My post on CPGBranding.com this week was inspired by the latest Healthy Choice and U commercials. These ads chose to go into the future by abandoning their past. This is particularly the case with U by Kotex.
These ads mock every other feminine care ads in the past. The point was to say that “we get it” to their target audience: the young ladies who are newly initiated to the world of feminine care. However, such ad put forth a positioning that U is different, U gets it. Therefore, now we will have to see if U can fulfill this promise. U is now beyond its functions. It’s about the colorful packaging. It’s about the online knowledge and support. It’s about connecting with these young ladies.
Today, I was remind of an axiom: Great ads make bad products fail faster. So, the test for U is to see if it can really connect with these young ladies!
As a young marketer, I have learned so much from so many on the internet. Recently, I participated in a discussion about the difference between a brand and a commodity. In this discussion, I came across an experienced marketer that gave me so much to think about. It also inspired my contribution this week on CPG Branding and Marketing Forum. Check it out here!
In so many ways, the internet has been a wonderful tool. Yet, as a marketer, the internet has brought many headaches.
As the digital world grows more and more robust, brand managers are struggling to keep up. There are many whispers about control. Have marketers lost control? Have the newly empowered masses took control? How would marketers regain control? Should marketers try to go backward or just go forward? Are marketers even equipped to do our jobs in this changing world? Or does this new world of marketing require a different set of skills? A different way of thinking?
There are many questions, yet there are few answers.
We may not have the answers. We may not be ready. But the world is changing. I know that as a marketer. I also know this as a consumer. Last week, I was trying to attend a virtual event. I had problems logging in. My first thought was to twitter for help. My second action was to comment on the facebook wall of the organizer. I did not do so for the sake of whining and complaining. I did so expecting help. In fact, I expected immediate help!
The old rules of marketing are becoming null and void. Yet, new rules have not been thoroughly defined. The internet has the power to influence everything. But how? We thought that the internet killed the TV. Yet, the recent Olympic Games show that there is a water cooler effect of sort that’s happening online, thus boosting TV viewership! So, the internet is killing and reviving TV at the same time. It’s a very confusing time, where the rules of game are constantly revolving.
And it’s not even just about the internet. So much is changing so fast. But, each of that deserves their own posts. Watch out for them!
It’s a challenging time to be a marketer, but an exciting time.
I knew long ago that this week’s blog post was going to be about Super Bowl ads. It’s unfortunate that most of the commercials were unexciting… The consumer generated contents continue to create some of the most interesting commercials, in my opinion. Which begs the question of why are marketers paying so much money to ad agencies when crowdsourcing has proven time and again to be a great alternative? In fact, there were some downright awful ads!
Awesome + Awesome = Awesomer does not work! That kind of silly execution may be aligned with Emerald Nuts’ brand equity, but it does nothing for Pop Secret. Though, being the bad ad does generate some publicity (hence people like me talking about it). Also, it is “ground breaking” in the fact that it tries to communicate way more than what a commercial is supposed to do (i.e. to promote two brands). But, in the end, in my opinion, it doesn’t work.
So, I ask again, why are ad agencies still in business? Because ad agencies have really good salespeople, who know how to make us corporate folks feel good about how we’re spending our money.
If I was to be the judge and the jury, the consumer generated CareerBuilder ad titled “Worst Seat” would win best ad this year.
Too often, people remember funny commercial, but forget the brand. I believe this ad successfully achieved both.
Consider the audience of the game, this kind of fart joke humor appeals to the demographics. Yet, everyone could easily identify with this commercial. It may not be farting, but we all know how it feels to sit between two idiots.
However, the humor did not distract from the main message that it’s time to move on. Find a new job, and Careerbuilder can help.
This ad is the summation of a larger campaign where consumers generated the content, and voted on the content. It is this kind of comprehensive campaigns that makes a $3 million ad spot worthwhile. Considering the economy and the job market right now, it’s surprising that Careerbuilder’s main competitors have not been more aggressive with ad spend during this game.
Google’s “Parisian Love” did win hearts everywhere, while showing off everything Google. So maybe there is some value in having good ad agencies still.
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