5 Blogs Before Lunch

Alexa Ray Joel: Billy and Christie's daughter is a second generation Prell Shampoo model

The daughter of Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley--Alexa Ray Joel is the new face of Prell shampoo.

Prell will use Alexa Ray's music (she's is a singer-songwriter) in the TV spots. 

Alexa, is quoted as saying, "I am so excited and honored to be named the new face of Prell -- especially following in the footsteps of my mother, who was a Prell girl."

Prell's heyday has long past. The shampoo was introduced by Procter & Gamble in 1947 and was often advertised as a value brand. Brinkley's tenure with Prell was in the mid-eighties.

Foursquare partners with Bravo and gets a TV ad out of the deal

Foursquare, the location-based social networking application is getting some broadcast promotional love from NBC Universal's Bravo cable network.

The New York-based entrepreneurial start-up company gets big-league attention in a 20-second promo spot produced by Bravo to highlight their recently announced partnership. Bravo is using Foursquare to promote filming locations from its shows, and lets fans visit locations in the "real world." The partnership calls for integrating show personalities and their city tips, as well as a Bravo badges, into a game experience.

Sources: TechCrunch, Mashable and The New York Times

Wing nut conspiracy theorists find nefarious imagery hidden in U.S. Missile Defense Agency logo.

Wing-nut conspiracy theorists are at-it again.

This time, they're charging that a U.S. Pentagon departmental logo is either A). some type of Socialist/Obama attempt to "Obamatize" government or 2). an Islamic government take-over plot C). an Iranian plot of un-known, but nefarious action.

It seems that the Pentagon's new Missile Defense Agency logo has graphical similarities to an Islamic crescent moon, and/or close ties to the logo used during Obama's presidential campaign, and/or the Iranian Space Agency logo.

Someone call Dudley Do-right to save the day!

 Yes of course, like most wingnut theories, it has no basis in fact.

First off, the logo is not "new:--it was commissioned about three years ago.

Which of course means the Obama administration had nothing to do with its development.

Also, apparently, the logo isn't really even the logo for the Missile Defense Agency. It is used solely for employee recruitment purposes on the agency's website.

Here's the quote from the spokesman for the organization, Rick Lehner: "It did not replace our official MDA logo, and of course it has no ties to any political campaign. It was done one year before the 2008 elections. So the whole thing is pretty ridiculous." Lehner said the insignia was chosen because it was "cheaper, because it's three colors as opposed to the five colors on the official logo."

Case solved.

But wait, check out the new Pepsi logo. Perhaps there is subliminal Obama-Socialist-Neo-Nazi symbolism hidden inside every can of cola; or Pepsi is a secret Iranian mole; or...

Source: The Washington Post

How those (and who) in the Fortune 500 are using Twitter

A new study is giving us a snapshot in time of how some of America's largest organizations are using social media.

The Society for New Communications Research has released a report titled "The Fortune 500 and Social Media: A Longitudinal Study of Blogging and Twitter Usage by America's Largest Companies."

The topline: over 1/3 of Fortune 500 corporations are actively using Twitter, of the top 100 companies, nearly 1/2 had a Twitter account.

Four of the top five corporations -- Walmart, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and General Electric -- "consistently post on their Twitter accounts," according to the study.

Interestingly, insurance companies are the most likely industry sector to tweet, with food-companies coming in second.

Of course, Twitter is only one aspect of corporate social media marketing programs.

About 22% of Fortune 500 companies have a corporate blog, 19% use podcasting and 31% use video blogging.

Source: Adweek

Go Girl: For women who want to pee standing up

 A Minnesota company has introduced a novelty product for "women on-the-go."

Yes, a pun like that is needed to describe the promotional bang you get when your goal is to market a device that let s women to go to the bathroom standing up.

The benefits are obvious: speed, convenience and safety.

Or, as the company says: "It’s neat. It’s discreet. It’s hygienic."

What woman hasn't envied the ability of men to stand up and pee--you're in-and-out of the restroom in half the time; you can go just about anywhere; and there's no unsanitary toilet seats to worry about.

The device was invented by a doctor to help women who couldn't sit because of hip or knee replacements.

But now, with the mass-commercialization of the product "Go Girl" they're targeting a larger market, active women.

GoGirl's tagline is: "Don't take life sitting down."

Audience targets include: "SkiGirl," "MommyGirl," "CityGirl," "OutdoorsGirl." "GlobalGirl." and "RoadGirl."

The brand is being marketed in a very serious fashion, with major media outreach, a consumer-appealing website and messaging--even a "Go Girl Tour" targeting sporting events from Iowa to Madrid, and women's gatherings like BlogHer.

GoGirl is made of germ-resistant medical-grade silicone that can be
cleaned for repeated use. Go Girls go for $4.99 apiece or $11.99 for three. They're packaged to fit in a purse or backpack and is disposable or reusable. They are available directly from the website.

Gatorade officially quits Tiger Woods

In a move that has been long-discussed, and now confirmed, PepsiCo's brand Gatorade has officially announced that will no longer use Tiger Woods as a spokesperson.

"We no longer see a role for Tiger in our marketing efforts," a Gatorade spokesman said.

The Gatorade guillotine follows previous announcements by Accenture and AT&T--dropping Woods as a spokesperson, while P&G's Gillette brands is still in a wait-and-see mode--suspending commercials featuring Woods, but not announcing an official termination of their agreement.

Is Paris Hilton too sexy for Brazilian beer ads?

Apparently, there are things too sexy, even for Brazil.

Take Paris Hilton, for example.

Conar, the self-regulatory organization in Brazil, is weighing whether Paris Hilton's campaign for the beer Devassa Bem Loura is too sexual for television viewers.

