I thought my DVR was supposed to skip commercials

I can think of at least two campaigns now that are asking television viewers to use their DVRs as a tool for watching commercials.

Sprite has a new "Sublymonal" campaign. At the bottom of the screen, there is a tagline stating "DVR Ready." The commercials are a sensory overload of yellow and green images.

For those who decide to dig deeper, Sprite's 30 second media buy has just bought them a couple of minutes with the consumer.  I guess I am supposed to use my DVR to check out what the "sublymonal" message is. No thanks. Sprite is already taking up 30 seconds of my time, I really have no need to give them anymore than that. Sprite is hoping that these ads will increase "interaction between product and consumer. Sorry, I just don't buy it. Crispin Porter did these ads for Sprite.

GE released a similar campaign. It introduced the concept of "One Second Theater" and then in the end of the commercials, had a small piece that was to be viewed with a DVR. They placed this in a great spot in the commercial. At the end of each of GE's television commercials, it quickly shows logos from it's business units: NBC Universal, Healthcare, Ecomagination, and others. If I slow down my tv at this time, I get visuals of each of these logos (and like the Sprite commercial, I spend more time with GE). I like GE's concept more that Sprite's, I just don't know how successful it is. BBDO is doing this campaign for GE.
My guess is that there are not that many people slowing down their commercials.

Stolen Sidekick = Great free press

I would love to hear the value of the free marketing T-Mobile is getting with the Stolen Sidekick story (if you haven’t read this yet, get out of the cave and pour yourself some coffee, it is a long and interesting story).

There is a mention in the beginning of the story that this was not a viral campaign from T-Mobile. Even though it is not, it is having the same impact as a spectacular viral campaign managed by the company.

Even better, the way Evan has written about the device, is great for the company. He mentions the ease of tracking down the device and finding out someone was using it. Then, he was able to find their T-Mobile contact info. He mentions the fact that all of the phone’s contacts and pictures are saved to a server. Last I checked, if I lost my verizon device, I would have to obtain that information all over again.

The latest news is that T-Mobile is stepping in and donating to a charity (just as Evan is). A great move by the company, as I am sure the site is still getting thousands of hits and he will be on TV next week. An all around win for the company, just as it is releasing the new version of the device (pictured below).

“You can no longer have your product with a little rainbow flag next to it and expect to reach the gay and lesbian audience”

It's Gay Pride weekend in San Francisco. The Chronicle ran an interesting business story about the buying power of the gay and lesbian market. Some interesting takeaways were:

"You can no longer have your product with a little rainbow flag next to it and expect to reach the gay and lesbian audience," said Jeff Soukup, chief operating officer at San Francisco's PlanetOut, which owns Web sites Gay.com and PlanetOut.com, as well as print publications the Advocate and Out. "You need to be very targeted. When Jaguar advertises, they don't just show a car. They show a gay or lesbian couple walking toward it hand in hand."

It's a fallacy that gays and lesbians make more money than straight people. In fact, their incomes mirror those of the population as a whole. But what does differentiate them as consumers is that they have more discretionary money since they're less likely to have children. As of the 2000 Census, one in five gay male couples and one in three lesbian couples had children.

Moreover, gay consumers regularly show up in studies as having more allegiance to companies that court them. "Loyalty stats of gays and lesbians are higher than loyalty stats for NASCAR fans," said PlanetOut's Soukup.

175 – Number of Fortune 500 brands that actively market to gay consumers

Pimp my cell phone

The success of the RAZR phone is remarkable.  In a industry packed with product choices, the RAZR differentiates itself from the product mix.  Countless awards and variations on its basic design makes this an endearing product.

Motorola has now released a Dolce&Gabanna version of the phone in overseas markets. There is actually a lanyard with a D&G madalion.  Look for this on the next episode of Cribs.    

best advertising mind

Spike Jonze has a resume that is both long and distinguished. On top of directing some amazing movies (Being John Malkovich and Adaptation), he has done music videos for Beastie Boys, Beck, REM, and Fatboy Slim. The work I like most from him is in the advertsing world. This commercial for Levi's is my personal favorite advertisement, and of course, was easy to find on youtube.

The best commercial of the NBA finals

Nick Lachey in an Axe commercial.

 

I really like this commercial, but I don’t know if it will be successful for Axe.  Guys are going to watch it and love it because of all the pretty ladies.  However, I think that the two body spray brands out there (Axe and TAG) need to consider their approach and product packaging.  Both aspects of the two companies are too close to each other. Axe and TAG each market the “irresistable” effects of using their spray, are packaged in slender black plastic bottles, and are in the same product niche. 

In six months, people will remember this commercial, but will the remember the brand?

