5 Blogs Before Lunch

Starbucks is selling more beer, wine and savory snacks as they expand their afternoon menu.

Starbucks wants people come back for more, and more--all throughout the day. Over the last couple of years, they've been market testing an afternoon menu of alcohol (beer and wine) and savory snacks.

"As our customers transition from work to home, many are looking for a warm and inviting place to unwind and connect with the people they care about," Clarice Turner, Starbucks' senior vice president of U.S. operations, said in a news release.

Way back in July 2009, we posted a report that Starbucks was about to beging testing a new retail concept in Seattle that included the sale of alcohol on premise. The chain then started selling late afternoon savory snacks and alcohol at one shop in Seattle in October 2010. Now, five stores in the Seattle area and one in Portland, Oregon offer the extended menu.

Now comes word that they are expanding the concept, and will begin selling beer and wine in a small number of Starbucks in Southern California and Atlanta. Starbucks is also planning to add savory snacks, cheese plates and hot flatbreads to menus in four to six outlets in each market to see if they might entice people to start a different sort of habit--the Starbucks happy hour. We call it "Bucks-thirty."

Source: Los Angeles Times

Macy's goes on the attack, suing Martha Stewart for its J.C. Penney deal

A month ago we posted the news that Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia had inked a deal to sell housewares at J.C. Penney. It sounded like a great deal for Penney's and MSLO, but it seems to have made Macy's feel like a jilted bride.

And there is nothing like a mega conclomerate's scorn.

Macy's is now suing MSLO in New York State Supreme Court claiming the deal with J.C. Penney violates the terms of an exclusive deal to sell MSLO products at its stores.

The J.C. Penney deal involves opening store-in-store Martha Stewart shops inside most of its stores beginning next year. MSLO products at Macy's are scattered througout their Home departments, and are a valuable draw for the retailer.

Let the mud-slinging begin.

Source: USA Today

Saab owners stay true to their loyal friend until its last breath

For decades, Saab owners have dealt with endless electrical problems, hose leaks and other mechanical defects that were just part of the Saab experience. Still, through all of the mechanical troubles Saab owners suffered through, they have always been some of the most loyal fanatically loyal fans.

Even now, with Saab in bankruptcy after being tossed to the curb by General Motors, and effectively no longer in operation, Saab enthusiasts are gathering this weekend across this counrty and around the world in rallies, caravans and other meet-ups designed to show their affection for the Swedish brand.

They're holding out hope--hanging on by the thinnest of threads, that all is not lost and that a white knight might come in and save Saab at the last minute.

The chances of that are slim, however.

From Brandchannel, here is a quote from former Saab CEO Victor Muller:

"Although I am not anymore Saab’s CEO — you all know that we did not manage to keep the company alive, unfortunately — I would like to thank all of you personally. Without people like you, Saab would have no reason for existence. Without people like you, we would have never bought Saab back in 2010. At that time there were convoys all over the world. Today and yesterday, some 110 events in 42 countries were organised. Which car brand would ever be able to touch that? That is something unique.

Saab is everything but over. I do not want to create any expectations based on nothing. There are some very interested parties who would like to take over Saab as a going concern. They do not want to buy some parts of Saab, but the whole enterprise. This is very encouraging. I cannot predict whether this will succeed. This is something I cannot exert an influence on. I am just helping — to the best of my abilities — the administrators make a deal."For adventurous shoppers seeking deep discounts, Saab dealers still have about 2,200 cars in their inventories that are still for sale.

Source: WSJ.com and Brandchannel

As baby boomers become seniors, they get their own television network--RLTV (Redefine Life TV)

As the number of baby boomers who offically become  "seniors" grows exponentially over the next years, we will see more and more companies targeting this still highly active group.

They are currently the fastest-growing and wealthiest segment of the population, and were least hurt by the recession. According to data from the U.S. Consumer Expenditure Survey, adults over the age of 50 spent $2.7 trillion on consumer goods in 2010. Everyone from pharmecetucal companies to insurance carriers to retirement communities see the opportunity with the senior class.

Television is also a high-value area for the post 18-49 set. So it is no surprise that a cable network has arisen to provide programming for the AARP crowd. Let's face it--older folks have a lot of disposible income, and spend a lot of time watching television.

RLTV is a cable channel specifically targeting seniors, and has hired talent with whom this audience can relate. Seventy-seven year old Sam Donaldson and Florence Henderson will each have their own shows, as well youngsters like Joan Lunden, 61, and Deborah Norville, 53.  

Programming such as "Making Medicare Work for You," will find a place on RLTV, as well as reality shows like "Another Chance for Romance" and "Sunset Daze," which the Los Angeles Times calls a "Jersey Shore" for adventurous senior citizens in Surprise, Arizona. Another reality show "Family Pickle" takes a look inside New York City’s world renowned Carnegie Deli, home to "the wildest cast of characters you’ll ever meet."

"Advertisers are waking up to the fact that the 50-plus population is an audience they have to pay attention to," said Kevin Donnellan, an executive vice president with the AARP, and a producer of two magazine shows for RLTV. "We're no longer living in that era where people are thinking about their father's Oldsmobile."

RLTV was launched in 2006 and was originally called Retirement Living TV (the founder made his money building retirement communities) but recently changed to Redefine Life--a broader message to match this broad audience group.

RLTV does not boast of its distribution deals as of yet, but as cable distributors and other media outlets realize the extreme value of the senior community and its impact as part of the viewer demographic, they're bound to pick up speed.

1-800-GET-THIN Lap-band ads getting congressional scrutiny for "aggressive marketing"

The controversy around a surgically implanted device to help people lose weight has been festering in the Los Angeles area for months. Opponents of the "Lap-Band" a ring that is surgically implanted around the stomach to discourage overeating have questioned the effectiveness and safety of the device, as well as its marketing claims.