It seems that the Brazilians have a rule which states that beer ads must not show models as sex objects.

So clearly Hilton was the wrong choice for this campaign,

In one of the ads, Hilton is dressed in a short, tight black dress while rubbing a can of Devassa Bem Loura beer along her body--her exhibitionist-behavior attracting a crowd of on-lookers.

PETA, in search of some PR heat, turns to Tiger Woods

Always in search of controversy, PETA has created an ad mocking the Tiger Woods sex scandal.

The ad features an image of Tiger Woods and the tagline, "Too much sex can be a bad thing... for little tigers too. Help keep cats (and dogs) out of trouble: Always spay or neuter." 

Of course, the ad will never run.

"We were contacted by Tiger's lawyers at IMG who kindly, but firmly, told us we were not authorized to use his image on the billboard, and would we desist." according to a source at PETA

But of course, threatening to run the ad is simply the ignition to light the fire of controversy. The PR around running/not running that ad is the real heat for this publicity thirsty organization.

PETA is no considering an ad featuring disgraced South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, with the possible tagline "Your dog doesn't have to go to South America to get laid."

Here we go again...

(image source: Huffington Post

Amazon, the most trusted brand in America

A new study by Millward Brown ranks Amazon.com as the top-performing brand in the U.S. based on two key branding criteria -- trust and recommendations.

FedEx, Downey, Huggies and Tide follow in the rankings.

Amazon achieved the top ranking based on service, as well as in providing its own product recommendations to users. "This combination has made Amazon the gold standard of trust and recommendation in the U.S.," Nigel Hollis, EVP and chief global analyst for Millward Brown said.

The study is titled  "Beyond Trust: Engaging Consumers in the Post-Recession World,"

From Media Post: 

The study suggests consumers are especially reluctant to spend money on brands they don't trust in a tough economy. "In fact, we found that the number one "TrustR" brand (calculated by looking at consumer responses to the questions "how trustworthy is this brand?" and "would you recommend this brand?") in each of the 22 countries we researched was nearly seven times more likely to be purchased and consumers were 10 times more likely to have formed a strong bond with these brands," said Millward Brown's Eileen Campbell, in a statement.

Easy-Bake Oven creator, Ronald Howes Sr.

There are certain toy brands which define a generation--or two or three.

Barbie and GI Joe, Hot Wheels, Legos, and Play-Doh were the icons of my childhood.

I remember the Christmas of 1965 when my sister unwrapped an Easy-Bake Oven under our Christmas tree, and she made a batch of brownies via a light bulb.

Since 1963, sixteen Million young girls – and at least some boys – have baked their first cookies, cupcakes and brownies thanks to the Easy-Bake Oven. And we have Ronald Howes Sr. to thank for this invention.

Howes passed away this week at the age of 83.

Howes was an inventor by trade, with creations ranging from high-tech defense weaponry devices to electrostatic printers. When he started with Kenner toys (the maker of the E-B-O) one of his first jobs was to reformulate Play-Doh to remove some potentially dangerous chemicals in the colorful modeling compound.

But he will be best known for the creation of an iconic brand that gave little girls a chance to bake like their mothers.

Howes reportedly drew inspiration from a Kenner salesman who had just made a trip to New York City. Upon returning, the salesman wondered aloud whether Kenner could develop a toy version of the chestnut roasters seen on many New York City street corners. With that remark, “He started thinking about that and wondering how to create a safe version of that for kids,” recalled his wife Nancy Howes. 

The Easy-Bake Oven continues to be sold today.

Walmart and P&G buying two-hour time blocks to run "family-friendly" programming on NBC

Stepping over the line between advertisers and content-providers, Walmart and Procter & Gamble will be funding two new NBC projects, buying the airtime to run "family friendly" shows.

Both "Secrets of the Mountain," and "The Jensen Project," are two-hour movies scheduled to air on NBC on Friday nights (typically a slow night for television viewership).

The films which are being called "family friendly," a code-term for content deemed non-controversial and conservative in nature, will run as a time buy by Walmart and Procter & Gamble, which will pay for the two-hour slot.

"We are committed to delivering more quality family entertainment options to parents across the country," Walmart chief marketing officer Stephen Quinn said in announcing the "Mountain" deal earlier this month.

Buying airtime to run content advertiser's deem acceptable is a slippery slope for broadcaster's ethical standards.

Of course, this is a tempting offer to NBC--a fully-paid content to fill a typically dead night of TV airtime, but what of the separation of edit and advertising? Will the shows receive the same "paid content" warning that telemarketer's shows receive?

As Walmart and P&G are clearly cherry-picking content to run on NBC, shouldn't viewers be informed?

Source: Variety

I'M ON A HORSE: The making of the Old Spice commercial.

Leo Laporte of TWIT.tv interviews the creative team from Wieden + Kennedy (Craig Allen and Eric Kallman) on the making of the Old Spice commercial:

Ultimate in Product Placement: 2,500 brand logos appear in Oscar-nominated "Logorama"

One of the Oscar-nominated animated short films this year is "Logorama."

The film imagines a mythical Los Angeles all covered in corporate logos (roughly 2,500 appear).

The film follows a few different stories that all intertwine with one another including car chases, a hostage crisis, and wild animals rampaging through the city change a world constructed by heavy corporate sponsorship. Not to miss: Ronald McDonald threatening to put a cap in Big Boy's butt.

The man behind Von Dutch and Ed Hardy goes logo and graphic free with "the same guy"

Christian Audigier, the man behind the flashy, logo-embellished brands Von Dutch and Ed Hardy knows a thing or two about brand promotion.

His clothing line's brand-stamps are more well-known that the shape, style and quality of his shirts, jackets, jeans and boots.

