Irreverence Wins Super Bowl.

I've been thinking a lot about the Super Bowl. Yay for the Saints. Everyone knows though that the commercials have their own bowl during this time too.

I just read an article in the New York Times about NOSTALGIA being the common thread in the ads (In Super Bowl Commercials, the Nostalgia Bowl) and while I think that's true, did anyone notice the kind of humor just about every single ad played too? IRREVERENCE.

While some of it was funny, I felt like I was being hit over the head with a bat of bad humor. Maybe because I'm not the typical male consumer but there were plenty of groups of women where I was at with no men taking down pitchers of beer and eating wings.

So there were lots of babies, lots of people without clothing, lots of nostalgia and lots of irreverence. I enjoyed a good laugh or two courtesy of snickers and the T. Pain voice changer Bud Light spot.

I thought there were two ads that really cut through the nostalgia and irreverence clutter and while they didn't make me laugh, they left me thinking of them still now days later. Google's ad that was a love story (my friend Tristan Smith from grad school wrote) actually received applause from all the ladies at the bowling ally where we were watching (bowling for the Super Bowl... get it? cute). And the NFL lift off commercial stopped everyone speechless. Kudos to them both.

Time: Idea I don't Believe in Right Now... or now...

Look how embarrassingly long it's been since I've written something for this blog. Not good. My apologies to any 5 people that pay any attention to this blog. Work picked up full steam ahead and I seemed to have lost track of thinking about anything but the fire burning RIGHT THIS SECOND that needed to be taken care of RIGHT THIS SECOND. In fact, the best way to describe how I felt was that I was being SHOVED through time. Hopefully that will change in the new year. Now there's an idea...

Loofah! Love this ad.

Found it on Fast Company. Viral video for Method. To the point but really fun. Chemical residue is lurking but aren't those bubbles so cute? Loofah!

The Death of the Average American

In Adage there's an article about the death of the average American. It's called "New U.S. Census to Reveal Major Shift: No More Joe Consumer."

It's about how fragmented our society is. It indicated that no household type will neatly describe even one-third of households, in the two largest states (CA and TX), the nations traditional majority (white non-Hispanics), will now be the minority, and finally, no racial or ethnic category describes a majority of the population.

WOW.

That is awesome and fascinating news to me. To lose "average American" from our cultural lexicon is monumental in ways that I am not even able to wrap my head around now.

The interesting thing is, while the article says that the census will be missing the average American, I think it's more correct in saying that we're missing Joe Consumer. I think based on this news, for the first time, we are becoming even more American. Isn't that what we, as a country are based on? The blurring and convoluting of demographic norms. Isn't that our founding ideals? And now finally, in 2010, we are truly beginning to see those ideals play forth in a way that embraces, accepts and lives out those notions of diversity, freedom of choice and one nation. I love the idea that we are more fragmented than ever yet perhaps it is our fragmentation that will unite us together.

Maybe this is the beginning of the end of groups of people fighting against something personally negative vs. uniting for something holistically positive. The end of me, the beginning of we. Because we are all so different, we can be confident in our uniqueness and don't have focus on striving toward differentiation. Instead we can move past me, confident in our freedom and expressions of innate individuality and strive toward a greater "we". It makes sense because my generation and the generations under me are part of something decidedly more philosophically and morally cohesive as they are the beneficiaries of what previous generations were fighting against.

The implication for marketers are huge. We have little to fight against and everything to unite for, positive change and the expectations of big corporations to stand for something bigger than their bottom line and to show transparency will only be demanded more.

So maybe I am projecting my own visions, idealistic as they may seem into this one census but I think its possible and hope you do too!

CULTURE DUNK: Knicks vs. Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv

Basketball is a sport I genuinely love to watch. I attribute it to the fact that I used to dance for the UofR Spiders SpinnURs dance team at every home basketball game and not to my 6th grade bench sitting days. I loved the energy (even though UofR is a small school) of the game and really felt it as a result of the up close and personal relationship I had with the sport. I was court-side every game, had spirit in the face of major exam crunch times, and got to see and feel the sweet, sweaty determination, competitiveness and camaraderie of the team.