The 1-800-GET-THIN weight-loss surgery billboard campaign is ubiquitous along Southern California freeways--in a town known for its obsession with physical appearance. Local opponents have questioned the "aggressive marketing" of the device through the freeway billboards, radio, television, direct mail and the Internet. Two former employees have accused 1-800-GET-THIN and its affiliated surgery centers of operating in unsanitary conditions, improperly billing insurers and putting an emphasis on profits over patient safety.

And now, the opposition is getting a national sponsors in  U.S. Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Beverly Hills) and two other House members who are calling for congressional hearings to examine whether the sponsors of the ad campaign, their affiliated clinics and the device's manufacturer are improperly promoting a potentially dangerous surgery. Waxman wants Congress to subpoena documents from 1-800-GET-THIN and Lap-Band manufacturer Allergan Inc.

"We believe the Committee should hold hearings to examine whether FDA device regulation has been ineffective in protecting the public from dangerous medical devices like the Lap-Band,"  said Waxman and Reps. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) and John D. Dingell (D-Mich.) in letter.

The Los Angeles Times reports that five patients have died in Southern California since 2009 after Lap-Band surgeries at clinics affiliated with 1-800-GET-THIN, according to lawsuits, autopsy reports and other public records.

For its part, the Food and Drug Administration has sent warning letters to 1-800-GET-THIN and some of its affiliated surgery centers, saying that its advertisements were misleading because they did not adequately disclose dangers of the surgery. The company has agreed to change the ads to address the FDA's concerns.

"The fundamental mission of the FDA is to ensure the safety and effectiveness of medical devices," Congressman Waxman is quoted as saying. "That is why it's critical that we understand how unsafe devices get on the market and how to protect patients from these risks."

L.L. Bean kicks off its Centennial with a Giant Mobile Maine Hunting Boot--the Bootmobile

To mark the company's centennial, L.L. Bean has driving a giant hunting boot across the country.

Well, not a real hunting boot exactly, it is a truck designed to look like the brand's iconic hunting boot. You know, like the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile looks like a wiener.

L.L. Bean commissioned the Bootmobile, a 20-foot-long, 13-foot-high vehicle that is scheduled to travel throughout the country during the company's 100th year.

Wired magazine reports from Manhattan that "the Bootmobile appears to be cobbled together from a diesel Ford F-250 pickup. (It’s an automatic, so no heel-and-toe downshifts.) In true Yankee fashion, it’s wearing all-terrain tires, sports a Maine license plate and is missing a hubcap." In fact, the Bootmobile was built to scale by Echo Artz, a specialty fabrication shop in Kissimmee, Florida--a far cry from Bean headquarters in Freeport, Maine.

L.L. Bean founder Leon Leonwood Bean began the company in a single room selling the Maine Hunting Shoe, with a rubber sole and shell stitched to a leather upper. The Maine Hunting Shoe has become emblematic of the brand.

Additional sources: The New York Times

Mark Cuban partners up with Ryan Seacrest, AEG and Creative Artists Agency to reimagine HDNet into AXS TV

If Oprah can have her own television network, so can Ryan Seacrest.

He, along with events promoter AEG and talent agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA) are partnering with billionaire Mark Cuban to essentially take over his existing network HDNet. The new network will be called AXS TV (pronounced "access") and will be a pop culture and music cable channel that is expected to debut in June.

Reports are that the network's programming will rely heavily on live lifestyle and live entertainment content from the music assets of AEG, and the "A-list connections and production capabilities of Seacrest." Cuban will still lead the venture.

The Hollywood Reporter suggests that the venture is “virtually” a 50-50 partnership between Cuban and the new partners.
 
Seacrest, CAA and AEG have been pitching the network concept for some time. At one point there were reports that the group was in talks to take over VH1 Soul, a little-watched spinoff of MTV Networks' VH1 channel.

HDNet has been around for about a decade, and is currently in a reported 25-35 million homes, through distribution deals with DirecTV, Comcast, Verizon, AT&T, Charter and Dish. Those numbers are still small, with the big cable networks in 100 million+ homes.

Seacrest’s shingle, Ryan Seacrest Productions (which produces the ubiquitous Khardasian franchise among other projects), will have a production commitment with the new venture. Ryan Seacrest Media, a holding company separate from RSP, is the investor in AXS.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter last spring, Seacrest insisted whatever deal he and his partners at CAA and AEG struck, it “will not be the Ryan Seacrest channel … it will not be branded with my name or my face. My role would be to hope to provide content for them, but primarily it would be an ownership role.”

Source: AXS.tv press announcement

Neuromarketing: brain food for creativity

Neurmarketing research is becoming a more active experiment with many advertisers from Google to Frito Lay. By studying consumers' sensorimotor, cognitive, and affective responses to advertising or product stimuli, marketers can learn why consumers make the decisions they do, and what part of the brain is telling them to do it, then adjust marketing and advertising accordingly.

And now, the Advertising Research Foundation has conducted a study of neuromarketing effectiveness, analyzing the latest methods being used to evaluate advertising and products to determine the effectiveness, drawbacks, and promise of various analytic methods.

The study was sponsored by eight major marketers: American Express, Campbell Soup Company, Clorox, Colgate-Palmolive, General Motors, The Hershey Company, MillerCoors, and JP MorganChase; and four major TV networks: ESPN, Viacom Media Networks, NBCUniversal, and Turner. The project was also supported by Dentsu, Publicis Groupe, A&E, and Warner Bros.

