate thoughts:
1) I tend to get most of my news from Twitter these days
2) How sad it is that some hipster wannabe named Vince - he of the ShamWow and Slap Chop - is set to inherit Mays's throne.
A boisterous, garrulous personality, I nevertheless liked Billy Mays. He reminded me a lot of Al Borland character from Home Improvement. He an everyman who had credibility because he was very much like me or you, and he had a great enthusiasm for what he did. More important, he came across as genuine. You got the feel he really believed in the products, even if he was paid to hawk them.
When I see Vince pushing the Slap Chop, I don't get that warm vibe off him. It could be because of his arrest a few months ago related to an incident with a prostitute (no charges were filed). But I suspect it's more to do with the fact that he just doesn't strike me as a person I can trust. Mays, on the other hand, is someone I might have asked for advice at the local hardware store, and I'd have gladly accepted his recommendation of a good leaf blower or outboard motor. Vince, I wouldn't even ask for directions out of his neighborhood.
So long, Mays, and thanks for helping to make the world a brighter, shinier, OxiClean place to live...
1) I tend to get most of my news from Twitter these days
2) How sad it is that some hipster wannabe named Vince - he of the ShamWow and Slap Chop - is set to inherit Mays's throne.
A boisterous, garrulous personality, I nevertheless liked Billy Mays. He reminded me a lot of Al Borland character from Home Improvement. He an everyman who had credibility because he was very much like me or you, and he had a great enthusiasm for what he did. More important, he came across as genuine. You got the feel he really believed in the products, even if he was paid to hawk them.
When I see Vince pushing the Slap Chop, I don't get that warm vibe off him. It could be because of his arrest a few months ago related to an incident with a prostitute (no charges were filed). But I suspect it's more to do with the fact that he just doesn't strike me as a person I can trust. Mays, on the other hand, is someone I might have asked for advice at the local hardware store, and I'd have gladly accepted his recommendation of a good leaf blower or outboard motor. Vince, I wouldn't even ask for directions out of his neighborhood.
So long, Mays, and thanks for helping to make the world a brighter, shinier, OxiClean place to live...
Friday, June 26, 2009
Organ grinding from Burger King + Hardee's
Friends, I am a marketer. I'm also a consumer. Which means I'm open to persuasion. I like creative that is sophisticated and subtle. I want to sense that there is an intelligence, a wit behind the effort. I want a reason to believe, a little wooing. What I don't want is clumsy, heavy handed pawing so I feel like I got worked over or used.
Frankly, friends, I'm feeling that way about recent marketing campaigns by Hardee's and Burger King. All of the qualities I talked about above have been rapaciously ripped from the playbooks of these two fast food chains. They want attention. They want to be talked about. Well, they have my attention, but I doubt they'll like what I have to say.
We have to start somewhere, so let's start with a promotional item for Burger King's Super Seven Incher . The new advert, which is labeled "It'll blow your mind away", features a very plastic looking lady, mouth wide open, ready to, um, enjoy a very phallic looking sub-style burger. The copy is full of innuendo that would be cheap; if it wasn't tired and borrowed: "Fill your desire for something long, juicy and flame grilled... Yearn for more..." No mistaking it, it's food porn, or forn (pood would sound more unseemly).
What strikes me as odd is that, much like most recent BK ads, this appears to be geared toward a young, testosterone fueled, heterosexual male audience. So why the heavily phallic text? I can't see the appetite of that audience being whetted by a sandwich that is described much like male genitalia. Maybe it's meant to be subversive. Or BK just assumes it's audience is illiterate and won't read the copy. I don't know. It's leering, tacky and dumb, and it makes the sandwich sound unappealing. Speaking of which, I like how the words "It'll blow" appear on one line all by themselves, suggesting not oral pleasure, but a crappy meal. Which befits the crappy creative.
Aiming slightly lower, figuratively if not literally, is a Hardee's ad announcing its new Biscuit Holes. They are tubby little bundles of dough, or something, that look fried and are served (You thought I was going to say 'come', didn't you?) with icing. The slightly shaggy and not too young man who introduces these confectionery concoctions - a kind of poor man's Tom Green - does a man on the street bit to ask folks to think of a better handle for these gustatory treats. (You can actually do this at Hardee's NameOurHoles website .) What follows in the ad can basically be summed up as a series of euphemisms for testes. We get 'goodie balls,' 'Frosty Dippers', 'Sweet Balls', 'CinniNuts','TastiNuts', 'DingleBalls,''Melting Holes'...