So what's next from Audigier?

A no-name, no-logo brand, of course.

As Robin Leach (who knows a thing or two about flash) says: "One of the flashiest men on the planet is going flash free!"

His new brand is called "the same guy."

“It is absolutely logo and graphic free." says Audigier. "It is just clean and plain for these challenging economic times. The idea is whether I use the flamboyant designs on Ed Hardy, I am always the same guy. The new line is all about the fabrics and the washes and treatments on each. The collection is great to see, but I cannot always stay fabulous flamboyance, so I went to minimalist design this time. It has beautiful fabric, beautiful fit for body styles and great colors, and I believe my fans will still go with me as followers."

Turns out he does know a thing or two about brands...it's not always about the logo.

Sources: The Los Angeles Times, The Las Vegas Sun and Fame Magazine

The problem with Christopher Guest's U.S. Census ads: Deft, dry humor probably won't play in Peoria--and that's a shame.

Christopher Guest's humor isn't for everyone. You either get him, or you don't.

If you liked This is Spinal Tap, Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman or A Mighty Wind, you're probably a Christopher Guest fan.

And, if you have no idea what I'm talking about when I mention the writer/director's credits, then you probably don't enjoy the deft dry humor of his mockumentaries, which poke fun at heavy metal music, small town theater, dog shows and folk music.

The problem with using Guest's humor in ads for the U.S. Census-- is the target audience. Usually advertising has a specific audience it's trying to reach, but the census message has to reach absolutely everybody.

But not everybody gets Guest's humor. It is by nature a niche humor.

That's the problem with these ads.

The agency (Draftfcb) says the ads are a part of the campaign's effort to reach what he called the "mass-diverse" segment -- the 84% of the population that is inclined to participate in the Census but for whatever reason might not get around to it.

I just don't think 84% of the population of the United States is going to "get" Guest's humor, and connect with the insider's joke that he always delivers.

While I am not a fan of playing to the middle when it comes to most things, delivering a marketing message to 84% of the population of the United States does require using means that that broad demographic can relate.

And while I love Ed Begley Jr., Bob Balaban, Don Lake and (especially) Jennifer Coolidge they may not be quite be the messengers to the "every man" the Census must meet.

"Food Network" to launch "Cooking Channel" because "They just wanted more."

Last Fall, Scripps, the owner of the Food Network, announced plans to launch a new channel to expand its offering.

The new network will be called Cooking Channel and will launch on Memorial Day with shows from Bobby Flay, Rachel Ray, and other Food Network stars.

Why, you might ask, would Scripps want to add another network which would obstensibly duplicate the type of programming it already has?

Consumer, and more importantly advertiser demand. That's why.

Apparently, the company started considering a second culinary channel when, “the advertiser demand for Food was outstripping the audience growth,” said Jon Steinlauf, the senior vice president for ad sales for Scripps Networks. “Therefore, creating a second channel started making more sense.”

Scripps won't be the first to add multiple networks with essentially the same content and audience (and advertiser) focus. Consider MTV and MTV2, ESPN and ESPN2, HBO 1, 2, 3, 4...

The company wants to capture as much market share as it can. (from The New York Times): “If there are 1.2 rating points available for food programming, we want to be able to get the 0.9 on Food and the 0.3 on the Cooking Channel,” he said. “For this to be a good business for Scripps, we have to be able to grow the combined audience for these channels.”

The Cooking Channel will have a built-in distribution plan as it replaces the Fine Living Network, FLN.

Johnny Rockets menu for success: New SVP of Marketing, and a committment to brand and culture

Johnny Rockets' new President and CEO John Fuller has big plans. In the next three to five years, the 280-unit retro-diner chain wants to double its number of stores, including the expansion of nontraditional venues such as cruise ships and ballparks.

The new CEO sees the company's dancing waitstaff and ketchup smiles as key elements in differentiating the brand in a sea of competing concepts. For Johnny Rockets, culture matters.

From Restaurants & Institutions:

One of the things we’ve done is hire a new senior vice president of marketing, Tim Hackbardt. He is a big believer in new products and finding ways to give guests a reason to come back more than they do now. He is a big believer, and I fully support his thinking, in having a menu that has everyday affordable pricing. It’s not a bunch of discounts or coupons or inserts in the mail all the time, because you end up training your guests to only come in when they [receive a discount]. You’ve got to have an everyday affordable pricing category within your menu and we’re going to do that. But value isn’t defined as just lowest price; it’s quality of the food offering; it’s the entertainment experience; and if you provide a great guest experience, value is also part of that component.

Freshii: The Starbucks of the fast, fresh food business?

Have you heard of Freshii?

You will.

Aiming to be the Starbucks of the fresh foods business, Freshii has a mission of focusing on "fresh food, custom built fast" and the drive to be as ubiquitous as Starbucks. Founded in Toronto, Canada only 5 years ago, they have 300 locations under development and expect to open 60 stores this year.

 Founded by a 28-year old Gen-Y entrepreneur and flack for Oscar de la Renta, Matthew Corrin is tapping into the major trends of the day--fresh food from a consumer's choice themed menu, served in an environmentally sustainable environment, and delivered fast.

Freshii's goal is to build an iconic brand of scalable, corporate-owned locations. Rather than focus on one type of food (asian-themed, mexican, thai) Freshii is a brand concept (like Starbucks) that is focused on food delivery, convenience and choice. Customers can order salads, wraps, sandwiches, bowls and burritos filled with ingredients of their own choosing.

Source: Fast Casual

Duane Reade sold to Walgreen's. New York City landscape to be irrevocably changed.