The study is the first major review of neuroscience methods that apply to media and advertising response. The New York-based ARF brought together eight neuromarketing research companies from across the globe to have their methods reviewed and analyzed by an academic review panel with expertise in methods evaluated in the study, namely: facial coding, biometrics, electroencephalography (EEG), steadystate topography (SST), facial electromyography (fEMG), and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

The academic reviewers concluded that neuromarketing research has the potential to provide important new insights for the evaluation of commercials and other visual stimuli, but also that there remains a need for continued validation efforts to strengthen this field. Nevertheless, the ARF strongly maintains that, while researchers should not abandon traditional measures, they should likewise not simply defer learning about and trying neuromarketing approaches until all the academic validation questions are answered. The potential contribution of these approaches to the creation of great advertising is simply too compelling.

Above all, advertisers should not be reluctant to use neuromarketing methods qualitatively, especially early in the creative process, to identify opportunities and pitfalls in storylines, messaging, and key branding moments. Additionally, the ARF provided its viewpoint on which types of approaches are best suited to the most common research objectives and questions that advertisers have.

The findings from this work are summarized in the ARF’s newly released white paper, Uncovering Emotion: Using Neuromarketing to Increase Ad Effectiveness.

Campaign Friday: Volkswagen is going to the Bark Side with Star Wars themed Super Bowl campaign

During last year’s Super Bowl, Volkswagen scored a huge hit with an ad starring a young boy dressed as Vader trying to employ the mythical powers of The Force around his house. This year, the Star Wars theme returns, and Volkswagen's advertising spend is being maximized with a social media component.

For this year they've created a customizable iconic crawl invite to "invite your friends to your Big Game party," and a canine chorus teaser ad that barks the Imperial March. Keep an eye out for the 2012 Game Day commercial—it is bound to be epic.

President Obama is creating a Socialpaloza event around the State of the Union

This Tuesday night, the President of the United States will deliver his State of the Union address to Congress, and the nation.

Traditionalists might watch the address on broadcast television, and listen to network talking heads analyze every word.

Or, fans of digital and social interaction might chose to watch it online at the White House website where there will be an "enhanced version" of the speech featuring details and graphs. Immediately after the speech, the White House will live-stream a panel discussion featuring senior administration officials and a live audience taking questions from Twitter, Facebook and Google+.

President Obama is clearly our most social media savvy President ever, as he effectively demonstrated during his 2008 election campaign. He's broadly used www.whitehouse.gov, Twitter and Facebook during his first term, and now it appears he is gearing up for the 2012 election using even more social tools.

Following the State of the Union, the White House will engage in a week-long Twitter marathon involving Administration officials taking questions in a day-long, question-and-answer session, followed by a series of community-focused discussions with policy advisers and experts, with specific conversations on LGBT issues, the Latino community, veterans and seniors, among others. The week will end with Twitter Q&A's will be directed toward specific policy issues including health, education and jobs. People who want to participate can ask questions on Twitter with the hashtag #WHChat, and administration officials will respond in real-time. There is also rumor of a "special online event with the president" to be announced soon.

Source: Huffington Post

Selling Ad Choices: An advertising campaign designed to educated consumers on behavior advertising.

"Behavioral Advertising" is the term used by advertisers for when they track audience behavior and serve relevant advertising to an online consumer.

Advertisers love it.

Many consumers are scared of it.

When a consumer visits a web site, the pages they visit, the amount of time they view each page, the links they click on, and all sorts of other behavior is collected, creating a profile that links to that visitor's web browser. As a result, site publishers can use this data to create defined audience segments based upon visitors that have similar profiles. When visitors return to a specific site or a network of sites using the same web browser, those profiles can be used to allow advertisers to position their online ads in front of those visitors who exhibit a greater level of interest and intent for the products and services being offered. On the theory that properly targeted ads will fetch more consumer interest, the publisher can charge a premium for these ads over random advertising or ads based on the context of a site.

In other words, behavioral marketing is the reason you see ads for the sites you have recently visited, with advertisers hoping to lure you back. An advertiser's goal is to increase relevancy based on the collected data and foster a better conversion rate.

Advertisers love the ability to target consumers. But many consumers feel such tracking is an invasion of privacy, with few consumers knowing they can opt out of such programs.

So, The Digital Advertising Alliance, the ad industry's self-regulatory program for online behaviorally targeted advertising, recently launched an advertising campaign with the goal of helping consumers understand the benefits of targeted ads.

The 'Your AdChoices' campaign builds upon the DAA's two-and-a-half year effort to develop and implement cross-industry best practices and effective solutions for the collection and use of data through its Advertising Option Icon.
"With widespread industry adoption of the DAA's Self-Regulatory Principles, the DAA remains committed to informing consumers about interest-based advertising, online data collection and use, and the simple way they can exercise control over their web viewing data," said Peter Kosmala, managing director, Digital Advertising Alliance. "This highly creative public education campaign is an important step in that ongoing process."

While the ads don't explicitly tell consumers they have the ability to opt out of behavioral targeting, they feature the Ad Choices icon that the DAA has created for advertisers to embed in their ads. Clicking on the Ad Choices icon allows a web user to opt-out of behavioral targeting.

Advertising, in order to educate consumers about advertising--hum.

Source: Advertising Age

Shatner, The Priceline Negotiator, meets his demise--advertising style.

For the last 14 years, William Shatner has overacted as the "Priceline Negotiator" in the advertising for the discount travel site.

His character has become a cultural icon and helped elevate recognition of the brand as a discount-price bidding system for hotel bookings.

But now, Priceline wants to focus on a broader strategy beyond negotiated bidding, and that means Shatner's character must go. The brand needs to find a way to shift focus from what it has deeply impeded in consumer's minds, and give people a different reason to care about it.

The first step to brand rejuvenation? The Priceline Negotiator must meet a fiery death--advertising style.