Okay, so the last one sounds more like some kind of anal infection. Regardless, it doesn't make the prospect of eating them very palatable. I have this rule: the last thing I want to think about when I enjoy a nice snack is any part of the human anatomy, male or female. But what do I know? Seriously, Hardee's, if you really want us to associate your snack with the testes, why don't you package them in a sack? Again, insipid creative like this is enough to put me off my appetite. But since you asked for names, Hardee's, I'll bite. Call them Dingleberreez. There. Call me. The ball's in your court.
What do you think? Are they crass, or do you like the sass?
Frankly, friends, I'm feeling that way about recent marketing campaigns by Hardee's and Burger King. All of the qualities I talked about above have been rapaciously ripped from the playbooks of these two fast food chains. They want attention. They want to be talked about. Well, they have my attention, but I doubt they'll like what I have to say.
We have to start somewhere, so let's start with a promotional item for Burger King's Super Seven Incher . The new advert, which is labeled "It'll blow your mind away", features a very plastic looking lady, mouth wide open, ready to, um, enjoy a very phallic looking sub-style burger. The copy is full of innuendo that would be cheap; if it wasn't tired and borrowed: "Fill your desire for something long, juicy and flame grilled... Yearn for more..." No mistaking it, it's food porn, or forn (pood would sound more unseemly).
What strikes me as odd is that, much like most recent BK ads, this appears to be geared toward a young, testosterone fueled, heterosexual male audience. So why the heavily phallic text? I can't see the appetite of that audience being whetted by a sandwich that is described much like male genitalia. Maybe it's meant to be subversive. Or BK just assumes it's audience is illiterate and won't read the copy. I don't know. It's leering, tacky and dumb, and it makes the sandwich sound unappealing. Speaking of which, I like how the words "It'll blow" appear on one line all by themselves, suggesting not oral pleasure, but a crappy meal. Which befits the crappy creative.
Aiming slightly lower, figuratively if not literally, is a Hardee's ad announcing its new Biscuit Holes. They are tubby little bundles of dough, or something, that look fried and are served (You thought I was going to say 'come', didn't you?) with icing. The slightly shaggy and not too young man who introduces these confectionery concoctions - a kind of poor man's Tom Green - does a man on the street bit to ask folks to think of a better handle for these gustatory treats. (You can actually do this at Hardee's NameOurHoles website .) What follows in the ad can basically be summed up as a series of euphemisms for testes. We get 'goodie balls,' 'Frosty Dippers', 'Sweet Balls', 'CinniNuts','TastiNuts', 'DingleBalls,''Melting Holes'...
Okay, so the last one sounds more like some kind of anal infection. Regardless, it doesn't make the prospect of eating them very palatable. I have this rule: the last thing I want to think about when I enjoy a nice snack is any part of the human anatomy, male or female. But what do I know? Seriously, Hardee's, if you really want us to associate your snack with the testes, why don't you package them in a sack? Again, insipid creative like this is enough to put me off my appetite. But since you asked for names, Hardee's, I'll bite. Call them Dingleberreez. There. Call me. The ball's in your court.
What do you think? Are they crass, or do you like the sass?
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Tooting my own horn, again
Just wanted to share a little something I worked on recently with The Wright Agency in Saint John, NB - it's promotional item meant to get people to look at the community of Saint John in a whole new light. Go ahead, take your best shot!
The Hut's forward march
It's human nature to want to reinvent yourself from time to time. Maybe you get a new hairdo, perhaps you get snazzy new shoes, or you get your teeth straightened and whitened. The reasons why you do it are varied - you want to feel young, you want to look more professional, you want to appeal to members of the opposite/same sex. In short, you just want to freshen up a bit so people see you in a new light, or see something in you they hadn't noticed before.
Companies engage in reinvention, too, only it's called rebranding. They hit a wall in terms of revenues, they feel neglected or taken for granted by the public. They make a few cosmetic changes or undergo a major makeover to get you to take notice of them again. Essentially, they want to rekindle the ardor they felt in the marketplace once upon a time.
For example, as I noted this week, Miracle Whip is courting edgy youth who want to stand out. And Pizza Hut is giving its brand a facelift by adopting the name The Hut at some of its outlets.
The company is hoping the new branding will staunch the flow of consumer dollars to such competition as small pizza joints, improved frozen pies, and prepared pizza products offered by your local grocer. Moreover, by switching to The Hut, the company hopes consumers will understand that there's more to the chain's menu than suggested by the old name.
