Fresh Thinking Starts Here

Be The Fuel For Your Customers - Not The Car

With Exxon-Mobil recently reporting another record profit of over $45 billion for 2008 while General Motors just released a(nother) fourth quarter loss of nearly $10 billion, it got me thinking - in these difficult times, do you want to be your customer's car or their fuel?

You see, when times are great consumers are much more likely to go through their cars faster - trading up for the latest and greatest every few years.  But when times get tough, they start to realize that those cars are actually built to last MUCH longer.  And so they hold on to them.  And car inventories grow.  And car companies go out of business.

But whether they get the newest cars or keep their old ones, consumers still need gas to drive them.  Sure, they may try to drive less distance (or even more as they try to avoid more costly air travel), but they still will need to get from point A to point B whether they are in a brand new 2009 model or a 9 year old Ford Explorer (like me).

People may build fewer houses and move less, but they still need heat.  Parents may buy less toys, but they still need batteries to keep the old ones going. Families may go out to eat less, but they still need to eat. You get my point.

Now, don't get me wrong.  Most everybody and most every business is feeling the pain right now.  But the things that are required to keep things running will always fare better than the things they help run.

How can you ensure that you become your customer's fuel and not their vehicle?

Can Logos and Taglines Make People Happier?

That seems to be the line of thought these days as lots of companies are jumping on the bandwagon of smiley faced logos ("Kraft Latest Marketer to Cheer Up Its Logo") and/or happiness-inspiring tag lines, such as:

Dunkin Donuts - "You kin do it!"

Coke - "Open Happiness"

OfficeMax - "Life is beautiful.  Work can be too."

IKEA - "Embrace Change"

Kraft - "Make Today Delicious"

Pepsi - "Every Generation Refreshes The World"

I know that research must be telling marketers that, in this messed up world of foreclosures and layoffs and bankruptcies and busted pyramid schemes, people more than ever are looking for rays of sunshine and reasons to believe that good will overcome evil and that everything will be all right. 

The problem is, how does this all relate back to Authenticity?  Do people really believe that Coke will make them happy?  Do they really believe that work can be beautiful right now?  And even if they do, aren't they setting themselves up for a big disappointment when they discover that there is no rainbow nor pot of gold right now?

I'm wondering who is going to be the first one to address this crappy situation we are in head-on and provide real, authentic information as to how they fit in.  Here are some of my suggestions based on the above:

Dunkin Donuts - "With everything else going on, are you really going to deny yourself a donut???"

OfficeMax - "Work will still suck, you might as well pay less for paper"

Pepsi - "The last generation really screwed things up - let's distance ourselves!"

Just some thoughts - clearly I'm no ad creative!

Asacker on Understanding Brand Obama

Highly encourage this quick read from Tom Asacker...

http://tinyurl.com/bb3g4v

When In Doubt...Get Loud!

A new study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, and covered in the TIME article "Competence: Is Your Boss Faking It?" concludes that dominant out-spoken group members are perceived as competent and knowledgeable - even if it wasn't true - just because they spoke up.  In fact, the conclusion was:

"Speak up, speak well and offer lots of ideas, and before long, people will begin doing what you say."

Hmmm...this kind of blind faith in folks who present themselves as knowing the answers seems like it could be a formula for disaster for the economy.  Wait a minute....

New Pepsi Logo Design Process - Pure Genius or Pure BS?

I was recently playing poker at a casino when a guy who was about as drunk as one could be and still stand sat down at the table.  We all knew he was drunk...mainly because he could barely talk and he kept saying "I'm so drunk I can barely see."  He sat down with a lot of chips, and proceeded to create a mess as he unsuccessfully tried to stack them...MANY times.

As you might imagine, all the other folks at the table immediately started salivating - kind of like Alec Baldwin in the Hulu commercial (which I really like, by the way).  One thought took over the collective consciousness (of which the drunk guy was not part of - as he was barely conscious) - "FREE MONEY - ALL YOU CAN EAT."

The first pot he enters he raises without even thinking, then continues his reckless betting throughout the hand until he pushes all his chips on on the last card.  The only other guy in the pot folds to the huge bet only to be humiliated when the drunk guy turns over...nothing, squadoosh, not even a single pair - total bluff.  The next hand he does the same exact thing, except the last guy to remain in the pot calls his huge final bet only to have the drunk guy turn over...the NUTS - the absolute best hand possible.  Two hands and this guy has now quadrupled his money.

So now I start to think that maybe this guy has been pulling one over on us.  Maybe he is not drunk at all.  Maybe he knows exactly what he's doing - each slurred word, each drool, each knocked over chip stack carefully choreographed to elicit exactly the feeding frenzy mentality that overwhelmed the table.  And he was making a lot of money at it!

Of course, he then proceeded to give away every last penny he had in his wallet.  You see, as it turned out, he really was super drunk and had no idea what he was doing.

I can't help but have the same conflicting thoughts as I have read about the recent Pepso logo overhaul and the supposedly leaked document from Arnell that provides either the (depending on who you are and how you look at it) rationale of a genius or the insane ramblings of a self-important, arrogant, full of BS madman.  If you haven't read the document, you can download it here (Download PEPSI GRAVITATIONAL FIELD). 

