Category Archives: brand management

start the roundup, it’s time for branding your content herd

toyota’s new brand – too soon to discuss?

time to start thinking about a replacementThere’s talk over in LinkedIn’s public relations groups about Toyota’s handling – or mishandling – of their disasterous recall performance. I posted the following comment earlier in the week on the subject, surprised that nearly two weeks after first announcing a recall there’d been so little actual hard reporting on the massive problem.

As of today, I don’t think it’s too soon to begin speculating on their eventual rebranding. That’s if they survive the other shoes waiting to drop. But first, time to rethink the rush to dismiss the importance of brand in the oceanic swell of social media first. If you’re a marketeer, it will always be about brand.

After the surprising – from a Western perspective – initial non-response, followed by the tepid release announcing Sunday’s ad that was itself the sound of one hand clapping, I’m wondering if… Continue reading

mmm, med. rare creative hits the spot

great creative from a steak house includes the hilarious expense report generatorSomehow the hilariously effective Expense Report Generator from NYC steakhouse Maloney & Porcelli escaped mention on our blog. Until now, thanks to Ad Age’s Bob Garfield’s sharp eye.

We’ve never eaten there, but will at the drop of a hat if we’re ever in the same zip code. This is the kind of all around professional creative that separates ROI from DIY.

Clever, original, funny. Served with a satisfyingly snarky attitude, both the clean and functional web site and the technically over the top flash driven report generator easily make our list of neat-O stuff done really well.

what: lunch box tie-ins aren’t available?

rockin' it, Sportster styleAdweek’s post on The Motor Company’s latest hail Mary makes me seriously wonder if Anyone’s Got A Clue Up On Juneau Ave. This is a brand in total freefall.

According to the release, H-D “…hopes to ride onto screens large and small in coming months. The motorcycle brand announced last week that it is has teamed up with entertainment consulting agency Davie Brown Entertainment for a major product placement push in film, TV, music and video games.” Folks, hope is not a strategy.

Corporate ad director Dino Bernacchi explained that, “We want to use it to socialize Harley-Davidson motorcycling . . . Entertainment can sensationalize the excitement and thrill of riding to the point of moving people to check it out.” Did you get that? Socialize Harley-Davidson motorcycling? Sensationalize the excitement? I’m not even going to ask what that bafflement of babble-speak gibberish is supposed to mean, because I really don’t want to know. But if Grand Theft Auto’s the model for consideration, it’s worse than it looks.

Listen to Sr. V-P for Davie Brown Entertainment Rob Souriall make the case: “They (Harley-Davidson)  do a great job (ummm, not so much) of speaking to the core male 35-plus, but we want to open up the sport of motorcycling riding to the younger guys, women, African Americans, Hispanics…really broaden the demo.” Pure genius. Wait for it. Meanwhile he’s drawing a paycheck.

Lets rewind. After all-too-recent placement laughingstocks like Wild Hogs and the Viva Viagra over-the-hill ads, it’s difficult to recall what it really took to connect testosterone to Harleys in a different time and space: the movie genre typified by Hells Angels On Wheels. The small screen quickly caught up in prime time with Then Came Bronson, allowing Michael Parks to catapult James Dean derivative mumbling into an art form. Like twin sons of different mothers, sorta’.

But seriously, how do you “…really broaden the demo,” without denying the modern era heritage once and for all? Sons of Anarchy notwithstanding.

major changes at cycle world

David Edwards, seen here at the 2008 Cycle World Trek, is replaced by Mark HoyerPublisher Larry Little yesterday (October 7, 2009) announced a number of sweeping changes to the category leader in consumer motorcycle enthusiast publications. Details here. Former Executive Editor Mark Hoyer, who I last saw in a half-frozen state at the 33rd Annual 2007 Cycle World Trek, replaces 25-year industry vet David Edwards as VP/Editor-In-Chief.

Other changes include significant upgrades in production content and a major design overhaul as the iconic title embarks on a repositioning mission that focuses on brand extension and definition.

cycle world revs up brand

cw plans to freshen print, web effortsCycle World announced sweeping changes yesterday that will go a long way in determining the fate of enthusiast print in the years ahead. As they near the half century mark (January, 1962) CW plans to freshen their brand with new layout, content and production changes to their print effort and a much needed overhaul of their web site, beginning with the November print issue (onsale date October).

