Astonish Your Customer(s)

Fabreeze - Product-Centric Advertising

Here's one great ad! Here

1. Everyday problem (realistically dramatized)
2. Vividly presented
3. Specific 
4. Visual 
5. No words needed

O.D.O.o.O.D.B. 

 

 

Advertising and the Future of Apple

By Bob Hoffman at www.AdContrarian.blogspot.com

After Steve Jobs stepped down as CEO of Apple last week, speculation about the company's future began immediately.

The consensus seemed to be that Jobs built a strong culture, hired smart people, and taught a way of thinking that will serve Apple well in the future. The story line went like this-- while Jobs will be missed, he is no longer essential to the future of the company and it will go on brilliantly without him.

 

I don't buy this for a second. Genius is non-transferable.

Jobs hasn't just created better computers, he has created a world that nobody else could envision. He brought an artist's sensibility to a field previously populated by capable but tone-deaf engineers. He didn't just make beautiful looking hardware, he took what was a dead screen full of little green letters on a blue background and turned it into an astounding, enchanting world of graphics, music, and video that has become a central feature of contemporary life.

He has made work more fun, knowledge more available, and entertainment more rewarding.

Anyone who has had the pleasure of buying an Apple product knows the great aesthetic delight of turning it on for the first time and seeing the beauty that ensues. Even going to an Apple store is a completely unique and strangely arresting experience.

On Friday, Apple became the world's largest company, surpassing ExxonMobil in market value. It will not simply evaporate. The most likely scenario is that Apple will continue to shine for a few years while the initiatives that Jobs started are still in the pipeline, and then slowly the company's radiance will start to dim. They will be successful and will continue to produce excellent products for a long time -- but the startling brilliance will slowly fade.

Many successful creative enterprises turn out to be the extended shadow of one individual. My best guess is that Apple is such an enterprise.

Interestingly, one of the first indications of whether Apple is capable of continuing its explosion of creative energy without Jobs at the helm may be found in its advertising. The product pipeline will take years to screw up. But the ad pipeline can be screwed up in no time.

About a year from now, with Jobs in the background, the knuckleheads at Apple (there are knuckleheads everywhere) will have a chance to get their sweaty hands on the advertising.

Jobs is a brilliant technology visionary. But let's not forget that he is also the best ad man of his generation. He is what you might call a "classicist." Apple advertising is simple. It is almost always product-focused (the product usually sits smack dab in the middle of a white page.) The TV spots for the iPad and iPhone are usually nothing more than simple but compelling product demonstrations.

Here are some clues to look for in Apple's advertising that will indicate that dull hands are grabbing at the wheel:

1. Creeping Brandism: The Apple brand was built bottom-up. That is, the products defined the brand. Virtually every Apple ad was about a product, not  the brand (okay, there was "Think Different" but that didn't last.) Keep an eye out for the erosion of this discipline.

2. Agency change: Vapid marketing people relegated to the background all these years by Jobs' dominance may suddenly start flexing. They wouldn't dare contradict Jobs' legacy, but they could accomplish the same thing by undermining the agency.

3. The Tortured Logic of Account Planning: Look for ads about you the consumer instead of Apple products. Look for moronic online "engagement" gimmicks. Or look for social media pandering.

4. Complications: Part of the brilliance of Apple advertising has been its simplicity.  Keep an eye out for complicated ideas or ads with more than one product.

5. Media: Apple has used online media sparingly. The preponderance of its advertising has been conducted in traditional media -- TV, print, and outdoor. Watch to see if Apple suddenly starts going all trendy and new age in its media choices.

If you start seeing any of these signs coming out of Cupertino, sell your shares.

Advertising will be an early indicator of whether people without vision and taste are moving in at Apple. It will be interesting to watch.

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.

Dream Bigger

"There’s one story that Carmine Gallo thinks will sum up Steve Jobs’ career at Apple. 

An executive who had the job of reinventing the Disney Store once called up Jobs and asked for advice.  Steve’s advice? 

Dream bigger. 

I think that’s the best advice he would give us today and the advice he will continue to offer to Apple as its Chairman.  See genius in your craziness, believe in yourself, believe in your vision, and be constantly prepared to defend those ideas."

TY: Carmine Gallo 

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.

To The Vague

Microsoft has been running their "To The Cloud" campaign for awhile. 

