Marobella's Branding SoapBox

I Love Prada...

but I can't wear it.

I love Dolce & Gabbana, Versace, john varvatos, Helmut Lang and all the other fashion designers that make killer clothes for men. Thumbing through this months Details magazine, the first 10 ad's were for high-end, international designers that all have super-thin, ripped dudes wearing their clothes. And all the talk is about the young women of our world having a false sense of self-identity? What about 36-year old guys that still  have some swagger left in their tank? What about guys that aren't 135 pounds and 6'1?

I want to wear Prada. I want to wear D&G. But unless I lose 60 pounds and get down to 130 it ain't gonna happen. Where are these men that can fit these clothes? How many of them exist? Are there enough of them to support the sales of a brand? Funny, I live in Chicago and there are very few of them here.

Damn.

Is Starbucks Confused?

Starbucks is my crack. There were two recent articles in the news that are contradictory in my opinion about the brand. The first, is a plea from Howard Schultz to his executive team to reinvigorate the brand, that it was time to get some shine back onto the green logo. He took personal accountabilty for trying to balance explosive growth and efficiencies with a denigration of the "experience" that helped them be so successful. When I first saw that memo, I was impressed. It was reassuring to me that he was introspective enough to write that memo and that he didnt have the answers just yet. It was a cry for help and a rally cry to his team to get the brand back to its coffeehouse roots.

Then, just this morning, I saw this article on MSNBC that goes in the other direction. They want to become even more mass. They are focused on becoming an even bigger player in packaged coffee and convenience vending opportunities. Talk about diluting the brand experience. This is the dilemma that publically traded companies face. Once you sell out to The Street, it becomes a different ballgame. One that is driven by double digit growth, appeasing shareholders and the game moves away from "retaining authenticity of experience" and staying "true to our core". This merely becomes lip service.

The time is coming for Starbucks to figure out what their core business really is. Is it the experience of the store? Are they becoming a merchant of culture with CD's, books and movies? I still think Starbucks has luster, but I do sense a brand overhaul coming soon - A new take on their brand identity, logo and store design seems to be looming large.

I guess the old saw is true, how big do you have to get until you're bad?

Have Sucky Marketing. Sell Trillions Worth.

There is one industry that sells trillions of dollars each year. Trillions of dollars change hands in transactions. This industry doesn't sell $.99 cans of cola or a six-pack that costs $5.99, even though the leader in those categories have some of the most creative and best marketing. Nope, this industry sells products that sell for hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars each. And, their approach to marketing and selling these expensive products absolutely blows.

What I am talking about is the sell-side of Real Estate. I have always wondered to myself why hasn't this industry woken up and figured out that you shouldn't apply a total cookie-cutter approach to selling a half-million dollar home for someone? That buying a home is the most emotional purchase someone can make and the marketing of homes in the listings we see everyday couldn't be further from that truth. Or, the fact that the marketing techniques brokerages are using are just barely entering the early 90's.

I am going through the process of selling my house now and I find myself daydreaming about starting a real estate brokerage that offers and utlizes modern day marketing tactics. Programs that big brands are using to sell products that cost less than a dollar. These techniques can be formatted so that they can be applied to the hundreds of listings a busy brokerage might get during a busy selling season. I mean come on, even the car companies are starting to understand this. And, trust me they arent far behind with their stupid bait and switch tactics and the sales manager/sales rep game they play when you buy a car. I find myself laughing everytime.

Anyway, with all of the tools out there now, there has to be a better way. Trulia.com, Zillow.com and others are starting to get noticed and they will change the game. Maybe I will be there to catch that wave.

Rubbin's Racing.

TV advertisers are flocking to "big-event" TV to run their heroin of advertising, the :30 second spot. Much has been written about the death of TV because of the fragmentation of the audience and the millions of content choices an advertiser has to sponsor. The easy choice, choose 5 or 6 big events throughout the year and blow your nut. The Superbowl, Grammys, Emmys, Daytona 500, Final Episode of Friday Night Lights, you know the usual suspects.

I am a NASCAR fan and I guess, the non-bubba type that NASCAR so hopes to attract without alienating their majority fan base of bubbas. I watched the Daytona 500 yesterday and enjoyed the race. There was some great racing and our Jim Beam driver, Robby Gordon came in the top 15 - Congrats Robby!

The commercials were better than the Superbowl I thought. The agencies and brands did a great job of integrating the spirit of racing and the driver personalities into their TV. I thought for the most part, they were clever, funny and on-brand. I like what nascar.com did as well, having the spots up before the race for people to get a sneak peek (see graphic). I would be curious to see what kind of extra legs advertisers got from that. I would imagine a great deal of NASCAR fans head to the web before the race.

Also, NASCAR is struggling with regard to ratings, selling event tickets and retaining the non-bubba fan. This is a hard sport to understand. I know what my wife is talking with not understanding Football as I watch NASCAR. All the different rules, flags, cautions etc. The sport is chock full of jargon. They have a bit of a marketing challenge.

Its no wonder there has been some great scandals happening this past week. The PR of NASCAR has raised the awareness of the sport significantly. Nothing like a good scandal. And, the wrecks yesterday were legendary, not to mention the finish. It reminds me of Hockey a little. When in doubt, start a fight on the ice - get fans more involved, thats what they are waiting for anyway.

I am sure NASCAR will figure it out, but I would recommend hiring a solid marketing partner to figure out how to keep the attention of the "new fan" and make the sport less bubba and less full of jargon.

You might want to start with your people calling the races, they dont help.

Come On Everybody!

USA Today posts their national poll results of the most liked commercials here.  It is amazing to me that the most liked commercial was the Bud Crabs. Bud threw 10 spots into the competition and the first one was the best, rock, paper, scissors. And then, it was all downhill from there for Bud and for everyone else.

Damn, do I miss the good old days of .com Superbowl advertising with crazy chimps and gerbils being shot out of cannons.

My Superbowl Vote Goes To...

careerbuilder.com. I thought their three spots were unique, interesting humorous and got the point across. In a game where the work was lackluster at best, these spots stood out save for the very first spot of the game, the rock, paper, scissors idea for Bud Light. And, you can bid on the props used in the careerbuilder.com ads on their website with proceeds going to charity.

Why was salesgenie.com advertising?
What was the deal with the heart getting it's ass kicked by the Matrix-looking diseases?
The Sierra Mist ads were ok, not great.
I was disappointed overall with Bud's efforts.

Still, very little integration with below-the-line media.

I will say this was the year of the consumer-created advertising and the Doritos spots were very cool. It was great to see Doritos turning over creative control of the big game to consumers. Love it.

And, for the NFL's consumer created spot, what a missed opportunity with all the hype around the spot, they didnt let us know that the commercial at the 2:00 minuted warning was in fact the winning spot.

Premature Ad-uation

I love watching the advertising during the Superbowl. No surprise there, right? Over the years, I would probably link my career in advertising to my enjoyment of spots during the big game. I have never had my work played on Super Sunday, but nonetheless, I like it.

Lately, with the advent of the web and subsequent video sites, part of the surprise of whats going to play on the big day has subsided. With GoDaddy getting more press because of their CBS-denied spots and Budweiser creating a compliation on YouTube , it has almost ruined the game for me. The moment of a commercial break is a little like Xmas morning, the anticipation of whats there. Will you like it? Or, will you be disappointed.

I like the fact that brands are extending their investment and looking at the 2.6M for 30 seconds as a bigger play than just those 30 seconds. It has made smaller brands think harder as to whether or not to invest their budget in Super Sunday.

Go Bears.