While not entirely new, Unilever's axe2grind site takes a kooky approach to promoting its Axe Deodorant. With videos, images and sound files, the site shares the effect Axe Deodorant has on those who come into contact with it. From a psycho high school stalker to a clothes sniffing clothes cleaning clerk to a Blair Witch Project-like confession, Axe has fun and lets visitors submit their own odd Axe-like experiences. Nod.
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TrueDater a service that helps visitors determine whether or not profiles on dating sites such as American Singles and Match.com are legit or fake. Oddly, to promote the site, TrueDater has floated a fake profile of Paris Hilton. In her profile, Paris says she loves plunging necklines, high prices, hot bankers and men with big packages. Paris' perfect first date consists of "time to talk and get to know each other. We don't ever need to leave the jet. Our personal assistants can bring us iced lattes. We don't need to hire Coldplay for background music. And this time, save the video cameras for the second date...naughty!!"
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According to a study by WPP research arm Mindshare, 80 percent of people think television product placement is OK but 36 percent stated the way the placement is done matters a great deal. The study also found 66 percent notice placements more than in prior years, 70 percent of 18-49 year olds reacted to product placements by trying the product or visiting the store and product placement works equally well with men and women.
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Pete Rose will make a five second appearance at the end of a :30 commercial, promoting salads, for regional chili chain Gold Star Chili. Debuting March 28, Rose will utter, "Dem salads are good" reminiscent back to his 1980's appearance in the chain's ads, promoting chili dogs, in which he said, "Dem dogs are good." The commercials will air in Rose's old stomping ground, Cincinnati.
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While not a new idea, DaimlerChrysler Director of Brand Communication Julie Roehm, speaking at this week's Association of National Advertiser's Television Advertising Forum proposed an overhaul to the television upfront that would convert the yearly back room deal making process to a more open, stock exchange-like marketplace where spot costs would be determined just as companies price their shares and the costs would fluctuate based on market demand. Sounds fair to us.
This method of treating one spot just like another does not sit well with television sales types, though, who like to create artificial, perceived value and bundle the good stuff with the less than desirable inventory just to get rid of it.
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Kids can't have fun anymore according to the U.K.'s Advertising Standards authority which received 68 complaints about broadband provider Wanadoo's television commercial showing kids playing in a scrap yard and French kissing. The commercial has been banned because the ASA felt kids, apparently mindless drones, would imitate the behavior in the commercial and somehow become seriously injured or, god forbid, kiss each other. If anyone thinks pulling this commercial from television is going to stop kids from doing what kids do, they're living in an ABS After School Special world.
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Tian brings to our attention a T-shirt promoting the fact the owner survived climbing the Great Wall of China. The trouble is, the T-shirt's made in America and sold at Urban Outfitters for all the cool kids to buy and lie about their survival skills.
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MarketingVOX reports WPP's mOne Worldwide has launched its own creative optimization tool for online creative. The tool, called mEuclid, narrows down a large body of creative to a smaller set that performs best. mOne claims the tool boost response to ads by 15 to 30 percent. Results are shared with creatives to draw them into the analytic portion of the online process.
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Perhaps explaining the mysterious appearance of a finger in a bowl of chili at a San Jose Wendy's earlier this week, mordant orange "explains" who the finger may have found its way into the bowl, writing, "The body of actor Roger Eschbacher who played the much detested Mr. Wendy was found earlier this past summer in an abandoned warehouse; stripped naked with hands and feet bound to a chair. Eschbacher was found face down in a large bowl of Wendy’s chili."
Furthering the humor, and referencing the death of Wendy's founder Dave Thomas, mordant orange explains Wendy's new, "A Little Bit of Dave in Every Bite" ad campaign and lists the burger chain's new menu items which include:
Is a rousing session at yesterday's ANA Television Advertising forum, CBS CEO Les Moonves said accountability is "not our job." While that comment rankled many in the audiences, he's right. The networks are just a channel through which marketing messages are shoved. Managing that process and the management of post analysis rests squarely on the shoulders of agencies and marketers. Of course, it's best when networks help enable.
At the same session Publicis's Rishad Tobaccowala cited the seven percent of Publicis media spend takes between 20 and 4o percent of time to manage and called the current method marketers compensate media agencies "stupid." And who says conferences are boring?
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