That's why I went to see the Knicks play pre-season. I had NO idea what I was in for. I knew they were playing another country but I obviously had no idea the implications or what that meant.

The game wasn't that good but the atmosphere definitely was. I was completely out of my element which always leaves me inspired and awe-struck. There were more Isreali fans than otherwise and the rabbi that gave a speech during half-time lead the congregation of sports fans in a traditional song. I have never been to synogague and grew up with ZERO Jewish friends so all of this was new to me (Where did I grow up? Think more along the lines of Southern Baptist Small Town Sit on Your Hands and Shut Your Mouth South). The stadium was ready for their consumers and had kosher meals to replace the typical concessions. For perhaps the first time in my life (with perhaps the exception of the symphony/gamer event I went to... maybe), I felt like the minority, the outsider to the odd man out. What an incredible gulp of reality and opportunity to gain empathy and insight.

It made me think about culture and more specifically about creating culture. Some culture is so old, so ingrained, so loved, so big that it cannot be compromised. It is meaningful and a wellspring for identity with true depth and layers. Can we as marketers ever really create that kind of culture? Maybe, I don't know... Is that what the green movement and mentality is inspiring? Or are we just creating trends that at minimum tack themselves onto existing culture and at best help propel it along instead?

Inspiration Anywhere: Messaging and Research

You know what I love? Reading an article unrelated to my career that has parts that inspire my career.

Like today, I was reading the Sept. 29th article in The New York Times by Robin Marantz Henig called, "Understanding the Anxious Mind." It was about the psychology of anxiety (you inferred that from the title I'm sure), which was fascinating altogether (that's a permalink up there if you want to read it!). BUT there were two different things that inspired my thinking of strategy.

The first was a line the author wrote that feels like a great strategy, copy or message for healthcare clients or maybe even other brands. It was brilliant. She wrote these words, "draw conclusions about trends but not about destinies." I just love that. It's along the same philosophy as more than a number or more than a statistic, but it's got a unique twist and I've never heard it put that way at all.

The second was description of research that I really appreciated. The author describes two types. Here is the quippet: "There are two kinds of great research,” Susan Engel, a developmental psychologist ... told me... “There’s research that is counterintuitive, that shows you something you’d never guess on your own, and there’s research that shows you irrefutably what you had an intuition about, something you thought was true but didn’t have evidence to support.” Kagan’s research was of the second type, she says: “a beautiful, elegant experimental demonstration of an old intuition.”

In strategy, the best creative is typically a byproduct of research of the former but look at how energetically she describes research of the latter. It makes me wonder in what ways we can use such research to inspire and appeal to consumers.

Redesign This:

So I realize this is the second red sauce in a jar that I've called out. Shows you what kinds of foods I eat hunh? This isn't just about Tostitos either. It's about the jar that salsas in general come packaged in...

Here's what got me thinking. I recently took up a love of fresh pico (with the just diced tomatoes even though I thought I hated tomatoes). It's now hard for me to eat canned or jarred salsa. There was a time in my life, however, that I consumed a large amount of this stuff. My roommate and I in our undergrad years kept a jar around and snacked off of more chips with a hint of lime and salsa than I can to admit. Because we were in a dorm we didn't keep around bowls. Salsa looks beautiful in a bowl but let's face it, there's a ton of people doubling dipping straight from the jar as they share. Or maybe there's not. I've never done research but if we were doing it, we surely weren't the only ones.

The problem was, when you get to the end of the jar, you end up with what I like to call salsa hand. That liquidy ring of salsa from the edge of the opening as you strive for the last bits of salsa on your chip. It was gross.

But what if you were to create salsa that comes in a jar that's like a bowl so you just take off the lid and can eat it straight from the container without the negative side effect of salsa hand. It's really a simple idea, but I think consumers would dig it.

Salsa, used as dip for chips lends itself to that kind of sharing anyways.

Dentyne: So I'm a Little Late...

BUT better late than never to share. I just saw this gum ad from Dentyne that rolled out in 2008 that was striking and that I LOVE. I love it because it makes perfect sense and nods to the relevant culture of technology in a way that makes a statement without making a fuss. It's bold but it's got grace. That's cool.

