On Friday, June 19th, I was fortunate enough to score a new, black 32GB iPhone. No, I didn’t wait in line at the crack of dawn. I didn’t pre-order it. I just walked into an AT&T store around 2PM, and waited (only about 30 minutes) and walked out with my new phone. When I’m gonna buy into something that requires a (2 year) commitment, I typically wait for version 3.0. This is because I’ve learned – the hard way – that the first release of anything is usually the “one-point-UH-oh” release. In version 2, they get the bugs worked out from the first one, but it’s version three where the product really hits the sweet spot. So I waited to jump on the iPhone bandwagon until the 3G s was released (a.k.a. iPhone version 3.0/iPhone OS 3.0). I’m happy to report that the product lives up to it’s marketing hype – and then some. Read the rest of this entry »
If you’re a regular reader of this blog, then you know I love Jack in the Box ads. (I admit it…I’m a fanboy.) The latest Jack ad has attracted the attention of the media – specifically Bill O’Reilly. Here’s the ad – sans editorializing on my part. It strikes a little too close to home right now…and I’m too busy laughing.
Seen the latest commercial from Microsoft? The spot claims to have found an “artist” who wants to find the right computer for video editing. I don’t wanna spoil the ending for you, but she chooses a PC over a Mac. Microsoft wants us to all believe that, in the words of Irving Berlin, “Anything you (Mac) can do, I (Windows) can do better.” Only one teensy, tiny little problem. It’s all a lie. Read the rest of this entry »
If you came to me as a client or prospect, and told me “I’m starting a new company,” I’d be sorely tempted to recommend caution, for in the recession, not to mention the goverment’s “let’s spend our way out of having no money” mentality, now may not be the best time to start a new venture.
Then again, it may be the BEST time to do so.
So, in the spirit of “eating my own dog food,” that’s exactly what I’m doing. Next week, I’m taking my latest invention – a six-instrument guitar stand – to exhibit at the Dallas Guitar Show (April 17-19, if you’re interested). Read the rest of this entry »
I’m a huge Bob Newart fan. Loved his TV shows. Love his stand-up comedy. In fact, I was lucky enough to play his show, years ago, in Shreveport. Not that he needed a band, but I was part of the house band at the old Le Bossiér Celebrity Dinner Theatre across the river in Bossier City, and we opened and closed his act, playing the theme from The Bob Newhart Show. One of his big bits in his stand-up act involves acting out one end of a phone conversation, where the audience infers and implies the other side of the conversation via their imaginations. One of Bob’s most famous bits is called Abe Lincoln vs. Madison Avenue, where he imagines what it might have been like if Lincoln had the services of both the telephone and a modern advertising agency. The results were both absurd and hilarious. It was simultaneously funny, yet oddly respectful of one of our most beloved Presidents.
That brings us to the latest offering from the folks at Mountain Dew. Dew’s ads have long been edgy and almost too hip for the room – their Super Bowl riff on the Bohemian Rhapsody is a classic. Their latest ad features a send-up of the Lincoln-Douglass debates – a pivital moment in American History. In the Dew version, Lincoln (who was in reality a fan of Greco-Roman wrestling – NOT the stuff that passes for “wrestling” on WWE), strips to the waste and proceeds to go Medieval, waging Civil War on Douglass and others on the dias.
Color me unimpressed.
I just don’t see the humor, past the shock value of seeing an American icon strip to the waist and sport an American eagle tattoo. Newhart’s comedy was funny. This spot? Flat. Which is not a good thing for a soda ad to be.
Hopefully, the Dew ad pulls well with the 15 to 24 crowd, which I suspect is their target market. (I’m not a Mountain Dew fan – never have been, and likely never will be.) If, on the other hand, they want to reach a wider demographic, they might want to look at creating ads with a humor level somewhere above that of Jackass The Movie.
I love Jack in the Box. Seriously. I love their food (the cheddar potato wedges are to die for). I love their commercials. I love their whole attitude and persona. I’m a huge fan. I think the entire “Jack” character is simply brilliant. Which is why I’m nothing short of stunned regarding the recent remake of the jackinthebox.com corporate website. Don’t get me wrong. It’s attractive. It’s cool. It’s got the content (the commercials) everyone wants to see. But you’d think it was designed by someone mainlining Heinz ketchup. Slow doesn’t begin to describe it. And slow = death on the web.
The following is a true story. The names have been changed, not to protect the innocent, but because the guilty are litigeous weasels that would like nothing better than to sue me for telling the truth.