Shatner’s final ads for the company will see him attempt to save vacationers as a bus comes dangerously close to falling from a bridge. Before the end, Shatner continues to attempt to advise customers on how to get reduced prices. “Save yourself –some money,” Shatner says before he meets his apparent end on the bus. The ad is in-character for both The Negotiator, and for Shatner's own acting style known for his over-the-top delivery. The octogenarian (he turned 80 last March) perfected overacting throughout his lengthy career--from his character as Captain Kirk on Star Trek to his portrayal of T.J. Hooker and Denny Crane on Boston Legal. Yep, he knows how to milk a line and steal even the most mundane scene.

But it is just that ability to draw attention to himself that has nesessitated the transformation of Priceline's "The Negotiator" to become yesterday's newspaper as it shifts from a name-your-price model to a fixed-price approach.

Yep, Shatner's Negotiator was just too good at representing the old approach.

“The challenge is harder to get people’s attention than it used to be. … So we decided to do something really over the top to get the message across,” Priceline CEO Christoper Soder told the AP.

All parties have left a Shatner return a viable possibility--perhaps in the same way Jack, the Jack in the Box clown, returned after his own fiery explosion in 1980.

Ah, the magic of Hollywood.

Newsweek is returning to its 1960s design for 'Mad Men' issue

When I was in the advertising world, the concept of the separation of "church and state"--editorial and advertising, was a firm line never to be crossed. But, over the years, and especially with the advent of the Internet, that line has gotten thinner and thinner, and is crossed more and more often.

An example is the announcement that Tina Brown's Newsweek is planning an issue that revives the magazine's design elements of the 1960s, including the ads to mark the March return of the AMC cable TV series "Mad Men."

I'm a big fan of Tina Brown--ever since her days at Vanity Fair, and I wish her the best of luck at reviving Newsweek from the thin shell of a brand that it has become. So, in a way I support the alliance between broadcast advertisers and editorial magazine. And, I suppose times have changed, and consumers are smart enough to view promotion though one lens, and editorial through another.

Newsweek will ask legacy advertisers to revive their ads from the era, and newer brands will be encouraged to produce ads as they might have looked then. "It's analogous to when the NFL has a game and the teams wear their vintage uniforms," said Newsweek Daily Beast President Rob Gregory.

Brown has said she thought of the idea while talking with Matthew Weiner, creator and executive producer of "Mad Men," about ways to treat its season-five premiere on March 25, nearly a year and a half after season four concluded.

"Newsweek was very much on the cultural forefront at the time of the show," Brown said. "It covered the events that are so much of the background for the show's drama -- the burgeoning civil rights movement, the women's rights movement, the Vietnam War. That was Newsweek's cutting-edge beat and its flourishing journalistic subject. So it seemed like a wonderful marriage in a sense to take that and apply it to the magazine, to make the magazine an homage to the period."

The "Mad Men" will include a cover story on the series and a feature on the role of advertising in U.S. culture.

Source: Advertising Age

Is Grandma a Binge Drinker?

"I either don't drink at all, or I drink too much."

It is a classic quote from a confirmed binge drinker--one whose primary intention is to become intoxicated by heavy consumption of alcohol over a short period of time. According to the CDC, more than 38 million Americans binge drink around eight drinks in a sitting, four times per month. But, most people who binge drink are not alcohol dependent or alcoholics.

Binge drinking is usually associated with teens and college-aged kids, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ("CDC") just released a study revealing that adults over 65 years old binge drink more frequently than any other age group.

More young adults, ages 18 to 34 participate in binge drinking than any other age group, but it is the over-65 crowd that binge-drinks most frequently: an average of five to six times each month. The study describes binge drinking as four or more drinks for a woman and five or more drinks for a man.

Binge drinking has also been found among the baby boomers. A study published in "The American Journal of Psychiatry" in 2009 uncovered binge drinking in 22 percent of men and 9 percent of women who were 50 - 64 years old.

"Binge drinking by adults has a huge public health impact, and influences the drinking behavior of underage youth by the example it sets," said Pamela S. Hyde, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administrator, in a statement. "We need to reduce binge drinking by adults to prevent the immediate and long–term effects it has on the health of adults and youth."

According to the CDC, this behavior greatly increases the chances of getting hurt or hurting others due to car crashes, violence, and suicide. Drinking too much, including binge drinking, causes 80,000 deaths in the US each year and, in 2006 cost the economy $223.5 billion. Binge drinking is a problem in all states, even in states with fewer binge drinkers, because they are binging more often and in larger amounts.

So, the next time you see grandma with a beer bong, ask her if she knows what she's doing.

McDonald's and HarperCollins partner to bundle reading books inside Happy Meals

In the U.S., childhood obesity opponents have been pressuring McDonald's to deliver healthier Happy Meals to kids by trying to ban toys inside unhealthy meals.

In the U.K. childhood literacy advocates are manipulating McDonald’s in a different way, by partnering with them to hand out around nine million popular children’s books with its Happy Meals for a month. It is part of a new partnership with publishing house HarperCollins aimed at getting books into the hands of families and to support parents in reading with their children.

From now until early February, McDonald’s will offer its Happy Meals customers copies of the much-loved Mudpuddle Farm series of books by Michael Morpurgo, former children’s laureate and War Horse author.

The announcement follows research released by the National Literacy Trust in December which revealed that almost four million children in Britain – one in three – do not own a book.

Jonathan Douglas, Director of The National Literacy Trust, commented: “Our recent research showed that one in three children in this country don’t own a book, which is extremely concerning as there is a clear link between book ownership and children's future success in life.  We are very supportive of McDonald’s decision to give families access to popular books, as its size and scale will be a huge leap towards encouraging more families to read together.”

Families will be able to take home copies of favourite titles including ‘Mossop’s Last Chance’ and ‘Martians at Mudpuddle Farm’.  Each book comes with a finger puppet to help parents bring the stories to life for their children, and to encourage children of all reading abilities to use their imagination and create their own tales.

Hey HarperCollins, how about rolling out a similar campaign in the U.S.?