Vendemos Bonita

I really enjoy these new Nike commercials. The game has always been sold as a team sport. When you take the team aspect of soccer, I think it does have the danger as being seen as boring. With low scoring and chess-like strategy, the team sport of soccer is hard to enjoy for the casual fan.

But, how can you NOT smile and appreciate the beauty of these players and everything they are seen doing with the ball? Well done.

Agency: Wieden+Kennedy

More can be found here.

Microsoft doesn’t get it

There is a video on youtube that shows how Microsoft would have botched the iPod packaging. It is a poignant example of the difference between Apple and Microsoft.

Well, Microsoft is at it again. First, picture the new Apple spots. Geeky 30-something represents the PC, and a trendy 20-something represents Apple. We've all seen them, and we know they work for Apple.

With its most anticipated product release in its company's history (unless you are a gamer), Microsoft has a lot riding on Vista. One would think that Microsoft would take note of Apple's success with simplicity, but it looks as if they haven't quite gotten it yet. The Windows Vista demo gets it all wrong

Granted, this demo likely is targeted at IT professionals and system administrators. Microsoft is likely trying to drive corporate orders. However, even as a IT decision maker, I would not be overly impressed with the product.

The demo features a a salt an pepper-haired 50-something without a sense of humor. The bottom the screen is cluttered with various buttons, disclaimers, and icons. The bright colors draw the eyes every which way. The various windows that move about in a circle in the middle of the screen are more clutter than anything else and the site really isn't all that easy to navigate.  The views of the actual Windows applications are moving endlessly and we never get to see the basic OS.  

Plain and simple: it's just not cool.  

I think the largest worry Microsoft should have though is this demo getting into the hands of casual computer users and those looking to maximize their home computing. If you think about the primary uses of a PC for home computing, it likely comes down to the following:

Internet connectivity

Management of songs, photos, video, and blogs

Secure data management

seewindowsvista.com does not address any of these needs. While it may be targeted elsewhere, one has to think that there is a lot of anticipation to see how Microsoft is going to address the things that have become important in our daily use of the pc.

Time to be a man again

Maybe it's metrosexuals. Maybe it's Esquire, GQ, and Maxim dedicating dozens of pages to men's style. Maybe it is Atkins, Ryan Seacrest, and Queer Eye for the Straight guy. Whatever it is, marketing went the opposite way of the Marlboro Man for a couple of years there. Smart marketers have recognized this void, and they have returned with vigor.

One of my favorite examples of the shift in advertising is the "Man Law" campaign from Miller Brewing. The spot is filmed at a large conference table in the middle of what seems to be a warehouse. One of this intial man laws originated allows a man who brings beer to a party to take one in his pocket with him when he leaves. The ad features men who are known for various types of masculinity. Burt Reynolds, the wrestler "Triple H," Jerome Bettis, and the person I feel to be the manly-est of them all – Aaron Ralston, the Utah hiker who cut off his arm when it was stuck between two boulders in order to save his life, all represent various degrees of our views of masculinity. Miller's campaign was created by The Martin Agency.

Burger King has a new "Manthem" commercial that exemplifies the notion that being a man is at risk, with only a double Whopper there to save us (Go to "Explore BK" and then click on "Cinema"). Crispin Porter created this Burger King commercial.

This Newcastle creative is making the same attempt, but goes one step further as well. It is also making a statement that Newcastle is one of those things some people might not get. This does two things: 1. Makes Newcastle drinkers believe they are part of an exclusive and special club, and 2. Leads others to consider if they are missing something unique by not drinking their beer. This is a successful print ad, if placed in the right spot, as it frames the beer as a man's beer and differentiates the product from anything else out there. But then again, maybe I am a fan of this ad because I am a fan of the beer. I was unable to locate the agency who made this piece.

Major media outlets have also recognized the increase in this type of advertising.

Cheers to Sean for sending me this photo.

“Safe Happens”

I like these. I like that they catch you off guard. I like that they show the airbags deploy and the damaged car at the end. I like that they are new and different. VW must like that people have taken notice.

Here is what I do not like though: I'm not sure that they are looking at the right target market here. Seth Stevenson of Slate makes a great point in his critique of the advert: Young people are not known to make automobile decisions based on the safety features. When were looking for cars, we are looking for the aesthetic. We don't often have families, a fact that probably plays heaviest into our lack of regard for the safety features. Too bad the poorly selling Phaeton didn't win this crash test award.

However, this may help VW in the future. Volvo has a stronghold currently on the Safety side of the market. With VW positioning itself as the leader, many of us may remember these remarkable commercials when we start buying child seats along with our cars.

There is a great Business Week article about the rebirth of the VW brand and its agency's current work for the company.

Agency: Crispin Porter