Jul

Can Great Creative Make Up for a Weak Product?

by Brandtailers

Recognize this guy? He’s “The man your man could smell like” from the Old Spice campaign that launched during this year’s Superbowl. Now, with over 11 million views and 20,000 consumer comments on You Tube, this campaign is the ad industry’s year-to-date darling, winning Clios and dozens of other creative awards. This Old Spice manly man also ambushed YouTube for two days this month, posting over 200 instantaneous videos responding to Twitter requests from the likes of Ellen DeGeneres and Perez Hilton. The campaign was owning both Twitter and YouTube like no other campaign has done yet.

Wow. Quite a marketing success, right? Wrong.

Sales of Old Spice’s Red Zone After Hours Body Wash, the product in the commercials, have dropped 7% in the last 52 weeks. Ad critics are blaming the confusion of who our Old Spice manly man’s message is targeting. Is it the ladies who giggle and gawk at him, or the men who want ladies to giggle and gawk at them?

It doesn’t matter. Because that’s not where the campaign went wrong. In fact, the campaign didn’t go wrong at all. The client went wrong. So often this happens when you have great creatives like Wieden and Kennedy, where the client (P&G) gets so caught up in the creative, they think it will make up for a weak product.

Any adult male who knows what Old Spice is, probably still relates the smell to his grandfather. It’s a 73 year old brand that people still think smells like a 73 year old brand. Maybe P&G hoped women would go out and buy one Red Zone After Hours Body Wash as a joke for their boyfriend or husband. That could create a few million extra sales – once. But think about it, what guy really wants to be a repeat buyer of a product that reminds him of his grandfather. Worse yet, a product that sends the message, “I want to be a manly man.” Come on. There’s a saying in advertising: “The fastest way to kill a campaign is by doing great creative for a bad product.” This may be the case for Old Spice.

P.S. Selfishly, we hope sales pick up. The spots are hilarious.

Tags: creative advertising, old spice commercials, old spice man, social media advertising
Categories: Consumer Behavior, Retail Marketing | Leave a Comment »

Jul

Attention Brand Managers: Technology Has Always Lead Creativity

by Brandtailers

Believe it or not, there was a time before television. Radio was the broadcast media, and audiences found live radio ads just as ear-catching as the programs they sponsored. When TV programs started around 1940, most advertisers took what they knew from successful radio creative and tried like the devil to paste it into TV ads. Oops.

It took a few years for technology to align with creativity, but alas we finally saw the last of singing Texaco gas station attendants and Old Gold dancing cigarette boxes. Agencies and brand managers finally realized TV viewers wanted something completely different in a television ad. Good radio creative required theater of the mind, but good TV creative required doing the mental work for the viewer.

Fast forward to 2015. Here’s what you’ll probably read…

Believe it or not, there was a time before the internet when broadcast TV ruled media, and audiences found good TV ads just as enjoyable as the programs they sponsored. When digital advertising started around 1990, most advertisers took what they knew from successful TV creative and tried like the devil to paste it into online ads. Oops.

It took a few years for technology to align with creativity, but alas we finally saw the last of the :30 second one-way interaction commercials that had been cut and paste from TV to online. Advertising agencies and their clients finally realized online viewers wanted something completely different in an online ad. Good TV required doing the mental work for the viewer, but good online creative required involving the viewer. (Think World of Warcraft)

Check back in five years and see if we were right.

Tags: commercials, creativity, digital agency
Categories: Interactive Marketing, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Jul

Our Summer Reading Recommendations

by Brandtailers

If you’ve visited our Brandtailers office you probably noticed that we have books everywhere. All on marketing and advertising. We’re fanatical about staying ahead of the curve, so we read a lot.

But, if you only have time to read a few books over the summer, how do you choose from Amazon’s 33,000 titles in marketing, advertising, and social media? Ugh.

We filtered through our library and found what we believe are today’s five best books to read. They offer you a well-rounded understanding of the latest consumer preferences, marketing strategies and technology need-to-knows. Hopefully you’ll have time to devour a few. (Oh, and for those of us who spend more time in their cars or at the gym than sitting with a book, there’s always Audible.com)

1. DON’T MAKE ME THINK – Steve Krug

Although it’s a couple years old, it’s still the best book on what makes a great website. It’s written in plain, and downright funny, language. We often give it to clients as gifts. It’s not for programmers. It’s for the rest of us.