I know nearly nothing about the origins or mechanics or art of design, but I can't help but think that this whole thing is a PR stunt when I read about the explanations of the Pepsi logo's gravitational pull (compared to that of light) and the dynamic "Pepsi Energy Fields", which are likened to the "Magnetic Fields that exert forces on the inner and outer surfaces of the Earth." 

Is this all a brilliant ploy to generate publicity (although, even though the adage goes "No publicity is bad publicity" most of the blogosphere has been RIPPING this thing apart...)?  Or is it for real - in which case it is either pure genius that will actually use gravity to pull shoppers off their path directly into the shelf where the Pepsi is located OR it is pure crap that was conjured up to justify a multi-million dollar logo design project. 

My guess is that the truth won't be as easy to determine or quick to come by as it was with the drunk poker guy.  I'm actually hoping it is genius - especially given the link between the brain's interpretation of advertising information and a consumer's purchase behavior (as layed out in "Buyology").

What do you think?

Buyology Explains Why Accidents Increase By Over 40% on Friday the 13th!

Check out this interesting video post by Martin Lindstrom - in the US, traffic accidents increase by over 40% on Friday the 13th!  Talk about subliminal messaging!

The fear of Friday the 13th even has a clinical name - paraskevidekatriaphobia - and this article from AAA quotes a doctor who states that over 21 million Americans suffer from this disease (which is precisely 4.5 times the number of Americans who can actually pronounce it).

But, as Lindstrom explains, this type of superstition and fear does not come about out of stupidity - our brains are actually hard-wired for this type of stuff.  Smart brands have figured this out and have developed their own superstitions or rituals that are built into the strength of the brand (think Corona and the lime ritual...). 

The thing is, it would appear that the harder times get, the more people look outside their own realm of control for answers and direction.  Look for more and more brands to start trying to figure out how to capitalize on this and form relationships with consumers that go beyond the rational and into the ritual, the superstitious and the mystical...

"Buyology," the best-selling book from Martin Lindstrom holds a lot of the answers.  Even better Martin is putting on two full day symposiums that will dive deep into the implications from the study for marketers and advertisers.  Find out more here (adage.com/buyology).

Obama Marketing Dilemma - Celebrity Is Fickle and Fleeting

 In reading the Ad Age Daily email newsletter today, there are two articles right next to each other that stirred some thought about the issues President Obama may face in the coming months and years.  First was an article entitled "Obama Trumps Gump" which outlines how the President now tops the list in terms of the most influential celebrities - knocking Tom Hanks off his perch.  The second, entitled "Recession-Ravaged Retailers Leave Celebrity Brands Stranded" is mostly about the slew of apparel retailer failures and the subsequent effects on the recent explosion of celebrity named brands - from clothing to perfume.

It got me thinking though, how good of a thing is it that Obama is seen as a celebrity?  Of course, it was great in terms of mobilizing key voter segments and getting him elected.  But in the long run, the problem is that celebrity, by nature, is fleeting.  It revolves and thrives on drama and conflict.  It breeds factions, passionate followers AND disbelievers, and invites a level of scrutiny that goes well beyond the political and into the personal - things like fashion and health and relationships, etc...

This post is not political in any way - just looking at the concept of celebrity.  Say what you will about George Bush, but no one ever cared what suit he was wearing or what dress his wife was wearing to a ball; no one wanted to see pictures of him in a bathing suit; no one thought about hanging out with him on the red carpet.

The other thing about celebrity is that is can be distracting.  I'm sure it takes a lot of energy to keep up the profile that places you in celebrity A-list.

But, most important, when the rubber hits the road, when people are losing jobs, when they don't have money to support their families, they tend to start caring a whole lot less about celebrity.  In fact, they may even turn their frustration towards those they've held up on the pedestal and adored.  When that happens, celebrity brands of jeans and shirts and perfume don't do as well - people want value and substance and they aren't willing to overlook previously forgiven flaws or imperfections for the sake of celebrity.

I'm not saying that Obama has displayed specific flaws or imperfections, I'm just saying that, in these times, it is going to be incredibly important for him to not get caught up in the celebrity game.  He can't be making jokes about Jessica Simpson and the news about her weight getting in the way of his magazine cover.  He can't say things like "I screwed up" - language you would expect to hear from a hipster.  A President needs to be above things like magazine covers and his language should be more refined and leader-like than "I screwed up" (options might be "I erred" or "I have made a mistake", you get the idea).  Can you imagine if George W. Bush had said something like that (forget about the implications in terms of his political policies, I'm just focusing on the actual three words, which if he had spoken them would have brought on a barage of dumb fraternity guy jokes...In fact, his father was called out for shocking people when he used the same slang during a speech on a college campus).

It is possible to maintain your celebrity without drifting into the world of Entourage.  Just look at the guy Obama displaced from the top of the celebrity list - Tom Hanks.  Here's a guy who seems to be as straight laced and drama free of any celebrity out there.  He's cool and respected without being flashy.  And he is a rarity in the world of celebrity - one that lasts.  Lots of lessons for Obama from Gump if you ask me...which, of course, you didn't...