I don’t think anyone on the planet gets more excited than me when a company adds a new flavour of something to their existing line of products. There is no greater day for me than when a new flavour of Coke, candy, Tim Horton’s donut, Blizzard, etc, is discovered. The problem is that more often than not, these get taken away from me.
I’ve lost so many good food items over the years. I would give just about anything for one more bag of mint crisp M&M’s, or just one more mint chocolate donut. I sometimes dream of a world where I can buy Pepsi Blue, only to wake up crushed, knowing this is a world I will never again be a part of.
I really think adding more flavours to a brand line is a great move on a companies’ part. Chances are they already have a large fan base that are loyal to their products, which means they already have a built in audience when they release a new flavour. If you’re loyal to Coke, then I’m guessing you’re going to be interested in their new flavour. Also it keeps your line of products fresh and interesting and gives people motivation to stick by you because you're constantly offering them something different. There’s really almost no risk involved. If they like your new flavour great, if not, I highly doubt they’re going to completely abandon you since they still like the old ones. Plus by that point you’ve made a good chunk of money and can move on.
Sadly you don’t seem to get a whole lot of new flavours for things anymore. No more Vanilla Cokes or Pepsi Clear or white chocolate Kit Kat Chunky. It’s really too bad and I think companies should really be doing this a lot more often. People enjoy it, until they find themselves on the street begging strangers for just one fix of Smokey Red BBQ Doritos.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
More of a rant than anything
If there’s one thing I can’t stand it’s when a commercial markets its products by taking an existing song and changing the lyrics to relate to that particular product. You see it all the time. I view it as one of the lazier forms of advertising out there. I guess you have to find a song that fits your product, although you know what that’s not even true. As long as you change the words enough you can make just about any song into anything you want. With a little bit of creativity I’m fairly certain I could advertise Diapers by using the song Nookie by Limp Bizkit. …Remember Limp Bizkit?
Anyway, let me cite a recent example of this that I’m sure everyone knows. Keep in mind this is purely my opinion and I’m sure a lot of people will disagree. Also keep in mind, you’re wrong. I absolutely despise those Mini Wheat commercials. For years now they’re just changed song lyrics to be about Mini Wheats. Sure the song gets ridiculously caught in your head but is that really a good thing? That doesn’t make me want to go out and buy Mini Wheats. It makes me want to go out and smash every box of Mini Wheats I can get my hands on. I know a lot of people love these commercials but I know more people who hate them. I just can’t support a company who seems so determined to drive me insane.
I will say that I think having the mini wheat is a great idea for a brand character. It makes perfect sense for the product and I think it could work well…if the damn thing wasn’t singing old songs from the 60’s with changed lyrics all the time. There’s so many better things that could be done with this brand character that it really feels like a wasted opportunity to me. However for getting the brand stuck in people’s heads, whether in a good or bad way, the campaign is successful.
A campaign I can’t rate successful on any level is those new cheese commercials. The most recent one has a family sitting around a table singing “Love with keep us Together” only now the lyrics are “Cheese Will Keep Us Together.” Get it?! HAHAHAHAHAHA! This commercial makes me want to weep. It’s easily in my top 3 worst commercials on the air right now. For the record, my full top 3 would be as follows…
1) I forget the company but the deodorant commercial where this woman is giving 5 ways it makes you feel or something. Then she acts “wacky” by high fiving strangers and whatever. If this commercial doesn’t make you break down and cry, you’re god damn Superman.
2) The above mentioned cheese commercial. How not one person during production stepped forward and said “Guys this is terrible maybe we shouldn’t do this” is a miracle.”
3) That Rogers commercial for the top 10 friends. First of all, how long have these people been friends for, 5 hours? How do they not their best friend’s mom’s name? Also why did this guy put his mom in his phone under her first name?! Was it because he knew his friends were going to go through it? In that case tell them to screw off and to stop touching your stuff. Further more how convenient is it that they found out the mom’s name at that key moment? This commercial is a sin.