Anyone who has spent any time in New York City knows Duane Reade. Their 257 drugstores in the New York area are ubiquitous, and the brand name synonymous with convenience. The chain is part of New Yorker's lives, selling the staples of everyday life--from vitamins, to toilet paper to food and batteries.

Today, Walgreen announced they are buying Duane Reade for about $620 million.

And New Yorker's lives are irrevocably changed.

The CEO of Walgreen said they will keep the Duane Reade name but decide over time "as to the best and most effective way to harmonize" the two brands."

In other words, expect a name change after a quick transition.

Bye bye "Duane Reade."

Walgreens stores have seen increased competition from its primary rival CVS and from the likes of Walmart and Target stores. But with most of its locations in New York City, Duane Reade is largely insulated from the competition, and seen as a major catch (and moneymaker) for Walgreen.

WSJ.com reports that Duane Reade was founded in 1960 by brothers Abraham, Eli and Jack Cohen. It took its name from its first store, located in between Duane and Reade streets in Manhattan's Tribeca neighborhood. Bain Capital acquired it from its founders in 1992, sold it to DLJ Merchant Banking in 1997. After Duane Reade went public in 1998, Oak Hill Capital Partners took it private again.

Using Neuromarketing, Campbell learned what to change on its soup labels to make sales "Mmm mm good."

The Campbell Soup Company has been making condensed soup and packaging it in those iconic red and white labels for decades. The business is huge for Campbell--over $1 billion in red and white cans are sold annually.

But soup sales are stale, and so, like any good CPG company, Campbell set out to find what magical variation on a theme would increase consumer's propensity to buy soup.

Campbell researchers decided to use a research method called "neuromarketing." They studied microscopic changes in skin moisture, heart rate and other biometrics to see how consumers react to everything from pictures of bowls of soup to logo design.

The resulting packaging design change: The bowls are getting bigger and steamier, and the soup spoons are going away.

From The Wall Street Journal:

Shoppers will begin seeing changes in the Campbell section of supermarkets this fall. Among them: Condensed-soup varieties will be sectioned into four, color-coded categories such as "taste sensations" in orange and "classic favorites" in light brown. The company's logo will be smaller and moved lower so it's not as prominent.

Campbell's three biggest sellers—chicken noodle, tomato and cream of mushroom, the soup can labels immortalized by Andy Warhol—will remain the same. But on other labels, steam will rise from larger, more vibrant pictures of soup in more modern, white bowls. And those unemotional spoons will disappear.

Whew. And here we thought they were going to do a re-design that would have Andy Warhol rolling over in his grave.

Much more at WSJ.com

New use for old Polaroids: Philippe Roucou makes silk scarves

French designer Philippe Roucou has released a limited edition series of 100 percent silk scarves--each one features an image from a found-Polaroid. More proof of this powerful brand, and its impact on society.

Sources: Lost at E Minor, Trendhunter and hat tip to ShutterSisters

Snickers' "You're not you when you're hungry" Super Bowl ad with Betty White now has a sister-spot with divas Aretha Franklin and Liza Minnelli

Snickers' "You're not you when you're hungry" campaign debuted during the Super Bowl with an ad featuring actors Betty White and Abe Vigoda as the alter egos of two young, touch-football players. By most accounts, the ad was a smash hit--strategic, entertaining and YouTube worthy (i.e. watch it again, and again).

In the follow-up ad, the campaign does not disappoint. Same concept (alter egos--one when you're hungry, another when you've been satisfied with a Snickers bar) and just as entertaining.

This time, four young guys are on a road trip when one morphs into Aretha Franklin and another materializes as Liza Minnelli, when hunger pangs overwhelm them.

I dare you not to giggle, and to think about grabbing a Snickers bar.

Pedigree ad: "not just a good pooper, but an optimal one."

Yes, dog owners are a particular breed. If you need proof, here is an ad that I feel most owners will relate to:

Happy Valentine's Day: From Hug e Gram

Pepsi Refresh Project encourages innovation in social good: "potential genius ideas that could change the world"

The fine folks at PepsiCo have jumped on the corporate trend to organize their brand communities around social good.

The Pepsi Refresh Project is a just-launched online effort designed to foster innovation and to help fund projects that can make a difference in society.

The program will award more than $20 million in 2010 in grants to benefit a variety of projects. Fans can apply for grants online, and site visitors can vote for the best ideas for funding.

Pepsi will fund projects that make a difference in six categories: Health, Arts & Culture, Food & Shelter, The Planet, Neighborhoods and Education.

 "This is the people's project, it's in their hands. We encourage all individuals to submit their creative and innovative ideas to the Pepsi Refresh Project and cast their votes for the ideas that they want to see come to life." said Jill Beraud, CMO and president of joint ventures for PepsiCo Americas Beverages in a statement.

The program launched on January 13 and has already exceeded expectations by receiving the monthly limit of 1,000 submissions in less than seven days with at least one from each state in the U.S. Joining this effort are actors Demi Moore and Kevin Bacon, who have generated their own ideas for Pepsi Refresh and are competing for support in the Pepsi Refresh Celebrity Challenge, which also launches today.

Optimizing the social web, fans can interact with the Pepsi Refresh Project online, on Facebook and on Twitter

The "Social Games" of the 2010 Winter Olympics will be brought to you by the likes of GE, Visa, McDonalds and Coke

With this year's Super Bowl, we saw the power of the social web to extend brand sponsorships well beyond a company's 30 second TV spot.

Well, if you thought the Super Bowl sponsors were buzzing the web, wait till you see what the Winter Olympics sponsors have in store for the web.

The 2010 Winter Olympics are being dubbed the "Social Games" because of plans by sponsors Visa, Coca-Cola, McDonald's and General Electric, as well as the International Olympic Committee, to use Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to promote themselves and the Olympic competition.

