Is there hope for Palm? Palm recently announced the Treo Pro smartphone as the next evolution of it’s very popular Treo smartphone. Palm as been floundering of late and their brand has seen as old school and failing. The company was once the leader in PDA/Smartphone technology and innovation and basically launched the pda market.
With the new model, the question still remains: Is it too late for Palm? Apple’s
Iphone has changed the market and innovations by
Blackberry and others have left Palm in the dust. It may be time for a company that was once a leader and innovator to get back to its roots. If Palm was your brand, how would you…
Any brand worth its salt can produce a great promo or ad whose impression lasts a few years in the minds of its consumers. But a more telling example of greatness are the few brands that achieve an impression over several generations. That’s a brand worth not only its salt, but also its bologna.
In 1904, the entrepreneur-immigrant who was also a prescient marketer, Oscar F. Mayer, began branding his company’s meats to capitalize on their popularity. His was one of the first companies to volunteer for testing product purity in the US.
The first Oscar Mayer Wienermobile was created in 1936.…
Karl hit the nail on the head of where MillerCoors is missing the mark. In addition to their recent resurrection of a bygone tagline, their recent “innovative” vented can only adds to the lackluster consumer appeals. Anyone with a brain can see through this flimsy scheme perpetuated by the brewer. But the underlying effects of “product innovations” like this only reinforce the general population’s mistrust of marketers. True product innovations need to provide tangible, value-added characteristics to an existing product. Continuing to market ”innovations” like this, MillerCoors only gives us all a bad name.
ZDNET is reporting that the Securities and Exchange Commission provided unanimous approval today for corporations to use Corporate Blogs as a means to release information that meets public disclosure requirements.
I don’t know that you’ll see many corporation taking advantage of this medium but there are some who have successful corporate blogs that could use this to provide information to the public. In those instances, there is the opportunity for unique conversation to develop around content usually reserved for faxed releases and obscure postings. This can position a corporate blog in a whole new way for some brands.
It’s additional proof that Social Media…
I’m a big fan of the CommonCraft videos. CommonCraft has established itself as a unique communications organization that brands come to for help to explain the features and benefits of their products. The video below is for LinkedIn. They asked CommonCraft to take the assumption that LinkedIn is about building connections and turn it on it’s side to explain how it can make you more productive. Using a simple two minute video, CommonCraft has helped LinkedIn to explain how it can expand the role it plays in our everyday lives.
Can your brand communicate in such a simple way to help people…
I was watching a TED Presentation with Jonathan Harris, an artist and computer scientist, about his passion for collecting stories. One of the projects that Jonathan shares during the presentation is We Feel Fine which he developed with Sep Kamvar.
We Feel Fine scans the worlds blogs to collect snippets of peoples feelings. The information is then rolled together and presented using visual cues that allow you to review and even search for feelings. It’s a mesmerizing, amazing and frightening look into the emotions and experiences that people are sharing online.
Have a look when you get a chance and explore the snippets…
While I was reviewing my RSS feeds this week, Adfreak pointed me to this YouTube Choose Your Own Adventure idea being put together by a guy name Cory Williams. Cory is asking you to help him find his cat, Sparta. The concept is very interesting in that you can use the YouTube set up to choose from one of four available choices that leads you to the next video.
Now, the storyline is a bit weak but the concept is sound. I never did find Cory’s cat, lost interest. I’ll be curious to see if a brand picks up on this idea. Get a good story…
I try not to ever double up on what I write for one blog on another. However I thought this idea was so creative and fun that I had to double up and share that the Golden Magazine will be hitting newsstands soon!
A new magazine is actually going to launch with a golden touch! Literally!
Kohl magazine will celebrate it’s launch with a cover that actually includes 91 grams of gold and 622 diamonds on the cover.
According to Trendhunter, it is estimated that this one magazine will cost $10,000 to produce!!
Kohl magazine is the UAE’s first and only women’s lifestyle and fashion…
Squidward: Will you let go of that stupid pizza already!!!
SpongeBob Squarepants: No! I can’t. It’s for the customer.
Squidward: Who cares about the pizza??!!!!
SpongeBob: I do!!!
Squidward: SpongeBob, let go of the pizza!!!
SpongeBob: No! It’s for the customer.
In a time when customer service is mediocre at best, I think a simple solution should be to sit your employees down and have them watch the SpongeBob Squarepants episode, “Pizza Delivery.” The message is plain, simple and to the point: Deliver what you promise to your customer and do so with great enthusiasm all while wearing a smile (even if you are tucked…
If you love seafood like I do, you’ve probably eaten one of the ugliest looking fish around. And you’ve probably asked for more. In the areas where it thrives, it’s known as the Patagonian Toothfish. For years, commercial fishermen avoided catching this “cod of the deep” because nobody wanted to eat this nasty-looking thing. Today, things have changed.
According to “Hooked: Pirates, Poaching, and the Perfect Fish,” it took a Los Angeles fish merchant to rename this saltwater monster in the late 70’s to change Americas’ palate. Even though this fish is neither a bass nor from Chile (it is found both…
With viral campaigns being all the buzz, how can one dog food company make an impact on Internet users? 
