The BV Blog

Roberto Ramos of The Vox Collective is asking you to blow the dust off your old history books and take another look. In a recent Adweek column, Ramos puts forth four key lessons from FDR’s New Deal, with additional ideas on how they apply to marketing in today’s economy.

In this era, where past headlines seem taken straight out of this morning’s paper, it’s good to know that FDR can teach marketers a lesson. And why shouldn’t we at least pay some attention? Having served four terms in the White House, he is the granddaddy of longevity, a core objective for most brands today.

Take a few tips from our 34th president and give the article a read.

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The marketing industry as a whole can be an unfriendly place. Shops are criticized for decisions on spokespeople, underlying messages, and judgements are made within seconds by the public. But after reading this article in AdAge concerning Georgi Vodka’s clamoring for former Governor Spitzer’s call girl’s “butt,” I can’t help but feel those same negative feelings.

While this is not nearly as repulsive as the capitalization on tragedy that we saw with purchasing Internet key words in relation to the Virginia Tech shootings to boost website traffic, it certainly doesn’t bode well for us. Pushing the envelope is one thing; getting folks to think outside the box is evolutionary; but toying with the idea of launching a Vodka Brand titled “No. 9″ after Spitzer’s designation by the call-girl service? Putting a twenty-something escort who has come to be associated with lies and betrayal in the American political scene on the back of buses and tops of taxis? That’s low.

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After 105 years, Miller Brewing Company is breathing new life into their original bubbly pilsner. The Milwaukee brewer recently launched Miller High Life Extras, a points-based loyalty program that rewards those who are “livin’ the high life.”

It’s simple. Just buy a specially marked 12 or 30-pack of Miller High Life, or Miller High Life Light, if you’re watching your figure. Each bottle or can is worth 10 points, which then can be redeemed with the click of a button at MillerHighLife.com. Proving once again that loyalty and enjoyment go hand-in-hand.

First put on the market in 1903, Miller High Life, also known as “The Champagne of Beers,” is Miller Brewing’s oldest and perhaps most dormant brand in the family. But over the last few years, High Life has more than doubled their advertising budget and enlisted the help of a quirky, down-to-earth delivery truck driver. And it’s produced results: shipments increased to just over 5 million barrels by the end of 2007.

With the huge push behind Miller High Life Extras, one can’t help but remember the enormous (and still ongoing) success of the 1996 launch of PepsiCo’s “Pepsi Points” promotion strategy.

While the Miller Merchandise doesn’t include multimedia prizes like MP3s, the rewards range from High Life screen savers (60 points) to branded fire pits (31,000 points). In between there’s a wardrobe to be earned, like deliveryman shirts and baseball caps. Unlike previous efforts in the beer industry, this promotion is running for a full-year. Maybe even longer.

Miller has done a phenomenal job in utilizing multiple facets of the marketing mix to revitalize an aging brand. The TV spots combined with the new loyalty program are hitting on two important consumer behavior points. Whereas advertising typically provides consumers a reason to buy, sales promotions offer consumers an incentive to buy. And a tangible giveaway, like a Miller High Life-branded fire pit, is a pretty good incentive. Consumers who may not have ever yearned to “live the high life” may want to at least try the brand now. And those who have a fiery brand loyalty to the bargain brew will be compelled to buy more, and buy often.

Miller High Life–aged 105 years and positioned as common sense in a bottle. But will consumers buy into it?

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Seems we can’t get through the day lately without hearing all about how the American economy is goin’ to hell in a hand basket. I’m certainly no economist so I can’t address whether it is or not, but in light of the current headlines I thought it important to reiterate a simple truth: when business slows down, it’s not a good idea to cut activity that drives sales - like marketing.

As support, I offer this excerpt from Jay Lipe’s “10 Commandments of Marketing.”

“Thou Shalt Not Cut Marketing Spending During Slow Times

From 1980 to 1985, McGraw-Hill Research analyzed 600 companies and their marketing spending. After 1985, McGraw-Hill concluded that those firms which had maintained or increased their advertising during the recession in 1981-82 boasted an average sales growth of 275% over the next five years. But those companies who cut their advertising saw paltry sales growth over the next five years of just 19%. When is the right time to market your business? All the time.”

