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Many readers of this blog learned of it from references to the Perception Analyzer® in the PBS documentary, "The Persuaders." I first referenced it in this previous post and if you missed the show, you now have two ways to check it out online:
View the entire 90-minute documentary.
View "Give Us What We Want," the 13-minute segment featuring the Perception Analyzer.
It was just a couple of nights ago that I was watching TV and noticed how many commercials were portraying men as complete idiots. Clueless fathers, insensitive husbands, slacker employees...you name it. Today, The New York Times takes on the topic with this article which notes, "the 'man as a dope' imagery has gathered momentum over the last decade, and critics say that it has spiraled out of control. It is nearly impossible, they say, to watch commercials or read ads without seeing helpless, hapless men."
As most of you men out there will certainly attest, we are dopes a good amount of the time. But, we are also great fathers, loving husbands and diligent employees. I agree with Martyn Straw's (chief strategy officer at BBDO Worldwide) statement that, "there is the notion that things that are 'negative' are always much funnier than 'positive,' which can get very schmaltzy." I also think creatively poking fun at people and groups can be funny and does not necessarily have be to construed as negative or "bashing" if done right. But, this trend of railing on men seems to be getting a little old and maybe it's time to ratchet-up the creativity once again.
Coined by Chris Anderson, editor of Wired Magazine, The Long Tail was first an article, is now a blog and is on the way to becoming a book. Behind The Long Tail is the idea that there is tremendous value (and money to be made) in niche markets and products that are nowhere near the peak of popularity, but are now being discovered due to the prevalence of online recommendations and lists. In other words, one thing becomes popular (a book, song, etc.) and based on the fact that it may interest you, you also may be interested in other lesser knows works that are similar in some way. The new ease with which those lesser known works can now be recommended has opened them up to a whole new audience that otherwise would have never known they were there.
Beyond that specific application of The Long Tail principle, Anderson's blog has begun exploring other areas where this concept applies. I find particularly interesting this post about why The Long Tail principle may work against Apple's iPod Shuffle.
I highly recommend reading the original article and keeping-up with how this theory develops.
Budweiser supposedly created an ad for this year's Super Bowl that depicts how Janet Jackson's outfit was torn backstage before last year's halftime show by someone using the rubberized garment to help twist open a bottle of Bud. Yesterday, Budweiser and FOX "agreed" not to air the spot, but today Budweiser released the ad on its website. You too can view the ad here.
Personally, I have my doubts as to whether this ad was ever intended to
air during this year's big game. While it's a clever idea and
certainly humorous (to me, at least), I don't see how, after last
year's ruckus, Budweiser would have ever imagined this could air.
Honestly, I think they'll get much more mileage out of the story about
the ad not running, and the flood of people who will watch it online,
then if it ever aired. If I hadn't already put my whole allowance
down on the game itself, I'd wager a hefty sum that this was the intent
all along. And if I'm right, that's some effective marketing
right there.
UPDATE: My wife just pointed out to me that the spot is only 15-seconds and to our knowledge, Super Blow spots are only sold as 30-seconds or longer. If correct, that's another strong indicator
that this ad was never meant for TV.
Here are two great lists from Business 2.0 magazine that are
informative, entertaining and, in the case of the second list, just
plain scary:
The Smart List - 25 companies that are outfoxing the competition.
"Bold thinkers. Brilliant ideas. Clever strategies. Savvy execution."
The 101 Dumbest Moments in Business (requires paid subscription to read past 1-10)
"Our fifth annual review of the most shameful, dishonest, and just plain stupid moments of the past year."
UPDATE: You can also see the full lists in the January/February print issue on pages 45 and 103 respectively.
Following the death of Johnny Carson last week, there is an interesting article in The New York Times about how much less obtrusive and more effective product placements seemed in the old days of television (including on The Tonight Show) as opposed to shows of today. Worthy read.
3M™ makes a great product under the Scotch® brand called Tear-By-Hand Packing Tape. It's packing tape that (just as the name suggests) doesn't require the use of a cutting tool or serrated edge to cut - you just tear it by hand. This product has been around for a number of years and I think it's brilliant. I use it all the time and just today had to buy a couple more rolls after using-up my stash during the holidays. However, when I got home and tried to open the packaging around the roll of tape I realized I couldn't tear the packaging by hand - I needed scissors or a blade of some sort. I was, of course, stuck by the irony and wonder why they didn't make the packaging Open-By-Hand? It's probably because the packaging needs to stand-up to shipping, shelving and fondling, but this is 3M and their tag line is 3M Innovation. If that is indeed the reason, couldn't they innovate tear-by-hand packaging that would survive the elements? I'm just saying...