NBC is releasing a list of competitors who will be tweeting, while Facebook seems to be the preferred venue of the IOC, which has launched an Olympic Games page.

Here are Social-media plans for four sponsors (via USA Today):

•Visa. About 40% of its Olympic marketing funds will go to digital, four times the past share, marketing chief Antonio Lucio says. It created a YouTube channel where its six Olympic spots can be seen before they air on TV. Folks can pick their favorite and enter to have their name appear in the ad.

•Coke. The brand created a virtual snowball fight for consumers to share via social media. It also has an iPhone app with NBC that has sounds of cheering, air horns and a Coke being poured. Coke-sponsored athletes will tweet on Twitter about their experiences.

"Every piece of our Olympic marketing has a social and mobile component," says Katie Bayne, marketing chief for Coca-Cola North America.

•McDonald's. The chain has created a virtual scavenger hunt: How Do You McNugget? The first to figure out such things as how Olympic athletes eat McNuggets can win a trip for two to the 2012 London Games. "We want to leverage high-impact experiences," spokeswoman Heather Oldani says.

•GE. The company is using the Olympics as a "launch pad" for its biggest social-media push, a program for better health, says Linda Boff, global director of marketing communications.

Gillette wants young Chinese men to look good--with a good shave.

Procter & Gamble is looking to tap into the market of young men in China's more urban communities who want to look good for women, and to look professional to prospective employers.

P&G is combining China's Lunar New Year festival, with a patently Western holiday, Valentine's Day, to promote the Gillette brand among young Chinese men.

The overlap in timing of Chinese New Year and Valentine's Day gives P&G a "unique opportunity" to engage young men on an emotional level about the importance of being well-groomed, said Kevin Bogusz, a business director at BBDO Worldwide, Shanghai. The Omnicom Group agency handles creative for Gillette globally.
 

From Advertising Age:

P&G hopes the strategy will appeal to Gillette's target market in China -- students and other men in their early 20s living in first- and second-tier cities. Those consumers are often job-hunting or have recently been hired.

They are also concerned about their appearance for more personal reasons. China's single-child policy has resulted in a gender imbalance, with Chinese men in their 20s outnumbering women. That means getting a girlfriend can be a challenge for many men.

"Gillette's core brand equity is about helping men look and feel their best," Mr. Bogusz said. This campaign "is more emotional than product focused, though. It strikes a balance between giving a functional message and building the brand in a different way."

Louis Vuitton wins legal battle over eBay's use of search engine words

A Paris court has ordered eBay to pay Louis Vuitton $275,000 in damages and to stop paying search engines to direct certain key words to the eBay site. The division of luxury-goods conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA, will also receive €1,000 for every future violation.

LVMH and other luxury goods companies fight hard to defend their trademarks, and to stop the sale of counterfeit goods. 

This case concerns payments made by eBay to have Internet searches directed to its site that included misspellings sometimes used to sell counterfeit goods--words like "Louis Viton" or "Wuiton,"

EBay contends hat the search terms cited in the lawsuit were spelling errors and that eBay had no intention of aiding the sale of fake products.

"Louis Vuitton welcomes this decision, which confirms established case law that aims to protect the consumer from the illicit use of company trademarks," a spokesperson for Louis Vuitton said in a statement.

AXE's Detailer Shower Tool viral video starring Jamie Pressley: "Clean Your Balls" 'cause no one wants to play with dirty equipment

AXE, the men’s fragrance and grooming brand, has teamed with Edelman PR to create a viral campaign called: "Clean Your Balls."

Now, before you get all giggly on me, I need to tell you that the AXE Detailer Shower Tool was created with an application tool with a rough side and a scrubbing side, so men of all ages can get those "hard to clean areas" all nice and clean.

The AXE Detailer is an innovative shower tool designed specifically for guys that keeps all of his parts clean, giving him an edge in the mating game. The improved version has been updated to feature an ergonomic, easy-to-grip handle, improved mesh to give guys more lather than the original, and a new bungee cord so it’s easy to hang in the shower. The AXE Detailer still features its original and unique dual-sided design - including a rough side to clean tough spots and a gentle mesh side for more sensitive areas.

The brilliance of this campaign is the double entente  used over and over again, to great affect.

Check out the viral video starring Jaime Pressly as fictional tennis star, Monica Blake, humorously highlighting the cleaning power of the improved AXE Detailer Shower Tool and the importance of maintaining clean equipment.

OK, you can go ahead and giggle now.

Source: PRNewswire and hat tip to David W.   

Mattel launches Puppy Tweets: for owners who wish their dogs could talk – or in this case, tweet.

Mattel has plans to introduce Puppy Tweets, a plastic tag that attaches to a dog's collar and automatically sends updates to the dog's Twitter account.

Yes, that's right. Your dog can now Tweet.

Puppy Tweets' tag has a sound and motion sensor that you attach to your pet's dog collar and a USB receiver you attach to your computer.

Then set up a Twitter account for your dog and you're ready to read your dog's imaginary tweets.

The toy randomly generates one of 500 programmed tweets when it detects a dog's movement or barking. For example, if a dog barks, Puppy Tweets might transmit the message, "I bark because I miss you. There, I said it. Now hurry home."

Puppy Tweets will retail for $29.99. 

The president of Mattel Brands, Neil Friedman, told the Los Angeles Times, "We think [Puppy Tweets] could be the start of a new wave of products for people to interact with their pets."

Sources: CNN Money and the Los Angeles Times

Coca-Cola's Super Bowl 2010 "Sleepwalker" ad a ripoff of an Israeli milk commercial from 2002?

An interesting controversy has arisen around the striking similarities between an ad for Coke that ran on the Super Bowl this year, and an ad from 2002 for an Israeli milk brand.

