Unconventional Times Call for Unconventional Marketing
David Armano is the VP of Experience Design with Critical Mass in Chicago. He describes his blog, Logic+Emotion, as existing at the intersection of business + experience design—where passive consumers become active participants. His posts are also shared with the audience of Advertising Age, both in print and online. Last week’s post examines the difference between starting a personal blog and embarking on a large corporate marketing campaign. He was able to take an unconventional approach to his blog that would not have been appropriate in many marketing organizations.
As an individual, my blog is one of the most effective manifestations of “marketing” I could have produced for myself. I have a respectable audience that comes back as opposed to visiting it once, never to return again. People participate through comments and the content is distributable. But imagine if I started it the same way many large organizations launch conventional marketing initiatives. What would that have looked like?
Continue reading David Armano’s post on Advertising Age
His message is clear. Sometimes marketers get so handcuffed by planning, focus groups, ROI and process that they never leave the gate, and the project never gets off the ground. He wisely states that sometimes the development of the project itself and the skills learned along the way are the ROI.
And his title is very appropriate. In these unconventional times, marketers need to look at projects in new and unconventional ways.
The Five Biggest Digital Marketing Cliches
Mark Cregar wrote a post that appeared on the Ad Age blog about the Five Biggest Digital Marketing cliches. He explains why they are cliches, offers examples, and offers alternatives to the cliches.
They are:
The Social Network Page
The Second Life Storefront
The Online Ad Contest
The Social Network
The Online Branded Entertainment Series
In the end, marketing needs to serve the needs of the brand, and sometimes good executions of these cliches are just what is needed.
Next Jerry and Bill Ad
Still no computers. Still no Windows. Still no good. This is 4 and a half minutes of mess. Wonder what the 30 second tv edit looks like? That is even if they are planning on tv for this spot. This could be the ultimate viral campaign that doesn’t make it to tv for a while, as the internet explodes at how bad the spots are. We are all getting hoodwinked into thinking, but more importantly talking about, how bad these are. But that is the buzz generating part of the campaign. Finally, a really good spot goes to tv with a clear, forward-thinking branding message about Windows. Nah, it will probably just be more toenail clipping and toy stealing.
Design a Stop Sign
What if a modern corporation’s marketing staff commissioned their agency to design a stop sign? Here’s a video posted on Wall Street Fighter:
http://view.break.com/542649 – Watch more free videos
Where to Put Your URL
I have always been a proponent of putting your URL, or web address, on everything that appears before your customers and potential customers. With enough repetition, your customers will learn your URL. This is not so important with the prevalence of Google and the use of search engines. Rather than typing a URL they know, many people go straight to Google, type in the company name, and click on the link. With this behavior becoming commonplace, the inclusion of a web address is less about the address itself, but part of a company’s branding and a reminder that they have a web site (even though everyone has a web site).
But I am now wondering if there is such a thing as going too far with a URL. Is a tattoo going too far? Not for the right audience. What about a billboard? Five years ago, it was a questionable tactic, especially if it was hard to remember, but now with smart phones, people can actually surf over to the site from their cars. But I wonder why my shower head has an 800 number and a web address printed on the front of it. Phones in the bathroom are not that unusual, but computers in the bathroom? You can get a waterproof radio, but do you really want to get a waterproof touch screen for the shower wall? And why would I want to go to the web site of an off brand shower head installed by the builder of my house, anyway?
Marketing in the Air
On a recent trip I saw this Pittsburgh Steeler painted USAirways plane on the ground in Detroit. Since things like this don’t ever happen without press releases, it is pretty easy to find the story about this plane. As part of the marketing agreement with the Steelers, USAirways painted the plane to support operations and employees in Pittsburgh and a 60 year history in the city.
The marketing side of this is more clearly stated by Steelers Director of Marketing Tony Quatrini. “A Steelers-themed airplane is fitting because we have fans who travel from all over the country on US Airways to see our games.”
This trend of decorative paint schemes has a long history, with Southwest painting planes since the mid 1990s. Many planes honored destinations served by the airline, but there have been several Southwest planes painted as part of marketing agreements (Shamu One: Sea World and Slam Dunk One: NBA).
Here are some links:
USA Today Gallery of Decorative Planes
Aviation.com Gallery of Southwest Planes
Kids’ Business Plan
My kids are working on their business plan today. They are creating a business to sell their drawings. My 9 year old son is the artist and my 7 year old daughter is the manager.
They have developed a product pricing scheme based on the medium of the drawing (crayon is less expensive than marker). We have talked about target markets and means to reach those markets. With a little bit of guidance and some leading questions, they are developing a pretty solid marketing plan for the business.
They rejected the ebay store because they don’t think strangers would purchase any of the drawings. I did convince that we could post the pictures on the internet (website or blog with a unique domain name pointing to it).
We even talked about licensing and royalties and how it affects the creative choices made in developing artwork. My son can still draw a picture of Mickey Mouse, but if he wanted to sell it, he would have to pay the Walt Disney Company a royalty. The kids did not like the minimum advance paid against the contract, especially if they didn’t sell as many drawings as expected. They didn’t think that was fair. I told them that was business.
Watch this space for more information about their business.
Zombie Brands
There’s a recent piece in Slate.com about marketers’ penchant to resurrect old and dead brands like a horde of zombies:
Last October, few tears were shed when Ford ended production of the Taurus. The unlovely, workhorse sedan had been the company’s best-selling unit for much of the 1990s, mostly because of huge sales to rental-car companies. Shutting down production was a sign that Ford, in the midst of a serious restructuring, was looking to the future. But then in February, Ford announced that it would resume producing a car with the Taurus nameplate in the summer of 2007. continue reading
There has even been a follow-up, a return of the zombie brands article.