Anyway back to my loose argument here. I think coming up with a song or a catchy jingle is a great way for a company to make their brand stand out from the competition. The problem here is that these aren’t jingles! These are songs that already exist with very slightly altered lyrics! This is a bunch of lazy people having a 10 minute board meeting where they pitch “who cares just change the lyrics to Hey Jude and make them about fish or whatever” and then calling it a day. Alka Seltzer, that was a jingle. The McDonald’s Big Mac song, that’s a jingle. Cheese will keep us together? I don’t even know what the hell that is but it makes my face hurt thinking about it. In conclusion, please companies, show just a touch of originality when you’re coming up with these things. Don’t make me find you. RANT OVER!
I blame all this anger on the girl in J207 who has been playing Panic at the Disco songs for almost an hour now. *shudder*
Anyway, let me cite a recent example of this that I’m sure everyone knows. Keep in mind this is purely my opinion and I’m sure a lot of people will disagree. Also keep in mind, you’re wrong. I absolutely despise those Mini Wheat commercials. For years now they’re just changed song lyrics to be about Mini Wheats. Sure the song gets ridiculously caught in your head but is that really a good thing? That doesn’t make me want to go out and buy Mini Wheats. It makes me want to go out and smash every box of Mini Wheats I can get my hands on. I know a lot of people love these commercials but I know more people who hate them. I just can’t support a company who seems so determined to drive me insane.
I will say that I think having the mini wheat is a great idea for a brand character. It makes perfect sense for the product and I think it could work well…if the damn thing wasn’t singing old songs from the 60’s with changed lyrics all the time. There’s so many better things that could be done with this brand character that it really feels like a wasted opportunity to me. However for getting the brand stuck in people’s heads, whether in a good or bad way, the campaign is successful.
A campaign I can’t rate successful on any level is those new cheese commercials. The most recent one has a family sitting around a table singing “Love with keep us Together” only now the lyrics are “Cheese Will Keep Us Together.” Get it?! HAHAHAHAHAHA! This commercial makes me want to weep. It’s easily in my top 3 worst commercials on the air right now. For the record, my full top 3 would be as follows…
1) I forget the company but the deodorant commercial where this woman is giving 5 ways it makes you feel or something. Then she acts “wacky” by high fiving strangers and whatever. If this commercial doesn’t make you break down and cry, you’re god damn Superman.
2) The above mentioned cheese commercial. How not one person during production stepped forward and said “Guys this is terrible maybe we shouldn’t do this” is a miracle.”
3) That Rogers commercial for the top 10 friends. First of all, how long have these people been friends for, 5 hours? How do they not their best friend’s mom’s name? Also why did this guy put his mom in his phone under her first name?! Was it because he knew his friends were going to go through it? In that case tell them to screw off and to stop touching your stuff. Further more how convenient is it that they found out the mom’s name at that key moment? This commercial is a sin.
Anyway back to my loose argument here. I think coming up with a song or a catchy jingle is a great way for a company to make their brand stand out from the competition. The problem here is that these aren’t jingles! These are songs that already exist with very slightly altered lyrics! This is a bunch of lazy people having a 10 minute board meeting where they pitch “who cares just change the lyrics to Hey Jude and make them about fish or whatever” and then calling it a day. Alka Seltzer, that was a jingle. The McDonald’s Big Mac song, that’s a jingle. Cheese will keep us together? I don’t even know what the hell that is but it makes my face hurt thinking about it. In conclusion, please companies, show just a touch of originality when you’re coming up with these things. Don’t make me find you. RANT OVER!
I blame all this anger on the girl in J207 who has been playing Panic at the Disco songs for almost an hour now. *shudder*
I curse a little in this one
To be honest, I’ve never really been a fan of the Brand Story method of advertising. I understand why it’s effective but it has just never appealed to me. For example, those Tim Horton’s commercials (I don’t remember if they’re still on the air or not) where they would tell a heart warming story about a father and son being reunited thanks to Tim Horton’s coffee or something like that. I guess those aren’t as much a brand story as a story about the brand’s products but I’m still choosing to count it. The commercials were well done but I never really got the connection between this and coffee. It’s one thing to tell the story about the company themselves, but this was a different angle I never really understood.