Looking at the new logo, it's not drastically different. It still looks a lot like a candy-apple fedora to me. But I'm feeling resistance to the new name. For starters, it's not materially different from the old name to make me reconsider Pizza Hut. It's like the company is hedging its bets, trading on tradition even as it tries to go forward. Which would explain why the company is not, for now, affixing the new name to all of its outlets.
But the name, The Hut, also bothers me. When I think of a hut, I think of a small, dank medieval hovel fashioned from mud and straw where you go to quench your thirst on mead served from a hog's head, or something. 'The Hut' just doesn't have that cachet, that necessary freshness, to compel people to give it a second look. It feels at odds with the efforts the brand is making to court young people, such as having a Twintern tweeting about the chain and other items on Twitter. Yet when you consider that Twitter is mainly the domain of boomers, it starts to make more sense.
I could be wrong. Yum Brands, The Hut's corporate parent, managed to shift Kentucky Fried Chicken to KFC. Despite jokes that the name change was necessitated by the fact that KFC didn't use chicken anymore, it seems to have worked out well. But first blush suggests this is more a matter of a brand deciding what the market wants and imposing it as opposed to renewing the brand based on consumer input. If it works, I'll be the first to raise a stoat stein of hydromel to toast its success. Otherwise, the company's going to have to work very hard to patch the leaks in its Hut.
Companies engage in reinvention, too, only it's called rebranding. They hit a wall in terms of revenues, they feel neglected or taken for granted by the public. They make a few cosmetic changes or undergo a major makeover to get you to take notice of them again. Essentially, they want to rekindle the ardor they felt in the marketplace once upon a time.
For example, as I noted this week, Miracle Whip is courting edgy youth who want to stand out. And Pizza Hut is giving its brand a facelift by adopting the name The Hut at some of its outlets.
The company is hoping the new branding will staunch the flow of consumer dollars to such competition as small pizza joints, improved frozen pies, and prepared pizza products offered by your local grocer. Moreover, by switching to The Hut, the company hopes consumers will understand that there's more to the chain's menu than suggested by the old name.
Looking at the new logo, it's not drastically different. It still looks a lot like a candy-apple fedora to me. But I'm feeling resistance to the new name. For starters, it's not materially different from the old name to make me reconsider Pizza Hut. It's like the company is hedging its bets, trading on tradition even as it tries to go forward. Which would explain why the company is not, for now, affixing the new name to all of its outlets.
But the name, The Hut, also bothers me. When I think of a hut, I think of a small, dank medieval hovel fashioned from mud and straw where you go to quench your thirst on mead served from a hog's head, or something. 'The Hut' just doesn't have that cachet, that necessary freshness, to compel people to give it a second look. It feels at odds with the efforts the brand is making to court young people, such as having a Twintern tweeting about the chain and other items on Twitter. Yet when you consider that Twitter is mainly the domain of boomers, it starts to make more sense.
I could be wrong. Yum Brands, The Hut's corporate parent, managed to shift Kentucky Fried Chicken to KFC. Despite jokes that the name change was necessitated by the fact that KFC didn't use chicken anymore, it seems to have worked out well. But first blush suggests this is more a matter of a brand deciding what the market wants and imposing it as opposed to renewing the brand based on consumer input. If it works, I'll be the first to raise a stoat stein of hydromel to toast its success. Otherwise, the company's going to have to work very hard to patch the leaks in its Hut.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Best Job in the World
The Best Job in the World campaign, created by CumminsNitro, was feted with the PR Lions Grand Prix by Cannes and Direct Lions Grand Prix at Cannes. Thought I'd rerun what I wrote about it in January on my website:
It’s pretty tough to live up to the billing of Best Job in the World. But that’s what Tourism Queensland representatives are promising in an effort to promote the Australian state.
Officially, the position is called Caretaker of the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef. One lucky person will spend six months on Hamilton Island enjoying and blogging about its pleasures and receive $122,000 Cdn for his or her efforts. Gimmicky as it may seem, there is a real job up for grabs, and 11 people will be flown to the Island in May to compete for the position.
It sounds like my dream job, and thousands, apparently agree. Officials say they had 200,000 applications within 24 hours of the campaign launch. Equally impressive is the fact that Tourism Queensland has garnered millions of dollars in media coverage for what must have been a very modest investment. Thanks to stories on BBC and Yahoo the campaign has reached more than 29 million people, meaning greater awareness of and interest in Queensland.
