Sportscentric isn’t the only marketing entity to appreciate the genius behind the Miller delivery guy. The good folks at Alpo dog food and Fallon liked the Miller campaign so much, they pretty much ripped it off sideways.
I like the piece. It’s a clever little film. It should be. It’s a dog version of the Miller guy, just slightly in reverse. The Miller guy takes away the beer from a bunch of corporate wonks at a skybox and says “I need to smell me a hot dog to know I’m alive.” The Alpo hander-outers visit doggy spas and says “These dogs have lost their dogness.” They run around promising “ Meat!”
The Miller guy gives real beer to real folks who appreciate the real high life. The Alpo hander-outers give out Alpo to real dogs who need some real meat.
Problem is, the product doesn’t deliver. It’s barely meat. It’s mostly made from tons of fillers that are bad for dogs. It even makes their poops up to 60% bigger.
So an ad promising Real Meat is pissing people off. Click on the link to Youtube and read some of the comments, which range from “Very stupid and misleading advertising” to “I can't believe they didn't disable comments, like they think people don't know that Alpo is shit.”
Youtubers aren’t the only ones to take Alpo and Fallon to task, as evidenced by this article from sfgate.
And as if ripping off a great campaign to sell a crappy product wasn’t enough, for good measure, they ripped off Chipotle’s font as well.
Maybe they could have Tom Bodett do some radio spots and make it a perfectly larcenous 3 for 3 .
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Tiger returns. Golf happy. Golfers sad.
You could argue that when Michael Jordan retired (each time he retired), he opened up a world of possibilities for other NBA players. But MJ did have Scottie, and there were even times when he needed the spot up jump shooters like Bobby Hansen and John Paxson to win a game.
But Tiger Woods IS golf. Golf fanatics will watch the sport regardless of who’s playing. For the rest of the world, he’s what makes golf interesting. He’s what makes it popular.
And now he’s back, after almost a year away from the game rehabbing his injured knee.
I would argue that Tiger Woods is the single most dominant athlete in the history of a sport almost completely waged by individual competitors. There’s probably never been a sport whose fans and managers missed one of its own so much, and there’s probably never been a sport where the competitors were so glad to see one of its own go missing.
This ad from Nike captures that feeling perfectly.
Sometimes, the assignments you think are going to be easiest can be excruciatingly difficult. I don’t know if that was the case for this ad, but the pressure of having the greatest athlete in the world raises the bar quite a bit. It’s a nice, fairly understated TV spot, with quality performances from the other golfers, and most important…
…they remembered one of the most important tenets of a successful ad: end strong. The first 50 seconds are nice to watch, but the ending is laugh out loud funny.
Toger is such a huge asset for sports marketing. It’s nice to see such a great property used so well.
Welcome back, Tiger. The other golfers may not be so glad, but Nike sure is.
But Tiger Woods IS golf. Golf fanatics will watch the sport regardless of who’s playing. For the rest of the world, he’s what makes golf interesting. He’s what makes it popular.
And now he’s back, after almost a year away from the game rehabbing his injured knee.
I would argue that Tiger Woods is the single most dominant athlete in the history of a sport almost completely waged by individual competitors. There’s probably never been a sport whose fans and managers missed one of its own so much, and there’s probably never been a sport where the competitors were so glad to see one of its own go missing.
This ad from Nike captures that feeling perfectly.
Sometimes, the assignments you think are going to be easiest can be excruciatingly difficult. I don’t know if that was the case for this ad, but the pressure of having the greatest athlete in the world raises the bar quite a bit. It’s a nice, fairly understated TV spot, with quality performances from the other golfers, and most important…
…they remembered one of the most important tenets of a successful ad: end strong. The first 50 seconds are nice to watch, but the ending is laugh out loud funny.
Toger is such a huge asset for sports marketing. It’s nice to see such a great property used so well.
Welcome back, Tiger. The other golfers may not be so glad, but Nike sure is.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
30 x :01 > $3 million
I love the recent news about Miller High Life’s sales going up as a result of their 1 second ads.
