Just in case you haven't seen one of these commercials yet - a little hard to imagine - they appear to be everywhere! My comments are in the previous post.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Brooke Shields Volkswagen AD Commercial # 2
Pregnant ladies and Brooke Shields
Hilarious, offensive, dumb, irrelevant...just a few of the words used to describe the recent advertising campaign featuring Brooke Shields and lots of pregnant ladies.
Even after just reading the reviews for Buyology, I understand what bothers me about this campaign- it is not the product you remember, it is just Brooke Shields and pregnant ladies. In fact, having seen these commercials at least 20 times, I still can't remember the name of the car that is being introduced. (Although I do remember that it is a VW product, but that could be because I drive one rather than the ad being memorable for that fact.)
As one reviewer of Buyology mentioned, the brain research behind this book informs us that using sex to sell a product sells sex rather than the product. I have to assume that is why I remember only Brooke Shields and pregnant ladies from this advertising campaign. Could it be that this is actually a subliminal campaign by the government to create more future worker bees and taxpayers to support the upcoming retirement of the boomer generation? I am looking forward to reading the book.
Even after just reading the reviews for Buyology, I understand what bothers me about this campaign- it is not the product you remember, it is just Brooke Shields and pregnant ladies. In fact, having seen these commercials at least 20 times, I still can't remember the name of the car that is being introduced. (Although I do remember that it is a VW product, but that could be because I drive one rather than the ad being memorable for that fact.)
As one reviewer of Buyology mentioned, the brain research behind this book informs us that using sex to sell a product sells sex rather than the product. I have to assume that is why I remember only Brooke Shields and pregnant ladies from this advertising campaign. Could it be that this is actually a subliminal campaign by the government to create more future worker bees and taxpayers to support the upcoming retirement of the boomer generation? I am looking forward to reading the book.
HOW TO: Track Trends
Trend tracking is not about looking into a crystal ball and divining the future, rather an observation of the here and now and what the impact of the here and now will have on the future.
The first time a real estate agent told me that banks were giving adjustable rate mortgages with nothing down, allowing 50% of income to go to principle and interest was in 2005, I knew that in 2008 there would be lots of foreclosures. (I am sure that this had been going on even before 2005 but that was the first time that I paid attention - I didn't even know that incomes were not being verified.) Where were all of our astute economists who had the true inside information and whose job it was to keep our economy sound?
Tracking and analyzing trends requires both an open-mind and a keen sense of awareness of your surroundings at all times. Because I am involved with construction materials, the mortgage information held relevance to me, so I processed the information immediately. As a consultant, I made the recommendation that my clients expand their product planning and marketing efforts beyond the residential market. As a consultant, I can only inform decisions, the decisions are the clients to make, and their economists never even sounded the alarm. (The few who did were ignored in the press and considered nervous nellies.)
Trend Watching.Com offers a thorough review of the trend-tracking process as well as trends that they observe. Trend tracking may not be a formal part of your job requirement, but every marketer needs a rudimentary understanding of the process to know whose advice to take. Your own observational skills are still required; the internet should not be viewed as a short cut, but as another tool in the process.
The first time a real estate agent told me that banks were giving adjustable rate mortgages with nothing down, allowing 50% of income to go to principle and interest was in 2005, I knew that in 2008 there would be lots of foreclosures. (I am sure that this had been going on even before 2005 but that was the first time that I paid attention - I didn't even know that incomes were not being verified.) Where were all of our astute economists who had the true inside information and whose job it was to keep our economy sound?
Tracking and analyzing trends requires both an open-mind and a keen sense of awareness of your surroundings at all times. Because I am involved with construction materials, the mortgage information held relevance to me, so I processed the information immediately. As a consultant, I made the recommendation that my clients expand their product planning and marketing efforts beyond the residential market. As a consultant, I can only inform decisions, the decisions are the clients to make, and their economists never even sounded the alarm. (The few who did were ignored in the press and considered nervous nellies.)
