Monsters University, a new Pixar film premiering in June 2013, has launched a website for, well, Monsters University. The site, monstersuniversity.com/edu, deserves an A+ for fun and an A++ for creative execution. Read more
Company B Client in the News: Sherry Orel of Brand Connections, Make Sure Your Marathon Pitch Makes It to the Finish Line, Not the Trash Bin, AdAge
Once again, Sherry Orel, CEO of Brand Connections, brings her expertise in product sampling and brand sponsorships to the readers of AdAge.
Just in time for the NYC marathon, she explains how to create race sponsorships that really get attention. Sherry’s writing is smart, insightful and just plain fun to read.
Read this article in the “CMO Strategy” section of AdAge and let me know what you think.
Another week, another consumer uproar. Mattel teams up with tokidoki (cute name) to launch a collectible Barbie with pink hair, leopard-spotted leggings and a body full of tattoos. She’s a gorgeous, edgy cartoon.
Enter the complainers, who say that the doll sends the message to young girls and tweens that tattoos are okay and to them, that’s wrong. Well, look around; lots of people have tattoos. A Pew research study from 2006 found that 36 percent of adults 18 to 25 have at least one, so do 40% of adults ages 26-40. Body piercings are popular, too. That doesn’t make them bad people.
Mattel had to have anticipated this firestorm. An article in the UK Daily Mail helpfully outlines a history of tattoed Barbies that raised a ruckus with consumers. There was Butterfly Barbie in 1999 and Totally Stylin’ Tattoos in 2009, the tattoos were stick-on. The 1999 gal was pulled from the shelves after parents complained. Totally Stylin’ stayed on shelf, which is too bad because that name is just too awful. I’m not sure that I would have wanted to buy my daughter anything labeled “Totally Stylin.’”
This time around, Mattel isn’t budging. They issued a statement noting that the doll is aimed at collectors. Naturally, major media have joined in to fill in the blanks. Is a tattooed Barbie going to harm young girls? Doubtful.
Taken at face value, this new Barbie shouldn’t be raising the attention that it has. Barbie breaking boundaries is old news. Tattoos on Barbie is twenty year-old news. That a tattooed Barbie would raise the ire of some parents and be accepted by others is so predictable. There is nothing, absolutely nothing new.
But news it is, and the Mattel + tokidoki team is standing firm: this doll isn’t being marketed to kids. It was sold on the Barbiecollector.com site. The only puzzler is that the doll was released pre-holiday. I’m sure that a few of the complainers scratched Barbie off their holiday lists as a result of the so-called controversy. But there are lots of other gifts that could have worse impact on young kids: iphones for 10 year olds, say.
Oh, one more thing: her pet, a dog dressed up to look like a cactus, is called ‘Bastardino’ and her silver sparkly shoes are sky-high platforms. Total fun. Unfortunately, she’s sold out.
What do you think of the fuss around tokidoki Barbie?
Dr. Pepper recently introduced a new 10-calorie version of its diet drink, aimed at men. The soda can features rivets. I know. They’re not real, but still.
The company launched a Facebook app for men, called “The Ten Man-ments,” is advertising during college football games, trying to capture the man who wants a diet drink but doesn’t want to really admit that to anyone. The tagline? “It’s not for women.”
Not surprisingly, the campaign has backfired. According to Wavemetrix, it’s generating lots of negative attention. Men say they’re okay with the positioning but agree it’s offensive and women have taken to the social media channels saying they’ll take their diet drink business elsewhere.
See the video here:
The Dr. Pepper people say that the campaign is supposed to be a joke. But no one seems to be getting it. What happened?
The difference between how Venus and Mars behave let marketers tell a compelling story.(rivets?). Conflict is at the heart of great storytelling. But brands can risk taking that conflict too far.
But what’s interesting here is how the Dr. Pepper marketing people covered their bases when talking about new soda to the press. They said that 40% of people who tried and approved of the diet drink in six test markets were women. So who is the brand really aimed at, anyway?
