Branding Archive
Commentary by blog and social media consultant Josh Hallett on the use of blogs for public relations, media, marketing, communication & branding and from time-to-time the unsolicited opinion.
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Shown below is an online ad that Comcast is running on the Atlanta Journal Constituion web site. The ad is an animated gif. The panel on the left is the initial frame, the panel on the right is the final frame. Notice anything about that final frame? Of course it's impossible-to-read legal terms. If you need that many 'terms' to clarify your ad, then why even run it in the first place?
I also find it funny that the telephone number for a major corporation that provides internet access starts with 404.
In the previous post I talked about how corporations that are creating social media programs inherently need to rely upon the individuals involved with those initiatives. But what about the individuals? Quoting from the previous post:
On the flip side, what about an individual that becomes associated with a brand. In some cases they're not an individual, they're the company's blogger. I've seen it happen at conferences, "Oh hey, John....you're X's blogger?" They're always introduced as John, X's Blogger, never just John. It's like without that qualifier at the end they wouldn't be anybody.
What happens when they want to move on but the corporate brand overshadows their own?
It's a double-edged sword. The major brand is what has put them in a position to possibly move on to other opportunities, but that brand can also obscure them.
Sometimes you also get lost in the crowd at large corporations. Would you want to hire the PR person that 'oversaw' the blog or the person that actually wrote the blog? Executives taking too much credit for their staff's work is nothing new.
What do you do if you're the company blogger and want to establish your own identity? In smaller circles this is easy since the majority of the people you interact with via the blog will hopefully know you. It's a natural effect of the blog and the interaction between individuals. In many cases that might be all you need. If you're looking to move on, often it's the folks in the small circle that are your best resources.
Recently Jeremiah talked about his career blog, or a blog that moved with him from job to job. It's part personal, it's part professional. Striking the balance is the challenge though.
In my case, I'm fortunate because my name and brand, Hyku, are somewhat synonymous. But then again I work for myself :-)
A number of 'corporate blogging' friends I know also have personal blogs. Some are open about this, as in it's easy to find them and the connection. A few others like to keep thing separate and on the DL. It's only their friends that know the address. However, we all know that keeping something hidden in plain sight doesn't always work.
One little issue is the simple Google search of their name. Many times the corporate blog will be the first result. The only way to gain control of that is to get out there and start blogging/linking, etc. Taking on too much of a personal presence could cause tension at work though.
Facebook might be the solution. A number of corporate bloggers I know are my friends on Facebook, it's a great way to network.
Getting back to the question, what should/can a corporate blogger do to establish their identity?
First off, own your name, create a basic site/blog that is your personal brand. What you do there is open for debate, but it's important that friends know how to locate/interact with you outside the corporation you work for.
What else should one do? Comments?
Brandweek has published an interview with Brice Ertmann, Toyota's corporate manager of consumer-generated media (there is that phrase again):
When bloggers write smack about Toyota, Bruce Ertmann is there to read every word and, in some cases, respond. As corporate manager of consumer-generated media at the Torrance, Calif.-based automaker, Ertmann constantly trolls the Web to see what people are saying. This includes both the gray anonymity or the way-too-public blogger world, and not just the good and the bad, but also the ugly. Although other car companies also have people who track and write blogs, Ertmann's title is believed to be the first in the U.S. auto trade.
The interview is decent, and shows how often the 'voice' of a corporation online falls to one person.
I've had a run of new hyku stickers and other gear made up. All of it features the logo variation I've played around with for a while.
Will it replace my regular logo? Who knows...that would entail redesigning my site and other materials as well, which is something I don't have the time for now. The logo/look is meant to be something out of the ordinary.
David has a photo of his Moleskine up, but he's holding it sideways. The logo is meant to be vertical.
If you would like some stickers e-mail me an address.
The nGen Works gang in Jacksonville has always been a great group of web dev dudes. Ever since they moved into their current office they've posted unique messages on their window. In a recent blog post Carl explains the story behind the window and what the future plans are.