When I see the ads I ask these questions: 

1. What is the goal of the ad - spike curiosity? educate? close a sale?   
2. Who is the desired audience? I tend to see the ad when watching football games.
3. Does the desired audience know what the cloud is? 
4. Does the desired audience know what the benefit of the cloud is? 
5. Does the desired audience know what action to take after the ad has been viewed?
6. Does the cloud require new software or hardware or both? 

 To me, there is not an obvious answer to any of these questions despite a mammoth ad spend by Microsoft. 

Compare these Cloud ads to the iPad TV ads that are running, which are chock full of straight-forward examples of the product and reasons to pay attention and act/buy. 

It is common saying that the first rule of marketing (and medicine) is "Do No Harm". Maybe it should be - Don't Be Vague. 

O.D.O.o.O.D.B. 

Off-Label (re)Positioning

"Kid's Champagne", is what our friend calls the Martinelli's Sparkling (non-alcoholic) Apple Cider they serve, from a bottle that resembles a bottle of Grown Up Champagne. 

The kids love acting like grown ups and, of course, the bubbles that tickle their nose.

I am sure that in this hyper-sensitive era Martinelli's would not dare call their product kid's champagne but they are probably thrilled about this "off-label" description. And, even if the company did object, they couldn't do anything about it since the customer is in control.

O.D.O.o.O.D.B. 

A Rare Commodity - huh?

The words Rare & Commodity get linked frequently as if they belong together. "Her talent's as a salesperson make her a rare commodity."

Why, when one contradicts another?

It makes no sense and you could argue that it makes the person who uses the phrase look like a dolt. 

Ever hear a person call another out for using that phrase? Of course not, just like you never hear a person call another out for ordering a Big Mac, fries and a DIET Coke.

Certain things are just accepted, even when it is blatantly contradictory or flat-out wrong - it just is and, for the most part, you have to live with it or deal with it.

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.

The dog brand

I just read a touching internet email spoken from a dog's point of view. 

Within the note, a great question was asked. Why aren't any cars named after dogs, given that every other (high performance) animal is used as name - Jaguar, Mustang, et al. ?

What a great question - for that matter, why aren't more consumer products associated with the dog - man's best friend, a member of the family, the animal that gets medical care similar to a human, the animal that merits a human-style burial?  

It doesn't have to be just the name, it could be promotional programs and cause-related partnerships. 

Every brand aspires to have an emotional bond with the audience - how about using one of the most emotive elements in humans life as one of the pathways? 

O.D.O.o.O.D.B. 

So, you're the brand manager for Christmas

What would you do? 

The holiday still happens on the same date as it has for millennia - December 25th.

All the commercial activity is based on the date because a very big event happened on that date.  

Yet people are changing your brand, including the name/description, the symbols and the language.

In fact, they are keeping all the commercial activity but deleting your brand name from it. Kinda like renaming Independence Day, "BBQ & Firework Day". Seems that in this day and age if your brand offends someone, anyone in fact, it needs to be muted in some way.

What should you do, Mr. Christmas Brand Manager? 

There are countless examples of brands that have won and continue to have tons of success by polarizing the market - brands that take a hard stand for something they believe in and willing to fight for. 

So, Brand Manager, it's your brand and your call --- fight or flight?

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.

Social Security as a marketing strategy

Doug Degn famously stated that Walmart serves customers who live paycheck to paycheck. 

Confining yourself just to that statement, Walmart is all about the size of the paycheck, regardless of age, sex, ethnicity, race, location and so on. 

Maybe a smart CPG marketer could more clearly define and serve a piece of this audience, say the person living on their monthly social security check. The SS recipient is a large and growing audience and many, maybe most, feel quite stressed about how they are going to make ends meet on this limited amount of funds.

Could a smart marketer create a line of products that would persuade and delight enough SS recipients to make it a viable business? 

The packaging could generally reflect the graphic elements of a SS Card to establish a firm brand identity. 

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.

Flu & Shot

It's is now common to see newspaper ads, TV ads and banners inside and outside of drug stores proclaiming "Flu Shots". 

Both of these words are toxic to the average consumer. I mean, what puts you off more, having the flu or getting a shot.

Yet, the marketing mavens at the drug store chains insist on doubling-down and putting the two words together in the hopes of crafting a persuasive message.

How about: Flu Vaccine (if it can be called a vaccine); Flu Prevention (tell her about the shot after you explain the benefits of getting the treatment); Flu Pre-Treatment; Flu Defense; Flu Intercept; Can't Flu You (get it?).

Anything but Flu & Shot.

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.