Decent Marketing

A Museum for Condiment Packages

For those of you interested in design and packaging, I learned about the Condiment Packet Museum in the current issue of Saveur magazine.  The online museum includes exhibits on ketchup packets, soy sauce, mayo, relish, honey, salad dressings and more, with the exception of sugar because it would seem some other museum lays claim to that.  You can click on each packet to see the artwork in detail. 

Who knew there was such a thing as Nemo Hot Sauce?

Civic Sloganeering

A while back I wrote about the lame new tagline created for the city of Atlanta: "Every Day Is An Opening Day" (more about this in a minute).  Tim Nudd at the AdFreak blog is also keeping the world up to date on the slew of other cities and states reaching for the holy grail - a slogan that will draw millions of tourists to their hotels, restaurants and attractions (Indiana, Long Island, Utah, New Jersey, Baltimore).  Here's a quick roundup:

Having wisely decided that “Enjoy Indiana” really ain’t that good after all, the state’s tourism wizards are asking for some help. They’ve set up a section of their Web site to solicit ideas from the public ... [these include] “Indiana. Number 1 in 50.” “Water is to fish as Indiana is to vacations.” “Visit Indiana and enter a state of euphoria.” “Visit Indiana: The state of four seasons.” “Indulge in Indiana.” “Join the IN crowd.” “Indiana. We’ll jump through hoops for you!” And our personal favorite: “Indiana!?”

Newsday columnist Ellis Henican recently challenged his readers to come up with a slogan for Long Island. As far as we know, Long Island doesn’t have an official motto. Nor is its tourism office looking for one. But that hasn’t stopped Henican’s readers from offering a few ... “Long Island: What’s it to you?" “Long Island: Yeah, we’re better than you!” And “Long Island: Do it here and your mother will know.”

Utah is looking for a new state slogan and thought it had found one—but ditched the idea when it realized it was too similar to Colorado’s “Enter a higher state.” ... “‘Enter a higher state’ was something like where we wanted to go, but that won’t be it,” says an official ... Over the years the state has used lines like “The friendly state,” “Land of color,” “Utah the unique,” “A pretty, great state” and “The greatest snow on Earth.” In recent ads it’s been using, simply, “Utah!”

New Jersey has selected its new advertising slogan ... “New Jersey. Come see for yourself.” The winner was chosen after a public vote. Among our readers’ inspired contributions: “New Jersey. What smells like feet?” “New Jersey. Oooh, livin’ on a prayer.” And one from Rob Mortimer that could be used as a follow-up to the one chosen: “New Jersey: Now d’ya see?”

It’s Baltimore’s turn to flail wildly in search of new positioning ... Landor Associates is on board for a repositioning, now that taglines like “Baltimore is better” and “Baltimore. Believe” have fallen on deaf ears ... A former mayor once painted “The city that reads” on park benches, but vandals, referring to the high rate of unwanted pregnancy in town, changed it to “The city that breeds" ...

By the way, in case you were wondering, I thought I'd check out what's opening today, February 2nd, in Atlanta, where every day is an opening day.  I went to the Brand Atlanta website and there's a box on the top left headed "Opening Today" in bright red, bold letters-- the first three items listed are a "Rainforest Adventures" performance at the Center for Puppetry Arts (although according to Atlanta.net, it actually opened on January 5th), a performance of the play "Charley's Aunt" at Marietta's Theatre in the Square (it opened on January 18th), and there is a mixed media showing of Alejandro Aguilera's "Yards of Drawings" at the Ty Stokes Gallery (it would seem, according to Atlanta.net, that it opened on January 27th). 

Tags: marketing, tourism, taglines

Citizen Advertising

I love football (to my readers around the world, I'm referring to the American version FYI). College and NFL alike. I'm somewhat enjoying the little "stick-it-to-you" campaign that LSU fans are putting together for USC. Yes, I was born in Louisiana. Yes, my dad went to LSU. So I have a bias. But I'm not a meanie. I just found it extremely annoying that ESPN and all the hypemasters decided to market this year's college championship as a potential threepeat, when it simply wouldn't have been even if USC had won this year (which they didn't).