Why do it? It's part of their personality and it leads to business. Carl says:
A lot of people ask if we ever got any business out of the window. The answer is yes, if you trace it back. In fact one of our biggest clients found us that way.
You can follow the window via their Flickr feed. Or just drive by if you're ever in Jacksonville.
Here's a hypothetical situation based upon a recent experience I had with a client. Let's say you're the director of marketing or communications with a large organization. Each year you spend a considerable amount of money on your Advertising/PR efforts.
However, the number one issue you face daily is customer service. In other words, you know your advertising will bring them in, but customer service will push them out. In PR, the majority of your issues center on customer service problems. It might be a general workforce problem or a lack of proper training, but it's that customer experience thing that's killing you.
Now the big question. Would you be willing to give up 30-40% of your budget, and perhaps your staff, to fix the customer service problem? Are you willing to fix the problem, with your budget?
To many of us that work within the social media world the answer seems obvious, but when you start dealing with organizations and internal politics you sometimes get answers like: "That's their problem, my job is X." or "Then you'd be cutting my budget."
Unfortunately it's not your budget or their problem, it's everybody's problem. And if you don't help them fix their problem, then all of you will have much bigger things to worry about.
Over at Marketing Profs, Jeanne Bliss writes about Southwest Airlines hiring a 'Forgiveness Officer'. It's an interesting concept, but what caught my eye was a single line in her post:
When is the Apology Sincere vs. a "Tactic"
This makes me think of the missive I
wrote about blogs a while back. Are you blogging because you are naturally conversational, or because you want to appear to be? Jeanne goes on to say:
But now that everyone else is on the apology bandwagon -- are we going to be numbed by the outpouring of letters that we receive as customers? For all of the **&^%$$^& crazy stuff going on -- are we going to be getting apology letters constantly?
The Airlines are realizing that culpability is important and they are mea-culping all over the place. Great, that's step one. But anyone who says they are sorry have got to mean it. Step two is taking action to make the pain stop.
It's just like when our little brothers punched us, then said he was sorry because mom made him. You never really took him totally seriously a) because mom was twisting his arm behind his back to say the words, and b) he'd apologized many times before just to come back and punch another day.
Good point. There are a number of companies that might never be able to apologize, no matter how hard they try.
John Moore of Brand Autopsy has posted a series of interesting queries about the value of certain brands/companies. He calls it his Would You Care series.
Basically, would you care if 'Company X' vanished? His latest post is about Chili's.
Does Chili’s provide such a unique product and customer experience that we would be saddened if it didn’t exist? Does Chili’s treat its employees so astonishingly well that those workers would not be able to find another employer to treat them as well? Does Chili’s forge such unfailing emotional connections with its customers that they would fail to find another restaurant that could forge just as strong an emotional bond?
What say you?
He asks the same about
Gateway and
Eddie Bauer. It's a different way of measuring the value and quality of a company and gets me thinking. I really wouldn't care if Chili's vanished, but there are some restaurants that I don't want to see go away.
Think about your own organization, would people really care if it vanished? Are you providing such a unique and personable service that people would miss it?
Often bloggers will think of themselves as an independent voice, and alternative to traditional media. Sometimes they'll make bold claims such as, 'TV is dead' or 'there is no more mass media.....we're all media', etc. Yet here we all are blogging and twittering away about the most mass media of media events, the Super Bowl.
Like the tragedies that all-to-often hit us, the Super Bowl unites many of us for a short period of time. We gather online to talk about the game and ponder whether Peyton will win the big one. Mostly though we talk about the commercials.
Wait, I'm a blogger, I'm supposed to be anti-commercial. After all, TV's dead :-)
Just like last year I will not be doing a live-blog of the Super Bowl commercials, it's just too much work to be able to enjoy the game. I do hope to post a short wrap-up on my thoughts though. I know there will be a few other blogs providing coverage, however AdJab won't be one of them :-(
If you want to remember last year's commercials you can always check out Google's video page (which should update at some point today).
Most bloggers have an ego-feed to monitor links to their site and mentions of their name. One of the feeds I monitor is any mention of 'hyku'. For the past few years it's been mostly mentions of my company name.
