Brand Mystique

After 100 years, absinthe is back in liquor stores. Now that absinthe has been made legal in the United States it is making advertisers wonder how to market this liquor which has a mystique unlike any other alcohol on the market. Often, the goal with marketing a liquor is to create mystique and a sense of wonder about the product. Since absinthe already has a mystique surrounding it has the job for advertisers already been done? Kubler, an absinthe importer, is taking a campaign route that puts an emphasis on the old European history of absinthe. The ad campaign includes photos (see images above and below) of individuals we assume are European, indulging in absinthe. There is also the presence of fairies, or nymphs, which are supposed to summon the urban legend of absinthe being a hallucinogenic alcohol. All in all Kubler is doing a great job with this campaign. Along with the ads they have been hosting parties in all the big cities. Since Kubler is only one of two absinthe importers to the U.S. I can imagine they'll be doing very well in sales. (photos from Adage.com)

Going Green

After watching 'An Inconvenient Truth' I was super excited about changing around all of my regular habits and doing my part to reverse the global warming trend. It made my new way of seeing how I use energy even more exciting when I saw numerous commercials advertising that different companies were trying to do the same. Next thing you know we have "Natures Expressions" toothpaste by Crest, and the same by Tide with it's Downy 'Pure Essentials.' We're even seeing car companies pick up the notion that it really is time for us to cut down our gas emissions as more and more companies release hybrid models. Is this really the beginning of a new era, in which we care for our planet, or is this another marketing ploy? Has "going green" become a way for marketers to catch the attention of this new eco-conscious society? And if so, is that a good thing? CorpWatch, a watchdog group that keeps it's eye on how corporations treat the environment, has come up with the term "greenwashing" to describe companies that say they're going green to attract more business when in fact they are keeping old habits. Personally, I feel that the more exposure we're given to the efforts that are being put into taking care of our planet (legit or not) the more motivated the public will be to take action. I think it's great that groups like CorpWatch are doing their part to keep companies honest, and it's obvious that enough corporations are actually concerned about the environment to make up for all those that aren't so legit. While I won't be buying any 'natural' toothpaste or detergent anytime soon I will definitely be using less water, less electricity, and saving up for a hybrid car.

Sports Advertising

1 hunky athlete + lots of sweaty sports action + cute humbling line = successful sports commercial. This equation has been used countless times for brands such as Nike, Reebok, the NBA, and David Beckham. Finally, someone has come up with a new and fresh marketing plan for sports! MasterCard and football player Peyton Manning have joined up for some seriously funny commercials. The marketing campaign is called 'Priceless Pep Talks' and features Manning speaking to the audience, giving advice. While the commercials shown on TV are funny and successful in their own right the group that created the campaign, McCann-Erickson Worldwide, has taken it a step further and is sending viewers to Priceless.com, where you can customize a Pep Talk from Peyton for yourself or to be sent to a friend. MasterCard has already reported that hits to their website surge when the commercials air. It's great to see the new ways in which ad agencies are incorporating interactive marketing alongside the print or TV ads they create. It's obvious that consumers want to be involved and it's really cool to see this new wave of advertising emerge, letting consumers become a part of the campaign or getting the chance to customize the campaign for themselves.

Really?

I was reading some advertising blogs over the weekend and read one really interesting article. If you look down a couple of posts you'll see that I love the new Dove Campaign for Real Beauty...turns out the company that distributes Dove, Unilever, is also the owner of Axe body spray, Slim Fast, Sunsilk and numerous other brands. As you may know the Axe advertising campaign promotes the idea that when men wear the said fragrance women will go crazy with the wild desire to have sex. Slim Fast on the other hand offers "easy" ways for people to lose weight. Some of Slim Fast's most popular items are drinks or snacks that are meant to be substitutes for meals...not exactly a healthy way to think about your diet or to get in shape. Sunsilk is almost the worst, as its ads feature only tall, skinny and beautiful models, who do ridiculous things to achieve the "perfect hair." The Sunsilk website even features a section where you can give yourself a "makeover" by changing your hair. As Dove is trying to position itself as a company that cares about the self-esteem of young girls and has made its goal to empower women, is it hypocritical of Unilever to promote these other brands that do just the opposite? Something to think about.

Been there, already did that!

It's always a curious thing when you see an ad and have that feeling of deja vu. Well imagine you see an ad and the deja vu feeling is completely overwhelming...overwhelming in the sense of, "Hey! That's my idea!" In the world of media it is ridiculously common how often ideas are used over and over and over and over, etc. For example; "survivor" shows, "finding love" shows, "funny and light hospital" shows. You name it, it's been done at least twice. So, it goes without saying that the world of advertising has the same issues.

One company that seems to have a "copy cat" issue is Sony Bravia.
For example, their famous ad that features tons of bouncy balls going down Filbert street (see video)...

