Buy More Of Me!

"Shake Well & Buy Often"

Just go ahead and tell me what to do!

Some really well-placed copy: right on the top of the Silk carton. I see it every time I pull the soymilk out of my fridge and I stare at it multiple times a day as I drink right from the carton. I actually love it. I think this means I have to drink more often so I can buy more often.

It’s actually Silk’s packaging that hooked me on soymilk. It compares itself to regular milk and evidences its superiorities. Not to mention it tastes great.

I’m brand loyal to Silk and maybe it’s because of the copy. Are they in my head? Quite possibly, because every time I go to the market and go to buy soymilk, I think “Silk” and I buy two at a time. Great job, Silk.

Oh and yes, I drink organic soymilk…it’s delicious and low in sugar!

Throw the Rules Out the Window!

Everyone in business school is taught the “P’s” of marketing.  Notice I didn’t put a number to them.  I was originally taught there are four: product, price, promotion, and place, however the marketing world has evolved to a point where not only is four an insufficient number of “P’s”, P is insufficient as the sole letter.  The extended marketing mix also includes people, process, and physical evidence.  Then there are the other P’s that don’t belong to a coined learning tool: positioning, packaging, publicity, purple cow (for the Seth Godin fans)…the list goes on.  Then there are the C’s of marketing: consumer, competition, cost, communication, convenience, channel, the D’s: distribution, design, differentiation, etc.

All this alphabet soup is certainly important, but the ability to reach consumers has become increasingly difficult, and marketers can’t rely on the set rules of educational word play anymore.  I wouldn’t even suggest an expanded set of rules applies anymore, because some of the best programs out there have broken the rules altogether.

Marketers can no longer use traditional methods to reach consumers.  Todd Buffum from Modernista! explains in his blog post, Digiraditional: Lessons from the Making Digital Work Conference, that marketers need to create “experiences that encourage participation, transparency, value, play, and conversation (social)”.  I agree with Buffum’s ideology that modern programs can’t exclude the old methods, but cannot rely on them either.  There needs to be a balance and it needs to include both traditional media and modern methods.

Buffum uses the term, “digiraditional” coined by Michael Tabtabai.  “What does it mean?” asks Buffum.  I agree with him that the literal meaning is irrelevant, but its figurative meaning is super important.  “No longer will brands be able to shout at consumers.”  I love it!  It’s so true.  The old rules are a great place to start and build a strong foundation, however the combination with modern methods and digital media are what will take any brand to the next level.

Brands need to create an environment for consumers that’s clear with nothing hidden about it, provides rich, useful, and appreciated information, has personality, encourages open dialogue, and actually listens.  There are many ways to do this, some accomplished and some yet to be discovered, but the successful brands that will thrive into the next generation will be the ones that encompass some combination of these features and the successful marketers that carry these brands will be the discoverers and the innovators.

Gone Too Far?

Sex sells and we all know that.

The minds behind Axe products know this all too well. In a recent commercial to market their extensive line of hair-care products Axe may have pushed the envelope a little too far. Having only heard about the "risque" new commercial I immediately went to my computer and Youtubed the video. The commercial below is the one I am referring to, personally I enjoyed it but it raised this question: Has Axe gone too far? Will angry parents call the Axe Corporation and complain about the obscene commercial their kids are being exposed to? You be the judge.

The marketers at Axe understand that they are marketing their products to men, men who are looking to make themselves more attractive towards women. With sexual innuendo's such as these its easy to see that the Axe Corporation is doing a fantastic job at reaching their target market.

How To Make Friends On An Airplane

Why do people keep on creating the most ridiculous products and why do consumers continue to encourage this nonsense by purchasing them?  And CNN doesn’t help by running segments showcasing them.

The extra large Snazzy Napper is a “sleep and privacy shield” for your eyes that doubles as a blanket.  OK, so it’s a Snuggie with an eye patch.  The original version however is just an eye patch with a bib.  News flash, though, this product already exists and has been around for over 1,800 years...it's called a burqa.  You gotta see this.