Recently though, with Technorati and other blog services indexing MySpace blogs, the results are mostly MySpace users misspelling the word haiku. Sad.
What is our obsession with packaging? After all it's what's inside that we're paying money for, what's the big deal with the box? In the competitive consumer electronics space companies are learning that well designed, unique packaging gives them a boost over the competition. The box is becoming an increasingly important part of the sales process.
Last week I posted about the upswing in iPod Shuffle photos on Flickr. As expected, Apple fans (including this one) fawned over the packaging design of the 2G Shuffle.
But what about packaging of basic things, specifically generic grocery store products?
First off, they're not called generic anymore, that name conjures up visions of ugly yellow packages with a single black word on the front like 'Rice'. Today, the politically correct name is 'private label'. Just about every major grocery store chain has a line of private label goods. The most famous among these is probably Trader Joe's.
Here in the Southeast US we have Publix. Publix has undergone a recent redesign of all their private label goods. Along the way they've built up a fan base and plenty of photos on Flickr.
Now the fan obsession has gone one step farther. Print/web designer Megan Gales created the Publix Packaging blog or in her words, "a tribute to the best branding campaign ever." The blog features reviews of the new Publix private label packaging. Recent critiques include the Graham Crackers, Light Bulbs and Sour Cream.
The blog was started back in May of 2006 with a review of the Flour packaging. Why? You can read over her About Page for the details.
Why create a site entirely devoted to a store’s packaging, you might ask. We say, why not? Perhaps we’re a bit obsessed with the topic, but this gives us a way to connect with others who share our love of this one-of-a-kind store brand.
A blog like this is a sticky situation for any corporation. Of course they love the fan support, but the downfall for the packaging blog might be the name. The domain name and title of the site both include 'Publix' and as we've seen recently, the trademark lawyers don't look too kindly on this. The standard line is, if we don't protect the trademark and use of our name in every situation then we're opening ourselves up for problems in the future. The end result? A good-cop/bad-cop letter, or in this case a good-marketer/bad-laywer letter.
It's a sad situation since anyway you play it the corporation comes out looking like, well a corporation, while the fans take the hit. Perhaps the domains LoveThatPackaging.com or PackagingBlog.com are available and a switch can be made.
The new 2G iPod Shuffle started arriving yesterday which means only one thing....unpacking photos. A quick search on Flickr for the tag 'shuffle' shows over 120 photos posted yesterday alone. There will probably be more today and an bunch over the weekend once the new iPods hit the retail shelves on Friday.
You have to hand it to Apple, they always benefit from the positive vibes generated by the design of their hardware and the packaging. If you were on the fence about buying one of the new shuffles, the onslaught of photos are probably pushing you over the edge. Apple has to love that.
You can check out some more unpacking pr0n at Unboxing.com. You'll notice that Apple products are often featured....wonder why?
Community is the word this year. Organizations everywhere are trying to figure out how to build or become involved with communities surrounding their brands. The University of Florida it taking the 'build' approach.
This weekend UF will officially launch a community site for the Gator Nation at GoGatorNation.com. The site allows University of Florida alumni and friends from around the globe to upload photos and videos of themselves, sharing their Gator pride. There is also a discussion board for users to connect, see events, post jobs etc.
The site is currently in a soft launch now, so there are only a few photos and one video, but expect things to change over the next few days. The marketing campaign for the site begins with this weekend's football game versus Tennessee. I exchanged e-mails with Joe Hice, Associate Vice President, Public Relations & Marketing with UF earlier this week. Here's a quote from Joe:
The plan is pretty simple, our new :30 second television spot will air nationally during the Florida vs. Tennessee football game on CBS. The television spot encourages viewers "to continue the story, visit goGatorNation.com."
The new ad will also begin running on the Coach's Show, rebroadcasts of the game, Gator Beat and other athletic programming on Sunshine, Jefferson Pilot and other television affiliates. It will appear during every Florida football game this season as well as on televised basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball games and other UF sporting events. The university is not charged for the placements and we estimate the overall value of this program to be in excess of $4 million.
