I'll take the Passat
Sure car sales are down nearly 2 million units over the year before, but 3 makers-Kia, Mercedes-Benz, and VW-are proving that investing in advertising during even an automotive nuclear winter makes good business sense. Each company boosted marketing expenditures around 40%. The return: increased sales of nearly 2% and an investment in brand recognition and consideration for better times. BTW, Porsche & VW are officially merging. The "people's car" and the people-can't-afford-it car. Interesting. (source: USA Today, 5/3/09)
Repeat after me
I will no longer make ads featuring things rolling down hills in San Francisco. Lately I've seen a shopping cart (auto insurance), colored balls (consumers electronics), and now this ball of yarn for Ray-Ban. It's just not exciting anymore! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvJkc3cr3RA
Who's saving how
- Gen X leads the pack in extreme cost-cutting through coupon clipping, paying down debt, skipping entertainment expenses, and cutting up credit cards
- Boomers favor comparison shopping as a strategy
- Millennials aren't cutting particularly. Instead, they're looking for ways to increase their income
- Matures, been there done that during the Great Depression, are inspiring and mentoring others
Across all demographics, thrift and savings have found a new popularity. Gloomy? Not at all. Most consumers express optimism about the future. (source: Iconoculture)
How would you rebrand America?
http://www.papermag.com/?section=article&parid=3236
Fish where the fish are
PROMO's new survey of interactive marketing says even though it's harder to track ROI through media like social networking sites, txting, blogs, and WOM, that's where consumers are gravitating, so that's where marketers say they will be this year, too. A growing number of marketers say they will make use of interactive channels that are more likely to have an effect on brand identity than to drive provable incremental sales to the bottom line. Although respondents also say they're holding steady on, or making moderate increases in, their use of those "hard numbers" internet channels. (source: PROMO, 4/1/09)
Pulp art
Collect vintage trashy novels, cut, paste, light, snap. Really cool photos. (source: Very Short List, 5/6/09)
http://paintalicious.org/2008/11/20/thomas-allens-book-art-photography
Tweet-free
Tween girls. 84% don't know what Twitter is. Of those who know it, only 5% use it. (source: Quirks, May 2009)
Something sweet for Mother's Day
After the flush, there's a happy ending. http://attitude.adforum.com/top5/2009/05/05/o-boticario-fish-almap-bbdo-brazil/
Look for Tide with a yellow cap
Now it'll be easier to find the Tide products that support Loads of Hope, a program that provides free laundry (it's a big mobile laundromat) to victims and relief workers of natural disasters--10 cents per jug purchased. The program's three years old, but I wanted to use this excuse to praise whoever thought it up. When the world is upside down, a small, simple thing like clean Jockey shorts must feel like a million bucks. Such a good idea. (source: Media Daily, 5/7/09)
Ding ding ding ding!
Intel wanted to tell everybody that they run the world. That it would all come to a grinding halt without them. Their agency said, no, bad idea, wrong direction. And Intel listenened. Since their product is "only" an ingredient in other companies' products, they indeed need to periodically reinforce what "Intel inside" means, but their new campaign will do it 1) with humor about their unique science geek culture and 2) with an eye toward the future. What Intel's quirky rock-star employees do today helps create the world of tomorrow. It's the first time Intel's focused on their brand instead of their chip. The only visuals I've seen are too teeny to share, but look for them coming soon to media near you. They're definitely distinctive among the high-tech crowd. (source: all the trades 5/6/09)
Pretzels. Check
250 Giant and Stop & Shop stores now offer handheld scanners that patrons can use to total up their basket as they shop. The gadgets also give you coupons based on your purchase history. Each store has about 48 scanners in a rack by the entrance. See your real-time tally and finish checking out in a jiff. Story says Food Lion and Bloom also have scanners, but no details. I'll be interested to see how this affects sales. If I knew step by step what I was spending, guaranteed Danny Wegman would get less of my paycheck. (source: The Washington Post, 5/5/09)
Wonderful wonderful
- 10 most "wonderful" brands: Hershey's, Google, Sony, Kraft, Crayola, Kellogg's, Scotch Tape, Wii, Rolls-Royce, J&J.
- Least wonderful: National Enquirer, AIG, Botox, Kia, alli, Hummer, O The Oprah Magazine, Dress Barn, ChemLawn, Direct Buy.
- Highest wonderful-to-cost ratio: Walmart, Google, Amazon, Hershey's, Target, Cheerios, Campbell, PBS, Yahoo, eBay.
- Lowest wonderful-to-cost ratio: Hummer, Botox, Prada, Land Rover, Gucci, AID, Saks Fifth Ave, Louis Vuitton, Maserati, Ferrari.
The point of this study was finding out whether relative wonderfulness (aka the brand's esteem in consumers' eyes) affects stock performance. Yup, very much so. Hey, perhaps we could Liberate the Promise of the wonderless. Where's the fun without the challenge? BTW: If you don't get the picture, you should spend more time with your grandparents. (source: Quirks, May 2009)
Get a haircut, save some critters
Don't let your stylist throw out what he trims off. Matter of Trust uses hair to create mats that naturally soak up oil from spills. The founder was inspired by how quickly otters, some of the victims of spills, get saturated with oil and started experimenting with human clippings. They now receive donations from thousands of salons, pet groomers, wool processors, etc., and are looking at new ways, like fertilizer, to use the surplus. http://www.matteroftrust.org/ (source: Springwise, 5/7/09)
Got organic milk?
0.58% of South Dakotans do. This is a Walmart PR site. http://www.livebetterindex.com/
Have you heard the one about...
A New York PR firm has hired a stand-up comedian to help their staff become more poised, confident, and funny when dealing with clients and the public. "When you're funny, people pay attention." (source: Ad Age, 5/8/09)
Final note
Can they do it? Why not? The last time Chrysler was supposedly doomed they invented the minivan.
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