The strategy now in play calls for breaking news to be ported online, while open dated, long term print editorial will benefit from a production switch to perfect binding and paper upgrades in both finish and weight. Both changes allow for expanded advertiser content, as well as overall improved looks.

Also reflecting the new reality is a more aggressive focus on repurposing existing content for online distribution, with the current focus on their annual Buyer’s Guides, and continued promotion of their TWIST community media launch.

With a hard won and well deserved rep for photojournalism and solid art direction, CW is well positioned to exploit their readers’ need for online immediacy coupled with the tactile and visual feedback only print can deliver. Stay tuned.

big city creative strikes out

if it ain't broke - no really, don't fix it!Last January 8, PepsiCo owned Tropicana rolled out their stunningly bland new corporate look, a makeover fashioned by Omnicom owned NYC shop Arnell, at a campaign launch cost pegged by some at no less than $35 million. A little less than two months later, PepsiCo couldn’t shovel dirt on it fast enough. The funeral was February 23.

That little detour down “Don’t Even Think About It” Lane has now, according to the April 2 issue of AdAge, reportedly cost the powerhouse beverage brand 20% in unit sales, 19% in dollars ($33 million) and unknown market share damage. Ka-pow! For those who still think packaging’s no big deal and brand management is way overrated, this Oh-Jay’s for you. Continue reading

sponsor scores marketing slamdunk

sponsor marketing doesn't get any betterDespite a noticeable downturn in entries (28 qualifiers), Saturday’s American Le Mans Series 12 Hours of Sebring broadcast on Speed was one of the best live motorsports productions I’ve seen.

Lack of traffic probably had something to do with the record-setting pace, which isn’t to discount the all out tech battle between the diesel-powered P1s of Peugeot (V-12 coupe) and Audi (V-10 roadster) and Honda’s amazing CAD-to-track Acura. Continue reading

bad p.r. – bad, bad p.r.

too much skin? not likelyNow comes Southwest Airline with a nifty promo featuring Sports Illustrated swim more or less suit model and covergirl Bar Refaeli giganto-sized as a plane wrap. Cool. My fantasy is to have a window seat in row 2 right – about – there.

This just after the same airline tried to toss Kyla Ebert off a San Diego to Tuscon hop for wearing considerably more. See how that went over on MSNBC. Guys, get yr message sorted out and hit me back.

source: 5 blogs before lunch

1984 – a superbowl like no other

the ad that started it allTwenty-five years ago an upstart “personal computer” company in Cupertino, CA, ran an ad that bet the entire year’s ad budget on one buy and one production. After the spot was bought and the ad produced, the board of directors unanimous opposition nearly resulted in its cancellation.

The result is consumer marketing history. If you had to pick one broadcast effort that caught lightning in a bottle, it would be “1984”.

Long enshrined in the advertising hall of fame, the creative product of agency chiat/day and director Ridley Scott’s darkly fertile imagination – obvious in hindsight when watching 1982’s cult classic “Bladerunner” – is still being viewed today, as fresh as the day it first aired.

Officially this was a one-shot air date. In reality, the cost per view is now measured in nano-dollars, thanks to the internet, and the iconic content is the holy grail of marketeers in search of breakthrough, viral and recall.

It would be five years before I had a Mac in front of me, a beige 512k brick at a Houston agency.

That year, Tampa’s first Superbowl was played just across the bridge and featured my favorite team back when I was still concerned with outcome – the gritty bad boy “Just Win, Baby” Raiders of Stabler and Sistrunk and Casper fame – clocked the ‘Skins on the arm of Jim Plunkett and the running of Marcus Allen. On Sunday it’ll all play out again, but safe to say there will never be another “1984”.

bye, bye bud – sob

inbev says bye bye to free sudsIt’s a sign. A sign of the times. Bud’s new owner, brewing giant In-Bev, didn’t waste much time shutting down the free flow of suds at theme park watering holes around the country.

As of the end of the month, patrons – for Tampa’s Busch Gardens tiks start at $70 plus $11 for parking – will no longer be able to stand in line for a free plastic cup sampler full of the brewing art.

More’s the pity. As a youngster, my memories of the park before the themes and even before the Busch brand were of a garden gnome forest, a couple of bird acts, climbing the stairs that led into the brewery exhibit and the pavillion payoff of gratis Bud at the end of the tour. The only limit then? All you could drink, just one at a time. And admission was free.