Category Archives: Insight

Saturn and the trap of “brand experience”

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On a warm Spring day in 1991, my brother Tim visited Rochester with his first new car – a Saturn S series coupe. We took it out on Kings Highway through Durand Park for a road test. Drove ok. But it looked different and Tim was really proud of it. He had a story to tell, something about cookies and a song from the dealer. He was a Saturn brand evangelist.

Tim’s evangelism lasted another year perhaps. The Saturn brand meanwhile soldiered on, right up to this past Wednesday when GM announced that a planned takeover by auto mogul Roger Penske had fallen through. It appears the Saturn division will close next year.

Even before the current auto slump, Saturn had become a staple of MBA case studies on how to kill a promising business. Conventional wisdom has it that the meddling execs of GM killed the quirkiness in an effort to lower costs. The predictable cycle commenced, with loyal owners spun off each year.

I’d like to introduce an alternate theory: Saturn was dead on arrival. That it even got off the ground is a testament to brilliant advertising from Hal Riney and a decent dealer network. The problem was the cars – uniquely styled at times, but nothing special in performance, quality, or safety. Saturn created a compelling brand narrative, but not a good product.

Saturn has failed spectacularly, but not uniquely. Countless brands try to create a “brand experience” before doing the hard work of legitimate differentiation. My favorite category is airtravel – remember Song or Ted (we want to be like Jet Blue, can we do it without actually changing?).

Sadly, agencies and marketers are often asked to create the story and then canned when it doesn’t connect. Wish I had a more uplifting message. Cheers!

mj

P.S. while appreciating some of Hal Riney’s Saturn tv work, came across his work helping to elect Ronald Reagan. Politics aside, far more memorable than anything I’ve seen lately from candidates.

Highlights on spending from Mintel

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I had the pleasure of attending Mirren’s new business workshop in NY last week. One highlight was the presentation on latest shopping trends from Mintel’s Krista Faron. The prognosis: Encouraging, especially for any products that can be enjoyed at home, and for high-quality, small indulgences.

Glimpses of improvement
Krista shared that the Consumer Confidence Index, which is a barometer of the “collective cultural psyche,” is continuing to trend upwards after bottoming out in February. However, unemployment is still high; a full economic rebound won’t happen until unemployment goes down, which is not expected until next year.

Mintel has identified an interesting and under-served segment: The “Under-Employed.” Of those 90% of Americans still employed, a third of full-time workers have taken a cut in hours or income, and over 40% of part-timers have lost work hours.

There’s no place like home
Despite these conditions, 70% of Americans are spending the same or more on home food than last year, because they’re eating at home more than ever. This means spreading the food budget farther – leading to a more engaged and experimental consumer. With this comes jumps in sales, and loyalty to private label brands as well as basics like Spam and Macaroni and Cheese.

This spend-“at-home” phenomenon is also associated with downward trends in eating at restaurants, traveling for vacations, and entertainment outside of the home. It also explains the staggering data that shows 34% of Americans are thinking about buying a flat-screen TV by the end of the year, as well as the positive trends in “simple” home improvement like painting and gardening.

Great brand value prevails
Mintel shared some great trend-busting brands that have thrived despite the marketplace, thanks to a focus on a quality product and experience at a great value. Terrific examples are Panera Bread, JetBlue and Old Navy. Good to see the principles of great product at a fair price can still prevail.

Comments, please

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Hi, I’m Whit, and I’m a comment junkie. I live for comments. Comments are evidence that people are listening. Comments are testimony that you’ve made someone, somewhere think about something enough that they feel compelled to agree or disagree with you. Comments beget more comments. I only post status updates on Facebook when I think they’re funny, thought-provoking, or controversial enough to generate comments. I plan to approach this blog the same way, so for my inaugural submission, I’m taking a shotgun approach to hedge my bets. Here’s a quick snapshot of all the things I thought about using as a subject, condensed to soundbyte-length. My “stream of consciousness” blog, if you will. Let’s see what gets some chatter going out there.

