Inno-wait?

It is a balancing act. 

Men, Controversy - Let's take a step forward...

Lets take Wednesday to review. Lately we have covered marketing to men and also controversial marketing. Lets take a trip down memory lane and take a look at an ad, that by today's standards would be both controversial as well as a an ad targeted directly at men. It truly is amazing how far we have come. 

This ad would have been pulled so fast Belvedere Vodka's head would spin. It is almost a perfect storm, it has everything - glorifying men, degrading women, tacky neck ties. The days of "Mad Men" marketing seem to have come and gone. As our social standards change so does everything else. Maybe one day people will look back at our advertising and laugh about how ridiculous it is and maybe even how inappropriate. I am less interested in that and more interested to see how marketing is going to be done in the future.

There will always be targeted marketing and lets face facts - our standards may change but marketing will always toe the line of what is appropriate. In my opinion what will change most in marketing in the coming years is the level of localisation and ability to target. I am not saying it will reach out as far as lets say "Minority Report" but with all the analytics that take place today and technology surpassing our wildest dreams I do not think we are too far from a custom message greeting us in a mall. A message letting us know what products (which we have a history of buying) are on sale and what else would interest us. I mean everytime you land on Amazon's home page or Best buys site they immeadiatley let you know what you have been looking at recently. They even let you know what other products might be up your alley. It wont be long until this technology hits retail. 

You may be asking - how? How will the retail stores recognize you. Well that answer seems obvious doesn't it? Our cell phones have become the hubs of our lives. Soon we will have our car keys, wallets, health insurance, the whole nine yards all saved in our little virtual servants. Not to much longer after that they will be broadcasting our preferences to the retails stores, sending our spending history and data mining our habits. At that point the retail stores might even know what you want before you do! You may think this is invasive, but I don't. It is beneficial both to the consumer as well as the businesses involved. It gets you the information you need while encouraging sales for the business. It is a win - win, and personally I look forward to it.

It is exciting to speculate about the future, but for now all we can do is sit and wait! See you in the future.

Images from RetroJunk and BizTechEcon

Lets Talk Controversy

Two big advertising controversies have hit the news recently. Here is what I love about controversial advertising. First I love the fact that the agency knows exactly what they are doing (most of the time). They are willing to walk on the edge of the knife to make an impact. Secondly, they usually come up with a creative way to do so. It is all about balancing the right about of impact with the correct amount fallout.

Now lets take a quick look at these two previously mentioned ads. First, one of the largest sports brands on the planet - Reebok. Now I know most people in the USA thinks when it comes to sexuality in Europe - anything goes! Well apparently that is not true. Reebok launched an ad that asked men to   "Cheat on your girlfriend, not on your workout" - and these ads were placed in men's and women's locker rooms in 85 of the brand's partner gyms across Germany for two weeks. Is this really that bad? Its creative, its in the locker room, so I am sure it made more than a few people chuckle. In my opinion it is not even directly offensive? I suppose it promotes a negative lifestyle - cheating - however does it really offend anyone directly? Guess it does not matter, ads pulled, apology issued. I think however this was a great creative example of balancing impact and level of controversy and is worth a mention!

Now lets really take a walk to the edge. This ad hit a bit closer to home, here in the good US of A. Belvedere Vodka took a walk on the wild side with a very controversial ad which stated "Unlike some people, Belvedere always goes down smooth". Now it is safe to say that somewhere in the creation of this ad someone stopped and thought... "are we going to far?" Well allow me to step in, the answer is yes, yes you went way to far. Not that you couldn't predict the outcome, a beehive of angry feminist groups, human rights groups, hell pretty much everyone launched a full scale attack against Belvedere and their marketing team. To be honest, I am not even sure I think this idea was creative - instead (again this is Vodka we are talking about) it seems to be designed for shock and awe (which you could argue they did achieve - when was the last time ANYONE talked this much about Belvedere?). Poor taste Belvedere - I expect better from the liquor industry. Next time they want to walk the line, sexual abuse probably should not be your first stop. This was a bad example of a controversial ad. Lots of fall out - negative image - army of angry people. Maybe next time we stay a bit more P.C. 

Images via Reebok and The Week

Can Marketing Break Gender Conformities?

Marketing can be a very powerful thing. It can persuade, draw upon your deepest emotions, inspire you, and even bring you to tears. However there is one thing that even marketing may not be able to do. That one thing - get Men to WANT to drive a minivan. That however did not stop Honda from trying. A unique ad utilizing Van Halen (pun intended?) and a van that transforms into a panther is clearly designed to target men, and men only. The rock music echos as sparks fall from the sky behind the Man-Van.