I love the part at the beginning where the woman puts on her Snazzy Napper while sitting in between two men who don’t even flinch.  Not only would the woman freak me out if I was sitting there, I’d get up and move.

The creators of the Snazzy Napper have at least tried to wedge it into the world of social media.  They have a Facebook page, a YouTube page and they’ve taken a Dominos approach to their product, asking consumers to photograph others they see wearing the Snazzy Napper and post it to YouTube or Facebook for a whopping prize of $100 and a free Snazzy Napper.  I don’t know if they’re hoping consumers will actually look for someone wearing one or buy the damn thing just to photograph it in hopes of winning the measly hundred bucks.  So far they have two Facebook posts and zero on YouTube.

I’m pretty sure we just found this year’s Christmas re-gift.

A Truly Grateful Marketing Approach

 “Marketing Lessons From the Grateful Dead” is a new book out by Deadheads (and Marketers) David Meerman Scott and Brian Halligan.

The cover is flipping awesome!

It focuses on the business and marketing strategies used by the Grateful Dead and how you can apply them to your situation.   The book evidences multiple Dead strategies and shows that the band was more than just Jerry and his face-melting jams, but an intelligent business mind and very much ahead of the curve.

They didn’t follow any of the music industry rules and created a following unlike any other.  A following that drove cross-country to see a live show, traded tapes of live shows, and that traded these tapes for tickets.

I can’t wait to buy the book.

A "Predator" Approach to Marketing

==SPOILER ALERT!==
There has been a lot of hype over Robert Rodriguezs' new movie "Predators." As there should be considering that every time a channel is changed one can't help but come across a trailer for it. This movie is the third installment to the Predator franchise, we all remember the first with Arnold Schwarzenegger, the second with Danny Glover, and now this one starring Adrian Brody (along side others). But the hype isn't due to its guerrilla marketing scheme, no, in fact its over the trailer itself!

The trailer for this film is not in any way, shape, or form offensive. That is unless you watch the Red Band trailer, in which you will see unedited content from the movie. The hype here is over a scene in the trailer that subsequently didn't make it into the film. The scene I am referring to is the one where Adrian Brody's character is being lit up by multiple Predator lasers. However, in the film Brody is only being lit by one laser. As the movie progressed fans became distraught and anxious in anticipation for the "laser scene," which never came might I add.

In an interview with Rodriguez himself the question was brought up pertaining to the "missing scene." Rodriguez informed the press that this scene was in fact only, and I quote, "Shot solely for the trailer." Rodriguez then went on to explain that he often shoots scenes for the trailers of his films with every intention of not using them in the movie. In this case the use of Brody being hit with multiple lasers was to grasp the attention of the audience, make them wonder how the hell he is going to get out of that situation, and yes of course to sell tickets.

Our hats are off to you Rodriguez. You, much like the Predators, have found a way to draw attention to your film (which would be your prey). And just when you got them where you wanted, you pounced on the opportunity to charge them $10.50 at the door. This obviously worked for Rodriguez considering his filmed snagged 3rd place for total sales in its opening weekend. Once again Kudos Rodriguez, Kudos to you!

The King Brand

No, not the BK Lounge, and you can hate him all you want - I’m not the biggest fan either - but last night LeBron definitely strengthened his brand. No doubt, much of America is completely disgusted in his gross display of narcissism, however it’s hard ignore the amount of publicity his special received.

LeBron’s program generated a 7.3 Nielson Rating and peaked at 9.3 beating every other English language program. That means that at one point during the show, over 10.5 million households were watching…nauseating. The ESPN website received over 300K unique viewers!

Guaranteed, LeBron will sell more jerseys, more tickets, and increase the games' ratings. He joined up with Wade and basically created an expectation for a 2011 Miami Heat Championship. Anything less will be considered failure. Everyone's going to be watching them now.

Hate on him all you want for taking the easy way out and being an attention whore, but recognize his ability to draw the crowd and sell the merch.