What's interesting however, is this idea of attaching brands to relevancy. Everything communicates so the ad obviously says something about the brand regardless. The ads that attach themselves to relevant culture stand out, but the question is, to they successful differentiate themselves?

This ad makes me a believer in chewing gum, but I'm not convinced it makes me a believer in chewing Dentyne gum. On the other hand, as I walked to lunch today and saw the enormous point-of-purchase for gum along the check-out line at the local cafeteria/restaurant I find myself eating at way too often, I took notice of Dentyne for the first time in a long time (Trident Cool Colada has been the only object of my gum affection since it's introduction into the market) and thought to myself, "Aw." That "aw", while the frequency and longevity currently unknown, means something worthwhile.

Anyways, here are the ads. Enjoy!

Shock Value. Scare Tactics.

Effective or not? For me yes. The horror and grossness of this drink pouring into a glob of fat sure has made me feel revolted by still I find myself reconsidering that drink this morning. New Yorkers and her visitors- expect to see this ad from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in the subway for the next 3 months. Read the full story in the New York Times here.

Strategic Thinking Humor.

For relationships.

Quote of the Friday.

(http://media.photobucket.com/)

"YOUR CLIENTS ARE IN TROUBLE. THEY ARE LOOKING TO YOU TO SAVE THEM. THE AD INVENTORY THAT HAS BEEN SOLD FOR THE LAST 50 YEARS NO LONGER WORKS, AND MARKETERS HAVE STARTED TO FIGURE THAT OUT. IN THE PROCESS, YOUR CLIENTS WILL FIRE, HIRE, FIRE, AND HIRE AGENCY AFTER AGENCY ... SEEKING SOMEONE, ANYONE! -- WHO CAN HELP THEM PERHAPS ON WHERE TO GO NEXT."

- John Stratton, CMO Verizon Wireless (pulled from Anomaly's website)

Realism vs. Aspirationalism

Let's talk about consumers for a second. There's what they say they want to hear in messaging and in pictures/photos that will make them buy and then there's what will actually make them buy. Talking to consumers through my job has made me more aware than ever of the divide between realism vs. aspirationalism (I'm making that word up and coining it for my own thank ya very much!).

It's what Dove tapped into. They probably heard enough consumers say, I want to see real people so they advertised with real people. It made people feel good about the brand but I've heard beauty clients before say they are skeptical that it actually sold more Dove. People felt motivated to be more confident in their own skin but not motivated to dish out the dollars to Dove products necessarily.

It happens in other categories too across the board. People are desperate for transparency and realism but the question is, how attractive is that really? Often times, the hard, ugly reality of things is well... just that. And even though it's easier to relate to, we as, people are a society of progress and we enjoy envisioning ourselves with better skin, straighter smiles, whiter teeth, fitter bodies, better lives, etc. because truthfully, even if we can't relate to it, we want it. We all aspire.

So while you might hear your consumers saying, we want to see it real, we aren't perfect so give it to us like it is, be transparent and be true. Don't always listen to them. While it might be okay in some circumstances (b/c there are always outliers) and maybe more true in beauty, health, sports, wellness, apparel, and home categories, mirroring who and what they already are gives them nothing to aspire to and leaves your brand a bit in the dust. They may get warm-fuzzies from your brand but they may not feel like they are given the opportunity to better themselves and thus buy from you.

Mascara and fashion sells completely based on aspiration. Especially true for mascara, you know that you won't get eyelashes that look like that photo, but if you could even have eyelashes that look 1/10 as good, you'd be happy. That may be an extreme and is probably true b/c it is so appearance/image driven which doesn't hold as true or as much weight in other categories. So, I will also admit that there must be a nice middle ground somewhere out there that hybrids real and aspirational- a small bump up from reality without a total seismic shift.

Amusing Headline Copy

"For the Body-Conscious, It's Now the Ankle That Rankles" 

From the Wall Street Journal, July 23. I'm surprised this is the first time someone has made marketing around cankles. That word must have shown up in enough consumer insights by now that it just couldn't be ignored any longer. I guess I never realized there were exercises to reduce it, so I'm amused it's coming up in fitness/gym ads. I always thought it was just one of those things you accepted. And the lengths some women will go to have surgery to eliminate the problem. Wow. 