Now I do appreciate the fact that Honda is trying to market this soccer mom-o-mobile to the everyday Dad. However I am not sure this campaign is going to work. In fact I am inclined to argue that though Honda will get some props for these great commercials, the more standard "utility vehicle" advertising campaign may actually work better. Lets face it, it is easy to appeal to the ego of Men, however there are going to need to be a lot of changes to the mini van before it becomes something men want to be seen driving. The only way you will ever catch this marketer driving a mini is if I end up with 12 kids and have no other choice.

However, I do not think it is impossible to change the image or preconceived notions of a product, in this case a car. Another car on the market that has often appealed more to women than men is the VW Beetle. They too have taken a new male-centric approach to their marketing. However as you can see below, it took a total overhaul.

If you would like my opinion I think this newly designed VW beetle just might work. They certainly took the "barbie" out of the bug and it really came into its own, dare I say, sports car? I will keep my eye on these transformations - it will be interesting to see in the future if these brands stick with their new approach or graciously fall back to their old methods.

Images via Autoblog and Facebook

Can You Recognize This?

It is amazing how much the general consumer absorbs over the years. Years and years of being bombarded with advertisement, slogans, product placement, you would think at some point it would all blend into a fog. Well guess what... it doesn't.

BrandSpirit is doing an interesting experiment by taking everyday products and turning them white. As you can see below there is a small bottle, no brand, no slogan, there aren't even any colors. Though simple, I bet that 90% of you readers out there recognize that bottle almost immediately. 

For those of you who may not have recognized it, it of course is a bottle of Tabasco Sauce. Now that I have given you an example, let me make my point. The packaging of a product can make a monumental difference. It seems like an obvious thought, products like Tequila, Vodka, Spirits in general, have been taking advantage of this for years. However other markets are caught up in the same packaging day in and day out. To stay related, Red Bull, for instance released their small thin can. At the time it did not seem like a big deal, but since then the brand has become synonymous with the design, other brands have even copied and executed their small can strategy. What is it going to take for products like cereal or granola bars for instance to change it up.

It is amazing how far a custom 5 sided hot sauce cap can go. Show some creativity - it will take you places.

Image via Brand Spirit

The Viral Mercedes.

Mercedes is known for their high caliber luxury cars. Generally the reason someone drives a car like that is to be seen. So why would Mercedes turn their car invisible? In Mercedes' latest viral campaign to promote their 0 emission (aka F-Cell technology) they made an entire vehicle disappear.

As you can see in the image above, the car is almost completely invisible (minus the wheels of course). So the question I am sure you are asking is "how?". Well if you care to see for yourself you can follow this link to the commercial hosted on YouTube. For those of you lazy readers allow me explain. One side of the car is covered with tiny LED lights, the other a camera. The camera sends the image to the LED display and thus creating the illusion.

When it comes to viral videos, this one is really done well. Not only does it get its point across, it is fascinating to watch the car disappear as it rolls down the street. It displays elegance while still achieving viral status. This is a great viral campaign for Mercedes. It may not be quite as in your face as the Old Spice ads, but lets face it, Mercedes has a reputation to upheld. I think the real question is how long until the invisible automobile hits the market? More importantly what is this going to cost?

Till next time....

Image from Techi.com

Pirated Copy or Clever Campaign?

Though this is not a brand new idea - it is certainly creative. The release of 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' yielded a clever art design on its DVD in-case. Though you are not able to see this on the packing in-store (rendering it useless as a POP strategy), it is certainly a creative surprise to an unsuspecting buyer.

The DVD (as you can see) appears to be a burned and pirated copy, featuring not only the Sony DVD-R artwork but also the haphazard sharpie label. Every little bit of marketing creativity helps and this was both clever execution as well as a shout out to the content of the movie.  The disc is a tip of the hat to the stories main character who just so happens to be an elite hacker. 

When was the last time a marketing story broke that focused on CD or DVD Design? This is what I am talking about people - to create a unique and clever marketing campaign you do not need to re-invent the wheel or find a NEW avenue to market. Take an old process/execution and change it up. Sometimes the most creative ideas are right in front of you.

Images via Mid West News

Stay Creative!

Stay Creative - At All Cost

The Art of the Publicity Stunt

The publicity stunt can be a great method to get some quick viral attention. However not all publicity stunts are created equally. Lets take a look at a few recent ones and grade them on their effectiveness and the amount of attention they were able to gather.

1. Sacha Baron Cohen - Red Carpet 2012

You cannot fault Sacha for this stunt. Lets face it - this is what he makes his living on. Pushing the boundary, making people mad, acting completely off of his rocker. This is exactly what we expect to see from Sacha Baron Cohen. He not only managed to live up to his reputation, he actually managed to put a relatively unknown character on the map (The Dictator). Would I suggest this stunt to anyone else - not a chance. Humiliating a public icon is usually not the way to go. However the huge uproar he caused and attention received in the media parried with his previous work and reputation yields a grade of "A". Well done Sacha, we expect equally despicable stunts from you in the near future.