Source: National Literacy Trust

Designer Yves Béhar, and One Laptop Per Child launch the XO 3.0 helping underpriveleged children gain access to a modern education.

One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) provides affordable laptops to underpriveleged children from around the world, allowing them to use technology to gain access to a modern education. The non-profit program currently reaches more than 2.5 million students and teachers in 42 countries.

Marvell Semiconductor a worldwide leader in integrated silicon solutions, and OLPC are dedicated to helping every child in the world gain access to education. Their most recent effort is the XO 3.0 – a low-cost, low-power, rugged tablet computer geared for classrooms in the fartherest outreaches of the globe.

The chief industrial designer for OLPC is Yves Béhar, the legendary founder of fuseproject whose bright green design of the XO-3 tablet has grip-friendly rubber case that folds back to reveal a scratch resistant, sunlight-readable screen. Power comes from the solar cell contained in the tablet cover, hand cranks or other alternative power sources. The XO 3.0 also has an Avastar Wi-Fi system-on-chip. 75,000 units already are on order, and will ship out in March 2012.

“Marvell is committed to improving education–and the human condition-around the world through innovative technology for Smartphones, tablets and a myriad of new cloud-delivered services. Partnering with One Laptop Per Child is one way we can deliver a revolution where it matters most-to benefit children in some of the poorest places on the planet,” said Tom Hayes, Vice President of Corporate Marketing at Marvell, and a member of the OLPC advisory board. “Marvell has been with One Laptop per Child from the start, and we’re doing whatever it takes to help the organization realize its mission of providing meaningful educational opportunities to the 500 million school-aged children around the world.”

It is tablets like these that will be dropped by helicopter into remote villages as part of an research project by Professor Sugata Mitra into machine learning, that will test if people can teach themselves to write and use the internet without instruction. The project could revolutionize literacy programs around the world.

Great design and technology, matched with a social conscious. We can think of nothing better.

Sources: DWR blog,

Campaign Friday: Renault Twingo

Welcome to Campaign Friday. Each week, we'll post some of our favorite advertising. Today may we introduce to you the Renault Twingo campaign "'Times are changing, and so is Twingo!"" created by Publicis France. Each one has a surprising twist at the end.

Burger King tests home delivery service

Burger King is market testing a delivery service at some stores in Virginia and Maryland.

For a delivery fee of $2 you can order your Whopper "your way" and have it delivered between 11 a.m. and 10 p.m., with a minimum order of  between $8 to $10, depending on the market. Customers must be located within a 10 minute drive of the store.

Customers can order online or via phone. Burger King doesn’t deliver fountain drinks, milkshakes, coffee and breakfast foods

Burger King already has delivery programs in Mexico, Turkey, Brazil, Columbia and Peru, 

Sources: Bloomberg and Chicago Tribune

The Vest is Best: Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum is defending his right to bare arms.

Conservative presidential hopeful Rick Santorum saw a surge of support in the Iowa Caucus' but dropped back  in the New Hampshire primary. He's been up-and-down in the polls. The media has been all over him for his socially conservative views, as well as his choice of clothing.

Clothing?

No other candidate gets the menswear review like Santorum. You see, he prefers the sweater vest, the traditional choice of East Coast grandfathers and Midwest college football coaches. The New York Times reports that he owns them in navy blue, gray and tan. Members of his staff recently ordered vests embroidered with the Santorum campaign logo.

The vests have inspired their own Twitter feed — @FearRicksVest — and a Web site, FearRicksVest.com, which redirects to a pro-Santorum Facebook page. There is also a music video, “Sleeves Slow Me Down,” on YouTube.

The brand perception of the sweater vest fits Santorum to a T--traditional, sensible, and always covering something up.

“One of my supporters said this is my second amendment vest… the right to bare arms.” says Santorum.

You can purchase a Santorum V online for around $100.

Axe body spray releases Anarchy, a crowdsourced digital graphic novel, and fragrance for both men and women.

Axe body spray has introduced an interactive graphic novel called Anarchy as a tie-in to the introduction of its new fragrance of the same name.

Axe's core audience are teen and tween boys who swoon over Unilever’s Axe body sprays, and grooming products. Now, they'll get another whiff of Axe with a crowdsourced digital graphic novel--developed via its social marketing channels. Fans on Facebook can contribute to the storylines which can be passively viewed on YouTube.

The company's new Anarchy fragrance is being introduced for both men and women (let's face it--boys and girls). Marketing to women is new for Axe which dominates the men’s body spray market with a 74 percent share in the U.S. (they're known as "Lynx" outside The States). They'll introduce Anarchy in limited quantities for women--test marketing to see if they can cross over. We're not sure why they've chosen such a male dominated segment as graphical novels for its first launch tie-in, but we'll trust that the brand experts at Unilever know what they are doing.

The graphic novel is being written by former DC Comics' Scott Lobdell and created by digital agency Razorfish along with Aspen Comics, and follows the adventures of the Anarchy Girls. The advertising campaign is by the London office of Bartle Bogle Hegarty.

Sources: The New York Times and brandchannel

A Whoopie Pie makeover from the Chococoa Baking Company

What comes of of the roadkill collateral damage of the financial crisis? A couple from Maine who lost their jobs at The Provident Bank and Sun Life Financial decided to take being laid-off in stride, and make Whoopie...pies.

Or as entrepreneur Julie Ganong tells it, "The world really needed a smaller whoopie pie, so we decided to do a whoopie pie makeover"

They opened a small business in Maine with the idea of creating the perfect mini-version of the whoopie pie--an old fashioned treat made from two dense cookies sandwiching a fluffy filling.

It all started with a focus group for a taste test, which led to opening the Chococoa Baking Company in 2009. Their bakery now has sales of around 4,000 pies a week, at a price of $1.68 apiece--far less than the $4 cupcake craze sweeping the country. They now have a distribution deal in the works with a regional grocery to expand their businesses. Whoopie!

