Random

    Marketing

    Drinking and Driving

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    There were two interesting announcements today that point to trends in the marketing world and both originate in China. Tsingtao Beer profits and sales are way up, due to increased consumption of brew in China and Chinese car companies like Great Wall Motor and Cherry Automobile Co. are growing faster than expected — and not just because they are selling to a new, emerging class of Chinese with disposable income. It’s because other developing countries, such as those in Africa, are finding value in Chinese automobiles. A new car in Africa doesn’t have 10 airbags or new age catalytic converters (not that there’s anything wrong with them), so their prices are lower and they’re outselling US and European brands. China is growing, consuming and growing smart.

     
    I was driving around Puerto Rico a couple of months ago and was amazed at the number of Suzuki cars on the road. They outnumbered other brands 4 to 1. Now Suzuki’s aren’t Chinese, but they are a value brand and though the Puerto Rican economy has been dinged lately, by and large it’s doing okay. Many of these Suzukis were new. Clearly, Puerto Ricans want value. And the leading local beer in Puerto Rico, by the way, is Medalla. Why does it lead the market? It tastes good and costs less.
     
    As China goes on line (not online) with more and more low wage jobs pushing out mass-produced products of value, we need to carefully watch the lower end of our market. We have only scratched the surface of what’s to come from China and other foreign-based value brand marketers. If you want a case to study, check out the growth of the Hyundai automobile brand in the U.S.
     

    Is Burger King Targeting Future Fathers?

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    Crispin Porter Bogusky’s work for Burger King, love it or not, has contributed to the fast food giant’s resurgence. I believe it’s their strategic help, especially in targeting young men, that has turned the tide more than their creative, but let’s not quibble.
     
    A recent example of Crispin’s smarts can be found in its use of creative talent Seth MacFarlane to help sell burgers. Mr. MacFarlane, the creative force behind “Family Guy,” will be creating animated BK spots running as pre-roll for his new internet property called “Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy” which will be distributed via Google.
     
    As a believer that content is king when it comes to creative, this is a brilliant move. So long as he isn’t spread too thin, Mr. MacFarlane who really knows how to talk to BK’s core audience should kill with this creative. Watch out Mickey Ds, Burger King is winning over future fathers who in a couple of years will be driving right by the Golden Arches with the kids.
     

    Growing Markets.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    The best thing that can be said about a marketer or a marketing agent is that s/he has grown a market.  The marketing and advertising mantra “sell more, to more, more often, at higher margins” is a terrific end-game, but one can do that and simply be redistributing market share. Growing markets is what’s up. So here’s a way to grow the men’s apparel market.  (I was at Fashion Institute of Technology yesterday, and tons of kids were walking around classrooms with bolts of fabric a la Project Runway – ergo the fashion interest.)  Replace the tee-shirt.

    I was thinking of all the shopping I do each year and no one’s really making a living off me.  Maybe the grocery and the beer stores.  I buy a two pair of jeans once a year(ish); maybe some mulch for the wifus.  As for dress shirts, I don’t buy them unless I spill coffee on myself before a meeting. And somehow they just appear in the closet or in Christmas boxes.  Tee-shirts, on the other hand, are flowing out of my bottom drawer.  And the drawers of most men.

    The Gap or Amazon or a smart designer with online chops should design a shirt for men that is flattering, comfortable, fashionable and functional.  And I’m not talking about that $70 tee-shirt in expensive fabric.  A new look shirt. Men love their tee-shirts but we’ll give them up if there’s something better, even if it costs more.  Then how will people know I love the Ramones??? Hmm.

    Come on marketers, think about growing your markets. Peace.

    Strategy and Stuff.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    The two tools I use in brand planning are the brand strategy and the marketing communications plan. An old colleague used to refer to the education business as made up of “things and stuff.”  His logic was that things are the tangibles – something that goes thump when you drop it. The “stuff” refer to the stuff you teach. Nice idea, but poor word selection me thinks. Most people think of stuff as tangible and touchable. My brand planning tools are about the “strategy” and the “tools” (stuff).  The tools are the ads, the web, PR, promotions, etc.

    Brand strategy in my hose comprises 1 claim and 3 proof planks. You can write a mission statement, messaging ephemera, tone personality and lot of other shizzle, but they tend to murky up the brand waters more often than not.  One claims and 3 supports is all you and anyone need to operationalize and organize your brand’s world.  Interbrand, Landor and all the other branding shops will agree (behind closed doors.) Once that heavy lifting is done all the stuff you make is either on or off strategy. 

    So ask yourself, does you brand have a claim? And have you organized that claim’s supports into three discrete, powerful, endemic, customer care-abouts?  Few have.  It can be your edge.  Peace!

    Go out and enjoy a parade this weekend!

    Put Zuckerberg Behind the Wheel.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    This whole American car thing is getting a little ridiculous. Will someone please strap on a pair of balls and get ahead of the market? Ford is in the news today for cutting 2,000 jobs. GM is in the news today for cutting 2,000 jobs. Could they just be realizing that trucks and SUVs are not their future. Nah. “Let’s cut some jobs.”
     
    Back in the ‘80s GM created a different kind of car company – Saturn — because they thought the purchase experience needed changing. It was in part to compete with the Japanese car juggernaut and to break with GM’s past. The cars were a bit smaller too. It wasn’t a great reason to create a new company.  Today we have a reason. 