USC was and is a great team. Lots of Heisman Trophy winners and all that. They deserve accolades. But LSU won the BCS last year, my friends, fair and square. That accomplishment shouldn't be ignored. Perhaps the frustration of LSU's fans should be aimed at the sportscasters instead of USC fans, but that's not what's happening ... check out the billboard ad they'll be putting up in the next couple weeks in California: adfreak: LSU ‘Onepeat’ taunt aims for a real dynasty.

I wonder if we're headed toward a trend where citizen marketing includes more citizen advertising?

Tag: marketing

Does this count towards my 15 minutes of fame?

Thought I'd share with you my interview with AdPulp that appeared last week, focusing on experiential marketing. Thank you, David Burn. There were no comments to the post, so I'm not sure anyone else was interested in my thoughts but David. Should I feel sorry for myself? No. I think not. Here's the link: The AdPulp Interview: Katherine Stone - AdPulp.

Save the Blackberry!

Can anyone tell me if there's a SAVE THE BLACKBERRY campaign going on anywhere in the blogosphere or elsewhere?  I'll cry if my Blackberry service is cutoff.  I love my BlackBerry.  Really and truly I do.  If you haven't heard the news, according to MSNBC:

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear an appeal from the maker of the BlackBerry in the long-running battle over patents for the wildly popular, handheld wireless e-mail device.  The high court’s refusal to hear Canada-based Research In Motion Ltd.’s appeal means that a trial judge in Richmond, Va., could impose an injunction against the company and block BlackBerry use among many of its owners in the United States.

Apparently NTP, the company that is suing for patent infringement, is simply a small patent holding firm.  According to Wikipedia, the company's only asset is a set of wireless email patents.  It's not like they actually make products, or ever planned to use the technology from what I can tell.  Can I say I don't like them?  A lot?  Didn't RIM offer to pay them something like $450 million dollars -- was that not enough?

NTP apparently couldn't give a crap less about the 3 million or so people who use a BlackBerry.  (I can't believe it's not more than 3 million.  It seems like everyone I know has one.)  Their comment says it all:

... NTP downplayed the hardship that RIM's commercial customers would suffer from a shutdown, saying "there are "a number of licensed alternatives which can fully meet their requirements."  Among the alternatives to the BlackBerry is the Treo 650 smartphone made by computer and smartphone maker Palm Inc.

My husband has a Treo.  It sucks.  I can't stand the thing.  I don't want one.  I choose BlackBerry.  Give me BlackBerry or give me death! 

Well ... maybe not death.  Maybe a sore throat.

Celebrity Marketing Overkill

Corporations of America, listen up!  Please stop giving awards and free stuff to celebs in an effort to get us to buy.  It doesn't really work. To wit, consider this post on Reveries.com's Cool News of the Day about celebrity gift bags, Bag Swag:

Lavishing gift bags on celebrities may be doing more harm than good to brands and stars alike, suggests Hilary de Vries in a New York Times essay (1/14/06)... it’s now at a point where celebrities “expect to receive thousands of dollars worth of merchandise — jewelry, perfume, sunglasses, cosmetics, vacations, electronics and other assorted bling — in exchange for even brief appearances at glamorous events.” Problem is, “the gift bag industry has become so over-saturated that it no longer works as advertised.”

... what are the chances that swag will stimulate sales? Not very good, apparently. Even if the celeb likes and uses the product, what are the chances consumers will care? Not that good, either. As Hilary observes: “You don’t need to look at the dismal state of the movie industry, the declines in ticket sales and the growing ennui among audiences to know that stardom has undergone a serious devaluation, that celebrity has become another commodity and a pretty cheap one at that.”

