5 Blogs Before Lunch

Guns N' Roses Upset over Dr. Pepper Giveaway

Dr Pepper owes every person in the U.S. a can of soda. And, perhaps, an apology to Guns N' Roses.

In a promotion centered around the release of Guns N' Rose's album "Chinese Democracy." The soda company offered every man, woman and child in the U.S. a free soda if the rock band released their album before the end of 2008. The album, which was 17 years in the making, was released in November.

The program, run by PR agency Ketchum is now running into a bit of hot water around the implementation of the promotion.

To make good on the offer, the company announced people would have to get their free can by registering on its website within the 24 hours after midnight on November 23 to get a coupon through the post to redeem at any retailer which sells Dr. Pepper.

However, many consumers attempting to redeem the coupons from the Dr Pepper website could not get on as it became overloaded with visitors and the server crashed. It has been reported that Dr Pepper may now re-run the promotion allowing those who did not get their free soda to sign up again.

But that's the least of their problems.

Now, lead singer for the band, Axl Rose, is claiming that the promotion was an unauthorized use of the band's brand and exploited his reputation.

Rose is criticizing the way Dr. Pepper conducted the giveaway as well as seeking payment for using the Guns N' Roses brand.

The two sides are positioning their arguments this way:

A letter to the Dr Pepper Snapple Group from Rose and Guns N' Roses lawyer Alan Gutman reads: "In and of itself this campaign brazenly violated our clients' rights in numerous respects. Unfortunately, Dr Pepper has now magnified the damage this campaign has caused through its appalling failure to make good on a promise it made to the American people."

Dr Pepper has issued the following statement: "For us, this was a fun giveaway that has always been about the fans, and we've taken great steps to fulfil it, including extending the window for the giveaway from 24 to 42 hours, adding a toll-free line to handle consumer requests for the coupons, and setting up an interactive voice recorder to accept coupon requests.

"This was one of the largest responses we have ever received for a giveaway, and we're happy we were able to satisfy the thirst of so many Dr Pepper fans."

Source: Brand Republic

Unilever CEO and Other Execs Were Trapped By Terrorists In India

For many of us who have worked for multi-national corporations Mumbai (formerly Bombay) was always on the itinerary for international travel. India long has been one of the biggest developing markets for most companies. So, the incidents of the last week in that city, hit close to home.

But no more so than the folks at Unilever, who were in a banquet room at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai when the attack began. Around the table were the incoming and current CEO of the company (Paul Polman and Patrick Cescau) along with other Unilever executives including the president-Asia, Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, and at least four other current or former top executives. They were there to bid farewell to the outgoing CEO.

Their dinner plans changed when the hotel was attacked by terrorists, and the execs were trapped for hours until rescued by police and firefighters.

The events should give pause to every corporate executive, and event planner to examine the secuirty procedures whenever a group of high level executives travels abroad--even to "friendly" countires.

Source: Advertising Age

Bonobos--Mens Pants sold online, marketed through social media

When Brian Spaly and Andy Dunn decided to start a clothing company, they opted to by-pass the idea of selling through traditional retailers, and advertising through traditional media. Selling online and advertising through social networks like Facebook, please meet Bonobos:

Bonobos exists to solve two problems we had ourselves. (1) Men's pants do not fit well; they are either baggy, frumpy, and unflattering. Or way too tight.  We make pants that fit and look better, on most gents and especially on guys with athletic builds. The second problem (2) is retail.  How could we enjoy paying 120% markup to try on clothes in an uncomfortable public environment where sales associates—who are total strangers—either scrutinize our figures, or pay no attention to us at all?  Meanwhile, pricing games are no fun. We're tired of waiting for sales... but paying full price makes no sense when inevitably everything will go on sale. We got tired of the traditional retail shopping experience. So we are building a different kind of clothing company, one that offers a fantastic customer experience, innovative low-cost distribution, and a stylish product that fits well.

Mixing Wine and Philanthropy: Michael Vick's Abused Dogs Become Stars on Wine Labels

A winery in Buelton California (think of the movie "Sideways") has launched The Vicktory Dogs Wine Collection featuring colorful portraits of 22 dogs confiscated from convicted felon and former NFL quarterback Michael Vick's Bad Newz Kennels. The dogs  now live at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in southern Utah.

Each bottle includes a portrait of one of the dogs on the label. On the back, instead of description of the wine, there's a brief story about each four-legged friend. The dog portraits are by artist Cyrus Mejia, one of the founders of Best Friends, who began painting the dogs after they arrived at the sanctuary.

Carivintas Winery's mission is combining wine selling and philanthropy. Ten percent of each sale goes to Best Friends. The money will be used to oppose dogfighting around the country and to fight laws that target specific dog breeds.

Luxury Marketers Are No Longer Chasing Customers Too Far Down The Economic Ladder

 It turns out the "New Luxury" audience I blogged about back in April is not entirely as recession-proof as the "Real Luxury" demographic. The "New Luxury" demographic is hunkering down with the rest of the mass market, and is tightening those Gucci belts, and keeping last year's Escalade--or worse yet, trading it in for a Prius.

So, marketers are no longer chasing customers too far down the economic ladder. "We don't want to see huge price cuts that will create a lower-priced brand," said Brad Farrell, skincare brand manager for L'Oréal Paris. "That's because you don't want to tarnish your brand. When this is all said and done, you still have your brand reputation to uphold."