It’s proof that while good ole’ traditional tv advertising may not be dead, smart, inventive tv advertising is alive and well. The big ad agencies can create all of the consumer validated packaged goods crap they want; I don’t think tv advertising will ever go away, primarily because of terrific thinking like this.
You’ve probably seen the Miller High Life 1-second ads, but if not, you should. They’re just plain fun. And extremely successful.
They didn’t get there by luck. They wouldn’t exist if not for the well-established, clever campaign starring the Miller High Life delivery guy that’s been running for a while. This is one of my favorites. It’s a wonderful, insightful commentary on sports and the corporate world, and it sells the product.
That’s a hard working ad.
So now they take those ads to the next level. The idea of 1 second ads is absurd, but the truth is, it’s more about the buzz vs. the ads themselves. Especially when the campaign is touted as a better way to spend money than the $3 million they would have had to spend to get national presence on the Super Bowl. It’s the publicity they were after, and publicity they got. Before and after the Super Bowl.
Oh, that and a whole lot of sales.
You can talk drinkability, and you can talk frost brewing and cold mountains, and I’m sure consumers told Bud and Coors that they want to hear about that stuff.
But it’s fresh, unexpected Ideas that connect people to brands and convince them to form relationships with brands. It’s hard for a consumer to articulate that. Luckily, it’s real easy to watch 1 second ads.
It’s proof that while good ole’ traditional tv advertising may not be dead, smart, inventive tv advertising is alive and well. The big ad agencies can create all of the consumer validated packaged goods crap they want; I don’t think tv advertising will ever go away, primarily because of terrific thinking like this.
You’ve probably seen the Miller High Life 1-second ads, but if not, you should. They’re just plain fun. And extremely successful.
They didn’t get there by luck. They wouldn’t exist if not for the well-established, clever campaign starring the Miller High Life delivery guy that’s been running for a while. This is one of my favorites. It’s a wonderful, insightful commentary on sports and the corporate world, and it sells the product.
That’s a hard working ad.
So now they take those ads to the next level. The idea of 1 second ads is absurd, but the truth is, it’s more about the buzz vs. the ads themselves. Especially when the campaign is touted as a better way to spend money than the $3 million they would have had to spend to get national presence on the Super Bowl. It’s the publicity they were after, and publicity they got. Before and after the Super Bowl.
Oh, that and a whole lot of sales.
You can talk drinkability, and you can talk frost brewing and cold mountains, and I’m sure consumers told Bud and Coors that they want to hear about that stuff.
But it’s fresh, unexpected Ideas that connect people to brands and convince them to form relationships with brands. It’s hard for a consumer to articulate that. Luckily, it’s real easy to watch 1 second ads.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Adidas: Close, but not really
Adidas.tv is here.
In their decades long attempt to catch up to Nike, Adidas is launching an online TV channel. According to Advertising Age online, “The player is designed to encourage Hulu-style sharing and can be embedded in blogs and other social-networking sites via an Adidas-branded video-player module.”
For now, it just feels like they’re selling stuff.
Sure, they need to get it up and running, so they’ve loaded it up with some slick videos starring Dwight Howard and Gilbert Arenas and featuring Adidas products, with the hope that soon, others will join in and post their own videos.
But for now, it just feels like they’re selling stuff.
The secret to Nike’s success over the years was that they made marketing materials, especially TV commercials, that connected you to the Nike name vs any one certain thing.
They sold coolness. They got you to want to be on their team. That’s what sports is all about, right? Be on the best team. Or at least be a part of it. Who wouldn’t want to be with these guys?
They grew their brand by creating emotional bonds with consumers. And grow their brand, they did.
When I worked on Gatorade, we wanted the same ending, but we couldn’t do it the same way. Gatorade is a functional product that we not only needed to sell, but we also had to explain why you should use it. It’s obvious that you need shoes to play sports. You can’t go barefoot. But you could drink anything.
