Like Marketing = Like Advertising?

This popped up on my Facebook page.  Maybe “too many” who like Marketing like Advertising?

Hardee’s Successfully Integrates Mass and Social Media

Many try, few succeed. I’m talking about successfully integrating mass media with social media. But it looks like Hardee’s might have found the sweet spot with their new “Name Our Holes” campaign.

Many of you probably know that Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr are basically the same company, but just called different names in different markets.  I happen to live in a Carl’s Jr market, so I heard about this campaign from my friend Tim, who just happens to be the guy conducting the “consumer research” in the videos.

The whole thing works because it includes all of the necessary mass and social media elements

1. The videos are edgy, funny and memorable.
2. The TV spots encourage the consumer to get involved and contribute the the fun they’re seeing on TV at the website.
3. The website does more than just repeat what consumers already saw online.  It offers up a few extra “too edgy for TV” spots so that they can be spread around the web.
4. The website allows consumers to participate at various levels of engagement. If you want to record a webcam video, you can. If you’re not that kind of person, you can do a write-in. And if you just want to watch and vote, you can do that too.  Too many campaigns rely on getting super-engaged consumers to participate. The reality is that they’re aren’t too many of those out there.
5. The website facilitates sharing. They make it easy to embed links, post them on Facebook or Tweet them.
6. Then they figure out how to make even the lesser engaged consumers feel like they’re a part of the process by emailing them a custom video featuring their content!  I’m not the type of person who records webcam stuff, but I did submit a name for their holes and found it to be pretty cool to see my name on their commercial.
7. Most importantly, the whole campaign stimulates on and offline word-of-mouth.  Yes, it’s cool for consumers to spread the videos around using social media platforms.  But it’s even cooler when consumers talk about and recommend the brand because they came up with a funny name.  Plus, Hardee’s really wins because they don’t even need to use the silly, sexual innuendo names.
8. The campaign will continue to live when the TV commercials are long gone because Hardee’s gave consumers permission to call they whatever they want.  A great example of  letting consumer take control of the brand.

Nice work, Hardee’s. Really nice work.  And I gotta say that my friend Tim’s great role as the  straightman makes the videos even funnier.

I Gotta Get This Off My Chest

This Brett Farve Wrangler commercial has bugged the shit out of me for a while now.  Here’s why:

1. Is Brett Farve such an ego maniac that he wears a number “4″ t-shirt when he’s not on the field.  Does he really need to remind people that he’s Brett Farve and he wears number 4 on the field?
2. This is obviously a pick up football game out at some farm.  Can’t Brett give up the spotlight for a day and let someone else play QB?  What about blocking for a change, Brett?
3. Is it really necessary to call audibles?  If you listen closely, he’s apparently changing the play at the line of scrimmage.  I mean, are they planning out some audibles in-between plays?

(for those of you on RSS, click here for the video)

(for those of you that don’t know me, I’m just having some fun with this.  I know why advertisers do this shit.  But it still bugs the crap out of me.)

more about “I Gotta Get this off my Chest“, posted with vodpod

Bum-vertising!

You know, when you think about it, Bum-vertising isn’t really all that different than a celebrity taking money to endorse a brand they would never even think about using.  Think Tiger Woods and Buick.

This guy is homeless and therefore doesn’t know anything about selling a home.  But somehow, isn’t he more believable that Tiger driving a LeSabre?

Via Spur.

more about “Bum-vertising!“, posted with vodpod

Guess What They’re Selling

Here are a couple photos of a billboard that I see pretty much everyday. My challenge for you:

Can you tell me what they’re selling?  Don’t even worry about the brand, I just want to know what industry they’re in.

(Scroll down to see the answer)

Ready for the answer?

It’s granola…I think.  (FYI, my guess was a mountain resort)

Beer: The Movie

I came up with an idea today: There should be a movie about marketing beer.  As it turns out, there already is one – from 1985.  I’m about 20 minutes in to the flick and here have already been several scenes that are completely out-dated:

• A memo being copied and distributed by hand
• Smoking in the board room
• 3-piece suits
• Believing that a big advertising campaign will save a brand (great scene at the 20 minute mark)

This movie is 23 years old after all, so it stands to reason that things have changed in the beer business.  Too bad a lot of breweries today haven’t realized this.

Are you thinking what I’m thinking?  REMAKE!

more about “Beer – The Movie“, posted with vodpod

Do You Really Think Ad Reps Care About Your Business?

A guy I used to work with used to say something really funny (but true) about advertising sales people.  He said:

“THEY’RE NOT YOUR FRIENDS!”

He said this because in this particular company, the sales people were somewhat empowered to make media buys.  And when these sales people would come to us (the Marketing Dept.) with a media buy, they would say, “My friend is a rep at this radio station and she’s giving me a great deal” or “My buddy sells billboard space and he’s cutting us a special rate”.

He coined this phrase because he had to literally convince our people that they really were not friends with the reps.  The reps were just selling them.

I’m not sure if I need to go as far as saying that you can’t be friends with them, but I do know this: If ad reps sincerely cared about your business:

• They would check in with you on a quarterly basis to see how your brand is performing and not just when it’s time to re-up the contract.
• They would report the growth or other positive news of the medium they’re selling throughout the year – and not just when you’re up for renewal.
• They would bring opportunities to the table that are good for the brand and not just for their bonus check.

As always, there are some exceptions to the rule but for the most part, THEY’RE NOT YOUR BUSINESS PARTNERS.