The images in both ads are uncanny in their likeness--a sleepwalking young man who wanders across hill and dale to find a drink in a refrigerator that quenches his thirst so he may return to bed--happily. Even the theme song is the same--Revel's "Bolero."

Agencies and clients seem un-bothered by the similarities, saying any similarities are purely a coincidence.

"When we created the Coca-Cola 'Sleepwalker' commercial, we and our agency were unaware of this other ad," said Coke spokeswoman Susan Stribling. "Now that we've seen the ad, we think both commercials are equally entertaining. While the two share a few common elements, any similarities are coincidental and unintended."

After the Super Bowl airing a split-screen mash-up comparison of the Coke ad by agency Weiden & Kennedy, and a 2002 spot for Yotvata by Shalmor Avnon Amichay/Young & Rubicam, Tel Aviv, had been loaded onto YouTube. 

We say this is another example of how there are few truly original thoughts in the world.

We have a collective consciousness and advertising images are designed to tap in to shared thoughts to stimulate interest in a brand. While creative always strives to be unique, tapping in to shared life themes is also part of advertising's effectiveness.

CPG giant Procter & Gamble is coming out of the corporate closet and launching its first-ever corporate marketing campaign during the Olympic Games

The corporate owners of consumer package goods--like SC Johnson, the Clorox Company, Unilever, Nestle, and Procter & Gamble, rarely come out of the corporate closet and promote themselves in paid advertising.

They usually let the products do the talking.

But as consumers become more sophisticated and conscious of who they are buying from, promoting a corporate parent's cultural, philanthropic, moral and ethical beliefs is becoming more important.

Take, for example, Procter & Gamble, who is launching its first-ever corporate marketing campaign and single-largest integrated campaign to date around the Winter Olympics.

MediaPost reports that in addition to individual sponsorship programs with 17 of its brands and endorsement deals with nearly as many individual athletes, the company is running two TV spots during broadcast on NBC that are all about Procter & Gamble and its commitment to moms.

The two P&G corporate TV ads, "Never walk alone" and "Kids," are meant as tributes to moms who stand behind their kids' efforts. Perry says campaigns by P&G's individual brands will be integrated thematically with that message. "They are lining up under this one umbrella," he says.

P&G clearly has designed their Olympic sponsorship to reach a broad swath of their consumers. The Winter Olympics are the number one sporting event among women 18 to 34 and the second-most watched among men after the NFL. And they clearly believe it is time to come out of the corporate closet.

Belgium agencies protest shoddy client behavior during agency pitches

In Beligium, there is an industry charter that sets norms around the selection process for agencies (the U.S. has no such industry charter).

Unfortunately, many advertisers in Belgium have stopped following the charter.

In response, many of Belgium's ad agencies have started a one-week virtual strike to protest the way clients conduct pitches in their country.

So far, almost 20 agencies have closed their websites except for displaying one paragraph each of an open letter to clients that runs across their home pages, from one agency's site to the next (famous.be). Agencies including JWT, Ogilvy, BBDO, Saatchi & Saatchi, McCann, and local shops such as Happiness, Famous, Tagora, Boondoogle, 7beaufort and Kunstmaan are participating.

The letter begins:

"Dear visitor, As you can see, we have replaced our regular website with this letter. It's going to stay up one week to express our discontent. Allow us to explain..." A link at the bottom of the screen says "Continue reading at" and links to the next agency's site and an explanation of the charter, why it exists, and how it is being violated.

"Because of the [economic] crisis, advertisers were getting aggressive and not following the rules, and it only works if everyone sticks to the charter," said Luc De Leersnyder, CEO of the ACC, Belgium's association of communication companies, which masterminded the strike. "I wrote a letter to members [saying] if you're called into a pitch and know there are six or seven other guys and that you'll spend 80,000 euros on the pitch, you have a better chance at a casino."

Source: Advertising Age

Microsoft appoints a Chief Creative Officer

In the last few years, we've seen the rise of many new "Chief" titles: Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Revenue Officer, Chief Experience Officer, and now, Chief Creative Officer.

The chief creative position has cropped up in entertainment industries, such as at video-game makers EA and Activision, and movie studios such as Pixar and Disney Animation Studios.

Now comes word that Microsoft has reorganized its central marketing group and is naming Gayle Troberman as Chief Creative Officer.

Troberman is charged with working among the campaign teams and agencies responsible for creative and looking at new marketing approaches and emerging marketing platforms.

We like all the new "Chief" titles. They are empowering within organizations, and demonstrate what organizations care about, at a core strategic level.

Whoopi Goldberg is talking about bladder leakage and Kimberly-Clark's "Poise"

Frank-talk is core to Whoopi Goldberg's personality. She tackles hard-to-talk-about topics with credibility.

Now, she's lending her name (and credibility) to Kimberly-Clark's line of Poise incontinence products.

Goldberg not only stars, but also helped create a new series of webisodes that humorously portray women through history facing bouts of light incontinence -- including Eve, Cleopatra, Mona Lisa and Joan of Arc. The goal is to get women to talk about something almost no one wants to discuss, even though K-C says one in three women over 18 experience the condition.

Company delivers a new (albeit off-the-shelf) brand logo for $99

You've heard of the Dollar Store--where everything sells for $1.

Well, now there is the $99 logo store.

A company called 99designs.com has introduced a new "Ready-made" logo store, targeting small businesses who need a logo cheap and fast.

The new logo store logo store provides small businesses with access to thousands of professional logos that can be purchased and customized "right off the shelf" starting at just $99.

The company also offers a crowdsourced graphic design model, allowing customers to have their logo created from scratch by a community of designers, with the customer picking a "winning" design.

