5 Blogs Before Lunch

5 Blogs and A Rant: Do We Really Need an ABC News "O.J. Simpson Trial Tracker" In Our Lives?

If you ever ask me why I think broadcast news is no longer worth watching, I shall point you to this ABC news site as an example of the deteriating state of what once was respctable news reporting. The ridiculousness of an "O.J. Simpson Trial Tracker", along with a court date countdown is too much for me to take:

 

Product Placement Really Can Work, Especially When The Consumer Is Brought In On The Joke

Here at 5 Blogs, we love product placements. Especially when they're a little too obvious, and allow us in on the joke. Afterall, most consumers are far too aware of marketing tricks to fall for just about anything. Aren't they?

In the November 15 episode of NBC's "30 Rock," Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey, in their roles as Jack Donaghy and Liz Lemon, sang the praises of Verizon Wireless before Fey looked right into the camera and asked, "Can we have our money now?".

This followed an earlier episode prominently featuring Snapple drinks, as the characters discussed, with disgust, their hatred of product placement on their fictional TV show. The dialogue included lines like "I only date guys who drink Snapple" and ended with Donaghy saying, "Yes, everyone loves Snapple. Lord knows I do." There was even a guy in a Snapple suit who walked out of the elevator asking for the human resources department.

The folks at Verizon seem to get that it is OK to let consumers in on the fact that marketing is marketing, and it does pay the bills for broadcast (and cable) television.

"We want an integration to be as organic and natural to a show as it can be," Lou Rossi, director of media and sponsorships at Verizon Wireless said. "Certainly with the '30 Rock' humor and writing, this type of integration just works well for them and for Verizon Wireless as well." NBC declined comment on the financial terms of the deal.

Effective Online Viral Videos: 10 Lessons From Kevin Nalts

Some of my least favorite myths thought to be fact by many executives:
1). "Word-of-mouth marketing is free"
2). "Sending out a press release will automatically generate a news story"
3). "Attention-getting shock ads are always effective"
4). "All we need to do to generate awareness is throw a video on YouTube"

Marketer Kevin Nalts, writing for Advertising Age gives some advice on how to turn my #4 myth into reality. It is clear that online videos are generating a lot of attention right now, and have been added to the media mix. But like any marketing medium, it requires an understanding of the unique attributes of the medium, and an understanding of its target audience.

Nalts says the rules are fairly simple: "Keep your promotion short, interesting, edgy and give us a surprise that makes us want to forward your clip. After all, it's not a "viral video" if nobody wants to share it."

And, here are his 10 lessons on what we should know about online video marketing:

(for more on each lesson, visit Advertising Age)
Lesson one: Tap into the video community
Lesson two: Quality of the video is not what determines its popularity
Lesson three: A video of a dog skateboarding can get 3 million views, but that doesn't mean your commercial will
Lesson four: Online-video marketing is not just about contests
Lesson five: "Tagging" your video with keywords doesn't get them seen
Lesson six: Consumers might see your video, but that doesn't mean they'll visit your site and buy
Lesson seven: Paying for a well-produced video won't necessarily increase your brand's ROI
Lesson eight: Not all video portals are created equal
Lesson nine: You may be a conservative organization, but don't let that keep you from this medium
Lesson 10: This medium will become measurable

RJR's Cigarette Ads Will Not Appear In Print--For Now

The folks at R.J. Reynolds have decided to shy away from print advertising for awhile. Perhaps because they see it as an ineffective media, or perhaps they're shying away from the controversy swirling around their recent Camel No 9 ads.

Regardless of the reason, they're out for now (but have left the door open for future print advertising) and will continue marketing cigarettes via direct mail advertising, in-store promotions, and with price promotions.

It should be noted that print ads for tobacco are banned in a number of countries, including throughout Europe, but legal in the United States. Tobacco advertising has been banned from radio, TV and outdoor billboards in the U.S.

Tattoos Becoming Popular Among Marketers

The Los Angeles Times says that marketers think tattoos are ALL-THAT--with Volvo, General Mills, 7-Eleven and Goodyear among the major marketers using images of tattoos in their marketing and promotions to project a youthful, rebellious image.

In a never-ending quest to appeal to the young and young-minded, companies such as Goodyear Tire & Rubber and Volvo are using tattoos in ads and promotions. Even wine sellers have adopted the tattoo, with managers of the popular Yellow Tail brand sending 600,000 temporary tattoos out with an October issue of the New Yorker magazine and importer Billington Wines taking the name Big Tattoo Wines for its $10-a-bottle brand.

When A Promotion Promotes The Wrong Thing: T-Mobile To End Cycling Sponsorship Over Doping Scandal

The double-edge sword of sponsorships and joint-promotions is the immediate association a brand has with its partners--for good or for bad. In the case of T-Mobile and the Discovery Channel, its association with cycling has been indeed both profitable and painful.

After a 16-year commitment to cycling, T-Mobile, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom of Germany, has decided to abandon its sponsorship of a professional cycling team, and of various races because of continuing doping controversies. This announcement follows the collapse of the Discovery Channel team earlier this year.

Deutsche Telekom made it clear in their announcement of their withdrawal, that cycling teams had become a marketing nightmare.

From The New York Times:

“The question for Deutsche Telekom as a company is, Do we want to be associated with cycling and the doping in cycling?” Stephan Althoff, the company’s executive vice president for group sponsoring, said from Bonn. “It’s very difficult to act in a scene that’s not accepting that doping should not be in sport. We have to do some more research, but I would say it wasn’t good for the Deutsche Telekom and T-Mobile brands.”