So even when we made almost purely emotional spots, we still needed to make sure the functional message came through. Hence, colored sweat, even if it’s just for one second. Like in this spot.
As much as we tried on Gatorade, we could never be like Nike, because we had a story to tell, and it made sense for us to tell that story, because people wanted to know why they should drink Gatorade over something else.
So while Gatorade had “Be Like Mike,” “I like Nike” was good enough for the guys out in Beaverton.
Adidas has never fully appreciated the fact that in their category, you’re not selling products, you’re selling a brand. They've made some very nice ads over the years, and clearly have forward thinking ideas. But they haven't been consistent enough.
They should stick to capturing people’s hearts, and letting their brains follow.
In their decades long attempt to catch up to Nike, Adidas is launching an online TV channel. According to Advertising Age online, “The player is designed to encourage Hulu-style sharing and can be embedded in blogs and other social-networking sites via an Adidas-branded video-player module.”
For now, it just feels like they’re selling stuff.
Sure, they need to get it up and running, so they’ve loaded it up with some slick videos starring Dwight Howard and Gilbert Arenas and featuring Adidas products, with the hope that soon, others will join in and post their own videos.
But for now, it just feels like they’re selling stuff.
The secret to Nike’s success over the years was that they made marketing materials, especially TV commercials, that connected you to the Nike name vs any one certain thing.
They sold coolness. They got you to want to be on their team. That’s what sports is all about, right? Be on the best team. Or at least be a part of it. Who wouldn’t want to be with these guys?
They grew their brand by creating emotional bonds with consumers. And grow their brand, they did.
When I worked on Gatorade, we wanted the same ending, but we couldn’t do it the same way. Gatorade is a functional product that we not only needed to sell, but we also had to explain why you should use it. It’s obvious that you need shoes to play sports. You can’t go barefoot. But you could drink anything.
So even when we made almost purely emotional spots, we still needed to make sure the functional message came through. Hence, colored sweat, even if it’s just for one second. Like in this spot.
As much as we tried on Gatorade, we could never be like Nike, because we had a story to tell, and it made sense for us to tell that story, because people wanted to know why they should drink Gatorade over something else.
So while Gatorade had “Be Like Mike,” “I like Nike” was good enough for the guys out in Beaverton.
Adidas has never fully appreciated the fact that in their category, you’re not selling products, you’re selling a brand. They've made some very nice ads over the years, and clearly have forward thinking ideas. But they haven't been consistent enough.
They should stick to capturing people’s hearts, and letting their brains follow.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
The saga of Chuck continues
More on Chuck. If Ronald Reagan was the Teflon President, Charles Barkley is the Titanium Celebrity Endorser.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Hey T-mobile, lighten up!
I like funny ads that have a point. And I like when superstar athletes are used well in marketing. And I love the combination of the two.
Usually, it’s a result of digging deep into an athlete’s psyche and uncovering the insight that makes him or her special, then turning that insight into something surprising and fun.
Sometimes, it’s purely using what you’ve got on the surface. A dude who’s an athlete that you like purely because you like him as an athlete. And when he gets together with his athlete friends, you just let the funny happen.
So I've really enjoyed the T-mobile campaign that has featured Charles Barkley and D-Wade. It’s well written, well shot, and well edited. The performances seem genuine and I laugh at just about every one.
I was annnoyed when T-Mobile pulled the ads after Sir Charles’ latest DUI. I thought they should have just kept plugging away. DUI’s are part of his charm!
But let’s hear it for the passage of time. It makes all ickiness in the world of sports go away. Just ask Marv Albert. T-Mobile has brought Chuck back, this time with Dwight Howard too.
It’s funny! Not crystal-ball-in-the-nuts funny, but smart, real, fresh dialogue funny. Good for those guys. I love everything T-Mobile’s doing with these guys, except for the part where they pulled the ads for a while.
C’mon, T-mobile. We knew you were going to put Chuck back on at some point. Next time, put away the pretense and just let the boys play.
Usually, it’s a result of digging deep into an athlete’s psyche and uncovering the insight that makes him or her special, then turning that insight into something surprising and fun.