2. SXSW - Homeless Hot Spot

Homeless people are not usually the focus of a companies campaigns/publicity stunts. However at this years SXSW show, BHH Labs decided to turn the homeless people who gather around the event into a Wifi Hotspot show attendees could utilize. This stunt landed in the realm of controversial. On one side you can say they are employing the homeless, in a sense this was actually helping to thwart the problem. However on the other hand (where I currently stand on this topic) you could argue they were merely taking advantage of these people. Lets face it, there is no LONG term plan to help these people out, it was purely done for direct and viral publicity. It is not like this was a part of a larger "Stop Homelessness In America" campaign. In this sense the ploy for attention was distasteful. The general marketing world seems to be split on this topic, for that I will give this stunt a "C". Only because there does not seem to be a majority on either side of the topic and i will try to remain neutral (as much as possible).



3. Super Bowl 'PawnGo' Butterfingers in Boston 

Sporting events can draw a lot of attention and emotion. An online pawnshop (PawnGo.com) saw an opportunity to make some noise following the Super Bowl and dropped a thousand Butterfinger candy bars in Boston. Of course the wound was still fresh in New England - a second tragic defeat to the New York football Giants. This at first does seem like a 'cute' publicity stunt, and initially it did create a surge of visibility. That however wore off quick and the backlash began. First Butterfinger made a formal announcement condoning the action and denying any involvement. Then came the New England media, who again lashed out at the nature of the stunt. To make things worse, the backlash started to hit more closely to home for PawnGo - in the form of PawnGo's website and more specifically their comment section. I am not sure I need to go into any further detail about the type of comments left on their page, do I? They made a business (pawn shops) with an already poor public attitude (though surging on the backs of some new television shows) look even more sleazy than they already do. This is a great example of a publicity stunt gone wrong. This stunt gets an "F". There was way to much backlash and clean up required to right the ship after the stunt, especially when you weigh it against the slight initial positives achieved. PawnGo may be better off sticking to more standard methods of Marketing, both now and in the future.


Stay tuned - we will be sure to drop in some more judgement, just as soon as the next publicity stunt hits the media!


Images via Belle News, TakePart.com and Herald Sun

The Marketing Response.

Today's viral videos do occasionally come from us marketing pros. However, lets face it - viral videos tend to be a long list of party tricks, celebrity mishaps, and the occasional fall and accident. You could argue that when a business related viral videos DO come around there is about a 50/50 chance it reflects the company negatively. For instance, this last December's FedEx viral video. If you are unfamiliar allow me to sum it up. A FedEx delivery man did his best Tim Tebow impression and threw a 40" flat screen TV over a wall into the buyers back yard.

Now that we covered the video, let us take a look at the reaction. FedEx responded by apologizing. Apologizing and firing the delivery guy. They took the negative video and arguably brought MORE attention to it by not only acknowledging it but by again burying their loyal customers in apologies.

Some PR people and marketers may say they did the right thing. They (arguably) had to step out an let the public know this is not how FedEx operates. I however am not one of those PR/Marketers. I find myself in a different camp.

This marketer would suggest the following - take advantage of that negative viral video and make it into a POSITIVE viral video. Has FedEx ever produced a positive viral video? Let me now reference quickly an example from the best hockey team on the planet, the Boston Bruins. 

The Bruins were caught in a situation where a viral video of an intoxicated female kicked a large hole in the wall of the ladies bathroom. How did the Bruins respond? Instead of apologizing for over serving, or the rowdy fans, or even going on a witch hunt for the girl responsible, the Bruin's marketing agency released a video of the Bruin Mascot fixing the hole and a message read: "Never Disrespect The Garden". This was taking advantage of a bad situation.

If I were FedEx, I would have taken advantage of this free publicity and spun it to a positive - just like the Bruins were able to do. Create a commercial where FedEx threw the delivery guy over a wall (and off a cliff?). Show the other side of the fence where a ball pit caught the TV and everyone cheered. Most importantly, get that video released FAST, before people forget. Of course I would have ended the commercial with a message letting the public know that FedEx does not condone the behavior (yeah, so what - I compromised). 

There is something to say for making the best of a bad situation, however if you can take that bad (viral) situation and turn it into a marketing sensation... that is an opportunity you cant miss. Better luck next time FedEx.

