What goes around comes around. How true it is, especially in distribution and retail circles. There never has been a retail/distribution that hasn't been redone and or recast in a different concept. As we grow older, we often yearn for the days of our youth. It has been said that it takes twenty years for something to become nostalgic.
The financial news networks have been inundated lately with new Vanguard commercials heralding a new way of investing called "Vanguarding." The spots catch your attention because they are so different and unexpected for the category, and are in conflict with Vanguard's bedrock position of low fund management fees and sound investment strategies. Turning a brand into a brand action - transitioning to a brand verb is risky business.
In most business to business circles, the OEM - the Original Equipment Manufacturer - is the big dog. OEM's bask in all the communications and marketing limelight. Being a component brand supplier to the OEM often means taking a back seat. Component brands have to fight to gain awareness and are at the mercy of the OEM's marketing and sales strategies. It's often only the OEM's way or you're banished to the highway. They have all the brand clout.
Having traveled extensively recently, I feel there is not much worse than air travel today. The joy of flying is a long forgotten memory. You just want to get from point A to point B in the quickest time at the best fare with minimal hassle. What happened to what United used to refer to as the "the friendly skies"? The travel category is the very example of look and sound alike sameness with little differentiation. It is a homogonous mess!
To me, the month of March means one thing - March Madness, the basketball crazed time of wall-to-wall college basketball with hours spent fretting over filling out multiple NCAA championship brackets. The NCAA basketball tournament is a magical sporting event, and especially so for those lucky enough to score tickets. Getting tickets to an NCAA Final Four game is reputed to be one of sports toughest tickets. You get entered into a lottery for tickets a year in advance
Out of a myriad of ads that I've seen recently, one especially caught my attention - Dove Men+Care http://content.dove.us/mencare/TV.aspx. Set to the tune of the William Tell Overture, the premise is about men getting comfortable with who they are, i.e., in their own skin. The spot certainly grows on you both on TV and radio. The question is will it make a connection with the male audience?
Having grown up in the 60's and 70's, family dinner was just that - dinner. Everything revolved around dinner in the Field household. We ate at a certain time, and as children we were called in by a ship's bell mounted on the back porch. You could hear that bell from anywhere in the neighborhood. God help you if you were late. Many of my best, and also many not so fond memories, were of dinners at home. You felt protected and secure in that setting.
You never know where inspiration for a blog topic is going to come from. Listening to Newsradio 88 out of NYC last week, there was a report that actor Paul Sorvino is bringing out a line of pasta sauces - both marinara and vodka. It makes great marketing sense. Sorvino starred in "Goodfellas". He's likable and has a strong Italian heritage. According to industry sources, the sauce is decent and has made initial shelf penetration in the Northeast. It's an accomplishment, considering that breaking into the pasta sauce aisle is tougher than the families who inspired the love of Italian food in this country. Barilla owns the pasta aisle, but is a secondary player in pasta sauces.
It is fascinating to watch product/sales categories emerge and die, especially if you're a marketer. One story is playing out daily - the e-reader and eBook category. It dominated the book world over the holidays. It is redefining all the accepted norms of product life cycles. As a voracious reader, I find it compelling. I don't want hard cover books to die, but I might not have a choice!
As a marketer and brand strategist, it has been fascinating to watch the complete unraveling of the Tiger Woods brand. You would be hard pressed to find a more disastrous brand case history equivalent in size and scope. Maybe Tylenol back in the eighties would rival it for speed of brand dissent. All the brand pillars and tenets of Tiger have proven to be as phony as he is as a person.
