Category: Marketing

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.   

One of the most brilliant marketing campaigns 
I’ve seen in a while has to be
Diamond Shreddies. 

Here is a favorite cereal,
thought of as boring yet dependable.  
It has a core base of loyals 
preventing the product from being messed with taste-wise
(or risk a New Coke disaster). 

So how do you create excitement? 
You rotate the product and
force consumers to look at it in a new way. 

Yes, consumers know it is the same old Shreddies. 
The inside joke makes the marketing even more endearing.   

An author was moaning and groaning to me
about her book not getting any press.  
I asked her what she was doing about it. 
Nothing. 
Marketing her book is her publisher’s job. 

Yep, she’s waiting for someone else
to make her into a success. 
She’ll be waiting a long time
as there isn’t a someone else. 
In any endeavor. 

Sure, partner, delegate, assign,
but know that the responsibility
for your success or failure is yours. 
Whether you take action or not.     

During the 2007 Super Bowl,
Cadillac ranked 1st
as the advertiser most likely to be seen or heard. 

What a higher end brand like Cadillac? 
Isn’t football the average joe’s sport? 

Nope. 
People in households with income over $100 thousand
are three times more likely to watch the Super Bowl than
people with household incomes of less than $30 thousand. 
40% of NY Giants fans have household incomes
higher than $100 thousand. 

The gender gap with Super Bowl viewers may be closing
but the income gap is not.

Manufacturers often pay for
placement on store shelves and
that cost varies by location. 
End caps, shelves by the cashier,
middle shelves all cost more. 

Is this fair? 
Yes. 

A study on product placement out of Cardiff
concludes that 
the middle shelf is the optimal placement. 
Always. 
But the difference between the shelves
are magnified even more at the cashier line up. 

Is it worth it? 
It depends on the price.
When I’ve done the math,
it has been
but the profit varied by store.     

Weeks ago,
I went to the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas
and returned loaded down with schwag. 
Most items got a ho-hum from this marketing gal. 

Most. 
Not all. 

JVC did an outstanding job once again
in the massive mobile section,
giving out the only air fresheners at the show. 

However, the best schwag I received was
a tiny screen cleaner for phones and blackberries
from iGrip. 
Costing only pennies,
this piece of branded plastic and felt
was perfect for removing fingerprints
from touch screens. 

I saw people use them. 
I heard people talk about them. 
I witnessed people hoarding them. 

Very clever.