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25
Dec
Up In The Air
Jeannie Chan

Up In The Air, staring George Clooney, opens nationwide on Christmas. I previewed the movie and enjoyed it. My friends gave it just okay reviews. See for yourself, and give your own ratings.

But, why am I writing about a movie on this blog? Because I thought it was great movie for product placement. Unlike James Bond movies where each product flashes in front of you for mere seconds, the products in this movie were an integral part of the movie. They really sold it. I think it was one of the best movies for product placement since the Italian Job.

What products were featured? American Airline, Hilton, Travelpro, and Hertz. Just to name a few.

Travelpro is a line of luggage. This movie showed again and again how great these luggage moves. They spin. They roll. They go everywhere with ease. All the cool jetsetters use them. Way better than the old clunky suitcases you may have at home (in fact, there is a scene dedicated to this point).

Hertz, it gets you in and out fast. If you’re a Hertz loyal customer, you can get in and out in seconds. No long lines. In fact, they will “move mountains” to get you the car you want.

Hilton hotels have plush soft beds, and comfy little robes and slippers. Hilton hotels offer all the comfort of home and then some, well, at least to a guy that travels for a living. Of course, don’t forget about the Hiltons HHonors program! It’s a great promotion (George Clooney said it, not me). Plus, you get to skip the lines and get the preferred VIP treatment! Loyalty pays.

Talking about Loyalty, let’s talk about the featured star: American Airline. American Airline can take you everywhere! It satisfies even the needs of someone who travels over 340 days and 300,000 miles a year! And once again, loyalty pays. If you’re a loyal customer, you get to use exclusive lounges, be greeted by a custom greeting, and even, if you’re really really really loyal, get your own dedicated customer service phone line. Ahh, I want to join AAdvantage now!

Ahh, product placement… when done well it’s integrated into the story line, while leaving you with a good impression of the brand.

Photo credit: American Airlines, originally uploaded by anneh632.

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11
Oct
Money vs Time
Jeannie Chan

This week I learned that the more money you have, the less time you have to spend on any particular tasks. You could hire someone to do it for you.

However, if you don’t have the money, you’d have to spend more time.

This is the equation that any marketer must understand. You don’t need to have a lot of money to have a successful campaign. However, the smaller your budget, the harder each dollar must work, the more creative you’d have to be, the more work you’d have to do yourself. The larger the budget, the more crazy stuffs you could try, the more you could have someone else do the work for you.

However, a small budget shouldn’t limit the success of your marketing campaign.

What’s sad is that this formula, that’s so obvious with small businesses, is sometimes forgotten by big companies.

This is the new economy. This is the new reality. This is a new year. This is the new budget. Everyone of us needs to learn to do more with less.

Photo Credit: funny money, originally uploaded by Material Boy.

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04
Oct
Failed Starbucks Via Challenge
Jeannie Chan

Today I took the Starbucks Via challenge… and I was disappointed.

First of all, I could tell the difference. I didn’t know which was which, but I could tell the difference… and I did not like Via. The regular brew had a cleaner taste. So, the challenge did not sway me to buy Via.

However, I learned something about Via… it could be instantly dissolved in cold water, or cold milk! Imagine the possibility in the summer! But, wait… it’s only 50 degrees out… I don’t need a cold coffee… So, that’s an irrelevant message to me. However, I believe that Starbucks would launch a cold Via campaign in the summer. But of course, the problem would be how to differentiate this against the Starbucks’ bottled Frappacino.

Toward the end of the demonstration, I learned something even more exciting about Via. I learned that Starbucks designed the most nifty travel mug for Via. It is a regular travel mug, with a twist off cap that allows easy storage of the Via packages. Now, why isn’t this the focus of the campaign?

I understand that Starbucks is about taste, but Via is about the on-the-go lifestyle Americans have. In addition, a quick survey online would reveal that many could taste the difference between Via and the fresh brew. I am not alone in this. So, by solely focusing on taste, Via’s campaign is missing the opportunity to truly address what the product brings to the consumers’ life. Via’s branding should not be built on taste, something people already expect from a Starbucks product. Of course, people would wonder if Via could deliver on taste, but it isn’t a problem, unless Via really couldn’t deliver… People would not buy Via because of taste. They buy Via because it’s convenient! They buy Via because they wouldn’t have to make a coffee stop. They buy Via because they wouldn’t have to wait in line for a coffee. They buy Via because they could save two minutes in the morning!

Now, let me also give you the context of how this demonstration went. The barista was very diligent in focusing on the taste message. However, being a coffee addict and a marketer, I was particularly interested about this product launch. So, I stuck around and chatted with the Barista a little. It was after I was given the coupon, and the other couple that was also at that particular demonstration had left, that I learned about the cold brewing and the travel mug. Now, imagine how many people never knew about those two really cool facts about Via. How much potential sale lost…

Photo credit: Starbucks Via travel mug, originally uploaded by mhaithaca.

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