Amen.  The only people this kind of marketing really benefits are the stars who get lots of nice free stuff when they are in the best position of anyone to be able to afford it.  It drives me crazy to watch multimillion dollar heiress Paris Hilton poring over the gift tables and picking out opulent goodies like she's at some rich person's version of Goodwill.  Check out this video to see swagness in full swing right now at the Sundance Film Festival (click on the "Sundance Swag" video and watch Rob Lowe and Terrence Howard with armfuls of merchandise -- can you believe they're promoting this?). 

I can see every now and then that getting products in the hands of celebs can help their cool factor.  But celebrity marketing seems to have hit the apex of silliness.  Wait, no.  There's even more silliness to attain.  The new genius is the presentation of fake awards by brands to celebs at award shows.  At the Not Billable blog, Irene Done observes:

"How was your People's Choice Awards watching party? Mine was fantastic! And in case you missed it, these were the big winners:

-- Crest Whitestrips Fans Favorite Smile: Cameron Diaz.
-- Nice 'N Easy Fans Favorite Hair: Faith Hill.
-- Olay Total Effects Fans Favorite Look: Jennifer Aniston

So seamless, so integral to the content -- it's like you couldn't even tell it's a Procter & Gamble production! And even though they have to admit that the winners are notified in advance, the whole thing was still filled with suspense and genuine excitement. Right?

Right.  "Entertainment Tonight" (yes, I'm shallow and am sheepishly willing to admit I watch Entertainment Tonight) has been doing this with the brand Pantene.  A cheesy announcer comes on the show and informs us that so-and-so won the Pantene Award for shiniest hair or whatever -- Charlize Theron was lucky enough to win for her tresses at the Golden Globes.  I wonder if she displays her Pantene Award right next to her Oscar.

Please stop the madness.  For more information on this, check out Grant McCracken's great piece on product placement as marketing malfeasance. 

Tags: marketing product placement celebrity swag

Marketing Copy for the Heat Activated Urinal Billboard

Decent marketers, the signs of the apocalypse are upon us ...

"The world of 'Interactive' Urinal Advertising is endless... HAUB (Heat Activated Urinal Billboards) has taken heat sensitive ink technology to a new level. This innovative medium combines high definition color graphics, hidden by 'disappearing ink' delivering an interactive message to a captive audience... A perfect strategy to get your message across.

Used successfully in a drink driving campaign in New Zealand, it is a perfect Billboard to deliver any message to a male audience. Strategically placed in the corner of a urinal, (yes that's correct... studies show that 8-10 males prefer the corner), it's sure to generate interest when a male enters the bathroom.

The heat in a male's urine will deliver the message and the automatic flush from the toilet will re-set it for the next unsuspecting visitor... A perfect repetitive marketing tactic.

• Because it's New
  With so much advertising being thrown at consumers these days, people tend to switch off!! HAUB will give you on average 45 seconds of undivided attention from a male, and studies also show that males will take notice when it's in the toilet. The interest generated by HAUB in New Zealand, did more for drink driving awareness than any other campaign of its type in the past.
• Guerilla marketing at its best
  HAUB will deliver your message when a male urinates on the board, it will reset to a black poster when the urinal does an automatic flush, ready for the next visitor. The perfect guerilla medium.
• Demonsratable Success
  Its novel, amusing and will definitely get people talking, we discovered by combining HAUB with traditional indoor advertising you are guaranteed to reach perfect saturation of your campaigns message. It's worked before why not for your campaign...
• The elusive Male
  HAUB is a messaging medium - an exciting and unique way of conveying any message or illustration. Males can be a particularly hard target market to penetrate, however our novel delivery gets your message across when they are most vulnerable... the toilet.
• Long life and reliable
  HAUB boards will last for 3 to six months, depending on the amount of use and cleaning chemicals used. This will give repetitive exposure of you message throughout your campaign to your targeted audience."

There's just not much more I can add.  Thank you, Innovative Solutions Oceania.

Bring a Snack For New Year's Eve

The following announcement appeared in my community paper today in the "Things To Do" section (I swear on my life this is true):

December 31 -- Come to a New Year's Eve blast with Single Baby Boomers from 9pm to 1am at 402 --------- Rd., Peachtree City.  Bring a snack.  Entrance fee is $5.