Granted, that interest may not translate into immediate increases in bookings and tourism revenue, but I think the campaign will generate benefits over the long run. The content the blogger creates is likely to have more appeal or be more convincing to potential visitors than content generated by Tourism Queensland. After all, it will be content developed by an actual visitor blogging his or her experiences, all of which can be archived and used for years to come. Moreover, flying 11 contestants in to compete for the position is a shrewd move. It means there will be, potentially, 11 people spreading positive messages about the region to colleagues online and otherwise. And media from the markets where contestants live will likely cover the story, giving the campaign added life and reach.
Simply put, I think this marketing campaign is brilliant. And I’m not just saying that in hopes that Tourism Queensland will invite me down to see the beauty of the region first hand. Though I wouldn’t turn them down if they did.
It’s pretty tough to live up to the billing of Best Job in the World. But that’s what Tourism Queensland representatives are promising in an effort to promote the Australian state.
Officially, the position is called Caretaker of the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef. One lucky person will spend six months on Hamilton Island enjoying and blogging about its pleasures and receive $122,000 Cdn for his or her efforts. Gimmicky as it may seem, there is a real job up for grabs, and 11 people will be flown to the Island in May to compete for the position.
It sounds like my dream job, and thousands, apparently agree. Officials say they had 200,000 applications within 24 hours of the campaign launch. Equally impressive is the fact that Tourism Queensland has garnered millions of dollars in media coverage for what must have been a very modest investment. Thanks to stories on BBC and Yahoo the campaign has reached more than 29 million people, meaning greater awareness of and interest in Queensland.
Granted, that interest may not translate into immediate increases in bookings and tourism revenue, but I think the campaign will generate benefits over the long run. The content the blogger creates is likely to have more appeal or be more convincing to potential visitors than content generated by Tourism Queensland. After all, it will be content developed by an actual visitor blogging his or her experiences, all of which can be archived and used for years to come. Moreover, flying 11 contestants in to compete for the position is a shrewd move. It means there will be, potentially, 11 people spreading positive messages about the region to colleagues online and otherwise. And media from the markets where contestants live will likely cover the story, giving the campaign added life and reach.
Simply put, I think this marketing campaign is brilliant. And I’m not just saying that in hopes that Tourism Queensland will invite me down to see the beauty of the region first hand. Though I wouldn’t turn them down if they did.
I Say Whip it, Miracle Whip it Good
As the Tower of Power once opined, 'Hipness is what it is/and sometimes hipness is what it ain't.' Well, one brand has made itself over a bid to be hip: Miracle Whip.
Miracle Whip has decided it's not enough to be distinguished from mayo - which you'll know from watching Undercover Brother is the condiment of choice for white people - no, siree. It wants to distinguish itself from... um, itself. So long to bygone odes to its tangy zip as performed by beefy burgers. Take a hike, ads that attempted to brand it as the choice ingredient for the erotic dreams of dumpy middle-aged foodies everywhere. Oh no. Miracle Whip has decided to reach out to the target group that everyone and their dog covets: the kids. And it thinks it has found a hip way to do it: a new commercial, all flashy and cutting edge, just like the kids like it.
Called Anthem , the Miracle Whip ad plays more like a statement of purpose or Manifesto (and certainly makes for a more coherent and clear manifesto than the one Microsoft deployed to premiere Bing). It lays out the philosophies that kids hold dear, not being quiet, not blending in, living fast, dying young and leaving a good corpse. Okay, on those last three, I lied.
The messages are delivered via edgy anonymous voice over artist and squiggly, chalky words that float on the screen over - what a surprise - very conventional images of food and fun until they are erased. It made me think of school, an image that always has a positive association and popularity among the young folk. So it's about as edgy and in your face as an Archie comic, or a puppy.
Funny thing is, if you come in just a second or two late on the ad, and miss the 'not be quiet', the squiggly chalk words on display seem to counteract the intent of the edgy voiceover guy. When he says 'We will not try to blend in', the magic screen says 'blend in.' When he talks about not disappearing into the background, the magic screen says 'disappear into the background.' It's like Miracle Whip is sending not so subtle or subliminal messages to the kids. Blend in, be invisible, eat our condiment, like it.
"We're not like the others; we won't ever try to be," says the voiceover guy, forgetting that most youth want to fit in, be accepted, or at least disappear in the background so the athletic kids don't haul off and wedgie them. Those who decide not to blend in generally do it when it is forced on them, so it become a perverse badge of pride. Which must be why Miracle Whip talks about itself as a 'mixed up blend of one of a kind spices.'