Some time ago, I was the Creative Director of an in-house agency for a software publisher. We’ll call them…um…”MacroGraphics.” I ran a group of creatives known internally as the Creative Services Group. As the company grew, internal politics reared it’s ugly head. As in many companies, when sales don’t meet projections or expectations, the first people to get blamed are the marketing guys. At MacroGraphics, this took the form of certain people in the sales department suggesting that the company hire an external agency. (I say this with absolute certainty, because one of the directors of sales was a golfing buddy of Stan Richards – head of the Richards Group – and had them come in to do a dog and pony show for the company…without giving me any advanced warning.) After the Richards Group pitched us, I suggested that if we were really interested in outside help for Creative Services, that we shop around for the best shop to work with. I brought in Seth Werner (the guy that came up with the California Raisins Claymation spots) who was running the Dallas office of Bloom. (Might as well start at the top, right?) While I was busy setting up other meetings, the CEO of MacroGraphics asked me to interview a guy they’d worked with before, who ran a very small Dallas agency. We’ll call him “Jonathan Ricotta.” Read the rest of this entry »
As a marketing guy, I believe the smartest thing I can do to stay sharp is to spend a part of each day keeping up with what others are doing – and saying – in the world of marketing. In particular, I like to look at TV ads (go figure), listen to commercial radio, flip through magazines, and read the trades. I also enjoy reading marketing blogs, especially those written by people whose opinions I respect and value. Exhibit A: Ries’ Pieces, a marketing blog penned by Laura Ries. Laura is a crack marketer in her own right (you’ve likely seen her on one of the cable news channels) and author, and is the daughter of Al Ries, for my money, one of the living ‘gods of marketing.’ The senior Ries, along with his then-partner, Jack Trout, wrote a couple of the most influential books on marketing ever, including Positioning, the bible for how to view your brand within your marketspace.
I was reading Laura’s blog the other day, and noted her comments on the re-packaging/re-branding of Tropicana orange juice. I hadn’t noticed that Tropicana had changed their packaging prior to this, so I made it a point to visit the refrigerated section of my local grocery emporium, just to see what all the hubbub was about.What I found was…interesting. My conclusion was that, while Ms. Ries makes some incredibly valid and insightful points, there were a couple of things she missed. To wit… Read the rest of this entry »
…THAT is the question. I live Amarillo, Texas (Centrally Located Between Two Oceans!™). We are served by AT&T, Altel (now owned by Verison), Sprint, and…that’s about it. No T-Mobile. No other choices. That wouldn’t be so bad, but of all the cell phone vendors we have here in the Panhandle, how many offer 3G service? None. Nada. Zip. Bupkiss. Nyet. Zero.
Well, campers, I’ve spoken with the folks at Johnson and Johnson (a family company) about the Glade spots. Briefly. So far…nothing to report. I did get a reply to one of my blog posts, agreeing that the spokesmodel is definitely in the enigmatic camp, and offering that nobody really seems to know if her name is even really Dori Kelly. Hard to say.
At this point, I think I’m pursuing this as much because of the challenge, as I’m interested in talking with the Glade brand manager about the ad strategy. I’ve never know a company to be as tight with info as this (not criticizing…just making and observation). But I have to admit, this thing seems to be feeding upon itself.
I was never much of a science student, but I seem to recall that there’s some sort of scientific law that has to do with the concept that you can’t really observe anything without affecting and influencing the thing you’re observing. For instance, if you want to study something that lives only in the dark, you’d have to turn on some kind of light to see it. Turn on the light, and the thing leaves. The connection here is that my blog stats show that every time I mention “Dori Kelly,” I get a big traffic boost. BIG traffic boost. There’s obviously some interest on the web about the spokes-lass and her background. But I’m wondering how much MORE interest there is out there BECAUSE people like me are writing about her. No way to tell for sure, really, because observing and studying that phenomenon would influence the result. Ah, the joys of a through-composed paradox.
So…I’ll report back when I have something more to report. For now, all you Glade Spokeslady fans, keep up the traffic.
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…THAT is the question. I live Amarillo, Texas (Centrally Located Between Two Oceans!™). We are served by AT&T, Altel (now owned by Verison), Sprint, and…that’s about it. No T-Mobile. No other choices. That wouldn’t be so bad, but of all the cell phone vendors we have here in the Panhandle, how many offer 3G service? None. Nada. Zip. Bupkiss. Nyet. Zero.
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