    So, how about one of the big three step up and create car brand that is all about conserving energy and resources? Might that not be a good idea for today? Might it not be a brand that kids could rally behind? Are kids the car market of the future? I mean Ford is talking about car seats made of corn starch or some crap to prove its commitment, but it is just not believable. 

     
    We need a new American car brand created by Mark Zuckerberg and friends, not some geeze-mobile from Detroit.  (All deference to Steve Yzerman.)
     

    Luxury Craft.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    I love sushi but I also love money. The wifus and I debated whether or not to gift each other for Christmas two seats at a new exclusive sushi restaurant in NYC.  The per seat cost is $150. I’m assuming that doesn’t include drinks or tip and when you add a train ride to the list we’re talking mortgage payment money.  

    I read today about a cured ham from Spain branded Iberico that sells, on the hoof, for $500. One famous cutter of said ham charges about $5,000 to perform the specialized act of serving this delicacy. These are examples of the luxury economy.  They touch the craft economy in that there’s mad craftsmanship going into each piece of sushi and slice of acorn-fed pig, but in my definition these are not craft economy examples.

    The craft economy is about building and making things that are sustainable, fixable and have a low impact on the planet. It’s about saving, not wasting. There’s a place for everything in this wonderful world, but we are going to be a better place when the craft economy is more the norm. Peace!

    DVRs

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0
    Digital Video Recorders, now reported to be in over 17% of homes with televisions are often vilified for making it easy to fast-forward through commercials, and deservedly so. I admit to shrinking shows I’ve recorded to 44 minutes, or so. But sometimes, I forget to fast forward and watch, especially if they are good commercials. Not many are, though, and that is a problem.
     
    There is a DVR phenomenon worth noting that not everyone talks about, and that is multiple viewings of a program by different household individuals on different schedules. My house may watch “24” three times in a given week. And some people, my son for instance, like to keep shows on the hard drive and watch them over and over. “Kill Bill” Volumes 1 and 2 have been on the hard drive, along with the commercials, for months. These are cases of DVRs actually adding to commercial viewership, Mr. Nielsen. 

    Product Gesture vs. Product Experience.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    Experience is hot marketing word these days. It is rooted me thinks in user experience (UX), which started in the early days of the web when sites were hard to navigate and not intuitive. Ad and digital agencies caught on to experience a few years later as a way to create new buildables (content) and garner planning fees It didn’t hurt that “customer journey” and “communications planning” were smart ideas to begin with.

    Product experience, some will have you believe, starts with communications and ends with the after-sale. The experience is everything in between. A lot of product experience buildables – designed to follow the AIDA principle: Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action — are online and in-store. But product gesture is different.

    Product gesture is not so much about the product journey and surround as it is the “consuming experience.” (See my last blog post.) A product gesture is the olfactory response that occurs when you drive by a Burger King. It’s why “flame broiled” is such a powerful brand asset of BK. For Coke, whose long standing brand idea is refreshment, the moment when your head snaps back after a full swig of a newly opened Coke is induced by the product gesture. Google’s product gesture occurs during search when your problem is solved, you smile and twitch to act.

    Every product has a gesture. Man-made gestures like the Stella Artois pour and glass are distant seconds, but they are gestures nonetheless.

    Find your product gesture and you will find marketing and branding success.

    What is your product gesture?

     

    Chicago, JWT and CPG

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    What’s the idea with Chicago? 

    Is it losing its luster as an advertising community? JWT, one of the city’s cornerstone agencies, is down to 50 people. At its highpoint JWT employed upwards of 800 in Chicago; some of which were the highest priced, highest profile creative people in the business. Chicago has always been a stronghold of packaged goods advertising, thanks to its proximity to the giant food and beverage manufacturers, which makes me wonder if consumer packaged goods (CPG) marketers are less committed to traditional consumer advertising – the recession aside.  Of the thirteen companies identified by Ad Age as Super Bowl XLIII advertisers only Coke, Pepsico, Anheuser Busch and Pedigree are present. The rest are car, tire, and Internet plays. Hmmm. Peace!

    Branding’s Equivalent of Ali Frazier.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    Two titans of retail are facing off and it’s going to be wild.  Walmart and Amazon. Amazon and Walmart. There will be only winners: the businesses and the custies.  Amazon continues to kill it in online retail. So much so, in fact, that they’re looking into some brick and mortar places to make product access near-instantaneous.  Walmart is beginning to get that 800 lb. monkey off its back (low price, low-esteem, box store with bad vegetables), by ramping up its online offering. It quintupled online SKUs in one year thanks to purchases like Jet.com and others.

    The real war zone, when it comes to customer marketing, will be brand-side.  Amazon has an amazing brand that is maturing. An overdog I like to call it. Walmart in a heart brand that many people view as high-traffic but low-value. Don’t get me wrong, the retail product has value, but the brand is a little lacking in the amygdala, as brand expert Megan Kent might say.

    Both brands have the money and leadership to innovate. Both have the dough to execute. Now it will be up to the brand leaders to create some excitement. Walmart faces more of an uphill challenge. One any brand strategist would love to tackle. But we all know what happened to the overdogs.

    Peace.    

     

     

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