In addition, a new :30 and :60 second radio spot will begin airing during the game. The spot is designed to cut through the clutter of most of the other radio advertising during the game and it features a UF grad who is also an astronaut trying to paint the space station orange & blue, placing a Florida bumper sticker on the shuttle and playing the Gator Fight Song back to Mission Control. Like the television spot, we also receive radio time at no charge.
The Gator Nation campaign is part of a multi-year program to re-brand the university. Joe recently appeared at the FPRA Annual Conference and spoke about the UF/Gator Nation campaign.
At the University of Florida their focus is the 'Gator Nation'. All universities produce great research and great graduates, but the one thing that UF produces that nobody else does is Gators. The 'Gator Nation' has become the focal point for their branding efforts. Luckily, UF has a sports program that gets some national TV exposure. The university can use this free promotional airtime during games to air commercials to reinforce that brand.
Nothing like a little Hyku product placement :-)
photo by Jeremiah Owyang
Driving home last night I heard one of the new Match.com radio commercials. Just one problem with the commercial: Fuzzy Math.
The voice-over states, "There are now over 15 million reasons for you to join Match.com" or something like that. It goes on to say that by joining you'll be able to choose from these 15 million Match.com members for your next date. Wrong.
Let's assume that the gender breakdown of Match.com members is 50/50. Wouldn't most people only be able to choose from 7.5 million members? Even if you were gay/lesbian you'd theoretically still only have 7.5 million members to choose from. I guess Match.com assumes that we're all bisexual.
Andrea Scher on one of the principles of her blog:
I try to provide people something of substance even if they're not interested in buying my jewelry.
There are some interesting discussions going on in the comments on a recent post I made about the relationship between social media and brands. John Wagner also weighs in on the issue, with some great comments from others as well.
Mike Driehorst thinks that I am oversimplifying some of my statements. I agree with him, but in my defense I use these general statements in the introductory remarks of my sessions with folks just learning about this brave new world. The statements are conversation starters, and they generally work well for that purpose. However when you read them on my blog, and not in the context of a longer conversation you might say "that guy is full of it!"
Earthlink wants their users/fans to create some podcast ads for them. In the past they had used traditional radio spots in podcasts, but that doesn't go over so well. Hence the contest:
The EarthLink Make Advertising Better Challenge.
If you think the ads you've heard on podcasts are ungood, or if you'd just like to make an ad and have the chance at earning some prize money, you can create a jingle, spot, or testimonial and submit it at the URL above. Podshow.com will showcase our favorites as submissions come in, and we'll run the winners as EarthLink ads. The submission deadline is July 4th.
Look at what just popped up on eBay! It's a one-of-a-kind PepperRubel T-shirt signed by Steve Rubel and Jeremy Pepper.
From the description:
This is an amazing, one-of-a-kind item: it's the only t-shirt in the world that has been personally autographed by PepperRubel PR co-founders, Jeremy Pepper and Steve Rubel. This rare piece of apparel, with its 50-thread count and comfort contour cut, bears the beautiful PepperRubel insignia on the chest which is adorned on both sides with the co-founders’ loving signatures. On the back, running shoulder-length, reads the company’s popular slogan “We put the PR back in PR.” This is truly a collectors item, suitable for a range of PR industry professionals, like the aspiring blogger, the big agency sell-out or the disaffected vet. All the proceeds from this auction will go toward improving the alcoholic wellness of PepperRubel supporters around the world.
Bidding starts at $20, so get over there and start bidding.
When asked to give a broad definition of social media in layman's terms to those involved in public relations/communication I say:
Social media encompasses everything that is written, spoken and shown about your organization that you have no control over.
It's an oversimplification I know, but it helps set the stage for my presentations and gives PR newbies a, 'how does this impact me?' reference point. Looking at the definition again though it looks like the definition of brand. You're smart enough to realize that you don't define your brand, people do.
Perhaps this analogy will help draw more firms into the landscape to rectify the social media services gap that Mike originally talked about.
