Brand Power

"Since the crocodile is the symbol of Lacoste, we thought they might be interested in sponsoring our crocodiles." - Silvino Gomes, Commercial Director of the Lisbon Zoo

The discussion of brand relevance in the ad world had been going on for a quite some time yet it became most relevant on Marlboro Friday in 1993. (The first time that Marlboro cut it's price in spite of it's massive branding.) It was considered the death of the brand until the recession ended. When people had extra capital they spent the extra money by going back to the high brands they loved. A formula seemed to arise from that.

With the growth of interactive, came the rise of marketing over advertising. Instead of promising people happiness, simplicity, youth by using a brand. They turned to creating contests and child-like prizes for giving out your user information. The book, "Married to the Brand", points out that when "courting" your consumer giving them deals and price cuts only shortens the potential life of that consumer shopping your store. Instead of creating a lasting relationship through seeing themselves in you, the brand is saying, "Sorry we aren't awesome, here's a dollar for your email information."

The questions isn't wether or not interactive is here to stay or not. The question is when will we figure out how to integrate brand advertising successfully into interactive advertising?

Here's an example of one place I think it did work:

Agency: Big Spaceship

Client: HBO

Campaign: Voyeur

Being A Creative

"The most frightening thing. . . about being what someone calls a 'creative person' is that you have absolutely no idea where any of your thoughts come from really. . ." This is a quote pulled from the trailer for the ad documentary Art & Copy which I was fortunate to have a chance to see recently.

That quote made me think about the fact that not only do you not know where your ideas come from, you can't truly be taught how to get to them because every creative has a different way of doing it. The one similar thread through most creatives though, is the need to immerse themselves in inspiration wether that be other design work, the client's research or something entirely different.

One thing that has served as a source of inspiration for me is my surrounding, my ethics and the people I'm with. And Arkansas has not fallen short in providing inspiration thus far.

Check out some of the pics I've kept while looking for inspiration in Arkansas.

Headin' to Arkansas

If an ad agency makes a great ad; but, it's hitting the wrong target is it really that bad?

I think thats a question that hangs in the air whenever an advertisement seems to be off key from a brand perspective. Of course, being way out of left field, hitting the wrong gender, race and age all at once would be too far off and would most likely dilute the brand by sending out too many and contradictory messages. However, how close to brand is too "close to brand."

When a client is obsessing where the toys came from, be it Target or Wal-Mart (which is the same exact toy), in a kid's fast food ad because their target consume is considered a wal-mart-like shopper. Is that going too far and isn't that obsessing too much over details that could detract from the big picture?

The subject came up when discussing the new memorable Caribou Coffee ads on youtube made by Colle + McVoy. The ads have a sometimes violent or disgusting sense of humor that feels more apt for a teenager and yet their audience tends to be middle aged, stay at home mom's.

You be the judge:

Caribou's "The Autumn Adventure of Jack & Gourdo #5"

Agency: Colle + McVoy

Reason: A well-made, dry sense of humor that plays with boundaries of acceptability; but, may be off the key consumer.

On a side note: I am happy to report that after being unemployed for a total of 12 day (8 work days), I received a job offer from an excellent, quickly growing agency Rockfish Interactive. They not only create great websites, innovative back-end tools, iPhone apps and social media tools; but, they also launch brands and were named "Best Small Agency of the Year" by Ad Age.

So I will be heading out on a road trip to Arkansas to check out the state and the agency in person. Look for posts on Thursday of traveling pics. . . y'all (thought I'd get started on my accent conversion).