Images via Twitter and Sports of Boston

The Marketing of Fear - Creativity in Apps

What is a better motivator than the fear of humiliation - especially in front of your peers. Marketers have often used fear as a motivator - have you ever REALLY watched daytime television commercials? There are more diseases and maladies out there than you can shake a stick at, but don't worry we probably have a drug for it (side affects too).

The creative Brazilian sustainability institute Akatu and agency Leo Burnett Tailor Made created a custom app to save you in ONE of these many humiliating moments, one I am sure all of my readers have experienced. This moment is unique to the bathroom. 

The app creates FAKE shower sounds to help mask any... other... sounds that may be coming from the bathroom you currently occupy. Now I would first like to applaud the company for this creative idea. However immediately after that small round of applause I would like to talk about the reality of this app. If you are using this app we can assume a few things. First - the bathroom you are in has a shower, second there are people around who you do not want to hear what is about to really happen. 

I for one can only think of a FEW times in my life this is going to work. What is worse... making unsightly sounds in the bathroom, or coming out of the bathroom to "were you taking a shower? Why is your hair dry? Did you use my towel?" Or worse of all "Why does it smell like air freshener?" 

What is stopping you from turning on the real shower? The fear of wasting water? Lets face it, if you have this app you clearly have a larger fear at play here. I give this app an "A" for thinking outside of the box, I mean if "Draw Something" was sold for $200 million I am sure this has got to be worth something! I also applaud the thought of bailing anyone out of an  uncomfortable situation. However in execution I give this app a "D" because I can not think of enough situations to validate the usage of the app!

Stay tuned for our next creative App review!

Marketing Optics.

With all the clutter in the world of outbound marketing how often does an ad stop you in your tracks. I don't mean how often do you stop to appreciate an ad (which I am sure happens a lot more for us marketing pro's) but I mean stop where you are and stare. Stop to take a picture. Tell your friends about it. The below method is a very creative way to make an impact.

No you are not looking at a giant Sony Laptop. What you are looking at is a painting done in the public domain. A 2D painting done on the floor in this high traffic area. The painting is an optical illusion and gives you (from the right angle) the illusion of a full 3D laptop impeding on your path. Now psychologist say that not everyone sees and experiences visual illusions the same way (i.e. the cross eye secret images - remember those?) but I think everyone can agree that this is a great marketing idea. Stepping again outside the box to create something special!

Image via newopticalillusions.com

We Imprint Everywhere Else...

Sure, us marketers are always looking for the NEXT place we can slap a logo. We put them in your face whether your driving, working, watching television, there pretty much is not a moment that goes by without seeing an Ad. There has to be something we have missed... people?

Now I know there have been a story or two in the media where people have sold their skin and received a tattoo in return for monetary compensation, lets not go that far. I call it the Skin-Print.

A very clever clothing store in New Zealand found a way to print their logo (nearly) unwillingly on the everyday traveler. Not only would they be able to print on these pedestrians, if I do say so myself, they got some great ad placement. Placed at malls, bus stops, and even parks this clever marketing strategy left its mark (literally, for up to a full hour).

I am not sure if this marketing strategy ever did make it into implementation, but they get two thumbs up for coming up with this unique and innovative marketing program. Keeps your eyes peeled for these next time  you strap on your short shorts!

Image via http://consumerist.com

Welcome...

To kick off my first post here at MktN I thought I would blend a few things I love. It is going to be a little bit of Hockey, a little bit of beer, and a helping of creative marketing. One of the biggest changes this year in the NHL was not the addition of new rules or a new VP of player safety, instead it was the resurgence of the Winnipeg Jets.

One beer company (or should I say THE beer company) AB, saw an opportunity. If you have watched any hockey this year you would know the fans in 'Peg' are among the most passionate fans going and now beginning just recently at the end of February AB will be selling those fans Winnipeg Jets Beer.

What do you ask makes this beer unique to Winnipeg. Well first off the water used in the brewing process was taken directly from Winnipeg. Not only was it collected there is was actually brought into the public to be bless by the Jet's fans. Lastly - the water from the very batch used to brew was even poured onto the ice surface that players have been playing on all season.

Not only was this a creative way to sell beer, it was a great way for a notoriously American beer company to break through in a strong Canadian market. The beer also is only available for a limited time making this collectible and immediately associated with the return of this storied franchise. A franchise and fans (with Jet's beer in hand) that is now racing to the finish in the Eastern Conference fighting for a playoff spot. 

I am sure fan bases all over the world would love the opportunity to grab a hold of their favorite sports team's beer - a rare chance to mix some of their favorite things in a unique and creative way. A (toss?) tip of the cap to AB for this creative marketing program and I hope to see more - maybe a bit of Boston (Bruins) Lager Sam Adams?

Image via http://ca.finance.yahoo.com