Julie says "we want to take this as far as it goes...when people think of whoopie pies, they think of Chococoa Baking Company."

 Julie Ganong and Alan Mons are at the intersection of creativity and commerce, and we salute them.

A little pigtailed girl named Wendy's is taking over the world, one foie gras burger at a time.

Wendy's is about to pass Burger King in U.S. sales, trailing only McDonald's who sits high on the fast-food heap. And while a lot of credit for the shift in market share can be attributed to Burger King's failure in the marketplace, much can be said for Wendy's aggressive changes too.

There's a lot going on under that red pigtail right now. Wendy's recently changed the formula of its trademark square burgers--softening the edges a little bit and coming out with Dave's Hot 'N Juicy--a sandwich named after its founder (who had named Wendy's after his daughter). The company also spun off its Arby's brand, and is focusing more on the burger business, is thinking about adding a breakfast menu (again) and has just recently re-launched in Japan.

In Japan, Wendy's is introducing sixteen dollar foie gras hamburgers. Yep, that's a Wendy's burger with a slab of foie, and costs ¥1,280, or about US$16.43. Wendy's is also offering its Japanese patrons an Avocado Wasabi hamburger and a Truffle and Porcini Grilled Chicken sandwich.

This seems like a good strategy of testing some innovative novelty sandwich concepts akin to the gourmet burger joints proliferating urban strongholds in the U.S.--places like Five Guys, Super Duper Burger, Elevation Burger and Umami Burger.

We're rooting for the pigtail!

Sources: Daily Finance, Eater and MarketWatch

The Velvet Underground surfaces to fight for Andy Warhol's banana

Andy Warhol and The Velvet Underground have been tight since 1965.

The band, founded by Lou Reed and John Cale, have been inextricably linked to Warhol since they formed an artistic collaboration in 1965. A couple of years later Warhol who designed the banana illustration for their legendary “The Velvet Underground and Nico”  album. The group would perform at Warhol's New York studio, the Factory, and in his traveling light show, the Exploding Plastic Inevitable.

But now, the band members are suing The Andy Warhol Foundation, accusing it in a federal lawsuit of infringing the trademark for the banana design. The foundation has been licensing the banana to third parties such as a company who makes covers for the Apple iPad and iPhone.

The Warhol Foundation claims it has a copyright interest in the design, as it was created by Warhol. The band says that the design can’t be copyrighted because it’s in the public domain, as the banana image Warhol furnished for the illustration came from an advertisement that was in the public domain.

The situation is messy in that the banana appeared on the album cover without a copyright notice and over the years no one sought to copyright it.

“The banana design is a significant element of Velvet Underground’s ongoing licensed merchandising activity,” the group said. Use of the design as a trademark by the band “has been exclusive, continuous and uninterrupted for more than 25 years.”
Because the image is so closely associated with the band, the Velvet Underground claims in the suit that the foundation is trying to “decieve the public” into thinking the band gives their approval to products that carry the image.

The case is The Velvet Underground v. The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, 12-0201, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

Sources: Businessweek, Washington Post and WSJ.com

Ultrabooks don't stand a chance against the Apple Macbook Air

by Rocky McCredy

Anybody seen that commercial? You know, the one for the Samsung Galaxy SII? The joke goes like this: a bunch of people wait in line with iPhones in their hands, reading some sort of blog about the latest iPhone. As they stand in a line, they all talk about how they hope the new phone has features that are apparently completely necessary to have. You can hear them muttering things like, “is it 4g, oh god, I hope it’s 4g,” digging at the fact that apple still hasn’t embraced a technology that cell service providers haven’t even fully embraced, yet. Anyway, at some point a cute spokesgirl walks up with the new android phone that the commercial is advertising, and everyone suddenly realizes that their rabid obsession over iPhones is pointless. The line disperses, etc etc, blah blah blah.

On a similar note, CES this year is going to have a heyday unveiling what the media is calling, “Ultrabooks.” In other words, sleek and thin laptop computers with solid-state storage (well, at least this is a better strategy than “Netbooks”). This seems to be a trend in the market, as many big name PC manufacturers are releasing their versions to the masses. The sad part is that Apple released the Macbook air in 2008, and everybody laughed at it. Just like they laughed at the iPad.

Now, this article isn’t meant to be pornography for Apple Fanboys. I don’t even mean to be biased in my writing. Though, I know I am. I grew up using macs, and hell, I wrote a love letter to Steve Jobs not too long ago; but, I’m really only trying to comment on one thing. These companies all set out to prove that they are as good as Apple. That was the main point behind the Samsung commercial, it wasn’t to say that their product was more innovative than said Apple product, it was to say that it was a good alternative to the iPhone because of how similar it is. At least, that’s how I viewed their message.

Isn’t that always how it is, though? The market seems to be dominated for years by one company who essentially drives innovation. Then, all the other companies rush out similar products in an attempt to hijack the majority market share. Remember when Nintendo was an unstoppable gaming monster and Sega and Atari and Neo Geo all paled in comparison? I guess it’s just the way it is. Every time there’s a major innovation, everyone tries their best to embrace that innovation. It’s a way of staying current, but what infuriates me is how it seems that companies release these clone products and don’t seem to want to expand on an already good idea. Maybe Android tablets would have a fighting chance if they had actually improved upon the idea of the tablet, and maybe the Zune would have wowed everyone if it was anything but a complete ripoff of the iPod.

I don’t mean to bash. My point is that in order for these companies to have a fighting chance as iProducts move to the forefront of everyone’s mind, they have to really create. The moment someone identifies that next itch that everyone feels they need scratched, it’ll be a whole different ball game. Until then, I guess we have to keep dealing with half-assed assaults on brilliant technology.