Visual Thinking.

Before starting my job I was spending a lot of time with my family. I LOVE my family and the older I get the more I appreciate our quirks and eccentricities. Aw. 

Anyways I was thinking about who we are as a family and I realized there was a beautiful way to display my conclusion through a venn diagram, a popular tool strategist often use. Enjoy.

Brandcenter Strategist Brains- Hollaaaa!

Here's an update: 

My fellow classmates Culture Standpoints paper can be viewed HERE. So proud of them all! It looks great and has some really smart, cutting edge ideas, opinions and thinking represented. 

In previous blogs you may remember me mentioning da Vinci Center for Product Design and Innovation. It's what I did in place of my Cultural Standpoint. Here's an update on that: we were invited to present to the Sweedish team. Whoop. I start my first days of work so I can't be there to present but I'm proud of my group and know they will do exceptionally well. If the Sweedish team likes it, there's a chance they'll pick up our innovation idea. So cool! Fingers crossed! Too bad I'm legally bound and can't talk to anyone about it (although, it's completely understandable)... Here's a picture of the product we worked on for a nice tease and eyebrow raise :) It's called the Alfie 500 and I know an absurd and amusing amount of information about this product's design, functionality and market opportunities, the industry it operates in and everything there in between. 

Quote of the Friday

Without having a goal, it's difficult to score.

-Paul Arden

image credit: toptenz.com

Please Redesign This:

image credit: defendingwomen.com

I've carried this clunky thing on my keychain for the past 3 years now. Luckily I've never had to use it. It's one of those love-hate relationships. I love that I feel safe with it. I hate what it looks like. It's clunky, it's obvious and on display for the world to see. If people weren't fascinated by pepper spray, it would be borderline embarrassing. More importantly, I find myself thinking it would be hard to use if I was presented an actual situation in which it would serve its functionality.

The point is, I think there needs to be a redesign. I did some online digging and found these "redesign" examples. Seriously?! Pink, a gun, a ring, a carry case (Do explain who has the time in the midst of being attacked to take their mase out of a carry case?), a crystal, blinging one, and a miniature. 

I suppose many women love the one with crystal/bling. I see the fun in it as well. It's not really my style but I get it (the DIVA, is a bit much for me, but again, that's just me). It's been featured in many news stations so I'm assuming it's popular? Anyways, I appreciate the company, Pepperface, (www.pepperface.com)'s, valiant attempt to make this product better, less clunky, less embarrassing and less of an eye sore. This is appealing for a lot of women, but me, I'd just like something simple. The problem with this is that I just want something unobvious and the clunky one I carry is obvious but so is this studded one.  

My favorite out of all of them is the very last one, the miniature, which is a product from Malaysia. It's cutesy but at least it's fun and cheeky... and not clunky. 

image credit: mase.com

 image credit: defendingwomen.com

image credit: ubergizmo.com

image credit: notcot.com

image credit: kaboodle.com

image credit: pepperface.com

image credit: alibaba.com

There must be a more ergonomic solution to safety... Maybe one already exists and I missed it. If that's the case, please enlighten me!

Healthy Mouths Trump Healthy Smiles.

Let's be honest. Some innovation is just marketing gimmick to sell more in emerging markets. Fine. It has to be done. But some innovation that probably was meant for just that reason (to sell more) turns out to be something really, incredibly useful and appealing to consumers. 

Here's my favorite example:

The toothbrush, as one dental hygienist put it to me, is just another accessory for your mouth. It was made as a WAY to get people to brush their teeth. 

Everyone uses one. They've got all kinds of twists, bends, blue coloring that fads when it's time for a new one, grips, grooves, spins, and bristle shape and softness, etc. They've really learned how to soup up a toothbrush in so many ways. There's a lot of research and innovation being done in this area obviously.

