8 posts tagged “branding”
Here's an ad from a grand Clio winning campaign for 42 Below vodka (created by Saatchi & Saatchi New York).
I don't like it.
Don't get me wrong, I love the concept. Using free clip art to tell a linear story is a superb idea. I'm just not sure "get drunk with our product and you'll do stupid things that will make you regret ever using our product" is the best possible strategy. Then again, award shows couldn't care less about strategy.
From what I understand, this is a very good vodka. A very unique vodka, too, since it comes from New Zealand (42 degrees below the equator, thus the name). Every single vodka in the world—heck, every single bottle of anything at your local liquor store—can get you drunk. How common.
And yes, I understand the comedic value of drunkenness. I'm no prude. But since you could switch out the bottle with a Heineken and the story still works, this ad is not particularly well crafted. In sharp contrast, the Lego ads below can work for no other brand. That's what makes them powerful.
Want to win advertising awards? Learn from this ad, which actually placed higher than the Lego ads. A good pussy joke will bring home the gold every single time.
El Paso, Texas is about to embark on a bold new branding initiative. According to City Manager Joyce Wilson in an El Paso Times article, "the campaign is the result of market research that found people in several cities had little or no familiarity with this community, or a not-so-positive perception of the community."
My guess is that's true.
Wilson then goes on to say "If you don't define who you are, someone else will."
That's true, too. That's branding in a nutshell.
So after $285,000 for research and development, the city has chosen a campaign theme of...wait for it...wait for it...
"El Paso, Texas—You Have No Idea."
Wow.
I would assume a city wouldn't spend more than a quarter of a million dollars to insult its own citizens, so I have no choice but assume they are insulting the rest of the world. We are all uninformed and should be ashamed of our lack of El Paso knowledge.
Good lord. How in the world does this theme define who or what El Paso is? It doesn't even move one inch in that direction.
Even if the rest of the campaign proceeds to tell me all the wonderful things about El Paso (I do like Old El Paso products), this branding effort is mind boggling.
Research should be the springboard used for creative leaps. In this case, no leap was made. It's a classic case of letting research play the role of creative director.
I absolutely knew Katie Couric would fail as anchor of CBS Evening News. Not because she is a woman. Not because she is incompetent. But because of two brands.
Here's what I mean.
Couric was (is?) an extremely popular television superstar. She was beloved by millions of viewers as co-host of the popular Today show. Ratings for NBC were great with her in front of the camera.
The Katie Couric brand is well-known to anyone who even casually watched her show. Perky. Smiley. Energetic. Funny. Likable. And yes, while she could get serious now and again for the occasional interview, the Katie Couric brand was really about bubbly effervescence. She was the likable neighbor next door. She excelled at the morning show format in a way few others have or perhaps will.
But the the CBS evening news is not a morning show.
Like the Katie Couric brand, the CBS News brand is equally well-known to anyone who has watched television. This is a proud, hard-core broadcast news network. Despite some well-publicized hits at the end of Dan Rather's reign, CBS has always been a true bastion of solid reporting and professional journalism.
But Katie Couric is not a journalist.
Quite simply, Katie Couric fans have no interest in seeing a serious and stiff Katie Couric every night. And CBS News fans want to see a crusty old journalist reading the news, not a celebrity.
Predictably, ratings for CBS Evening News with Katie Couric have been below awful.
Stretching and evolving a brand is one thing. Assuming anyone will care or follow along is entirely another. Step out of your brand at your own risk.
CBS executives should have know better.
Via Brandweek and Springwise.