Best Buy introduces "Greener Together" e-cycling program

As part of their "Greener Together" initiative, Best Buy will introduce an e-cycling program encouraging consumers at 1000+ Best Buy stores to recycle, reuse, or trade in “end-of-life” (EOL) electronics.

Consumers can recycle everything from old cell phones, DVD players, to televisions, computers and monitors. You can bring in up to two items a day, per household. However, there is a $10 charge for TVs 32" and under, CRTs, monitors and laptops — but Best Buy will give consumers a $10 Best Buy gift card to offset that cost.

Recycling these items is a much more environmentally sensitive approach to other means of disposal. Environmentalists are increasingly concerned about the cumulative effect of EOLs ending up in landfills as a more connected world uses more and more digital media.

The “Greener Together” program allows consumers to become involved in the process and do their part by disposing of their EOLs responsibly. It also, no doubt will encourage more foot traffic into Best Buy's stores.

McDonald's tries its hand at speaking Italian, as it introduces the McItaly

McDonald's has teamed up with the Italian government to launch McItaly burgers in Italy.

One burger will feature an artichoke spread, Asiago cheese and lettuce. The other has Italian olive oil, onion and smoked pancetta. Both feature produce in Italy (including the hamburger meat and bun).

For many Italians, their very sense of identity lies in their food, and they are passionate about their local produce and dishes.

So, clearly, the lack of local diversity in McDonald's menu can be a turn-off to many. However, I've always felt that McDonald's secret to success has been its ability to replicate the same fresh taste combinations anywhere in the world.

Why would Italians want a fast-food hack of their local tastes?

Do Americans go to a Chinese food restaurant for a burger and fries?

"McDonald's speaks Italian," declares the advertising slogan.

I think it probably speaks Italian with a very heavy accent. Let's hope (for McDonald's) that the Italians can understand their foreign accent.

Source: The Guardian and Huffington Post

Google to test super-fast broadband service for residential service

Google has announced it will begin accepting proposals from cities to be part of a trial of a super-fast broadband service for residential customers.

The company says the network would deliver Internet speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second, about 100 times faster than most U.S. providers. As many as 500,000 people would be part of the trial, the company says.

One of Google's goals is to create pressure for more open access to broadband. The service will be price-competitive with broadband services from cable and telephone companies like Verizon, Comcast, AT&T et al, but it will be much faster.  

Source: TechCrunch

The science of colors: choosing a color to match your mood

 It turns out that the phrase: "I'm feeling blue" may be a misnomer.

Researchers from the University of Manchester in England say they’ve developed a color chart that can be used to study the type of color that relates to a person’s state of mind. 

"Colors are frequently used to describe emotions, such as being 'green with envy' or 'in the blues,’" Peter Whorwell, professor of medicine and gastroenterology at University Hospital of South Manchester, said in a statement. “Although there is a large, often anecdotal, literature on color preferences and the relationship of color to mood and emotion, there has been relatively little serious research on the subject.”

People with anxiety and depression are most likely to use a shade of gray to represent their mental state. Those not feeling in a "negative" mood typically chose a shade of yellow.

So, all you Pharma marketers out there take note: attract anxiety-filled individuals with a shade of gray, and draw them to your packaging with a bright shade of yellow.

Bayer consolidates its agency network--but don't view it as a marketplace trend.

It was announced today that German pharmaceutical giant Bayer AG consolidated its $850 million global advertising account with two ad agency giants: Omnicom Group and WPP.

The company was working with some 400 disparate agencies around the world and has announced that it expects to save about 10% on its marketing and media services expenses.

But please don't take this news as an example of a global trend towards agency consolidation. Bayer is just the latest example of agency contraction. But there are plenty more brands who believe that dispersing agency responsibilities is right for their brand.

Global brands seem to swing back and forth between the need for localized brand management and global brand control (and cost savings) like my grandmother's coo-coo clock.

For decades, I have worked with global brands, helping them expand their agency network, or consolidate--only to see the pendulum swing back not long after I finish an assignment.

There is no simple formula, and no simple "right way" to manage a global brand. Each brand situation is unique, based on a variety of factors, including budget, brand marketing goals, and CMO management style.

Civil Rights Attorney Files Complaint of Racial Discrimination Against Advertising Agencies

A civil rights lawyer tells Advertising Age he is filing charges against advertising companies with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The charges are for racial discrimination against agencies where the plaintiffs have been employed or applied for jobs. 

Over a year ago, the attorney, Cyrus Mehri and the NAACP announced the Madison Avenue Project, a report which laid the foundation for a class-action suit against the ad industry.

The report found that ad agencies are guilty of "pervasive racial discrimination," including black employees earning only 80% of the salaries of comparable white employees.

Controversy at the Vancouver Olympic Games over an Australian banner of a boxing kangaroo

The International Olympic Committee was none too thrilled when the Australian Olympic team raised a banner outside the team's headquarters, just outside the Olympic Athletes' Village in Vancouver before the start of the 2010 Winter Games.

An IOC official raised questions of potential trademark infringement and asked that the banner be removed. 

You see, the banner is of a boxing kangaroo.

The Australian Olympic Committee raised fisticuffs and refused to take it down.

Then, IOC officials changed their minds.

Source: NBC Olympics

MTV drops the "music television" from its logo

Brands mature over time, and often grow out of their original raison d'être.

When it launched in 1981, MTV's reason for existence was as a television channel for music videos: "MTV: Music Television"

Well, the music video genre has come and gone, and MTV has successfully morphed into a channel for a certain demographic or a certain age. The Real World, The Hills and Jersey Shore make the most of this target.

And now, apparently, they've finally gotten around to adjusting their logo to reflect this transformation.