Today I learned of Ta-da List from 37signals, a new, free online application that allows you to make, share and collaborate on To Do lists. That's it. The user interface is as simple and uncluttered as the Google homepage. You can create a list, check things off that are complete, allow others to see your list, allow others to add to and check-off items on your list and provide an RSS feed so others may see when your list is updated. Here's my first one.
I'm not sure how much I'll use this or how valuable it could prove to be, but I'm curious to find out. I'm also going to check-out company's Basecamp product to see what that's all about. Looks very promising as project management tool. I also really like their nifty logo.
Joystiq reports 2004 gaming revenues to have been $9.9 billion with portable gaming contributing $1 billion of that. Compare that to record-breaking 2004 movie theater revenues of $9.4 million. The entertainment tide is shifting.
via [Airbag]
Hasbro's newest Mr. Potato Head toy - Darth Tater. Would that make the mini version Darth Tater Tot? I'm sorry, but this just seems wrong to me.
Sam over at Decker Marketing takes an interesting look at the importance of "tasty" descriptions when describing menu items in a restaurant (and in marketing and selling in general). It's something we all know, but can certainly benefit from a reminder. To Sam's point, it's all about adjectives. "Adjectives make nouns mouth watering."
I would love to get some examples of truly extraordinary transformations from mundane to "tasty." Leave a comment and let's see if we can get some good ones going.
A recent study of mobile phone users by IDC yields three distinct perceived benefits that come from using mobile phones, at least one of which people feel they receive:
Safety and security
Productivity and convenience
Style and status
Interestingly, "males, more than females, rate style and status as important mobile phone benefits while females regard safety and security as more valuable."
via [Adverblog]
I drive a 1999 Nissan Maxima and last week one of my two keyless entry remote thingies stopped working. I tried changing the battery, but it still wouldn't work. So, after looking at it for a prolonged period of time and willing it to open my car door, I came to the only logical conclusion - it's busted. While I was mildly frustrated by this, I wasn't too upset. After all, I've had it for over five years, used it to lock and unlock the car thousands of times and I have another one that works fine - it's just nice to have two since one is always misplaced. So, I called my local Nissan dealer and told the somewhat-surly parts department guy that I needed a new keyless entry remote for my car and asked if they were in stock. Turns out, they were and I could have one for a cool $135. One hundred thirty-five dollars!
This is one of those cases where an organization makes less than it wants on some things it sells and gouges the customer on other things to make up the difference. They may only profit $500 on the sale of a car, but they know they're going to make the money back on inflated prices for service and parts. The problem is, I'm a loyal customer who now feels like I'm getting screwed. So, the question is, what nets a company a better overall result - a happy customer and an unhappy customer that cancel each other out or two pretty satisfied customers, neither of whom got particularly screamin' deals, but neither of whom feel like they got screwed either?
I understand that if you don't profit enough on the sale of one thing, you have to make extra profit on something else to balance it out. But, there is a price point for every product and service beyond which it just gets absurd. Anyone who has used the van Westendorp (link is to a PDF overview) price sensitivity meter method of pricing research understands this. The idea is to determine at what price a product or services seems inexpensive (less than you'd expect to pay and therefore a good buy), expensive (more than you'd expect to pay and enough to make you start question the purchase), too inexpensive (priced so low that you'd question its quality) and too expensive (priced so high that you'd question its value). Within the resulting data rests the sweat spot price range. Ignoring principles like that and simply pricing some products/services low (to make a sale) and other products/services high (to balance things out) is lazy business and doesn't serve anyone.
As for me - I'll use my other remote most of the time and for those occasions when I can't find it or I left in in my other coat pocket or my son has decided to play "hide dad's keys when he running late," I'll just do it old school by inserting key into keyhole and turning. Believe it or not, but that still works. Now, what to buy with that $135 I just saved?
Just when you thought everything that could be used for adverting had been, along comes FlapMedia, a company that sells advertising on truck mud flaps. Honestly, not a bad idea. I mean, why not, right? Question is, what will be the next flat service to be covered with advertising?
via [Adfreak]