Over at Brand Autopsy, John Moore asks if Yum! Brands is making a smart move by sponsoring the Kentucky Derby. It's the first time in the race's history that they have ever had a 'sponsor'. John points out that Yum! is not sponsoring the event to raise awareness for their restaurants (Taco Bell, KFC, etc), they are doing it to raise investment awareness.
To me it’s simple … if you operate a business that consistently delivers great sales with sizeable profit margins, investors of all types will notice. Actions and not advertising will attract investors.
Improve the product, not the pitch.
Orlando is where I have a few clients but I really don't get too involved in the local politics/issues. With that, I don't know all the details about the simmering battle between two children's hospitals but I did find one aspect interesting. In one corner your have Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children & Women, the established player in the market, in the other corner you have Nemours Children's Hopsital, the new 'kid' on the block (bud pun I know). Nemours is trying to make the case that Orlando needs another children's hospital, while Palmer is attempting to protect their turf.
What I find funny are their two billboards along Interstate 4 in downtown Orlando.
Palmer's billboard says they are 'Built for Kids' while Nemours says they are 'Dedicated to children'. Obviously Palmer can make their claim and Nemours can't since Nemours hasn't been 'built'. On the flip side Nemours focusses on their single dedication to children rather than 'Women & Children'. Which is better?
I'm not sure who copied who, but either way I think the similarities make both billboards look silly.
On Tuesday I attended the monthly luncheon meeting of IABC Atlanta featuring a presentation about the recent Brand Atlanta Campaign. Being an Orlando area boy, and with tourism such a major focus of the Central Florida area I was curious to see how Atlanta was coming together to market themselves.
Atlanta sees Orlando as one of their major competitors when it comes to conferences and basic tourism. With that each of the respective cities has their own image problem: Atlanta is seen as more business and less destination, while Orlando is more destination and less business. In Orlando organizations such as the OrlandoEDC and Florida High Tech Corridor Council are working to help change that perception. In Atlanta there is now Brand Atlanta.
Presenting were Bill Rheil and Hala Moddelmog. They reviewed the initial research they used to shape the campaign and discussed how they built a core group of stakeholders within the Metro Atlanta area. The stakeholders included local governments, chambers, CVBs and some of the larger corporations that are based in Atlanta. The eventual goal is to make Atlanta a premier destination city, not only for business, but travel.
As part of a phased roll-out the intial campaign targeted the residents of the area. They realized they needed to get the locals excited about the campaign, otherwise they were doomed. One of the major issues facing Atlanta is the separation between the ITP and OTP. The Interstate 285 beltway that surrounds Atlanta has created somewhat of a cultural barrier. You are either Inside the Perimeter (ITP) or Outside the Perimeter (OTP). It's amazing how many local residents don't venture across those bounds. The first step was to educate residents about the numerous activities, attractions and events that are available throughout the city. New attractions such as the Georgia Aquarium and shopping destinations such as Atlantic Station have helped pave the way, but there is so much more. And that's what they want to spread the word about.
One idea from the crowd was a 'Be a tourist in your home town' concept. Encourage local residents to get out and explore some areas that they may not normally visit. An additional $30 in spending at local attractions from residents would represent millions of dollars in additional revenue.
The next step in the campaign is to expand the marketing effort to cities within a three hour drive of Atlanta. Once again they want to educate people that a weekend trip to Atlanta is worth the drive. From there the campaign will expand nationally.
One research slide showed a dramatic perception gap between people that had visited Atlanta and those that had not. The was specifically evident for a general query about 'Things to do in Atlanta'. Once a person had visited Atlanta they realized that there were many 'Things to do'. During the question and answer period I asked a question about this stat. I asked what the campaign was doing to encourage those one-time visitors to help spread the word about Atlanta, especially since word of mouth and consumer generated content is such a powerful force in travel. As of this point they are not doing anything, which seems like they're missing a huge opportunity.
When I get back to Orlando I plan to talk more with some of my local contacts at the CVBs and EDCs to see how they perceive the ATL campaign. It will also be interesting to see if/how Brand Atlanta will begin to market themselves in the Central Florida area.
One of may favorite stops when I am in Atlanta is Eatzi's in Buckhead. On the way out the door they have a small sticker that says 'See You Tomorrow'.