  • Rochester is an ad community in dire need of a softball tournament, a battle of the bands, something – anything – to remind us that a community is exactly what we are. Seeing each other at the ADDY show and the occasional RAF social event isn’t enough. We need more. Friendly competition is good. Bragging rights are even better. This really needs to happen. I can put a softball, bowling, badminton, or water polo team together if you can. Okay, water polo might be tough, but you get the idea.
  • Too many clients are mistaking social marketing websites for free places to park their logos instead of opportunities to give their brands meaning and bring them to life. From what I can tell, too many agencies nationwide are failing to educate and inspire them to think otherwise. Prove me wrong. Please.
  • Any creative who says he or she hasn’t looked through creative annuals for inspiration is either a liar or a fool. Any account, production, PR, or media person who says they’ve never looked through a creative annual is probably telling the truth and is definitely not giving themselves an important tool for success.
  • Rochester is without a doubt the most jingle happy community I have ever lived in. Professionally produced jingles don’t bother me; they’re effective as hell. Half-assed TV or radio station-produced jingles do. Got a favorite (or least favorite) jingle?
  • Admit it, Fucillo Hyundai ads have made you laugh out loud at least once, even if you hate yourself for doing so. Say what you want – the spots may be stupid, but the guy selling more Hyundais than anyone else in the country is not.
  • Local students who are aspiring art directors – get a copywriter to write the ads in your book. Aspiring copywriters – get an art director to art direct your book. All the kids coming out of programs like VCU and Miami Ad School do, and the difference shows.
  • TV and the art of doing broadcast are not dead. You just have to go online to see what’s being done.
  • iPhones are sweet. iPhone apps are sweet. iPhone apps that do something which is already programmed into my iPhone are stupid. Skype for iPhone? Why wouldn’t I just text you?
  • I actually think I like GM’s new tagline, “May the best car win.” Big and bold, just like they want to be. Hope they can live up to it.
  • Just noticed that America’s Funniest Videos is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Why is this show still on TV? Haven’t we already seen the funniest videos from America (or anywhere else in the world for that matter) on YouTube?
  • There’s a new iPhone knockoff called the “myPhone”. Really? myPhone? That’s the best they could do? Reminds me of Cleo McDowell in “Coming to America”: “They got the Big Mac … I got the Big Mick.”
  • There’s some fantastic work getting done in Rochester. Let’s do more.

Comments?

Why agency sites (mostly) stink, and an announcement…

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Ok. They don’t uniformally stink. If you want to quickly assess the type of work an agency considers “great”, they can be useful. But visit half a dozen. Right now, I’ll wait here.

Struck by the overwhelming sameness? Like a template was handed out at a 4 A’s conference. Right down to the “proprietary approach” and 3rd person bios (“Our clients describe Mike as quietly brilliant. So they’re surprised to learn he fronts a local punk band on the weekends”). I selected two for fodder, one bad and one good:

McCann NY (bad)
I defy you to discover anything relevant about this agency in 30 seconds. Eventually I found the “what we think” section, and have concluded that concealment was intentional (summary: they’re really really open to ideas). And moving links, still, in 2009?

Full disclosure, I used to work at McCann NY prior to emigrating to Rochester. Met my wife there. Loved the place. They are better and smarter than the site suggests.

Crispin Porter & Bogusky beta (good)
In certain circles, it’s very 2005 to openly admire CPB. But when faced with conventional challenges, they continue to think and behave unconventionally. The beta site is the latest example. Video, feeds and news about CPB and clients. Not just the sanitized PR stuff either. So it captures the impact the work is having rather than assessing work in a gallery. Time on your hands? Watch “Brokaw meets Bogusky” video.

Let me know examples you admire, local or otherwise. Love to see more of the good stuff. Or tell me how wildly off-base I am.

And the announcement:
When introducing the new blog team a few weeks ago, I neglected to mention P&N CMO Sarah Hanson. Not a minor oversight. Sarah arrived in Rochester from Boston’s Digitas with a ton of digital experience. More on Sarah here. Look for her to light up the blogoshere later this month.

mj

Next Step Junkie

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I’ve been accused on occasion of being a next steps junkie. What can I say, I get wrapped up in something, and I want to know what’s next. So, it’s no surprise that I think the best webpages are those that have a next step. What do I mean?