BUT about a year ago I started using a toothbrush with a tongue scrubber attached to the back of the head (see photo below). Really smart! The packing was done well. No, it wasn't eco friendly BUT, it had a sample of the tongue scrapper on the outside that interested consumers, like me, could touch. It sure helped me make up my mind to make the purchase. All the sudden, instead of just cleaning my teeth, this toothbrush was helping me clean my entire mouth more thoroughly. We all know how ticklish the tongue is when using the regular bristles and it made it unappealing to brush the tongue that often. Soon I started seeing this across brands. I'd love to know who started the trend and when the first toothbrush of this kind was released.

Recently, however, I tried to get a bit too frugal and went for a toothbrush without the tongue scrubber/scrapper on the back of the head. I realized after one brush with this inadequate, ill equipped toothbrush, that I'm a lifer for toothbrushes with tongue scrubbers on the back of the head. I actually missed the utility and functionality of my more expensive brush equipped well enough to bring me a healthy mouth, which I consider, even one step better than having just a healthy smile.

photo credit: drugstore.com

Update.

Wow. So it's been a while. I've been beating the pavement in NYC looking for a job. I got one! whoop whoop :) I'm excited b/c it dabbles in strategy, branding, messaging, innovation, new product development annnnnd I'll get trained as an ethnographer. It's a fairly new place and I love that it has an entrepreneurial vibe. So good. 

Anyways, I've sucked at updating because I've been moving and packing and am all over the place.

Finally in NYC. Expect new post to come soon :)

Picture Credit: http://www.mta.info/nyct/maps/submap.htm

CULTURE DUNK: High Art Society

The Dia: Beacon

Located on the banks of the Hudson River in Beacon, NYC. this museum houses 1960's to the present major collections. I didn't really know I would be going here and it wasn't my idea but it was a great escape from the concrete anyways. My oldest brother was a successful and very talented fine artists (before he opened his own business that dabbled in a separate hobby), so I have an appreciation for the craft and a fascination with the history and concepts that revolve around it all. 

However, in all honesty, I sometimes have a hard time really understanding the kind of art that is more about the process than it is about the piece. It's so important to read the pamphlets at that kind of museum to understand the significance of the work because so much of it is about how it was done. It's a bit easy to make fun of because it stems from such lofty, esoteric ideas but as a philosophy minor in undergrad I suppose I find the mental exercise just enjoyable even if tinged with a bit of, "I could have done that too." I suppose the point is, I didn't do it, huh? 

Anyways, there is one great room with a series of similar (difference caused by contrasting colors) paintings by Warhol (not pictured). There were 4 big smooshy sofas in the middle of this huge, great, open room and I have this fond memory of all the natural light coming in through the ceiling while all the people in the room sunk into the sofas to think about or not think about who knows what. It seemed like soothing place to be quiet, to stop, to hold time still for a couple of minutes and to smell the roses (or just soak in the color and the paintings). Serenity!

The New York City Ballet: Romeo & Juliet

I've danced my entire life and I worked at a ballet company. I love dance. I understand the dedication, the way the body marries itself to the music, the adrenaline, the beauty, the work ethic, the practice, the hours, and everything else in between. I'm fascinated, moved, and enamored by the poetry, the story, and the beauty that takes place on stage- usually to the point of tears. It just moves my soul and I crave dance as corny as that probably sounds.

But the point of this post is that i finally got the chance to see the world renowned New York City Ballet. I've never seen Romeo & Juliet performed and it was spectacular! The Lincoln Center is gorgeous and I loved seeing all the people dressed to the 9's in honor of this art form. The night was clear and it felt like I was in the middle of some fabulous 1950's movie. 

Thinking about the Romeo & Juliet story, I realized for the first time that it must have been so new and so incredibly moving to see it performed back in Shakespeare's day (even if not ballet). It's complex and it's heart-wrenching! And it's amazing that without words, a story, drenched in poetic descriptors and known for its iambic  pentameter can be conveyed in an equally as compelling way without using any words at all and replacing it with expression and movement instead. How cool! That's the power of a good story and I think it says something about the importance of good stories- it doesn't matter how they are told as long as they are.

Anyways, seeing the crowd at both of these places was yet another reminder that while newer, bigger, better, and faster is certainly good and often sought out, there are still people out there that crave history and appreciate the stories of a yesteryear retold from occasion to occasion. I guess some things just never get old!