...was actually an idea first seen on The Late Show with David Letterman in 1996! Again, see video....


They were both filmed on Filbert Street in San Francisco. Coincidence? Fallon, the agency that created the Sony Bravia ad denies their campaign was taken from the Late Show. Suuuure. Either way, Letterman wins because he went above and beyond balls and tested out melons as well! Bravo!

I mentioned earlier that Sony Bravia has a "copy cat" issue...well here we are again. Passion Pictures recently created a gorgeous ad for Sony Bravia featuring colorful clay rabbits hopping around a city, presumably New York (You can watch the ad here). Apparently the bunny ad was too similar for L.A. artist Kozyndan, who had previously created a beautiful illustration of a city scene infested with colored bunnies!
Coincidence? Possibly not, because Kozyndan claims that Passion Pictures had contacted him a couple of years ago, wanting to see some samples of his work. There was never any negotiation made and he never heard from them again. Interesting side note, the ad agency that hired Passion Pictures to create the Sony Bravia ad was Fallon! Sound familiar? Just scroll back up to the top of this post to refresh your memory. All I can say is I hope they get their stuff together and get some creative juices of their own!

Oops!

A couple of marketing plans that just didn't pan out.



Icebreakers Pacs...what were they thinking?
The little blue packets contain what is basically mint flavored sweetener.
The powdery substance would be an acceptable product; however, it is contained in a plastic baggy that makes it look like cocaine! Already a Philadelphia cop has been quoted by the American Chronicle as saying "New mint packets being sold by The Hershey Company look nearly identical to the tiny heat-sealed bags used to sell illegal powdered drugs like crack, heroin and cocaine and glorify the drug trade." I'm not sure I agree with him that the packets "glorify the drug trade" but they certainly look suspicious! If I saw a dude at the bar whip one of these out to freshen his breath I would be extremely shocked. I wonder who's getting fired over this one?


Aqua Teen Hunger Force Marketing Campaign
It is so sad that this went as badly as it did because I thought that it was really a really creative and unique form of guerilla marketing! The marketing team for the ATHF movie created these great little LCD light boxes and put them up all around different cities in the U.S. Unfortunately it created a bomb scare in Boston, causing the Boston police to go wild, shutting down streets and bringing out SWAT teams. Below is a video I found on YouTube of the guys setting up the light boxes. The marketing campaign wasn't meant to create chaos or panic, it was just a new method of advertising! I wonder if it would have created such chaos if our country wasn't in such a constant state of fear...it will be interesting to see if more guerilla marketing tactics end up scaring police, or if it will become a new trend that we all get used to.


McPizza?
I don't know why I don't remember this but apparently McDonald's tried selling pizza for 5 years! The other day in my marketing class the professor was lecturing about different reasons why some marketing campaigns don't pan out. His first example was McDonald's attempt at selling pizza! Between 1992 and 1997 the company attempted to sell a 'McPizza' that was similar to an apple-pie, and also tried selling a 'McDonald's Pizza.' The original plan was to have a family sized pizza to be served and eaten at the McDonald's restaurants. When this didn't work so well they scaled the pizza size down to a more take-out friendly, personal-slice size. Ultimately the pizza did not work out because, as my professor pointed out, people don't go to McDonald's for pizza...you go there for hamburgers and fries! People go to Pizza Hut for pizza...and it should stay that way. Better luck next time...

Oh, and just because I couldn't find any ads from the McPizza era I decided to give you this gem of a video! Anyone remember the fast-food song from elementary school? If so, you'll get a laugh or two out of this...

Wireless Advertising

While advertising is continually changing and evolving to meet the needs of new markets it is important for advertisers to always be aware of the next "big thing." These days the challenge for advertisers is to come up with the best way to market within the world of mobile devices. With cell phones and PDAs as popular as they are marketers are finding inventive ways to catch our attention through this new interface.

One mobile program that I think has really embraced a successful way to market via cell phones is MizPee. MizPee is a service that helps subscribers find the nearest ladies room. MizPee users sign up online at the website and provide their cell phone information. While out and about on the town users can log on via their cell phone and MizPee will provide them with a list of the nearest bathrooms.

What makes MizPee a perfect venue for wireless advertising is that it displays small-sized, location specific ads on each page. These ads have to be small enough to fit on a cell phone screen while maintaining the ability to catch your eye, which is a difficult thing to perfect. However, standalone ads just won't deliver on the small platform, they have to be integrated into the program. MizPee has addressed this issue and insures that the ads their users receive are not only specific to area where they're searching for a bathroom, they also offer deals. For example, a MizPee user searching for a bathroom in the Mission district will be shown ads featuring a deal on tacos at the Taqueria just up the street from where she's standing. This format is really smart because it easily creates a user relationship with the consumer.