I just finished reading the latest blog post from Wegmans Organic Farm. Courtney the intern had a fabulous trip to a local Virginia farm and had loads of great facts and pictures about their yummy produce. By the end of the post I could almost taste those tomatoes, and thankfully, she ended with a link to a recipe for tomato salad. Great next step.

Another example: a theater review article in City Newspaper gives ticket information at the close, along with a link to the theater website, so you can buy tickets.

And of course, the obvious, if you tell me about a product, also link me to where I can buy it. Cnet does an especially nice job of this even though they’re not the ones making the sale (phone example).

That said, next steps don’t always make sense. Latest example – epicurious and their new wine widget. Here’s the idea: they pair several wines with each recipe, and give you links to buy it (for shipping). Here’s where it falls down: if you’re like me, you look up a recipe the day you want to make it. By the time you order wine and it’s delivered, the meal is long gone. What would be really cool, is if they linked you to your local wine shop for the sale, instead. Nice business arrangement there, too.

My point is that no matter what message you’re trying to convey to your website visitor, you can always win points by anticipating their next move, and making it easy. It’s good usability, and good business.

RAF student member takes home national ADDY gold!

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Huge props to David Nardone who scored some more hardware for his trophy shelf at the national ADDY Awards Show & Gala in Atlanta last weekend. David took home National ADDY Gold for his “Houdini” poster series for the Museum of Magic. David also won gold at the district and local levels.

Apparently, advertising talent runs in the family. David is the nephew of Rochester ad & marketing veteran Joe Nardone of Eastman Kodak.

With over 60,000 entries annually, the ADDY® Awards are the world’s largest and arguably toughest advertising competition. The ADDY® Awards represent the true spirit of creative excellence by recognizing all forms of advertising from media of all types, creative by all sizes and entrants of all levels from anywhere in the world. The American Advertising Federation, a not-for-profit industry association conducts the ADDY® Awards through its 200 member advertising clubs and 15 districts. It is the only creative awards program administered by the advertising industry for the industry.

Check out all the 2009 winners here.

The art of WOM

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It was tough getting back to the grind yesterday after a relaxing Memorial Day weekend, which began with a family visit in Connecticut (truly there’s no place like home, but only in small doses…). I grew up in a small town surrounded by state forest with three traffic lights and one recent fast food addition. So continuing on to the Berkshires for the latter part was seamless and enjoyable.

Unlike Rochester, these smaller, more self-sustaining Berkshire communities typically have one or two stores for each type of business—a general store, pharmacy, bookstore, ice cream parlor, and so forth. As I strolled through the quintessential small town of Lenox, Mass., my eyes caught an eclectic collection of sculptures made from scrap metal and recycled parts. The artist mentioned his outdoor gallery is primarily for viewing pleasure, but that he also sells pieces on occasion.

Further down the square, I saw that the local realtor had bought one of the artist’s chairs for the front doorstep…or had he? Had I stumbled upon effective cross-promotion and word-of-mouth at their finest? After all, business owners in small towns by nature have a greater advantage of fostering more personal, intimate relationships with their customers. A recent study found that our peers are considered as credible as industry experts, and when it comes to sources of information about a company, people trust what both employees and peers have to say.

The state of the economy certainly changes things up as well…are local businesses stepping outside of their traditional domain—seeking to attract “foreign” investment—and therefore relying on new word-of-mouth channels? To that extent, how are the increasing prevalence of online networks and e-commerce changing the marketing strategies of these small-town businesses? It will be interesting to see how “mom and pop” shops adapt to and leverage the evolving technologies, which can bring new customers from the global marketplace right to their doorstep.

Rochester’s City Newspaper Ducks the Trend

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The “newspaper deathwatch” tale must be the year’s best covered story. In last week’s installment, the Boston Globe faced extinction while Sen. John Kerry convened hearings to discuss how the industry might be preserved (surely a coincidence).

