For me, it is informative and sometimes intriguing to see which posts you are most interested in reading. Following are the top ten posts since the launch of BrandSTOKE, according to page views:
G, I don’t get Gatorade’s line extension. Since the post, the Gatorade lineup has changed yet again: G01 Prime, G2 Perform (Where’s the “0?”), and G03 Recover. Not surprised that Tiger’s Focus is gone. The line is a bit simpler, but I still don’t understand why the brand name “Gatorade” is gone.
Coke and Pepsi merge, combine logos. This post was intended as satirical commentary on Continental and United’s scrambled new logo, a bastardized combination of their individual marks. Not sure everyone got that. Too obscure. Sorry.
When my kids were very young, I read a book by Hugh O’Neill called Daddy Cool: How to Ride a Seesaw with Dignity, Wear a Donald Duck Hat with Style, and Sing “Bingo Was His Name-O” with Panache. The stories helped me through puréed carrots and sleep deprivation.
O’Neill also wrote A Man Called Daddy and Here’s Looking at You, Kids: The Crowded Romance of Mom and Dad. “Welcome to a world where apple juice is the nectar of the gods,” he wrote. “Welcome to a slow dance of night-lights and snow pants. Welcome to what would be a look at family life through rose-colored glasses, if the kids hadn’t sold my glasses to their friend Phil.”
In his stories, O’Neill recounts with humor and affection such fatherly moments as:
reaching into the pocket of your suit for a business card and retrieving instead a body part belonging to Mr. Potato Head
discovering something sticky in the VCR
making a Halloween costume from a spaghetti strainer and a small rug from the hall
desperately trying to find a moment alone with mom for some quick romance
playing the part of a chicken in a fantasy game understood only by the child
The following Toyota TV spot reminds me of O’Neill’s perspective on parenting. Enter the Siennas:
Of course, the Sienna family and their Swagger Wagon have a Facebook page and their own YouTube channel.
Some find this hip-hop, gansta-rapping parody funny. A few find it racist!
More importantly, does it work? Does poking fun at parenthood sell minivans? Do parents, the target audience, embrace the joke — at their expense?
How many creative strategies can one brand successfully execute at one time?
Conventional wisdom suggests one and one only. Be focused. Be consistent. Hammer it. You’ll grow weary of the campaign long before the audience is even aware of it.
Geico has broken this rule of thumb again and again. With seeming success.
Martin, the talking gecko, is most closely identified with the Geico brand, but he no longer has to do all of the heavy lifting.
The cavemen characters handle some of that, unintentionally and tragically reminding us how simple it is to switch insurance companies (”so easy a caveman could do it”).
There is also the stack of money with googly eyes, called Kash, representing “the money you could be saving with Geico.”
Now, actor Mike McGlone, playing a tough-guy reporter, asks rhetorical questions, such as “”Is a bird in the hand worth two in the bush?” (Learn the answer to, “Did the little piggy cry, ‘wee, wee, wee,’ all the way home?,” below.
And there’s more. Deadliest Catch boat captains, Jonathan and Andy Hillstrand, have appeared in numerous TV commercials, some of which costar the cavemen and Kash.
Even, Bear Grylls of Man Vs. Wild recently happened upon Martin the gecko in the bush. I was expecting Bear to eat him, but no such luck.
Other creative approaches focus on individual insurance products for motorcycles, boats, RVs, etc. (Many of Geico’s current spots are available to view here.)
Fielding multiple concepts simultaneously seems like a recipe for disaster, but the strategy appears to work. How? Three reasons:
Lots of budget. Geico spent $751 million on advertising in 2007, $561 million in 2008, and $473 million through October of 2009, per Nielsen. The commercials run endlessly.
Integrated concepts. To help connect the executions, characters frequently appear in each other’s commercials. (See Mike McGlone and a caveman in this spot, for example.)
Simple messages. While Geico’s creative execution is not focused, its messages regarding cost savings and ease of switching are simple and consistent. Most spots open or close with “15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance.”
So far, the gecko seems to have more staying power than the Budweiser frogs.
In an exposé worthy of 60 Minutes, Domino’s Pizza takes viewers backstage at a TV shoot, revealing the secrets of making pizza look mouthwatering. The documentary (watch it below) stars power tools and blowtorches.
Consistent with its new posture of transparency, Domino’s promises to forsake food styling in the future:
We will only photograph real, honest-to-goodness pizzas.
Domino’s employees will make the pizzas we shoot.
We will not artificially manipulate our pizzas when photographing them.
Instead, it invites customers to post photos of their own Domino’s pizzas at ShowUsYourPizza.com.
Will other quick-service restaurants jump on the “authenticity” bandwagon and do the same?
Consider the risk.
In “Food Ad Tricks” below, a “makeup artist for food” demonstrates how she makes burgers look delicious on camera.
And in “Fast Food: Ads Vs. Reality,” compare beauty shots of popular fast-food sandwiches with the actual products as served. Ugh!
Do McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s dare to be this honest?
So, if Mayflower can move a 20-foot-tall marionette and her really big chair, it can move … help me here … you and your family?
Here’s my best guess at the strategy:
The challenge: Make consumers aware that Mayflower now offers a new portable moving and storage container service.
The solution: Build a giant puppet!
“We wanted a campaign idea that was as big as the new services that Mayflower offers, and I think we’ve found it,” Mayflower’s Chief Marketing Officer Steve Burkhardt said.
Or as Mayflower’s CEO reportedly said to Noah Garfinkel at BestWeekEver.TV, “No longer can we in good conscience keep helping people move by using four guys, boxes, tape, and a truck. From here on out, we will move like the pilgrims did when they came over on the actual Mayflower for which our company is named. Like them, we will construct a 20-foot-tall marionette doll in a pink dress that will lift boxes and blink slowly.”
The 700-lb. doll has received mixed reviews on the internet. Some find her beautiful. Some sultry. Some terrifying. What do you think?
In the insurance industry, characters are multiplying faster than claims. And not all of them are crowd-pleasers.
For me, it is informative and sometimes intriguing to see which posts you are most interested in reading. Following are the top ten posts since the launch of BrandSTOKE, according to page views:
How many creative strategies can one brand successfully execute at one time?