I’ve always been more for a blunt style of advertising. If it were a Tim Horton’s ad all you have to do is show me a cup of coffee and someone yelling “GOD DAMN THAT’S GOOD COFFEE. BUY 12 OF THESE RIGHT NOW!” I would immediately run to the nearest Tim Horton’s after seeing that. That’s all I need. The story angle never really made me want a coffee. It does give you some respect for the company though, so on that level I guess it works. Maybe I don’t really have a point here I don’t know. I think what I’m trying to say is that while I do feel that brand story can be a very effective way of advertising; I think there is a time and a place for it. Tim Horton’s isn’t really a company that needs to travel that route.
I do have an example of one I thought really worked well. Just last night I saw a commercial for Schneider’s that goes the brand story route by telling the roots of the company and provides details about their background. They focus on how long the company has been around and been committed to providing great customer service and making sure their products are safe for everyone. Considering what is currently going on in the world of packaged meats, I say smart move on the part of Schneider’s for this one. It really helps make customers feel confident about the product and gives their brand a good image by letting the audience know their meat won’t, well kill you when you eat it. So there we go, an example of an area where it doesn’t work, and an example where I feel it does work.
I absolutely understand that companies want to tell the story of their brand to give it an image and a personality. It completely makes sense. I simply believe it’s not really a method that needs to be used for some companies. I guess I’m just more about the product itself and why I should buy it. If the flavour of your gum lasts a really long time, then I’m going to buy it. I don’t care if your company uses its money to fund kids going to camp, or to fund illegal monkey fights in Mexico. In fact I’ll probably buy it faster if it’s the second one.
I’ve always been more for a blunt style of advertising. If it were a Tim Horton’s ad all you have to do is show me a cup of coffee and someone yelling “GOD DAMN THAT’S GOOD COFFEE. BUY 12 OF THESE RIGHT NOW!” I would immediately run to the nearest Tim Horton’s after seeing that. That’s all I need. The story angle never really made me want a coffee. It does give you some respect for the company though, so on that level I guess it works. Maybe I don’t really have a point here I don’t know. I think what I’m trying to say is that while I do feel that brand story can be a very effective way of advertising; I think there is a time and a place for it. Tim Horton’s isn’t really a company that needs to travel that route.
I do have an example of one I thought really worked well. Just last night I saw a commercial for Schneider’s that goes the brand story route by telling the roots of the company and provides details about their background. They focus on how long the company has been around and been committed to providing great customer service and making sure their products are safe for everyone. Considering what is currently going on in the world of packaged meats, I say smart move on the part of Schneider’s for this one. It really helps make customers feel confident about the product and gives their brand a good image by letting the audience know their meat won’t, well kill you when you eat it. So there we go, an example of an area where it doesn’t work, and an example where I feel it does work.
I absolutely understand that companies want to tell the story of their brand to give it an image and a personality. It completely makes sense. I simply believe it’s not really a method that needs to be used for some companies. I guess I’m just more about the product itself and why I should buy it. If the flavour of your gum lasts a really long time, then I’m going to buy it. I don’t care if your company uses its money to fund kids going to camp, or to fund illegal monkey fights in Mexico. In fact I’ll probably buy it faster if it’s the second one.
Monday, October 6, 2008
How come everyone just gets along?
It's a little disappointing to me that very few brands really go after their competition anymore. Sure the competition could be mentioned but it's almost always in a simple "we have a better offer" way. It's even rarer to hear the actual name of a competitor mentioned. There's just never any venom involved. Most of the time a company simply highlights why they stand out from the competition without resorting to full out bashing their competitors. It definitely wasn't always like that from what I remember.
It used to be many commercials were similar to what you see in election ads. You know the ones where instead of highlighting why this candidate is the right choice, they simply bash the other candidate and state why they are a terrible person? Well there were other companies doing this too.
I remember when just about every single Pepsi commercial that came out had little to do with why Pepsi was good, but more about how much better it was than Coke. Literally every single commercial just bashed Coke. If you look up some of Pepsi's old commercials it's amazing how often this happened. Whether it was done in a comical way, or with "real" footage from "actual" taste tests (I'm a Coke drinker so please forgive my one sidedness), Pepsi really went for the throat when it came to Coke.