Sometimes, it’s purely using what you’ve got on the surface. A dude who’s an athlete that you like purely because you like him as an athlete. And when he gets together with his athlete friends, you just let the funny happen.
So I've really enjoyed the T-mobile campaign that has featured Charles Barkley and D-Wade. It’s well written, well shot, and well edited. The performances seem genuine and I laugh at just about every one.
I was annnoyed when T-Mobile pulled the ads after Sir Charles’ latest DUI. I thought they should have just kept plugging away. DUI’s are part of his charm!
But let’s hear it for the passage of time. It makes all ickiness in the world of sports go away. Just ask Marv Albert. T-Mobile has brought Chuck back, this time with Dwight Howard too.
It’s funny! Not crystal-ball-in-the-nuts funny, but smart, real, fresh dialogue funny. Good for those guys. I love everything T-Mobile’s doing with these guys, except for the part where they pulled the ads for a while.
C’mon, T-mobile. We knew you were going to put Chuck back on at some point. Next time, put away the pretense and just let the boys play.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
No laughing matter, MJ
Brand Jordan is a funny brand.
Funny, like, it makes me laugh? No, more like, it ‘s funny how it has so much potential but is still struggling to find it’s way.
There's a group of athletes that represent Brand Jordan. The athletes they’ve chosen for Team Jordan are an interesting lot. In the NBA, they have big stars like Ray Allen and Carmelo Anthony, but also aging players like Michael Finley. Most of the athletes are basketball players, with a couple of football (Ahman Green and Marvin Harrison) and baseball (Andruw Jones) players thrown in.
They have one female athlete: April Holmes, a paralympian sprinter.
The website makes clear that each of the athletes is valued for not just sports achievements, but for being active in community and charitable causes as well.
But it still seems like a fairly random collection to me. Even Nike always seemed to have a method to the way they picked athletes. Usually, it was the best and only best athletes at their jobs.
For what it's worth, Andruw Jones is still trying to find a job.
Then there’s the advertising. Some very good work, but not consistently great. Again, hard to figure out what ties it all together. Where’s the vision? What would the manifesto say?
I think above all else, it’s about inspiration. At least, I think that’s what it should be. It makes sense to me. If MJ isn’t on the court anymore, he can’t lead by example, so he’s trying to lead by metaphysical example. His spirit was always one of leadership and determination, and that’s what comes through in a lot of the BJ ads. Like this one.
The players are right. The message is right. What does it say about the brand overall? How does it connect to the rest of the brand communication? I’m just not sure. MJ, please help.
Funny, like, it makes me laugh? No, more like, it ‘s funny how it has so much potential but is still struggling to find it’s way.
There's a group of athletes that represent Brand Jordan. The athletes they’ve chosen for Team Jordan are an interesting lot. In the NBA, they have big stars like Ray Allen and Carmelo Anthony, but also aging players like Michael Finley. Most of the athletes are basketball players, with a couple of football (Ahman Green and Marvin Harrison) and baseball (Andruw Jones) players thrown in.
They have one female athlete: April Holmes, a paralympian sprinter.
The website makes clear that each of the athletes is valued for not just sports achievements, but for being active in community and charitable causes as well.
But it still seems like a fairly random collection to me. Even Nike always seemed to have a method to the way they picked athletes. Usually, it was the best and only best athletes at their jobs.
For what it's worth, Andruw Jones is still trying to find a job.
Then there’s the advertising. Some very good work, but not consistently great. Again, hard to figure out what ties it all together. Where’s the vision? What would the manifesto say?
I think above all else, it’s about inspiration. At least, I think that’s what it should be. It makes sense to me. If MJ isn’t on the court anymore, he can’t lead by example, so he’s trying to lead by metaphysical example. His spirit was always one of leadership and determination, and that’s what comes through in a lot of the BJ ads. Like this one.
The players are right. The message is right. What does it say about the brand overall? How does it connect to the rest of the brand communication? I’m just not sure. MJ, please help.
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