Go Daddy.

Whether you agree with Bob Parsons, the CEO of GoDaddy.com, or not, you have to admire his tactics. Here’s a man who knows how to use advertising.  It is “we’re here” advertising, which in my book is lazy but people are noticing it. And they certainly know what his company does. (My PR firm, just yesterday, used GoDaddy to buy a URL.) For those unfamiliar, GoDaddy places most all of its advertising energy behind one provocative Super Bowl spot.

According to Parsons, while there are over 800 domain name registry companies out there, consumers can recall the names of only two or three — GoDaddy being one of them. Though it may be a low-interest category, 10% of Americans have Web sites, so the domain name registry business it is not an un-trivial business.   

If I saw GoDaddy Girl on the street I wouldn’t know her from Eve, but put her in that flowing white blouse, let her stare into the camera with those pouting eyes on Super Sunday and I’m ready to register…a domain.

Bud a dud?

Anheuser-Busch has looked to one of its ad agencies, DDB, to create a Super Bowl spot aimed at the younger target. Let’s call them 21+.   In this age of ceding control of the creative product to anyone who will listen, DDB has decided to enlist interns to come up with this spot, but that’s a topic for another day. AB’s goal of making Bud more relevant to the younger target, is a very good one.

Bud is getting killed–at least in the NY Metro area–in the 21-34 year old demo. 

Have I dialed into Beverage Industry newsletters and trade pub data for this insight?  Nope. I went to a Pearl Jam concert at the Meadowlands last year and while the beer lines were 40 feet long at the Guinness cart and the other domestic beer carts, Bud devotees could grab a quaff in seconds. It was unbelievable. It was like the Bid cart repelled people. Perhaps my email of this market research study-of-one got through the firewall to AB’s Bob Lachky.

Joe Nacchio

A number of years ago, I had the pleasure of working indirectly for Joe Nacchio, Qwest Communication’s ex-CEO who was indicted yesterday for insider trading. I certainly don’t know about his recent escapades, and I can’t begin to understand how someone with seemingly had so much could do something so self-destructive, but I will say that he was one hell of a marketer.

While the head of AT&T Business Communications Services in the 90’s, Mr Nacchio used to ask his ad agency McCann-Erickson to develop pretend ad campaigns by chief rival MCI which he used at sales meetings to incite his sales and marketing teams.  When AT&T was in jeopardy of losing a huge portion of its 800 service business, after the government decided 800 numbers could be moved by customers from one long distance carrier to another, he emptied the buildings and sent every able bodied employee out onto the street to meet with customers face-to-face. It not only worked, it really worked.

The man was daring and decisive. He didn’t teach, but you couldn’t help but learn. He certainly had a brilliant marketing compass and it took him to the very top of AT&T’s corporate suite; at a time when AT&T was one of the world’s top multinational corporations. Somehow that compass lost its bearing when he left NJ.

Joe Nacchio, AT&T, Qwest Communications, McCann-Erickson

Passion or commitment?

Here’s a quote from today’s New York Times by Sony Electronics new SVP of advertising “Sony’s consumer research showed that consumers had great passion for Sony but that the brand was not making an emotional connection.”

Could we please, please stop confusing passion for a brand with commitment? People love Sony because of amazing design and quality. Sony ads need to convey that design and quality and do so without getting in the way.  But to listen to BBDO’s David Lubars it’s all about the ads.  Said Lubars, “They make products that delight people, that are fun and entertaining, and their communications should reflect that humanness.” (I’m sure Mr. Lubars said a lot more this, but that’s all that was reported.) The Times reporter embellished, “The humorous quality of the ads was meant to make the brand feel accessible.”

Passion and “feel good” are byproducts of advertising — related to tone. Commitment to purchase is what agencies need to work on. Commitment to purchase and repurchase are the rational things people conger up when being passionate. Demonstrations of product superiority and difference are the way to that grail.                

Sony Electronics, David Lubars, BBDO, Sony advertising, New York Times

The diluted talent pool.

One of my favorite sayings in marketing is “Just when you think you know something about this business, someone comes a long to prove you wrong.” I like it because I coined it.  There are no hard and fast rules about advertising, marketing and branding.  There are many good rules, but no absolutes.  You have to know, in your gut, when to break the rules…and that’s the fun part!

Those in the business who have actually spent some real money and seen what an investment in marketing can do tend to have a pretty good handle on what works and what doesn’t. Those are the people you want to work with.

But today’s ROI tools have made it so easy to measure success that marketers don’t rely on “people” to predict success, they rely on the “tools.”  By testing click-through rates of online messages or direct mail cell performance they let the tools decide what works and what doesn’t.  This is why the advertising and marketing talent pool has become diluted.

ROI, marketing, direct marketing, click through rate

Rear-view Mirror Planning

One of my brand planning peeves is what I call rear-view mirror planning. Basically rear-view mirror planners discovery process is all about what’s happened in the past – what’s behind the brand.  To take the metaphor further, there are also side-view mirror planners.  Side-view planners care about what’s going on now.  Which competitors are gaining?  What brands, trends, and attitudes have traction today?  But real genius in planning is predicting the future.  Creating the future.  Sound cocky?  Yep.

Fashion designers live with this every day, as do artists, and in advertising so do the really great creative people. It requires sticking your neck out.  But it’s the fastest way to success.  Watch where you are going.

Brand planning, rear-view mirror planning.