I always found it funny that Coke never really bothered to respond to this in their own commercials, probably because they knew they didn't have to. It made Pepsi come off as sort of the whiny little brother who was jealous of all the attention their older sibling is getting. Maybe this is why you don't see as much of it these days, I don't know.
To go back to the world of video games for a moment (something I will most likely do at least 8 more times throughout the rest of this blog) I remember back when video game companies would just flat out rip into their competitors. Well mostly it was just companies ripping into Nintendo since they were on top at the time. Companies like Sega and Sony would spend a good chunk of their advertising just ripping into Nintendo. You never see this anymore which is strange because I would say the war between video game consoles is bigger than ever right now.
It’s a little hard to put into words but there is quite a line between simply highlighting what makes you stand out from your competitors, versus just flat out attacking them and basically telling the audience why that company sucks. I can remember some of these older commercials mentioned above where the company being advertising didn’t even really talk about what makes them a good choice. They simply tore into the competition and called it a day. It was always a little fun just seeing how they were going to about it and the low blows some of the companies were willing to take. It’s kind of a backwards way of brand positioning since instead of positioning yourself as “the company that’s great because…”, you attempt to position your competition as basically “the company who sucks because…”.
Overall it’s a very strange way of advertising and there’s probably good reason why you don’t really see it these days. …At this point you’re probably expecting me to explain what that good reason is. Sadly I’m afraid that moment isn’t coming because I really have no idea. I just wanted to express my disappointment that companies very rarely use this method of going after the competition anymore. Frankly I would love to see it not only make a return, but a return with a vengeance! How amazing would it be if Crest released a commercial where they don’t even mention Crest at all. Instead the whole commercial is just a guy in a Colgate toothpaste tube costume, running around swearing at people, taking huge slugs from a bottle of whisky and picking fights with children? I don’t know about you but I would be at the store later that same day buying all the Crest products I could get my hands on.
It used to be many commercials were similar to what you see in election ads. You know the ones where instead of highlighting why this candidate is the right choice, they simply bash the other candidate and state why they are a terrible person? Well there were other companies doing this too.
I remember when just about every single Pepsi commercial that came out had little to do with why Pepsi was good, but more about how much better it was than Coke. Literally every single commercial just bashed Coke. If you look up some of Pepsi's old commercials it's amazing how often this happened. Whether it was done in a comical way, or with "real" footage from "actual" taste tests (I'm a Coke drinker so please forgive my one sidedness), Pepsi really went for the throat when it came to Coke.
I always found it funny that Coke never really bothered to respond to this in their own commercials, probably because they knew they didn't have to. It made Pepsi come off as sort of the whiny little brother who was jealous of all the attention their older sibling is getting. Maybe this is why you don't see as much of it these days, I don't know.
To go back to the world of video games for a moment (something I will most likely do at least 8 more times throughout the rest of this blog) I remember back when video game companies would just flat out rip into their competitors. Well mostly it was just companies ripping into Nintendo since they were on top at the time. Companies like Sega and Sony would spend a good chunk of their advertising just ripping into Nintendo. You never see this anymore which is strange because I would say the war between video game consoles is bigger than ever right now.
It’s a little hard to put into words but there is quite a line between simply highlighting what makes you stand out from your competitors, versus just flat out attacking them and basically telling the audience why that company sucks. I can remember some of these older commercials mentioned above where the company being advertising didn’t even really talk about what makes them a good choice. They simply tore into the competition and called it a day. It was always a little fun just seeing how they were going to about it and the low blows some of the companies were willing to take. It’s kind of a backwards way of brand positioning since instead of positioning yourself as “the company that’s great because…”, you attempt to position your competition as basically “the company who sucks because…”.