So when you find a newspaper succeeding, it’s worth investigating. Fortunately, we have a hometown example: City Newspaper. They’re pulling off the neat trick of growing total audience while keeping the print side steady at about 100k. In this market and era, that’s noteworthy.

I called up Bill Towler, City’s co-publisher to get the scoop. He and his wife Mary Anna (editor and co-publisher) were nice enough to provide insight on how they’re doing it:

1) Go deep, but selectively. City focuses on a few areas that readers want – politics, urban development, arts – and goes deep. Decades of coverage provide institutional knowledge and the credibility to partner with expert free lancers. Recently, David Cay Johnston reported on Monroe County finances. You know, the Pulitzer Prize winning author, local resident, and expert on tax code. Hard to pull off if you try to cover everything.
2) No shrinking violet. City has a point of view and it’s ok with them if you disagree (trust me). From restaurant reviews to city council coverage, they take a stand and do it with reason.
3) More why, less what. “What happened” has a lot of competition, from CNN to Twitter. With a weekly schedule, City can’t offer that via print. Instead, they do context and analysis.

Each point enables City to strengthen a bond with core readers and stand out from the competition. Yeah, I know. “Choosing to differentiate” is no revelation. But it’s a good reminder that differentiation is rarely one decision. It’s how you come down on thousands of tough choices over years. Shrink the page. Don’t tick off the advertiser with that story. Cut back a bit on local coverage. It all adds up, or detracts.

Resilience isn’t a popular branding concept, but it ought to be.

Matt Jones

Gotta go: George & RoCo

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Fuel your creative brain with a Progressive Opening event put on by the George Eastman House and the Rochester Contemporary tomorrow, Friday, May 8.

First, view “Not A Cornfield,” a photography and video installation at the Eastman House that captures the transformation of a 32-acre brownfield in historic central Los Angeles into a cornfield for one agricultural cycle. Meet artist Lauren Bon in person. The project was created to raise questions about the nature of urban public spaces and to convey redemption and hope. Light refreshments will be served, 6 til 8 pm.

Continue your evening at Rochester Contemporary Art Center. View the exhibition in between, featuring paintings and sculptures by Brooklyn-based artists Malin Abrahamsson and Ricky Sears inspired by their first experiences with Rochester’s vacant lots, and visit the P.L.A.N.T. Reading Room. Inspired by the Metabolic Studio, the P.L.A.N.T. Reading Room is a new space dedicated to participatory art practice and a healthier Rochester. (P.L.A.N.T. = Place, Land, Art & Agriculture, Neighbors, and Technology) Light refreshments, 7:30 til 10 pm.

The Barbarian Group’s Adventure

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“Holy crap! I’m really glad someone is working on that!.” That’s the response The Barbarian Group (TBG) hopes to elicit from visitors to the GE adventure blog . It details behind the scenes action at client General Electric. Works like this: TBG goes on field trips to discover cool things GE is up to, and posts the experience. A simple premise that offers lessons for our industry:

1) Territory shmerritory – TBG is a digital agency. But here’s a partial list of other organizations that could have credibly proposed and delivered the idea: GE’s employee communication team, PR agencies, ad agencies, media agencies, a motivated summer intern. If you recognized that GE had cool things in the hopper and you could tell stories, it was your idea to pitch. Oh, and you’d have to know how to open a WordPress account.

2) Git ‘er done – I love that they started this without knowing precisely where it might take them (according to recent coverage). If the basic premise is sound, get started and learn on the go. To paraphrase General Patton, a good plan executed now is better than the perfect plan next week. He actually said “violently executed”, but I’d leave that out of the strategy brief.

3) Don’t wait to make an impact – By blogging this way, TBG is doing the research they would have done anyway to create a larger campaign. The campaign is still coming. They’re just making the “discovery” process public, and maybe getting more ideas from readers along the way.

One criticism. Better yet, let’s call it a question: Is the blog’s impact on the reader lessened by having an outside company telling the stories? I might rather hear from proud GE employees directly. You can tell me if I’m nitpicking.

Matt Jones