Well, everyone, it seems, and perhaps that’s the intention. A campaign that’s skewed to be provocative can benefit from a public relations campaign to tell the story to all possible audiences, with a wink and a nod to the targeted core. If Dr. Pepper 10 doesn’t go by the way of New Coke, I can see a phase two campaign where women bloggers are invited to an immersion in the 10-calorie Dr. Pepper experience, follow the “The Man-ments” for a month – and chart their experiences with it on their blogs. Maybe the brand sponsors a Top-Chef quick-fire that pits the guys against the gals to come up with the healthiest dish using the soda that will appeal to a duo of 10-calorie Dr. Pepper tasters (man and woman). You follow?
Oh, and for the record, I think the ad is funny. It shows men being so stupid that I, for one, can’t possibly take it seriously. Will that turn me into a Dr. Pepper 10 drinker? I don’t think so, the brand told me that it doesn’t want me, in no uncertain terms.
Company B Client in the News: Sherry Orel of Brand Connections, Get Inside a Customer’s Mind at the Moment Your Message Appears, AdAge
With over 20 years of marketing experience, Brand Connections’ President, Sherry Orel, knows a thing or two about brand messaging. She also know the most effective approach to delivering a brand’s message requires more than clever copy and creative; it’s about timing too.
It’s no wonder she captured the editor’s attention at AdAge; her smart take on dwell-time media is not only insightful, but lively too.
Read this article in the “CMO Strategy” section of AdAge.
Company B Client in the News: 4Sight, Old Ketchup Packet Heads for Trash, The Wall Street Journal
There are two types of changes: evolutionary and revolutionary. An “evolutionary” change is gradual, occurring over time, while a “revolutionary” change is sudden and complete.
To revolutionize something, you need to think creatively, solve a real problem and approach the solution from a different perspective than before.
That’s exactly what Company B and KalvinPR client, 4sight, did when redesigning a new ketchup packet for Heinz. Their new packet design solves the 40 year old problem — ketchup packets spurt.
The news first appeared in The Wall Street Journal and was subsequently picked up by many other other national news outlets.
Read the article, which appeared on the front page of the Marketplace section of The Wall Street Journal and watch the story from CBS below.
Hallmark is marketing unemployment cards – and the creative director of the company was on NPR to talk about it. Greeting cards aimed at the unemployed are perfect PR fodder and the mainstream news media has jumped to the bait. Time, The Washington Post, the LA Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer all covered. The story is getting attention because the notion is so counter-intuitive.
I can see how Hallmark decided to create a greeting card line to help soothe suffering souls and bolster the spirits of job-seekers. Hallmark believes that its products help make people’s days brighter. That’s what greeting cards typically do. A company “spokesman” has also been quoted as saying that he doesn’t expect the new line to be a barn-burner. Hmmm.
By Hallmark promoting the effort, the company PR team is drumming up attention for the brand during a slow season for greeting cards. That may have been the strategy in the first place. But I think that spending $3 on a card and sending it to someone who likely gave up their daily $3 Starbucks habit (and a whole lot more) seems off the mark. The public relations campaign supporting these cards feels icky to me. Even though our instincts as PR people tell us that we have a good story to tell; we have to stop and ask ‘why?’ Maybe there are stories that are better left untold.
Perhaps these cards would have been more meaningful if they were in the value price range of around a dollar or, better yet, offered as a free e-card? Hallmark could have built good will with a campaign aimed at helping the social good. For example with each purchase, Hallmark donates a portion of the proceeds towards an organization that provides job training. That’s a good story to tell.
What do you think about the Hallmark story? Good PR, or not-so-good?
The flawless PR for Target’s Missoni launch made me proud of our profession.
Until the website crashed.
Here’s what I had to say about it in Marketing Daily. The editors titled it “Rant.” They should have been better prepared, don’t you agree?
Read my piece in the Marketing Daily commentary.