Overall it’s a very strange way of advertising and there’s probably good reason why you don’t really see it these days. …At this point you’re probably expecting me to explain what that good reason is. Sadly I’m afraid that moment isn’t coming because I really have no idea. I just wanted to express my disappointment that companies very rarely use this method of going after the competition anymore. Frankly I would love to see it not only make a return, but a return with a vengeance! How amazing would it be if Crest released a commercial where they don’t even mention Crest at all. Instead the whole commercial is just a guy in a Colgate toothpaste tube costume, running around swearing at people, taking huge slugs from a bottle of whisky and picking fights with children? I don’t know about you but I would be at the store later that same day buying all the Crest products I could get my hands on.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Strange Move Burger King
The discussion we had in class recently about fast food restaurants and the way they position themselves/the message they send with their advertising got me thinking about a series of Burger King commercials that I remember seeing months ago. I'm not sure if they're still on the air anymore but I'm sure most people would remember them.
The commercials centered around the concept of Burger King getting rid of the Whopper out of the blue. The commercials filmed people's reactions when being told the Whopper was gone, followed by their relief to find out it was all just a big joke. People had some pretty intense reactions to finding out the Whopper was missing, many saying they would never come back to the restaurant again. That always struck me as an odd message to send out.
Now I know many, if not all, fast food restaurants highlight certain items off their menu in their commercials. McDonalds does it all the time, Wendy's is doing it ad nauseum right now with their chicken snack wraps, and so on. It's a great way to help a franchise stand out from the others by really narrowing the focus down. I get that.
However in the Burger King spots, I always took the message as being the Whopper is literally the only thing worth eating at Burger King. There are so many people in these commercials saying "well then I have no reason to come back" or "what are they going to do without the whopper?" I understand their angle but it's always come off as a bizarre message to me. They in a way are saying that without the Whopper, they got nothing.
If Burger King wants to position themselves as "Home of the Whopper" that's great. The problem is they need to highlight the burger itself, not compared to the rest of their menu items. To have people saying more or less that it's the only good thing to eat there, is not a very effective way to position themselves. That is all.
The commercials centered around the concept of Burger King getting rid of the Whopper out of the blue. The commercials filmed people's reactions when being told the Whopper was gone, followed by their relief to find out it was all just a big joke. People had some pretty intense reactions to finding out the Whopper was missing, many saying they would never come back to the restaurant again. That always struck me as an odd message to send out.
Now I know many, if not all, fast food restaurants highlight certain items off their menu in their commercials. McDonalds does it all the time, Wendy's is doing it ad nauseum right now with their chicken snack wraps, and so on. It's a great way to help a franchise stand out from the others by really narrowing the focus down. I get that.
However in the Burger King spots, I always took the message as being the Whopper is literally the only thing worth eating at Burger King. There are so many people in these commercials saying "well then I have no reason to come back" or "what are they going to do without the whopper?" I understand their angle but it's always come off as a bizarre message to me. They in a way are saying that without the Whopper, they got nothing.
If Burger King wants to position themselves as "Home of the Whopper" that's great. The problem is they need to highlight the burger itself, not compared to the rest of their menu items. To have people saying more or less that it's the only good thing to eat there, is not a very effective way to position themselves. That is all.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Post the First
So of all things I was looking around on some video game message boards (surprise, surprise I have some nerdish qualities) and wow, I never realized how intensely loyal to brands these people are. You can't look through a single topic without someone coming in and attacking someone else for their preference in video game system. If you seriously want to see the most extreme examples of brand loyalty, then simply head on over to a video game message board. It will blow your damn mind.
The first post I happened to click on was just a guy politely asking if he should pick up a Nintendo Wii game that came out this week. I was also interested in this game so I figured I would read this. Well after that first post, it was immediatly followed by someone telling him to sell his Nintendo Wii "cuz it suckorz" and buy an Xbox 360 because "it roxors!" ...I don't even have words to describe that. Not only does it have nothing to do with what the poster asked, but this person is so brand loyal to the 360 he just felt compelled to barge into this unrelated topic to express it in his own special, incoherent way. Needless to say the rest of the topic was pure chaos, with more people coming in to bash each other's preference in system. Everyone just ripped on other people's choices, saying their system (or brand) was the best...except for this one guy who just claimed to have fornicated everyone in the topic's mother. I doubt that was true but if it was, these people have more to worry about than which system is best. Either way the person never did find out if his game was worth getting.