Let's put aside the fact that they put that text on the screen without any hyphens - rebels! - and deal with the substance of that message. Since a 'blend' is a 'mix', the copy is either lazy and needlessly redundant, or the 'mixed up' means that Miracle Whip doesn't know what it is or what it wants to be, apart from some vague notion of being unique. Since the ad never defines how Miracle Whip is unique, does not blend in, etc., I'll venture to say that mixed up must be referring to an identity crisis. Maybe that's what makes it unique - we don't know what we are, but we should would like it if you'd embrace us as fresh, hip and daring.
And therein lies the problem of such branding: if you and all your friends start eating Miracle Whip because you don't want to fit in, how are you expressing your individuality? The mind reels. Okay, Miracle Whip, I give in. You won't tone it down. But could you at least define what it is you won't tone down so I know why you are shouting about it?
Miracle Whip has decided it's not enough to be distinguished from mayo - which you'll know from watching Undercover Brother is the condiment of choice for white people - no, siree. It wants to distinguish itself from... um, itself. So long to bygone odes to its tangy zip as performed by beefy burgers. Take a hike, ads that attempted to brand it as the choice ingredient for the erotic dreams of dumpy middle-aged foodies everywhere. Oh no. Miracle Whip has decided to reach out to the target group that everyone and their dog covets: the kids. And it thinks it has found a hip way to do it: a new commercial, all flashy and cutting edge, just like the kids like it.
Called Anthem , the Miracle Whip ad plays more like a statement of purpose or Manifesto (and certainly makes for a more coherent and clear manifesto than the one Microsoft deployed to premiere Bing). It lays out the philosophies that kids hold dear, not being quiet, not blending in, living fast, dying young and leaving a good corpse. Okay, on those last three, I lied.
The messages are delivered via edgy anonymous voice over artist and squiggly, chalky words that float on the screen over - what a surprise - very conventional images of food and fun until they are erased. It made me think of school, an image that always has a positive association and popularity among the young folk. So it's about as edgy and in your face as an Archie comic, or a puppy.
Funny thing is, if you come in just a second or two late on the ad, and miss the 'not be quiet', the squiggly chalk words on display seem to counteract the intent of the edgy voiceover guy. When he says 'We will not try to blend in', the magic screen says 'blend in.' When he talks about not disappearing into the background, the magic screen says 'disappear into the background.' It's like Miracle Whip is sending not so subtle or subliminal messages to the kids. Blend in, be invisible, eat our condiment, like it.
"We're not like the others; we won't ever try to be," says the voiceover guy, forgetting that most youth want to fit in, be accepted, or at least disappear in the background so the athletic kids don't haul off and wedgie them. Those who decide not to blend in generally do it when it is forced on them, so it become a perverse badge of pride. Which must be why Miracle Whip talks about itself as a 'mixed up blend of one of a kind spices.'
Let's put aside the fact that they put that text on the screen without any hyphens - rebels! - and deal with the substance of that message. Since a 'blend' is a 'mix', the copy is either lazy and needlessly redundant, or the 'mixed up' means that Miracle Whip doesn't know what it is or what it wants to be, apart from some vague notion of being unique. Since the ad never defines how Miracle Whip is unique, does not blend in, etc., I'll venture to say that mixed up must be referring to an identity crisis. Maybe that's what makes it unique - we don't know what we are, but we should would like it if you'd embrace us as fresh, hip and daring.
And therein lies the problem of such branding: if you and all your friends start eating Miracle Whip because you don't want to fit in, how are you expressing your individuality? The mind reels. Okay, Miracle Whip, I give in. You won't tone it down. But could you at least define what it is you won't tone down so I know why you are shouting about it?
Friday, June 19, 2009
Worthy Award- for June 19
If you have been reading this blog on a regular basis, you'll know I've been ranting about marketing, communications and public relations items that have rubbed me the wrong way. All that negativity does something to a person, to use impersonal language, so I've decided that I want to be positive for a change. Not only that, on a sustained basis.
So today, I'm starting something new - the Worthy Award. There's no real award per se - we're a frugal organization here at the Words' Worth lab - but what I offer is a shout out to organizations and individuals who are exemplifying or engaged in progressive, ethical, commendable or downright amusing PR, Marketing or Communications practices or campaigns.