For Pedigree, they’ve created the “Million Dog Mosaic.” Dog lovers and owners are encouraged to submit their dog’s photo which is then used to create a larger picture of the Pedigree dog. So far, more than 47,000 dog photos have been submitted. And now, there’s only a small amount of the dog’s left ear and paw remaining to complete the mosaic.
In addition to having your dog’s picture become part of something bigger, Pedigree is donating $1 per picture to their adoption…
You have probably heard about the dancing guy phenomena by now. His name is Matt Harding and he’s a regular fella who is happily dancing his way around the world. Literally. In his latest video on YouTube called, simply, Dancing, he is seen strutting his stuff in 69 different locations around the world, in some pretty amazing places like Tonga and Timbuktu.
Matt, truth be told, is not one of the world’s great dancers. He does this kind of frenetic jig that looks like step aerobics on Red Bull. But his dancing isn’t what makes the videos so appealing. It’s the sheer…
Advertising is hitting the streets in all shapes and forms these days including on public transportation! What do you think of the following three very creative uses of busses?
1. National Geographic
There is no better way to promote programming on the National Geographic Channel than using the artwork of a shark with its’ teeth strategically placed on the doors to simulate “taking a bite.”
Source: Small Business Commandos
2. Dr. Best Toothbrushes
Who doesn’t love a flexible head toothbrush? What do you think of this creative placement of a toothbrush ad?
Source: Design Idea
3. NZDating.com
Because of the routes of these two buses they often were…
Blogs have become a staple source of reading for many seeking to grasp a quick inside note to what is taking place around the globe. The largest section of people by far spreading a daily word to the masses would be mommy bloggers. What better way to grab potential dollars then by aligning yourself with mommy bloggers and the road trip to be following in 2008?
The Silicon Valley Moms Group Summer Road Trip 2008, places five moms dashing across America to California for the annual BlogHer Conference. What is amazing about this cross country fun on the road? The list…
The likes of Red Bull, MTV, Nike, and Sony Music are now enabling users—to buy, that is. It’s like a one-step program for impulse buyers, where viral video meets e-commerce, where advertisers connect with social media users. A company called Splashcast released a tool that turns online videos into impulse buying opportunities. It’s called “HotSpot.”
Here’s how it works: HotSpot enables marketers to tag objects — like a chair or a table lamp — inside a published video. You click on the highlighted item and see a sponsored message and a link to the purchasing page.
The first thing that came to my…
There really is not much else to say. Just take one look at this picture and you can see the picture says it all!
When I look at this ad, I see a company that is telling potential clients, “We will take you out of the trenches.” What person unhappy with their current employer wouldn’t see this ad and believe this is the job locator to go to? I think this recruiting company hits the spot!
Source
Technorati Tags: TalentZoo,Beneath the Brand,Dannie McClain,marketing,branding,advertising,recruiting
Dannie McClain is a Category Manger with a New Jersey textiles company. In her spare time she also blogs on a…
The new Toyota Hilux’s brand promise is “Unbreakable” and they are supposedly targeting “the” new generation of consumers.
In attempt to reach these consumers and encourage these new consumers to visit the showroom and arrange a test drive, they developed a screensaver using the motion sensor built into the latest generation of laptops, to deliver a truly interactive experience and demonstrate the “unbreakability” of the 2008 Hilux, according to Ads of the World.
They then distributed this to a database of potential Hilux buyers, and encouraged them to forward it on. From the screen saver, users could click through and arrange a…
Advertising meets the coasters at your favorite local hang out!
What do you think of the following not only very creative displays of coaster advertising but also interactive?
1. Nicorette: Kick it!
According to Ads of the World, when smoking was banned in pubs in Australia, Nicorette created a coaster that could be turned into goal posts to give people something to do with their hands instead of smoke.
What do you think of the play on words with kicking and goals and “kicking the habit?”
Source: Ads of the World
2. Lowes: Build it!
These Lowes coasters were strategically placed at local bars. They were meant…
In a third and final entry about scent branding, also called “aroma branding” or “olfactory branding”… 
You can build brand loyalty with fragrance, but you can’t just slap a scent to a product:
–Match the scent with the product, customers
–Base it on values, positioning, and personality of brand
–Fit into the environment; smell authentic. Ex: Landor works with P&G and helps them to decide on a fragrance for a detergent from a branding standpoint. Is the fragrance right according to the positioning of the detergent?”
–Is it a masculine or a feminine brand? This distinction can lead to different fragrances. A masculine character…
For all you MMORPG players, the new expansion pack is here! For those of you who don’t know what MMORP is, nevermind…
The gang over at American Copywriter are good for interesting content and a solid laugh every now and again. This video on the World of the World of WarCraft is a hysterical spoof on the ever growing online video game by Blizzard. What makes it so funny is that it’s so true. I think when your brand is the butt of jokes and is spoofed by the Onion you have truly arrived!