This is just one example too. You can find this sort of thing in just about any topic you click on. People will absolutely refuse to acknowledge other systems even exist. They all feel their system has the best graphics, the best games, the best online, the best everything. If you try and tell them otherwise, they won't listen to it for a second. Instead they'll call you a racial slur and insult your lack of genitals, at least that seems to be the case in most situations.
I honestly can't think of another example of more intense brand loyalty than the world of video games. I could list thousands of examples of it, and just how passionate people can get about it. Hell I used to work in a store that sold them and we would just watch people stand by the games and argue over which system had the best selection. We saw one guy get so worked up he started screaming and we had to kick him out. Scary.
There's also an issue of brand personality at work here too. If you start to pay attention, you see that each of the three main systems (Wii, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360) has a sort of personality that goes along with it.
The Wii is considered to be the kiddy system. This is the cute, safe system that everyone can enjoy and doesn't do anything to offend anyone. Wii is the boy/girl you take home to meet your parents.
The Playstation 3 is the expensive system. It costs you a lot of money, but feels it is completely worth it in the end. At the same time, many people who invest the money, are disappointed with the end results.
360 is essentially considered the badass. It has the most brutal games and is also considered to be the most social.
I think this whole idea of loyalty with systems is something that has been around forever and isn't going anyway. Although I'm a little terrified because I know it was never this bad when I was growing up and things will only get worse. The real life Video Game Wars are just around the corner. However if we fight that war by eating mushrooms, growing really tall and then kicking turtle shells at the enemy, then sign me the hell up.
The first post I happened to click on was just a guy politely asking if he should pick up a Nintendo Wii game that came out this week. I was also interested in this game so I figured I would read this. Well after that first post, it was immediatly followed by someone telling him to sell his Nintendo Wii "cuz it suckorz" and buy an Xbox 360 because "it roxors!" ...I don't even have words to describe that. Not only does it have nothing to do with what the poster asked, but this person is so brand loyal to the 360 he just felt compelled to barge into this unrelated topic to express it in his own special, incoherent way. Needless to say the rest of the topic was pure chaos, with more people coming in to bash each other's preference in system. Everyone just ripped on other people's choices, saying their system (or brand) was the best...except for this one guy who just claimed to have fornicated everyone in the topic's mother. I doubt that was true but if it was, these people have more to worry about than which system is best. Either way the person never did find out if his game was worth getting.
This is just one example too. You can find this sort of thing in just about any topic you click on. People will absolutely refuse to acknowledge other systems even exist. They all feel their system has the best graphics, the best games, the best online, the best everything. If you try and tell them otherwise, they won't listen to it for a second. Instead they'll call you a racial slur and insult your lack of genitals, at least that seems to be the case in most situations.
I honestly can't think of another example of more intense brand loyalty than the world of video games. I could list thousands of examples of it, and just how passionate people can get about it. Hell I used to work in a store that sold them and we would just watch people stand by the games and argue over which system had the best selection. We saw one guy get so worked up he started screaming and we had to kick him out. Scary.
There's also an issue of brand personality at work here too. If you start to pay attention, you see that each of the three main systems (Wii, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360) has a sort of personality that goes along with it.
The Wii is considered to be the kiddy system. This is the cute, safe system that everyone can enjoy and doesn't do anything to offend anyone. Wii is the boy/girl you take home to meet your parents.
The Playstation 3 is the expensive system. It costs you a lot of money, but feels it is completely worth it in the end. At the same time, many people who invest the money, are disappointed with the end results.
360 is essentially considered the badass. It has the most brutal games and is also considered to be the most social.
I think this whole idea of loyalty with systems is something that has been around forever and isn't going anyway. Although I'm a little terrified because I know it was never this bad when I was growing up and things will only get worse. The real life Video Game Wars are just around the corner. However if we fight that war by eating mushrooms, growing really tall and then kicking turtle shells at the enemy, then sign me the hell up.
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