Sellers of luxury goods say they're also giving up on the aspirational teen shopper and new money hubs like Dubai and Moscow.

Instead, they plan to pamper their traditional base: the very rich. "I really think the foundation of luxury is customer service -- that is what we are hearing," said Cori Galpern, worldwide marketing director for Tom Ford International.

What's now "in" for marketing luxury in this difficult era is pampering the wealthiest and most loyal customers with everything from monogrammed shirts to personal in-home visits.

For much more on this demographic marketing shift, go to Knowledge @ Wharton

P. Diddy Launches "I am King" Fragrance--meant to appeal to those who voted for Obama

Call him P-Diddy or Puff Daddy, Puffy or Diddy. Just don't call him shy, self-conscious or lazy.

The rapper, actor and media mogul is launching a new fragrance called "I am King"--ready for the holidays, and to take advantage of the recent election events. "I am King" is meant to appeal to people who voted for President-elect Barack Obama.

Combs said, "When you see Barack Obama, you see a strong, elegant black man and when people see my ad, it's almost like that's the trend." Combs states that, “I Am King is a statement about all men. If we carry ourselves and respect ourselves in that manner and believe in ourselves, then we are all kings.”

The scent is licensed by his Sean John fashion label to Estee Lauder Cos.

A female version of the fragrance will launch in July 2009 and be called--what else? "I Am Queen."

Source: CareFair and The Wall Street Journal

Iconic Imagery Delivered Virally: Shepard Fairey's Obama

IDEO CEO Tim Brown Talks Ideas, and the Organizations that Stifle Them

At IDEO's core DNA is innovation. IDEO is a designer of products, services, and experiences with projects ranging from Apple’s first mass-market computer mouse to aspects of Prada’s store in New York City to the patient-care delivery model at SSM DePaul Health Center, in St. Louis, Missouri.

Tim Brown, the CEO of IDEO sat down with the folks at the McKinsey Quarterly for an interview discussing how organizations can oftern stifle new ideas before they proliferate. But, he says, executives can change that pattern by immersing themselves in innovation. How? "It's often the role of senior leadership to defend new ideas until they're actually out in the marketplace and able to stand up for themselves," he says.

Here are three excerpts from the interview:

Excerpt 1).
The biggest barrier (to innovation) is needing to know the answer before you get started. This often manifests itself as a desire to have proof that your idea is worthwhile before you actually start the project: “show me the business proof that this is going to be a good idea.” You can understand this, of course, because it’s an attempt to mitigate risk. But wanting to know whether you’ve got the right idea—or the assumption that you’ve got to have a business case—before beginning to explore something kills a lot of innovation.

Excerpt 2).
Even though companies want everyone to be thinking about innovation all the time, the reality is that everybody’s got other roles to play. So innovation is not a continuous activity; it’s a project-based activity. If you don’t have a process for choosing projects, starting projects, doing projects, and ending projects, you will never get very good at innovation. Projects need some form—you call them something; you run them in a certain way; you fund them in a certain way. That sounds simple, but, actually, a good process for getting projects going and done is often not obvious to companies.

Excerpt 3).
You really notice a difference in organizations where the senior leadership immerses itself in innovation. I don’t mean that it runs projects. I don’t mean that it does the innovation itself. But it immerses itself by, for example, playing an active role in reviewing the innovation that’s going on at various levels in the organization in order to give people permission to take risks. Or by playing a really active role in deciding who gets to do innovation, making sure project leaders pick people who are naturally comfortable taking risks.

Dear Abercrombie & Fitch: Your Perennial Youth and Sex Positioning May Need A Makeover

There is no doubt that Abercrombie & Fitch is in need of a makeover.

Like a Pop Star, the brand's sexy perfection can be alluring, but only for a short period of time. They're a youth brand that hasn't figured out how to keep, or grow an audience of aspirational hotties coming back for more. Their product line has changed little in over a decade, and their marketing is a one-trick, re-touched pony.

Go no farther for proof of these facts than the company's 63-year year old CEO Mike Jeffries. He's a man perennially caught looking, and acting like a man in his twenties. As a reflection of the CEO, A&F is caught-up in a certain sexy look defined by black & white Bruce Weber photos of nearly a decade ago.

The most recent photography on the company's website is so re-touched that the models look more like CGI rather than human.

And where does the rubber-meet-the-road in this discussion of a brand turn-around? Look to the company's stock price, which has been on a steady decline since the beginning of 2008, when it peaked at around $80. The stock is currently  is hovering in the low $20s, with no signs of a turnaround.

And here's a little more proof. According to a September ChangeWave survey of more than 4,000 consumers, Abercrombie was the store they said they're least likely to shop at in the future. Consumers primarily objected to the company's risqué self-portrayal. One respondent took them to task for "immoral advertising and the message it sends to teens."

Sources: Salon and BloggingStocks

Sears' Holiday Promotions Feature "Heroes at Home Gift Registry" and "Don't Just Give A Gift, Grant A Wish" Campaigns

Sears' "Heroes at Home Wish Registry" helps grant the holiday wishes of the men and women in active military service.

Launched on Veteran’s Day, the program allows consumers to purchase gift cards for the families of servicemen and women who are currently overseas or experiencing hard times. The gift cards can be purchased online or in-store.

To promote the effort, MyNetworkTV, is running a two-hour, Sears-sponsored Heroes at Home special, Hosted by Howie Long.

The promotion is a tie-in with Sears’ new “Don’t just give a gift. Grant a wish” ad campaign.