And here’s a piece from Advertising Age on how Kraft and Kellog’s are responding to lower 4th quarter earnings.

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A few weeks ago, A&E launched an unusual marketing campaign for their new “Paranormal” program.

See the article detailing the techniques here– Hear Voices? It May Be an Ad.

One technique that struck me is the use of Audio Spotlight technology. The name implies just that–an audio track is narrowly transmitted to a location, and only the individuals occupying the space within that “beam” can hear the message.

There’s been a lot of response to this particular method, and reviews have been entirely mixed. According to a poll conducted by AdAge, respondents were split 50/50 as to whether or not the technique was a good idea.

Personally, I think it is a GREAT idea.

It’s a genius way to use the Audio Spotlight technology in an interesting fashion. It’s not an effort at mind control or a some other dark purpose. It’s just a clever way to use clever technology to generate awareness. Marketing at its finest.

A&E found a terrific application for something that grocery stores and gas stations have been using for years. This type of audio technology, sometimes referred to and applied as point-of-purchase audio, has been cutting through the visual clutter of print and television ads, and reaching out to remind people that the detergent is on sale, or when they’re done filling up, to come inside and grab a beverage for the road.

Although, I must admit, had I experienced the A&E application, I would have felt slightly schizophrenic.

But most applications won’t have that effect. They will, however, produce results.

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The apocalypse is upon us.

Starbucks, high and mighty coffee giant, and television advertising naysayer, has finally launched a national television advertising campaign.

The new ads, created by the team at Weiden & Kennedy are lovely. The colors and animation immediately evoke a feeling of holiday verisimilitude. And human interaction with animals always gives me the warm and fuzzies.

Bear Hug

Window Washer

Ski Lift

The Los Angeles Times quoted Starbucks Chief Operating Officer Martin Coles as saying “The ad campaign is designed to ‘capitalize on our brand awareness while driving new customers and existing customers to our stores.’”

I’m not sure these ads are going to do the trick. I’ve been a Starbucks devotee for years, and cannot, with great conviction, say that these ads are appropriate to their brand or their customer.

Where are the leather arm chairs and rich green colors? Where are the smiling faces of their baristas, around which their entire brand identity revolves? Where’s the guy in the corner who bought one cup of coffee at 9 am and is still working on his novel at 5:30 pm?

Starbucks is for tech-heads, snobby city-folk, laptop junkies and people with i-Pod earphones surgically implanted in their heads. Not for outdoorsy, woodland creature and winter wonderland-loving granola heads.

This is the Starbucks we know and love. The critical problem with this campaign is that it does nothing to reinforce the Starbucks brand. There’s nothing to solidify that in-store experience that keeps customers coming back again and again.

That said, what this campaign has accomplished is to get people talking about who Starbucks really is, and who they certainly are not.

Don’t make the same mistakes Starbucks has made. Your marketing efforts should make an authentic connection with your customers and reinforce the experiences they have with your company. The key is to focus on your customers, who they are and what they view your business to be.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fine thing to re-brand or re-position yourself in the marketplace, but if you lose sight of who you are in the process, people will wonder if you knew who you were in the first place.

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My iPhone is paying off already.

I had to cut open a man’s chest earlier today to perform emergency, on-the-street cardiac massage. Thank goodness for the iPhone’s laser scalpel feature. It made a quick, clean incision in the chest wall, allowing me to squeeze the man’s heart and restart his circulation. Minutes later, I was showing him digital pictures of my new boat.

The iPhone has proven handy in the kitchen as well. It dices and slices fresh produce with ease, presses garlic cloves, and makes more ice than a polar bear with a small bladder and a thing for ginger ale. Because my iPhone gives me Internet access and a nice selection of razor-sharp cleavers, I was able to watch the podcast of Sports Center while preparing a meal of fresh zebra steaks.

And the new iPhone offers so much more. It’s a taser, telescope, corkscrew and nail file. Its built-in NASCAR simulator is the best I’ve seen. It comes with a 64-color digital crayon and a sharpener in the back. It can even analyze your golf swing and tuck the kids in at night.

I guess it’s a phone too.

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