I make no bones about it. The two or three people who read this blog know I like Apple products. My first computer was a Mac II way back in 1989, and the one I am using now is a MacBook Pro, and every computer in between had the Apple logo on it. Why?
That question is asked by those "on the other side of the fence" who frequently pan the Mac as some kind of toy not to be taken seriously. Too bad for them. But why the Mac? And why any Apple product such as the iPod or iPhone or iTunes? Indeed, because they work and work well. And - Apple has done a marvelous job of building a brand. Probably only Harley Davidson has stronger brand loyalty than Apple. How did they do that?
Below is a link to an article that spells it out. In a few words, Apple knows that people make emotional buying decisions and then use intellect to justify that decision. Apple does things right with a focus on the consumer and extremely strong and often subtle branding that makes Apple products the "in brand" to have.
I encourage you to read the article carefully, because much can be learned about brand building from Apple.
One of my favorite movie lines was uttered by Steve McQueen in the movie The Magnificant Sevenwhen he was asked why he had signed up to protect the little Mexican village from the evil bandito Calvera (played marvelously by Eli Wallach) and his gang, which greatly outnumbered the Magnificant Seven. Steve's character Vin told a story to explain why he had agreed to such a dangerous job for so little pay. He said, "It's like a fellow I once knew in El Paso. One day, he just took all his clothes off and jumped in a mess of cactus. I asked him that same question, 'Why?' He said, 'It seemed to be a good idea at the time.'"
I think Hershey's Candy Company may be saying the same thing right now. "It seemed to be a good idea at the time." They came out with a new product that is packaged like street drugs. It was unintentional (probably), but that doesn't help the negative publicity or mitigate the cost to fix the problem.
The moral of this story is do your homework before introducing new packaging. Package design only looks easy, but it is not a simple process to be left to amateurs. If professionals like Hershey's can screw up, how much trust do you have in the person managing your packaging? And - that is where SPAR comes in. We can help you avoid those kinds of issues.
What was considered the domain of cheap wines has suddenly gained some credibility and viability. This article describes how boxed wines have become more acceptable despite their stigma with the enological elite, and sales have jumped 44 percent!
Several box wines are rated in the article. I have personally tried the Black Box Shiraz (not the merlot) and the Delicato Pinot Grigio, and I can say they are quite drinkable, considering the net cost for the 3 liter box, which contains 4 bottles of wine, works out to about $4-$5 a bottle. I am tasting some Hardy's wine in bottles to see if I want to spring for the larger box.
The article points out that convenience, better wine in the boxes, and better technology to extend their longevity are contributors to this trend, but representatives of The Wine Group of San Francisco believe the real driver is probably "green", as boxed wines contribute 85 percent less waste to landfills and 55 percent fewer carbon emissions to the atmosphere.
That may have some truth to it, but I can personally say the two reasons that drove me to boxed wine was convenience and that I was able to find drinkable wines in a box. IMHO, emotion and personal gratification always trump the facts, and the facts are used merely to support the buying decision.
That is the name of an article on the Ad Age web site that talks about how really lame many tag lines are. The author makes some very good points. Tag lines may sound cool to the creators, but what do they say to the consumer? - often nothing, because they are not brand specific enough to support the brand's identity.
I am not a big fan of focus groups. Unless carefully moderated they can easily be led by panel members on ego trips eager to demonstrate their "knowledge" of the subject under study. At best a focus group can raise possible issues that the designers should at least look at.
At worst they are idea killers. If the makers of Absolut Vodka had listened to the testing, they would have never introduced the product. The testing said clearly the product would die on the shelf, and it might have, but their agency came up with an effective campaign that offset the limitations of the package and played up its uniqueness, which was seen in testing as a weakness. That campaign ran for many years and helped grow the brand to the giant it is today.
Here is a little video that illustrates the focus group problem quite well.
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"We interrupt this call for a commercial message."
I like advertising; it is how I make a living, but I don't think I would like my mobile calls being interrupted by a commercial message. Furthermore, I would also suspect that I (and most everyone else) would take a dim view of any company that advertised that way.
Microsoft has recently repackaged their notebook mouse and created a "Mac friendly" package. Mac users spurned the product even though the mouse works on either platform. That should come as no surprise, because the package more or less screamed PC. The "Vista friendly" logo didn't help.
This goes to show just how important your packaging can be to sales. Microsoft was throwing away sales, because the package didn't look Mac friendly, and copy on the package seemed to say the mouse inside was for a PC.
Did you know a sneeze could travel 12 feet and linger in the air for three hours? Neither did I. Here is some interesting (albeit gross) interactive advertising that will be memorable to those who experience it, and isn't that the purpose of advertising?
I doubt it. As I have stated before here and here, mobile advertising is annoying and risks offending the customer you are trying to sell. Maybe the way to use mobile advertising to sell your goods and services is promote your competition's goods and services? Get them mad at him, so they will buy yours? It's just a thought!
Who will have the most creative (and talked about) ad in this year's Super Bowl? My money is on the Pepsi ad that has no sound. Yes, no sound. It is an ad performed by deaf people who invite you into their world of silence and share one of their inside jokes with you. Love the subtitles even for the car horn and the barking dog. It is brilliant and by its silence will attract attention ("Hey, you hit the mute button, Bill?")
