Filed under: Comment
Well just like last Monday, I’m going to be traveling for the next 3 days, which means you’re safe from my blog rubbish for another 3 days.
I don’t know how you did it, but it appears Deutsch are more desperate to keep me out of the office than Wieden were.
See you Thursday, you lucky, lucky people.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Brilliant Marketing Ideas In History, Creativity, Culture, Cunning, Empathy, Insight, Marketing, Planning, Unplanned
I know … I know … I really did write that blog post header.
And yes, I really am talking about James Blunt, the man that can make a choir on Songs Of Praise [is that still going] look like Black Sabbath in their prime.
But don’t forget, this is a guy who is disarmingly self aware.
A guy who uses his self-depreciation to turn you from a hater into a fan.
OK, not a fan of his music but – as I wrote here – a fan of who he is.
And recently I saw something that just makes me like him more …
Yep, that’s James Blunt on Tinder.
A man who people think has got laid more than a $2 crack whore in a room of drunk and horny jocks.
OK, so getting laid a lot is part of the ‘rock star’ cliche, but I still find this move to be brilliant.
Not just because he has found a way to make money from his perception.
Not just because he partnered with platform that is the epitome of his perception.
But because he has shown that when you deal with the commentary others have about you directly, you don’t just rob them of their ammunition, you give yourself a chance to change that perception.
I’ve talked about this a lot – I called it the 8-Mile strategy, after the Eminem movie, specifically the end rap battle at 6 minutes 40 seconds – but it’s also something else I wrote about.
The power of unplanned planning.
Unplanned is where a brand speaks in seemingly obvious terms.
Not in terms of what they do, but in terms of what people think you do.
For example, when Scalextric – the model car racing brand – embraced the perception the only reason men want their little boys playing with Scalextric is because it gives them an excuse to play it for themselves.
Did you click on the link?
Seriously, you should – it not only demonstrates what I’m blathering on about, it’s a great ad.
Great because it’s funny. Great because it’s relatable. Great because it doesn’t fall into marketing bullshit.
Can you tell I really, really like it?
So why do I think this approach works when the industry is seemingly so obsessed with talking about bigger purpose stuff?
Because in my opinion, it’s easier to nudge people’s perception of you if you talk in the context of how they already view you rather than spending millions trying to convince them that who you are is totally different to what they believe or are willing to accept.
It is, in some ways, the ultimate demonstration of honesty.
A lot of brands could learn from that.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Brand Suicide, Comment, Communication Strategy, Corporate Evil, Devious Strategy, Marketing, Marketing Fail
My whole family are connected to the law.
Not the bullshit, sharp-suit, high-charging wankers we hear so much about these days, but the guys fighting for genuine justice.
My father in particular hated what the legal industry had become … from being a discipline that fought for justice to one that now tries to keep problems going so they can keep charging exorbitant fees.
So what has that got to do with the picture of these Gummy Pandas.
Well, I saw these in a local Starbucks and I just thought how mad this was allowed to exist.
We all know it’s a take on Gummy Bears.
We all know they’re trying to steal business from Gummy Bears.
We all know they’re trying to make people think they’re getting Gummy Bears.
OK, so it’s a bloody sweet that you don’t really pay much attention to … but if this was a person, it would be identity theft and yet companies continue to pay huge amounts to law firms to protect their hard work when anyone can set up what is basically a duplicate brand by simply changing a letter or – in the case of Uncle Martian – not even putting in that effort.
Anyway, the real reason I’m writing this is because I wanted an excuse to link to my favorite ever Amazon reviews for [Sugar Free] Gummy Bears and I assure you, it’s way, waaaaay, waaaaaaaaay more enjoyable than this post.
… because I’m away for 3 days and so there’s no blog posts.
You’re welcome.
However, to make sure you don’t get off too lightly, here’s something for you to watch and get annoyed by.
When I say annoy, I mean laugh at and then pity.
Till Thursday …
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Brand Suicide, Comment, Crap Campaigns In History, Crap Marketing Ideas From History!, Marketing Fail
Turkish Airlines have a history of questionable advertising decisions and it seems they still haven’t learnt their lesson because I’m not really sure flying an ad for their airline behind a micro-plane is the best branding idea I’ve ever seen.
That said, it will probably win a Cannes Gold next year.