2. TRIBES – Seth Godin
Seth hit another home run with Tribes. He took what is happening in the world of marketing and applied it to basic human behavior. By the time you finish this short book, you’ll feel like you’re viewing the world through a whole new lens.

3. THE NEW RULES OF MARKETING AND PR – David Meerman Scott
David just revised this book with new updates, so make sure you get the latest edition. It has the best examples of how things have changed for marketers, along with the new rules of engagement. It’s simple, useful and inspiring.

4. TRUST AGENTS – Chris Brogan and Julien Smith
For anyone who has spent a year or more in social media, this book may seem a bit simplistic. But the overall message of how trust drives today’s world of marketing is the most important and valuable take away. It makes you want to be a better person (and marketer).

5. WEB ANALYTICS 2.0 – Avinash Kaushik
OK, maybe sections of this book get into a little too much detail, but you can skip those parts. Avinash is so entertaining in the way he explains current web technology, you’ll be chuckling while learning. Don’t be afraid of the title (or his name).

What books would you add to this list?

Tags: Avinash Kaushik, books, Chris Brogan, Consumer Behavior, David Meerman Scott, marketing strategy, Marketing Technology, Seth Godin, Social Media, Steve Krug, summer reading
Categories: Consumer Behavior, Marketing Strategy Research, Marketing Technology | Leave a Comment »

Jul

5 Questions to Help You Re-Brand Your Business

by Brandtailers

You’ve just been asked to help bring your company’s brand into the 21st Century. Yipee? People with backgrounds in Marketing, Advertising and PR know it’s not always as fun as it sounds. Especially when the process involves asking the same old branding questions that result in the same old non-distinct answers.

But help is here. Take a look at these five questions and see if you can answer them for your company. (Even if you can’t you’ll look like a genius presenting them)

1. Purpose: What would we be if we were a movement instead of a business?

2. Principles: What will we always do and what will we never do? (“A principle isn’t a principle until it costs you money.” Bill Bernbach)

3. Positioning: What about us is authentic, exclusive, and mesmerizing?

4. Processes: What does the way we operate say about us?

5. Place: What does the way we look say about us (offline and online)?

Granted, it’s a little weird. But it works. We adapted it a few years back from a great guy, Tim Williams, and his book Take a Stand For Your Brand.

What do you think?

John Jantsch has been called the World’s Most Practical Small Business Expert for consistently delivering real-world, proven small business marketing ideas and strategies.

Tags: branding, re-branding, Take a Stand For Your Brand, Tim Williams
Categories: Brand Management | Brandtailing | Leave a Comment »

Jun

Will Hulu’s New Subsciption Program Kill Traditional TV?

by Brandtailers

The on-demand web video site Hulu announced a new subscription service Tuesday called Hulu Plus, which will allow users to unlock full seasons of premium shows on ABC, NBC and FOX across a variety of new platforms for a flat monthly fee of $9.99. This includes a growing library of 120 seasons of TV and 2,000 episodes, according to Hulu.

While the business world debates Hulu’s business model, we marketers are looking at it as one more significant move that will put television as we know it in the grave. Especially because Hulu is offering its new service in mobile formats on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, as well as select Samsung internet-enabled TVs and Blu-Ray players. It will also soon offer Hulu Plus service on PlayStation 3 and X-Box 360, as well as devices from Sony and Vuzio.

Advertising space will continue to be sold, which means Hulu is adopting Cable TV’s strategy of collecting fees from both advertisers and subscribers. But advertisers will soon be able to geo-target specific messages to specific audiences in specific areas making their ad dollars much more cost-effective. And millions of people have already said they’re willing to pay $9.99 a month in order to watch almost any show they want anywhere, anytime, on any media player.

But don’t throw your TV set away. After all, antique shops are always looking for classic oldies. Your 72″ screen may someday become a valuable relic.