Cocky? Perhaps, but I see it more as quiet confidence in their brand. If you provide a quality product and can back that up with great service you have every right to brag about it. Of course with 'See You Tomorrow' you need to have a high percentage of repeat customers which Eatzi's does. There aren't many retail brands that could get away with that. Starbuck's could possibly do it. In the Southeast Publix could also get away with it. Who else? What are some other retail brands that you think could put up such a bold statement like 'See You Tomorrow'?
I meant to post this last night....
Just got in to the re:Charge06 conference in St. Augustine, FL. The Friday night keynote is being given by Phil Bienert. He's talking about brand experience with some of the larger retailers and banks. Phil works for Citibank. His primary slide:
It will be creative people who will lead the successful companies into the Experience Economy.
Other nuggets:
- The software exists to make technology limitations go away, but so many companies don't want to buy it.
- Saying the technology is a limiting factor is a sell-out.
- Don't push people to the web, make them want to go there.
The conference is being held at Flagler College, a great historic campus. Tonight's keynote is in the grand Flagler Room in the main building. The contrast of an LCD projector in a room with a Victorian interior featuring ornate ceiling relief work and bold window treatments is interesting.
Tomorrow I'll be speaking to a joint meeting of the local AdFed and Florida Public Relations Association clubs. The overall focus of the session will be conversation and interaction with your customers (not just blogs).
Another one of the topics will be the blurring line between advertising and public relations. One case in point is Word of Mouth (WOM). What are your thoughts? Are some advertising campaigns becoming PR campaigns?
The session is being held at the Lakeland Center from 11:30 a.m. till 1 p.m. Come on by if you're in the Central Florida area, but you don't need to make a special trip :-)
Throwback jerseys from designers like Mitchell & Ness have been all the rage with the sports set (or the wannabe sports set) for some time now, but how about some gear for geeks?
Nothing says 'I was hip before the web was' like a throwback URL t-shirt. The first shirt I'd come out with would be: http://akebono.stanford.edu/:
For those of you that don't know, that was the original address for Yahoo. I can remember it so clearly, using my Telnet account and Lynx to visit the pre .com version of yahoo.
Like all other throwback gear we'll do a limited run and jack the price way up....say $120 per t-shirt. The question for you is what are some other throwback URLs? Remember altavista.digital.com?
In a previous post I mentioned PotatoFinger and their new blog. Shortly afterwards I was contacted by Abigail the 'Potato Chip Girl' - she wanted to send me some chips. Sure enough I soon received a very large box from PotatoFinger. Inside was a generous selection of their chips:
So far I've only sampled the Lightly Salted and the Vinegar & Salt flavors. One thing about eating low salt chips is that it's hard to go back to anything else since the salt flavor is so overpowering. I don't think their chips are available in any Florida stores yet, but you can buy them online.
F1 cars are just great to look at. The new McLaren MP4-21 is amazing. I might just have to go to the US Grand Prix this year to see it in person.
Did you like the 'Hyku Pre-Game Show'? Oh wait I guess my sponsorship check didn't get there in time so they used Full Throttle instead.
Here are my thoughts on the commercials from Super Bowl XL (that's 40 for the non-Roman readers). This is not a complete list of all the spots, but it is in chronological order. For more in-depth coverage you can check out AdJab's SBXL coverage. RexBlog is also live-blogging. Like AdJab, AdRants is doing a bit more in-depth analysis. I'm sure there will be plenty of post-game discussion about the clips. Overall the bar is set very high for Super Bowl commercials. You've got to make them memorable while trying not to over do the shock factor.
Update: Google Video has all most of the commercials online
Bud Light - Hidden Bud Light (6/10): VIEW ONLINE - ho-hum, there were some funny moments, but in hindsight I would have led with the 'Magic Fridge' spot.
Burger King Whopperettes (4/10): VIEW ONLINE - Didn't really impress me, but my 4-year-old said it was "Yummy!" BK should have had a Birkenstock wearing 'veggie burger' girl in the background.
