In case you missed it, Al Ries' article in this week's Ad Age is a great rallying cry for the power of events to generate PR and break through the clutter--for, as he says, "Actions speak louder than words." I particularly loved it because he highlighted how powerful events can be for "country brands." (David Zolkwer's podcast on this topic is still one of my favorites.)
September 2008 Archives
Summer is winding down. As I start battening down the hatches for another Wisconsin Winter, memories of recent and past vacations come to mind. Which one was your favorite? Was it the one from this most recent Summer with your kids? Or was it one from back in your childhood? And what is it you remember most? Was it something somebody said that you remember? My guess is that what has made it memorable for you is the memory of how it made you feel.
If you're like me and can't get enough of the AMC series Mad Men, you can follow the characters daily lives on Twitter. Their tweets are consistent with their 1962 personas on the show, responding to people's questions and dropping hints about next week's episode. For example, last week Don Draper was tweeted:
Narrowed the car choices down ... 1) Lincoln Continental (convertible). 2) Ford Thunderbird Sport Roadster. 3) Buick Riviera.
Sure enough in Sunday's episode opened with him in a car dealership. Also, last week Betty asked for dinner ideas and re-tweeted the winning recipe, and Sal apologized for a lack of tweets due to his typewriter being fixed.
I highly recommend checking this out, it's a gas.
With each passing day, more companies are learning to cope with the idea that the internet has changed everything. Many embrace the openness of communication and find it a little empowering. In fact, some of them use it to their advantage every day.
There is one company, however, that isn't quite there yet. Apple. It has a legendary culture of secrecy and tries to use it to their advantage. Most of the time, they're pretty effective in that mode. We all love to love them yet shake our heads when they consider dealing with their brand loyalists and the press.
This leads me to the latest development that I believe threatens their new mobile venture.
There is a rumbling in the iPhone developer community.
It's not about the required, overreaching N.D.A. every developer must sign to develop for the iPhone.
It's not about the iPhone's recent 2.1 software update and the plethora of bug fixes addressed therein.
It's also not about the status of Steve Jobs' health.
The one thing that truly threatens their mobile future is Apple's secretive and inconsistent methodology for reviewing, approving, publishing and subsequent removal process of applications created by third party developers for sale on the iPhone/iPod Touch AppStore.
Lots of talk over the past week about Microsoft's big new (expensive) ad campaign. First came the Jerry Seinfeld & Bill Gates shop for discount shoes spot.
Weird, pointless. Pulled after about a week and replaced with the "I'm a PC" ads, which are a direct answer to Apple's hugely successful campaign. Here's one:
Opinions are all over the map on this one. Are they playing into Apple's paradigm? Are they saying anything new? Are they just being reactive?
If you ask me, the criticisms are narrowly focused on a specific ad. I think it's part of a brilliant strategy, and I don't think we've seen the final statements yet. Step One: get people's attention, let them know Microsoft is doing something different. The Seinfeld ads certainly generated buzz.
Follow that up with some ads that start to inoculate Microsoft from Apple's attacks. The "I'm a PC" ads will definitely undermine Apple's ability to continue with the stereotypes.
Step 3 (my guess is we'll see it in the next couple of weeks) is to make a proactive statement that repositions PCs in the modern lifestyle. I can hardly wait to see what they'll do/say next (and that, in my mind, makes this campaign very successful already.)
As a leader in experiential marketing, our clients expect us to come up with great ideas and brilliant solutions to their marketing problems under tight deadlines. It is our duty then, to explore a variety of problem solving techniques and thinking processes that will elevate our ability to think in a more clear and efficient manner. One way is by knowing how we think and using this awareness and data to enhance and regulate our thinking process. This is known as Metacognition.
Jack Morton's own Sydney-based Creative Strategist Matt Jones has a new blog--on what else, building experience brands. Great stuff--check it out. 