Trend Watching.Com offers a thorough review of the trend-tracking process as well as trends that they observe. Trend tracking may not be a formal part of your job requirement, but every marketer needs a rudimentary understanding of the process to know whose advice to take. Your own observational skills are still required; the internet should not be viewed as a short cut, but as another tool in the process.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Names have Meaning
"Confusing alphabet-soup names like CLK, CLC, CLS, SLK, GLK, CL, SL and SLR have made it hard for customers to keep track of Mercedes-Benz's vehicle lineup, and to fix that the company is looking at returning to more traditional names based around the A, B, C, E and S-Class names," states an article in Motor Authority.
As I have just finished suggesting names for another batch of products, I am reminded of how important it is that the names connect to something - anything that will help the consumer of the product understand what it is he is buying. I know that it gets tougher and tougher with the number of your own products and those of competitors. Naming your product is a process that should never be given short shrift or handled in a bull session. Names must be especially vetted in a global marketplace in various languages. For example, if planning to sell in Germany, never use the word MIST - it means dung in German. Had to check myself on that one - was it...mist or dust that I just suggested? When Ford launched an advertising campaign in Belgium, the headline ‘Every car has a high quality body’ came out as ‘Every car has a high quality corpse’. Car bodies and human bodies often are different words. If this sort of thing amuses you check for more examples at this website.
Why would you ever name a dark charcoal gray product Mont Blanc if you knew that blanc means white in French? In a global environment, it is more important than ever to have at least a passing knowledge of foreign languages. Even a passing knowledge of geography would have been helpful in this case, because you would know that Mont Blanc is snow-capped year round. English may be the ipso facto lingua franca, but rather than risk embarrassment, make sure to check globally before you commit to the expense of printing literature and labels.
As I have just finished suggesting names for another batch of products, I am reminded of how important it is that the names connect to something - anything that will help the consumer of the product understand what it is he is buying. I know that it gets tougher and tougher with the number of your own products and those of competitors. Naming your product is a process that should never be given short shrift or handled in a bull session. Names must be especially vetted in a global marketplace in various languages. For example, if planning to sell in Germany, never use the word MIST - it means dung in German. Had to check myself on that one - was it...mist or dust that I just suggested? When Ford launched an advertising campaign in Belgium, the headline ‘Every car has a high quality body’ came out as ‘Every car has a high quality corpse’. Car bodies and human bodies often are different words. If this sort of thing amuses you check for more examples at this website.
Why would you ever name a dark charcoal gray product Mont Blanc if you knew that blanc means white in French? In a global environment, it is more important than ever to have at least a passing knowledge of foreign languages. Even a passing knowledge of geography would have been helpful in this case, because you would know that Mont Blanc is snow-capped year round. English may be the ipso facto lingua franca, but rather than risk embarrassment, make sure to check globally before you commit to the expense of printing literature and labels.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Creativity and the Role of the Leader
An article of interest to those responsible for new product development of all kinds titled "Creativity and the Role of the Leader," in October's Harvard Business Review, shares insights from a recent two-day colloquium at Harvard Business School on the topic. My favorite quote from the article:" 'If there is one device that has destroyed more innovation than any other, it is Six Sigma,' stated Mark Fishman, MD, president of the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research." This fact would be obvious to creative types but must have required verbalizing to the management types at the colloquium. The article offers interesting reading on providing the proper setting and challenges for "managing" creativity on the path to building and maintaining a strong and profitable business.
Friday, October 17, 2008
"Project Runway" Tenor of the Times
2007 BC (before chaos-financial ) Style over Substance wins
2008 AD (after demise-of Wall Street) Talent and hard work win
More than any other "Reality TV" 2008 Project Runway has captured the times in which we live and is a hopeful guidepost to the future. Only in hindsight do we realize that 2007 Project Runway's winner did the same; the winner's "style over substance" captured the immediate times. Did the darkness of the collection foresee what was in store, just a year later? The numbers of viewers of the presidential debate may have eclipsed the viewers of the 2008 Project Runway finale, but we can only hope that these lessons are as prescient as those of 2007 - this would not be the first time that fashion portends the future. And did Leanne's use of sustainable fabrics cinch the deal for her? If Leanne's win of the 2008 Project Runway with talent and hard work - without even a speck of attitude and posturing speaks to the future - bring it on sooner rather than later.
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