Sierra Mist (6/10): Anything with Jim Gaffigan is funny in my book, but unfortunately anything with Kathy Griffin is not funny.
Bud Light -Magic Fridge (9/10): VIEW ONLINE - Good stuff, I especially liked the quick shot of the guys praying to the table at the end.
Toyota Camry Hybrid (2/10): VIEW ONLINE - Didn't really leave a lasting impression on me, it makes me say, 'why spend $2.5 million on that?'
FedEx Caveman (9/10): VIEW ONLINE - Funny spot that keeps with FedEx's humorous tradition during the Super Bowl. I especially liked the 'FedEx doesn't exist' - 'Not my problem' exchange.
Bud Light - Bear Chase (5/10): VIEW ONLINE - Interesting premise, but I was expecting to see the bear drink some Rainier Beer!
Diet Pepsi - Diddy (4/10): VIEW ONLINE - What a waste of Jay Mohr, and oh year Puff/P Diddy/Diddy was in it.
Alleve - Leonard Nemoy (5/10): Cute, but not memorable. At first I thought it was going to be a Priceline commercial with Shatner popping out somewhere.
Ameriquest - That Killed Him (6/10): This is the same as last year, funny commercial but how does it relate to mortgage services?
Bud Light - Fixing the Roof (7/10): VIEW ONLINE - Another cute spot, but not drop-dead funny.
Diet Pepsi - Jackie Chan (5/10): Man I'm tough to impress, another waste of Jay Mohr's time.
Cadillac CTS (5/10): It's tough to get excited about a car that's a few years old. Granted they are advertising a new high-performance model, but at least they didn't use an Led Zeppelin music.
Budweiser - Goat Streaker (9/10): VIEW ONLINE - At first I thought, 'this commercial is a few years old' but nope....there's a goat streaker! Goatse? 'I didn't need to see that!'
ESPN Mobile (7/10): Interesting from a technical standpoint, i.e. getting all that action on the screen, but of course the big question is how will all that action translate on to the tiny screen of a mobile phone?
CareerBuilder.com - Monkey Celebration (6/10): I guess that actor has a solid gig year after year to appear in CareerBuilder's spots.
Cadillac Escalade Fashion Show (6/10): VIEW ONLINE - Creative in the sense that it kept you wondering what it was going to be a commercial for.
Dove Self Esteem Fund (5/10): VIEW ONLINE - Once again I thought of another commercial first....was it a new Monster ad? Nope Dove.
Ford Escape Hybrid (8/10): VIEW ONLINE - I guess when you grow watching the Muppets anything with Kermit is good :-)
GoDaddy.com (5/10): VIEW ONLINE - Channeling the characters that Tom Hanks and Jon Lovitz did on SNL...."Wasn't classy last year, isn't classy this year"
Gillette Fusion (7/10): VIEW ONLINE - Hey look a particle accelerator! No wait a five-blade razor, the Fusion! Too bad for Gillette I just released my 6-blade razor. It comes packaged with my 7 Minute Abs video.
Halftime, maybe Ben will update his blog during the Stones show.
Ameriquest Airline Fun (7/10): Once again funny but off-topic. Does sex sell mortgages?
Motorola Pebl (6/10): A cellphone....evolution or intelligent design? If you follow the gadget sites you've seen this phone for quite a while.
Sharpie Retractible (6/10): Can they use the Captain Hook character without Disney's consent?
Bud Clydesdale (10/10): VIEW ONLINE - From an emotional hook standpoint this is the best commercial so far. Reminds me of the Bud Troops ad from last year.
Nationwide (3/10): VIEW ONLINE - Is SNL doing their spots?
Hummer - Little Monster (1/10): VIEW ONLINE - Nothing worse than using your air time to show a commercial that is what 6 months old?
Practical Solutions Cleaner (7/10): VIEW ONLINE - Creative and the creativity actually relates to the product.
CareerBuilder.com Monkey Work (7/10): Like the Hummer spot above I thought, why repeat an old commercial, but wait there are donkeys!
Taco Bell (4/10): Where is the dog? Doesn't Taco Bell still use the dog?
SlimFast (3/10): Waste of air time.