Bring a snack?  Single adults looking for love on New Year's Eve are supposed to bring a SNACK??!!!  My husband and I have been discussing what might be an appropriate snack to show up with at an event such as this.  If you show up with a package of cheese crackers, for instance, or a single-serve pudding cup, I'm guessing you're not going to be going home with anybody.

Gifting Experiences

This past weekend for my birthday my husband took me to Manhattan.  What a great gift --especially when you shouldn't really give clothes to a women who is six months pregnant.  We took in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall (I've wanted to see the Rockettes ever since I was little, and they didn't disappoint), as well as Spamalot on Broadway (the absolutely hilarious highlight of the trip).  We did lots of Christmas shopping, ate some really good food and, for a twist, took a rickshaw ride through snowy Central Park from this Turkish dude who was way more entertaining than carriage horses.  The whole experience was much more memorable than a sweater.

Not that gifting experiences is new, but I thought you might want to see about the various companies springing up all over offering gift cards for experiences.  Here's a roundup from U.S. News & World Report's December 19 issue:

"More classy than cash and less hassle than scouring the mall, gift cards can be a perfect fit.  And now these pint-size presents can snag experiences as well as merchandise ... From wine tasting in Philly ($40) to securing a musician to help you write your very own song in California or New York ($1500), Xperience Days has something for nearly every price point -- up to a zero-gravity flight in Florida for 27 people ($110,000).

Try belly dancing in San Diego ($20) or a one-hour closet makeover ($105) in Washington, D.C. via Signature Days.  Go off with three pals for a five-day golfing trip at St. Andrews ($22,500).  Or get down to Oaxaca, Mexico, for the 'Yoga & Chocolate Retreat' ($5,500).

The three-day 'Covert Ops & Special Forces training' in Florida ($2,950), from Great American Days, includes lessons for shooting Uzis and rescuing hostages.  Or you can make a fool out of yourself (and a large mammal) at the Clown-Bullfighting School ($250) in Tennessee."

Most of these offer the standard heart-pounding experiences like skydiving and white water rafting and hot air balloon rides and car racing, etc.  I'd like to see them begin offering more experiences where people can live a different life for a day or a week -- the kind of life they thought they might have when they were young and starry-eyed, before reality got in the way. 

For all of those people who thought they wanted to be a dancer when they grew up, the Rockettes offer "The Rockette Experience", a 3-hour workshop taught by a Rockette in the Rockette rehearsal hall.  Participants learn choreography from the Rockette repertoire, including the legendary kick line.  I think my leg just might fly right off if I tried to kick as high as my shoulder, so this would decidedly not be the experience I'm looking for.  Truth be told, when I was little I was convinced I'd either be Miss America or the first female pro football player in the NFL.  No lie. 

Tag: experientialmarketing

Frosty the Barman

We all know how a lot of corporate-themed events and experiences turn out fairly cheesy and silly.  So I was a little skeptical when I read about the Absolut Ice Bar in London in the November 28 issue of Fortune magazine. 

"Since it opened Oct. 1, London's Absolut Ice Bar has been drawing locals and tourists alike to the 23 degree lair [-5 C for you international readers], where the walls are lined with ice blocks from Sweden's Torne river and drinks are served in ice glasses.  But don't worry about bundling up -- patrons are given silver coats and black gloves a the door.  The effect of everyone clad in the same cloak is oddly democratic, and inside the frosty bar the mood was warmer than most hip London night spots."

Some reviewers have found it a little frustrating -- apparently there have been long waits.  But others have praised the concept and the experience.  As blogger Cherryl Aldave wrote, "there's nothing worse than being drunk and hot ... puke fest waiting to happen."  I guess she has a point. 

I haven't been there, but I do like the various ideas that have been woven in, like offering everyone special coats and gloves.  And from what I can tell from the pics I've seen, it's not plastered with Absolut logos other than one over the bar.  That's the best idea of all.

Tag: experientialmarketing