We've moved to THE FIVE--at the intersection of creativity and commerce

5 Blogs Before Lunch is now THE FIVE. All of your favorite wit wisdom has shifted location. Please move here in an orderly fashion.

Goodbye AT&T

When I was a little kid, I remember my parents were given one option for telephone service—renting rotary dial telephones from the telephone company—the only telephone company—AT&T. Then in 1974 “Ma Bell” was deemed a monopoly, and divided up into Baby Bells by government order in 1984. Our service changed its name to Pacific Bell, but still there was little else that changed—including the lack of choice as to who supplied our telephone service.

Of course, times have changed. The Baby Bells are AT&T once again, and AT&T has become even bigger than it once was. The other change, of course, is that we have options of who to get our telephone service from. Cable companies now can supply phone service to my house, and a growing number of households are forgoing landlines all together—opting for a mobile service option.

So, after knowing no service other than AT&T, it was a big moment when I decided to untether myself from Ma Ball. My decision to use Verizon for my mobile devices had been easy. They had a reputation for better reception than AT&T, and I liked the idea that after 30 some odd years, I had an option to NOT go with AT&T. But I remember my hesitation as I called Comcast Cable recently to inquire about their home telephone service. The feeling was akin to moving out of my parent’s house to go away to college—I was excited by the opportunity for freedom, but afraid I might make wrong decisions, and be worse off than with Ma Bell.

Thankfully, two actions made my decision easy.

1). Comcast Cable is expert at customer service, and oozes a mission of “customer first” in its culture.

2). AT&T on the other hand, clearly plays lip service to customer service. They have a shallow, corporate tone and customer service system—only that only works well when you are a monopoly and your customers have no other choice than to take what you give them.

The folks at Comcast sent me emails while we talked on the phone, and followed up at every step of the way. My service guy, Michael, even pointed out several items that people sometimes miss in the contract—just so I wouldn’t be surprised later on. The service appointment was scheduled online, the tech arrived on-time (with an advance call to let me know he was nearby) and his supervisor called afterwards to make sure everything worked out as I expected.

As for AT&T, they required me to sit by my phone for 30 minutes to wait for a confirmation call so I might register online. To reach a phone representative I needed to set aside a minimum of an hour of my day as they transferred me from representative to representative, and being cut-off several times as they transferred calls (yes, they are a phone company so you’d think they’d know how to transfer a call). Then I received the ultimate insult after I switched my service. I received a letter from AT&T addressed to “Dear Customer” to thank me for my patronage.

“Dear Customer?” you’d think their system could find the name on my account---an account that I had faithfully kept up-to-date for over 30 years. In fact, over the years I’ve had over a dozen accounts with AT&T—business accounts, fax lines, phones at vacation houses, etc.

But to AT&T I was “Dear Customer.”

When you contact an operator at AT&T, they are trained to read from a script: “How may I provide you with excellent service today…”

I’m afraid there isn’t time enough in the day to list all the ways AT&T could improve their customer service. But the first item on the list would be to stop paying lip-service to the concept of “customer first” and start doing the work necessary to genuinely deliver quality service.

Companies like Comcast, and Apple have found a way to embed customer service into their mission. It is time AT&T does the same.

THE MARKETEER: from Mad Ave to Hollywood—advertising, entertainment, publishing and marketing with THE FIVE’S wit and wisdom..

THE MARKETEER balances art and science, wit and wisdom, and the will of the exec staff verses the needs of the consumer. THE MARKETEER is a fan of the designer, the copywriter, the brand ambassador, the media buyer, the researcher and the strategist.

THE MARKETEER is for the Mad Men, the Booth Babes and the Demo Dollies. It’s for the Suits, the Pitchmen, the Flacks, and their Fanboys.

THE MARKETEER is fluent in ROI, SEM and SEO. We know the difference between POS and CSS, an RFP and a CMS; TRP’s and CPM; B2B vs. B2C, and SOV and SOM. THE MARKETEER knows a good USP when they see it, and knows how to translate it into an elevator pitch, a tagline, and a campaign. And you can find it all at THE FIVE.

THE MARKETEER is on the agency-side, and the client-side—and is always on the side of the consumer.

THE MARKETEER looks for engagement, discovery and advocacy opportunities. They call out the flops and the phonies, and praise those who elevate the profession.

If THE FIVE is a beach swarming with sunbathers, bodysurfers, and kids building sand castles, THE MARKETEER is an exclusive WiFi cabana complete with a plasma TV, cocktails and spritzer boy.

Take a look around.

THE IN-CROWD: Babies to Baby Boomers, Gen Y to The Greatest Generation—audiences and cultures are examined close-up at THE FIVE.

At THE FIVE, the sexes, the races, the classes, and the urban’s vs the suburban’s—all are sliced, diced and analyzed by THE IN-CROWD.

THE IN-CROWD personifies stereotypes and aggregates classes at THE FIVE. We know the behavioral difference between an X-er, Boomer and a Millennial. We point out the villains and the heroes, and examine the 99%, and the 1%.

The voices of THE IN-CROWD know of what they speak—we are men and women, boomers and millennial, gays and straights, pure-race and mixed-race, teens, tweens, middle-aged and seniors.

THE IN-CROWD points out the misinterpretations of narcissistic behavior vs. self-confidence, and the difference between masculine vs feminine behavior and gender. We think about nature vs nurture, WASP vs Southern Eccentrics, and the Coasts vs The Bible Belt as it relates to politics, marketing, and our day-to-day lives. And we deliver it all, with a patented THE FIVE brand of wit and wisdom.

You should join THE IN-CROWD.

THE BOARDROOM: from start-ups to the executive suite—this is where business and humanity intersect at THE FIVE.

THE BOARDROOM examines the human quotient in business at THE FIVE. What inspires entrepreneurs and what separates success and failure? Does Google really have the right answer to how to select the perfect employee? How can I shift careers mid-stream?