Today, I'm giving the first Worthy Award to Pixar. Why? Because, and you'll need a hankie for this - the company fulfilled the dying wish of a 10-year-old-girl. It arranged a private DVD showing of its latest film Up for her. Seven hours later, the girl passed away. If that doesn't move you, you either have no pulse or no heart.
I don't know much about Pixar beyond what I see and read in the media, but it has always struck me as a company that is very committed to producing only the highest quality entertainment - entertainment that can be enjoyed by every member of the family. It has also seemed to me to be a company that sees its employees and their families as part of a big Pixar family. One Pixar tradition is to list the names of all the babies born to employees during the production of a particular film in the closing credits.
By responding to a call from a mother wanting to make her daughter's wish come true, Pixar reinforced the positive brand attributes I associate with the company. But here's what impresses me most about Pixar as regards this story: they declined to comment for the news story.
Normally, I'd say no comment is the wrong approach to take. In this context, any comment by Pixar might have come off as a canned self-congratulatory, opportunistic or self-promotional tract. That kind of false modesty where a company really wants to bask in the media spotlight for its own benefit. By design or inadvertently, Pixar let the family tell its tragic, yet touching, story without hijacking it.
Sure, the company may not have wanted to encourage more such incidents - it couldn't fulfill every such request - but I like to think it realized that this was not the time or place to solicit attention for a good deed. Besides, anything the company could have said would not have had the impact or appeal as the family describing just what that one act of kindness meant for a little girl. You couldn't ask, pay, or create a better endorsement.
So, let me wipe that pesky tear from my eye and say that, Pixar, you are truly Words' Worthy.
So today, I'm starting something new - the Worthy Award. There's no real award per se - we're a frugal organization here at the Words' Worth lab - but what I offer is a shout out to organizations and individuals who are exemplifying or engaged in progressive, ethical, commendable or downright amusing PR, Marketing or Communications practices or campaigns.
Today, I'm giving the first Worthy Award to Pixar. Why? Because, and you'll need a hankie for this - the company fulfilled the dying wish of a 10-year-old-girl. It arranged a private DVD showing of its latest film Up for her. Seven hours later, the girl passed away. If that doesn't move you, you either have no pulse or no heart.
I don't know much about Pixar beyond what I see and read in the media, but it has always struck me as a company that is very committed to producing only the highest quality entertainment - entertainment that can be enjoyed by every member of the family. It has also seemed to me to be a company that sees its employees and their families as part of a big Pixar family. One Pixar tradition is to list the names of all the babies born to employees during the production of a particular film in the closing credits.
By responding to a call from a mother wanting to make her daughter's wish come true, Pixar reinforced the positive brand attributes I associate with the company. But here's what impresses me most about Pixar as regards this story: they declined to comment for the news story.
Normally, I'd say no comment is the wrong approach to take. In this context, any comment by Pixar might have come off as a canned self-congratulatory, opportunistic or self-promotional tract. That kind of false modesty where a company really wants to bask in the media spotlight for its own benefit. By design or inadvertently, Pixar let the family tell its tragic, yet touching, story without hijacking it.
Sure, the company may not have wanted to encourage more such incidents - it couldn't fulfill every such request - but I like to think it realized that this was not the time or place to solicit attention for a good deed. Besides, anything the company could have said would not have had the impact or appeal as the family describing just what that one act of kindness meant for a little girl. You couldn't ask, pay, or create a better endorsement.
So, let me wipe that pesky tear from my eye and say that, Pixar, you are truly Words' Worthy.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Great advertisements
Apparently, this first viral commercial has been up for several months, but it didn't get onto my radar. It's an ad for Bud Light that knows what guys want - Beer and pr0n - and takes the worst-case scenario for embarrassment so far over the top, it flips around and goes over several more times. Enjoy it here.
The second, which I was hipped to by Adland on Twitter via brentter is this Japanese ad for Adidas by TBWA/London. It's a guy employed by a breakup service and how his work starts to affect him. What I really like are the messages he delivers through his service, how poetic they are.
I know I should say more about why I like them, but I think great creative speaks for itself. That and the fact that poorly executed items provide more fodder to write about sometimes...
The second, which I was hipped to by Adland on Twitter via brentter is this Japanese ad for Adidas by TBWA/London. It's a guy employed by a breakup service and how his work starts to affect him. What I really like are the messages he delivers through his service, how poetic they are.
I know I should say more about why I like them, but I think great creative speaks for itself. That and the fact that poorly executed items provide more fodder to write about sometimes...
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