The new logo is pretty much just the old one but without the words "music television" along the bottom.

Brands will often times make adjustments to their logo (or name) to signal change within an organization. As this new logo comes so late in the game--MTV is clearly not known for videos any more, it seems more like a design clean-up exercise rather than a major brand shift.

Interestingly, according to MTV's head of marketing, Tina Exarhos, corporate politics had a lot to do with the delay in changing the logo. Exarhos told the Los Angeles Times that the marketing department had previously toyed with removing “music television” but felt the text was too sacred and that higher-ups wouldn’t approve the idea. Since the network is introducing some new on-air designs, “now felt like the right time” to update the logo.

More on this topic at Rolling Stone, Los Angeles Times

Videogame publishers are jockeying with rivals over release dates

Increasingly, videogame publishers are using marketing strategies honed by movie marketers to thwart competitive releases and to spread profits across the year.

Switching from a focus on holiday season releases, gaming companies like Electronic Arts, Sony and Square Enix are throttling the introduction of major titles throughout the year as the companies attempt to spark demand outside the crowded holiday season and reverse an industry-wide sales slump.

The WSJ.com reports that companies are jockeying with rivals for release dates, much like Hollywood studios. These high-profile games are increasingly important to game makers as they take years to create and can cost $20 million or more to produce.

"There's no question that everyone tries to manage their release of a AAA title to not compete with someone else's AAA title," said Strauss Zelnick, chairman of Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., referring to the class of games that are considered top quality and have high development costs to match.

With production costs rising, the risk of failure is obviously much greater. So looking at a seasonal release schedule makes a lot of sense. Publishers can look for the right window in which to release their games, similar to the year-round calendar of big releases from movie studios.

DeBeers encourages you to drop everything for love (except the diamond)

For Valentine’s Day, diamond mining and trading company DeBeers has created a site that allows consumers to record webcam declarations of their love, and encourages word-of-mouth to drive traffic to the site, and grow the community of lovers.

Ah, sweet.

On top of that, DeBeers has sent film crews out to chronicle the efforts of nine heart-filled romantics who "drop everything for love"  to surprise their partners with diamonds. Brandweek details how one video follows David, a young tech hipster at a San Diego non-profit, as he surprises blonde South African paramour Kirsten on the beaches of Cape Town with a DeBeers diamond ring. Consumers can submit their own stories, or nominate others, on the site or through Facebook.

DeBeers is using Facebook, email marketing and online advertising to drive traffic. According to Brandweek, since going live last week, within the first couple of days, the site received nearly 300 submissions. Entourage actress Debi Mazur is one of them, waxing to the webcam about her nine-year romance with Italian husband Gabriele Corcos.

The New York Times' Digital Advertising Gains Help Fourth-Quarter Earnings

The New York Times Company saw fourth-quarter earnings more than triple.

One of the big reasons? Digital advertising revenue grew by a respectible 11%, helping offset a print advertising decline of around 20%.

From The Wall Street Journal:

The media company said it expects continued print-ad stabilization in the first quarter with digital ads in line with the latest quarter. Chief Executive Janet L. Robinson said, "We were pleased to see advertisers increase their rate of spending across our newspapers, Web sites and other platforms as advertising trends improved during the fourth quarter." She said that while the ad market "remains challenging," declines across the major categories — national, retail and classified — eased as the quarter progressed. 

What to do when even your own customers don't trust you? Forrester study showcases the Least-Trusted Banks in America

What do you do when even your customers don't trust you?

That is the question that every major bank in the U.S. should be asking itself today.

The results of Forrester's annual Customer Advocacy rankings are out, giving bankers from coast to coast another reason to hang their heads in shame.

Banking customers were asked to agree/disagree with the statement: "My financial provider does what's best for me, not just its own bottom line."

Turns out, customers of the biggest banks in the United States are the least likely to believe their financial institution does what's best for them as opposed to what's best for the bottom line.

Among Bank of America customers, 33 percent agreed with the statement above, while 31 percent of Chase customers agreed, 29 percent of Capital One customers agreed, 28 percent of TD/Commerce Bank customers agreed, 27 percent of Fifth Third Bank customers agreed and 26 percent of Citibank customers agreed.

These should be disastrous numbers for executives of these banks. When you're own customers don't trust you, you've got a problem.

These companies should be examining what are the systemic issues that cause such distrust, and actively go about changing some clear behavioral problems. Once the issues have been addressed, it will be time to win-back the hearts and minds of their customers with authentic, fact-based marketing and behavior.

More at The New York Times

Reggie Bush gets his post Super Bowl "Got Milk" ad

"Reggie Bush--you've just helped the New Orleans Saints win the Super Bowl. What are you going to do now?"

I'm going to become a "Got Milk" model.

Yes, Reggie Bush is the new face of the "Got Milk" campaign. 

The 13th annual winning football Milk Mustache ad ran in USA Today.

Reggie's ad reads, "It's mine. And nothing can take it away from me. Milk helped me fuel up to play 60. And it's got nutrients I need to refuel after the Super Bowl. So down the milk, and play for keeps."

Image source: Entertainment Tonight

Billboard in Minnesota has former President George W. Bush asking "Miss me yet?"

There is a billboard along I-35 near Wyoming, Minnesota featuring former president George W. Bush and this question: "Miss Me Yet?" It is getting a fair amount of attention, for obvious reasons.

But there is no apparent claim of ownership on the billboard--kind of like a terrorist attack.

Is the advertiser pro-Obama--delivering an ironic message highlighting how anybody's better than the former President.

Or, is the message anti-Obama--suggesting that President Bush's tenure should be considered "the good old days."

In Minnesota, either meaning may be possible.

Sources: Current TV,  AOL News and NPR