Gillette Fusion (1/10): ho-hum, who wants 5 blades when you can have 6?
Toyota Tacoma (2/10): Did anybody else think of last year's tsunami when they saw this ad? Gave me the creeps.
Sprint Wireless (6/10): They almost lost me till the Benny Hill reference came in. I wonder if anybody under 30 knew that was from Benny Hill?
These next few are local ad inserts
Dodge Trucks (1/10): Why!!!!!! This commercial is so old!
Publix Supermarkets (3/10): Publix usually has great commercials (think Holidays and salt/pepper shakers) but this one looked like a rush production job.
Back to national spots....
Emerald Nuts (6/10): VIEW ONLINE - One of the fun things about the EN ads is trying to figure out what the acronym will be. This one was a bit more difficult because it wasn't EN, it was EMERALD NUTS.
Budweiser Stadium (8/10): VIEW ONLINE - Creative ad, I had thoughts of Yale's Harvard Sucks bit.
MasterCard (9/10): Ah Richard Dean Anderson back in the MacGyver role. They even worked in the paper clip reference as well!
ESPN Mobile 2 (5/10): Nothing new, saw it in the first half
Honda Ridgeline (7/10): VIEW ONLINE - Creative metaphor, but will it sell the hardcore trucker crowd?
Beer Institute (5/10): Not really sure what they're advertising, but did you catch the Guinness clover at the very end?
World Baseball Classic (2/10): VIEW ONLINE - I think no matter how hard they try to sell the WBC it won't fly, players are dropping out left and right and it's only February.
GoDaddy Replay (1/10): VIEW ONLINE - I guess when you sell cheap domains you get cheap commercials.
Outback Steakhouse (2/10): Another local brand trying things out, but not a very impressive showing.
Way to go Steelers!!!!
Once again Gillette is late to the party. They just spent $2.5 million on a Super Bowl ad to launch the Fusion 5-Blade razor. Too bad I released my new 6-blade Hyku Sextet razor today. As you can see below it features a total of six blades set on two independent pivoting three-blade heads.
Each head also features a lubri-strip and beard-stimulating system. Like the Fusion it comes in two models: Battery and Manual. Of course with the Manual you need to shake your hand back and forth about 1000 times per minute. Gillette will be hearing from my lawyers.
I've already sent a test unit to TAD for testing.
I won't be live-blogging the Super Bowl commercials this year. I live-blogged the commercials last year (you can review the archive here). Blogging the commercials makes it very difficult to watch the game. Since I am a Steelers fan (born in Mt. Lebanon, PA and lived there till 1986) I'd rather watch the game than blog it.
There should be no shortage of others blogs providing on-going commentary of the commercials though. As I discover them, I'll link them here.
- John Moore has posted an audioblog with his thoughts on Super Bowl ads
- AdJab has some great coverage
- Google Video has all most of the commercials online
- USAToday has their Ad Meter results up for Super Bowl XL
It's always great when you find a corporate blog that is written in an engaging style and gives a look inside the company. Abigail the 'Potato Chip Girl' of PotatoFinger Potato Chips has been blogging over at the PotatoFinger blog - Chips with Attitude. Abigail, who writes the blog, is a real person (and not the character to the right) and looks to be involved with the sales team. The blog's post frequency is very low, but the content is good so far. A quick Technorati search of linking blogs shows none as of this morning, but that might change now. A sample of posts include:
- A trip to pitch the corporate buyers at Publix
- Visiting the potato farm
- A field-trip to the chip factory
The only downsides to the blog are the lack of comments and low post volume. They're only accepting comments from blogger profile owners. Hopefully they'll change this soon.
I've never seen their chips in stores, then again I shop at Publix so perhaps if/when the big green 'P' starts to carry the product I'll try it out.
It was just a few weeks ago at WOMBAT that John Moore of Brand Autopsy wondered when Coke would let Tab die. According to Brand Noise, Tab is coming back as an energy drink. (Well Tab never really went away, but you know what I mean)
Say hello to Tab Energy. I can't believe they didn't call it Tab 2.0.