THE BOARDROOM believes in both the IQ and EQ of business, and that it is impossible to make everyone like everything you do, all the time. THE BOARDROOM believes that if you choose a job you love, you will never have to work a day in your life.

THE BOARDROOM loves to point out the absurdities of business life, and is inspired by those who can disrupt the status quo.

Innovators, disruptors, great thinkers, mentors, coaches, and bold strategists are all profiled in THE BOARDROOM—where business and humanity intersect.

THE EYE CANDY: keeping an eye on design, at THE FIVE

At THE FIVE, we profile artists, boutique design agencies, photographers, architects and fashionistas. We celebrate logos, typographers and type designers. We celebrate the attention-to-detail in the curve of the new IPhone and the dimple of sheet metal on the latest Mini Cooper or Tesla sedan. We believe in industrial design, web design, graphic design and illustrative design—to say nothing of visual arts, performance arts, fine art photography. THE EYE CANDY points out exhibits and competitions, and tips its hat at the historical figures who have defined our modern visual sensibilities. We bow to Bauhaus, marvel at modernism, and advocate the avant garde.

THE EYE CANDY is a visual feast. Whether for commerce or art, we examine the creative professions with an eye on design.We also believe that eye candy is influenced by sight, sound and motion and embrace music, video and film as part of our world.

EYE CANDY is all about stimulating your senses, and keeping you up-to-date, inspired and entertained.

 We hope you’ll like what you see.

THE IDEALIST: from innovators to disruptors--at THE FIVE it is a vision thing, and the future is ahead of us.

THE IDEALIST is one of the five new channels on THE FIVE.

THE IDEALIST sees ahead of itself. Whether by Magic Eight Ball, or by regression analysis and a-priori segmentation, THE IDEALIST looks to the future and envisions the innovations, trends and disruptions ahead of us.

Through profiles, treatises, positioning papers and opinion pieces, THE IDEALIST imagines, visualizes and anticipates. And, helps us keep track of it all—as it is happening.

THE IDEALIST is one step ahead, and there just as it is happening—in technology, science, cultural trends, media, manufacturing, design, sales and distribution. We look to the visionaries of our time, and package up their thinking in one place.

THE IDEALIST is a place to become inspired, and informed.

Introducing the next chapter for Five Blogs Before Lunch. Please welcome, THE FIVE.

For the last couple of months I’ve been hinting about some big changes at 5 Blogs Before Lunch. It has been 6 ½ years since I launched the blog, and it seems ripe for a bit of an evolution. Over these nearly 2,400 days, I’ve posted over 3,700 articles, won a few Webby Awards, and have enjoyed waking up each morning thinking about what I might write that would be of interest to you, and me.

Up until now I’ve focused content primarily on advertising and marketing, but lately I’ve felt the desire to expand the topics I write about. As those who care deeply about the creative professions, I believe a broader platform of topics like design, art, architecture music, photography, fashion and start-up cultures are of interest to many of us who lean on the right side of our brains.

So, the new blog platform will be all about all of the things that interest us creative-minded folks. We’ll be at the intersection of creativity and commerce.

With all these new topics to talk about, I’ve decided to invite a few friends to be new voices on the blog. You’ll hear from experts in design, research, management coaching, art, architecture, social media, and of course advertising and marketing. But everyone will have 5 Blogs Before Lunch’s patented “wit and wisdom” at their core.

With that, I’d like to formally invite you to take a test drive of the new site. It is called THE FIVE and you can find it here. You’ll find all 3,700 articles from 5 Blogs Before Lunch posted here, and in the coming days, weeks, months and years, thousands more articles will appear, that will be stinking with wit and wisdom.

THE FIVE is organized into five channels (surprise).

One is covering marketing and advertising...THE MARKETEER. Another is all about audiences and cultures and is called THE IN-CROWD. There are lots of articles focused on the intersection of business and humanity in THE BOARDROOM, and a section on visual design in all its forms (THE EYE CANDY), as well as a peek at the future in an area we call THE IDEALIST.

I hope you’ll take a look, and like what you see.

For the next couple of weeks, I’ll be posting articles to both 5 Blogs Before Lunch and THE FIVE, but as of January 24 we plan to officially re-direct the site to THE FIVE.

I’m excited and nervous to share this new adventure with you. I look forward to your feedback as we get our footing, and build what we believe, will be the most comprehensive and enjoyable site for creative professionals on the web.

The Next Big Small Brand

The Next BIG Small Brand is a contest awarding small food businesses with branding, design, and marketing services. For the past two years, the contest has been focused on New York, but now it expands its focus to San Francisco, where local judges include, Sam Mogannam (Bi-Rite), Olga Katznelson (Postcard Communications), and Chad Robertson (Tartine). The past New York winners were Kombucha Brooklyn, and Sweet Loren’s, The winners received PR services, retail placement, event opportunities, and kitchen equipment.

You have until February 5th to enter

Print Magazine opens America's National Design Competition to art directors, designers, illustrators, photographers, and typographers

Print Magazine and F+W Media’s 2012 Regional Design Annual has announced its all for entries to it's America ’s National Design Competition. The RDA, now in its 32nd year, is a survey of graphic design in the United States. The competition is dedicated to finding the most innovative designers and recognizing their influence on upcoming design trends.
 

The winning artists’ work will be included in the December 2012 Regional Design Annual issue of Print. In addition, the winning designs will be featured in the RDA online gallery for up to one year and will become a permanent fixture in the RDA online competition archive. The winning work will also be showcased live at the HOW Design Conference in the Design Awards Gallery.
 
The deadline for entries is February 1, 2012. The fee for a single entry is $65. The fee for a campaign (3 or more pieces in a submission) is $90. The competition is open to any art director, designer, illustrator, photographer, or typographer working anywhere in the 50 states or the District of Columbia .