And, more from the NYT:

Cycling’s current inability to lure major sponsors for its teams is a potential financial disaster. Race organizers do not share any of their television or advertising revenues with the teams, which are generally owned by their managers. As a result, the teams depend on the willingness of corporations to use riders as rolling logos in order to finance their operations.

Inventor of Gatorade Dies

Dr. Robert Cade, the inventor of the sports drink Gatorade has died at age 80.

Cade created the sports drink in 1965 to help the University of Florida's football players (thus the "Gator" in the name) to replace carbohydrates and electrolytes lost through sweat while playing ball. His legacy is as the birth-father of a multibillion-dollar beverage industry.

"I never thought about the commercial market," he is quoted as saying. "The financial success of this stuff really surprised us."

Most recent Beverage Digest data says that the brand holds 80 percent of the $5.5 billion-a-year sports drink market.

New Mexico Tourism Ads Use Aliens As Theme, But May Have Missed The Landing Pad

In perhaps what is another example of an attention-getting ad that generates buzz for all the wrong reasons, ads by M&C Saatchi for the New Mexico Tourism Department feature office workers from outer space chatting about their personal lives. A homage to the aliens of Roswell N.M. perhaps? The ads are funny, but I'm not sure how they capture the real reasons to visit the state.

Apparently critics of the state-financed ad campaign say it is a possible threat to the well-being of the state's $5.1 billion tourism industry. They say that the ads may be more apt to baffle or frighten away a tourist than reel one in. Others say that the ads target the wrong audience--young people with a TV-sitcom humor (think "Cavemen," "The Office" and "Chuck") rather than Baby Boomers with cash and time to travel.

From The AP:

"New Mexico has a lot to offer - we don't need to bring our standards down," said Ken Mompellier, head of the convention and visitors bureau in Las Cruces, the state's fast-growing second-largest city, which has refused to use the alien ads to bolster local tourism pitches, as it normally would.

"My first question would be: What does this campaign show of the things that we are known for?" Mompellier asked. "I look at this campaign and I don't see the fit. And the things I'm hearing from people, some of it is very negative."

Chris Stagg, a marketing executive at Taos Ski Valley who serves on the commission, said "Aliens are fine, he said, but do they need to be creatures "that look like they're going to suck your brains out?"

The ads are the "envy of other tourism departments," said Stephen McCall, group account director for M&C Saatchi.

Well, OK then.

Deodorants and Antiperspirants: Why Have Advertisers Convinced Us To Fear Dampness and Smell?

Americans spent more than $2.3 billion on deodorant and antiperspirant in 2006, (source: Euromonitor International). But is it all money down the drain?

It all started in the early 1900s when marketers urged immigrants to eliminate their body odor to become more "American." Then, during the Depression, marketers encouraged people to think that they could lessen their anxiety about losing their jobs by making sure that they didn’t stink. Over the years, advertisers have convinced consumers that using an odor and sweat "protectant" is the only respectable way to go.

Recently, The New York Times took a critical look at this industry, and suggested that marketing may not have only FILLED a need in the marketplace, it may have CREATED one. The Gray Lady suggests that "the lackluster efficacy of many gels and sticks, deodorants and antiperspirants may be nothing more than security blankets against the social ostracism some fear."

From The NYT: “Most people who are not in constant high-stress situations could get away with wearing a lot less than they do,” said Dr. Jeanine Downie, a dermatologist in Montclair, N.J. “They’d probably be fine just using a little powder.”

“Those shelves and shelves of antiperspirant and deodorant at drugstores would be put to better use if they were filled with sunblock or even lotion,” she said. “There are a lot more people with dry skin than with serious body odor or sweat issues.”

People’s fear of sweating is usually far greater than how much they actually perspire, said Dr. David Bank, a dermatologist in Mount Kisco, N.Y. “Fewer than 5 percent of people really suffer from debilitating sweating,” he said. “That’s called hyperhidrosis. But I’ve found 50 percent of individuals think they sweat excessively.”

And, here's the dirty little secret that no one at the CPG companies want you to know: Sweat itself doesn’t stink. The armpit's sweat and apocrine glands, activated by temperature and activity, and in moments of stress or excitement are non-odoriferous when they leave the body. Any smell produced occurs when bacteria feeds on the apocrine sweat molecules. So, a clean pit is an odorless pit. Deodorants simple mask smells, and antiperspirants tighten the pores that secrete eccrine sweat. But the Food and Drug Administration says antiperspirants need only reduce sweat by 30 percent to be labeled “extra effective.”

But, how many American's would risk going underarm "comando"? Even with the "secret" out, marketers still have an easy mark in the American public.

NBC and P&G Launch Petside, a web portal for pets, and their owners who buy product and consume media

NBC Universal and Procter & Gamble have set up a Web portal for pet owners called Petside and plan on exploiting America's love of pets to cross promote everything from Iams pet food to Febreze air freshener.

The New York Times calls it "something like a Yahoo or AOL for pet owners, with a bit of Facebook and MySpace thrown in."

The companies will share the advertising revenue generated by the site. The NYT reports that Procter & Gamble is already planning to market its Iams pet food and Febreze air freshener there, and NBC is promoting some of its programs. Petside will also be linked to a pet-specific site in NBC’s iVillage site and promoted weekly on the “Today” show. The folks at Petside make it clear that they will be open to any advertiser, including companies with products that compete with Procter.