Month: February 2008

One of my buddies tells everyone
that he is an alpha male. 
He isn’t. 
And that is easy to determine. 
Why? 
Because if he was an alpha male,
he wouldn’t need to tell people he was one,
they’d simply know. 

That is the same with marketing. 
If the only way your consumer “knows” something
is because you tell them over and over, 
the minute you stop telling them,
they will “forget.” 
The message won’t ever go viral. 
It won’t ever last beyond the last marketing spend. 

There has to be some truth in advertising for it to truly work. 

One of the smartest pieces of schwag
at the Consumer Electronics Show
was the TV Guide CES Survival Guide.
 
Not only did this lunch box full of snacks
tie in nicely with their product
(“Navigating CES is kind of like navigating TV today.
It can be very overwhelming.”)
but it was high impact. 

The problem was that it was also bulky
so attendees were scooping the inside treats
and ditching the box. 

What did the marketers at TV Guide do? 
They branded the inside pieces also. 

Look at your schwag and products. 
Is each piece branded?

For most people (accountants excluded),
filing taxes falls into the same classification
as going to the dentist. 
Not fun but necessary. 

H&R Block is trying to change that.  
Their online tax prep program called Tango
uses every day language and slang (like chillax)
to make the process more user friendly. 

Who is their target? 
Younger taxpayers, obviously. 
Building on their share of
the 25% of taxpayers using software.  
Their unlimited customer support
also targets the 50% of taxpayers
using a professional tax preparer.   

When we think of Valentine’s Day purchases,
we often think of flowers
(it being the second biggest day for floral sales,
after Mother’s Day)
but it is a significant for other industry sales also. 

It is number two for cards (after Christmas)
with 85% of the valentines being purchased by women. 
It is also the fourth largest day for confectionery sales
(after Halloween, Easter and Christmas).

Retailers, however, are increasingly having to be more careful
with their Valentine’s Day pitches.
There is a growing counter-culture movement
against the commercialism. 

My favorite Valentine’s Day
marketing pushes
of 2008
has to be M&M’s green promotion. 
Instead of the expected pink or red M&M’s,
the company is promoting green
(with the Tagline
“It says I want you. 
Need you. 
Love you. 
Like red never could.”) 

Why green? 
Because of the urban legend
about green M&M’s
promoting… umm… friskiness. 

Yes, a company working with urban legend,
rather than against it. 

Trip chaining,
the process of making many stops with one trip,
is a woman’s domain. 

Although women have shorter commutes,
they make more stops. 
They go through the drive-thru,
stop at daycare, drop by the mall.  
Men drive directly between home and work. 

What does this mean? 
Drive-thru’s, roadside signs, radio ads, 
should be female friendly.