Maybe advertising is a kind of gravy. A garnish that adds taste to everything it touches. It's not necessary, but it makes whatever it touches easier to chew. This is a collection of advertising and other things that make life go down a little smoother.
Gravy of the Week: 08 KEYNOTE FROM K-SWISS MFCEO KENNY POWERS
I'm not going to praise K-Swiss for groundbreaking material. This latest addition to their latest campaign isn’t chock full of inspired writing, unexpected twists or unprecedented visual effects. It's not that kind of good. The Kenny Powers-as-MFCEO was hilarious when it first came out but at this point we’re just getting more of the same. Which is still great, but that's not why this campaign deserves recognition.
K-Swiss gave up control of their brand and message to Funny or Die, Kenny Powers and 72andSunny. Not only does this open the door to countless brand-sponsored F-bombs, titty jokes and Bruce Lee, it’s proof that another brand is getting it: they don’t have complete control over their message anymore. They can’t fight the trend, so they better join it and hand over some control before it's sntached away. This is what Old Spice did when they responded in real time to comments and tweets. Wheat Thins just did it on the Colbert Report. And K-Swiss knew what they were getting into when they made Kenny Powers their fake CEO. The more brands that get it, the better off the industry will be. Here's Naked founding partner Will Colin on control: "We believed that 21st century brands must 'go Naked' to the consumer—no longer using communication as an image cloak but instead as an open transaction in which people are equal partners with the brand." Thanks to Kenny Powers, we're getting there.
Nike+ FuelBand is here. And it's a big deal. I don't mean for you and I. I mean for Nike. They're putting a huge pile of money and resources behind it. So it's kinda a big deal that people know how it works. Is it just for athletes? Do you only wear it when working out? Can you shower with it? Sleep with it? Talk to it?
Nike's POV: Life is a sport. Get used to it. Every moment holds the potential to work out. And the FuelBand inspires you to take advantage. But Nike can't just say all this; they have to show it. And what better way to see it in action then to step into a day in the life of three Nike Athletes: goalkepper Hope Solo, skateboarder Paul Rodriguez and menacing defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh. The resulting video is fun, demonstrative storytelling and an effective way to say "you, too, can make life a sport and be a better person because of the Nike+ FuelBand!" Game on.
Last night I watched the Grammys. Today I jotted down a few observations.
On Sunday night, the nation tuned into the Grammy’s. Well, two parts of the nation: the part who cared about the incredibly boring state of mainstream music. And the part who wanted to see what the Grammys would do for Whitney Houston. By half past eleven, both parts were equally disappointed. Without a good awards show to keep me entertained, I started making observations on what went wrong.
A lost opportunity to wow the world. Saturday night’s tragedy gave the Grammys a chance to be epic. Every girl alive in the ‘90s was brought together by the loss of the most empowering diva of our time. Someone joked that the Grammys offed Whitney Houston to boost the show’s ratings. And there’s no doubt that more people tuned in because of the news. But with barely 24 hours to prepare, the show’s producers either couldn’t or didn’t take advantage. After the heartfelt opening monologue by a grown man called Ladies Love Cool James, they hardly mentioned Whitney until her all-too-short tribute by Jennifer Hudson. Had they pulled off a fitting tribute, these Grammys could have been remembered as the best of our generation. Instead they left a lot to be desired.
Smoking out the elephant in the room. LL Cool J couldn’t have done a better job getting to the point right away. We all knew it was coming and he didn’t waste any time. His prayer did a great job celebrating her life and not mourning her loss. It was a touching reminder that her music would always be with us even if she was gone. I even liked that he opened with a prayer and acknowledged that praying wasn’t for everyone, but it was the thing he would do. And it felt right.
The screen was freakishly void of helpful information. Leading into performances, scanning the famous faces in the audience, listing the nominees. There were no graphics. We were never told what we were looking at. Are the producers so naïve that they thought everyone watching knows every song and who everyone is? They could have been converting the curious into new fans, but they dropped the ball. It was a strange decision.
Best New Artists that have been around for a while. Seems like this happens every year. The Best New Artist category is full of acts that have been around for a while. Lots of cheers went up when the award went to Bon Iver. (Pronounced: I don’t care). I’m not a fan, but at least he represented indie rock, a genre that was painfully underrepresented throughout the show. (Foster the People also made an appearance, but I don’t count it because no one knew who was playing at the time). This year, there was no Arcade Fire. No Kings of Leon. No Jack White. And I’m just listing the indie acts who have gone mainstream.
Everyone loves Adele. But why? It’s science! Some of her songs feature something called an appoggiaturas, which is a note that creates a slight dissonant sound with the main melody, creating mini-roller coasters of tension, followed by resolution when the main melody returns. Great for Adele, but bad for the collective emotions of the world. It’s only a matter of time before more music stars rely on science to craft their songs.
Nikki Manaj tried way too hard. Really, heckling the church? This is your idea of being controversial, 30 years after Madonna did it? We get that you want to be the next Lady Gaga, but you need to be original if you want to be controversial. I took offense not for any religious reasons, but because it was pointless. And the song was horrible.
DeadMau5 is mainstream? When did this happen? DeadMau5 wants this? I guess it’s easier to embrace when you wear a friendly mouse mark every show. I also loved how DeadMau5 displayed Skrillex's phone number on his t-shirt. Not that I know who Skrillex is, but I imagine that his name is an onomatopoeia for his music.
Fuck off, Chris Brown. Twitter does not like Chris Brown. The people in charge of the Grammys, specifically executive producer Ken Ehrlich, seem to love him. Despite Chris Brown’s tendency to punch women repeatedly in the face, he not only performed, but took home an award. This, one night after one of the most famous victims of domestic abuse of all time was found dead in her bathtub. His whole participation felt wrong because it was wrong. Equally as disturbing was Buzzfeed’s observation that not every women hates Chris Brown like they should.
The ads were worth watching. Overall, the ads were strong. Brands have figured out that big-time mass marketing opportunities exist outside the Super Bowl. Target took center stage (and, by sponsoring the Grammys Live iPad app, center screen). I loved the Color Changes Everything spot, which had a great score and playful choreography. Target’s Adele spot was also a big winner. Everyone knew Adele was going to rake in awards and the decision to feature Rolling in the Deep in an ad was worth every royalty penny. Chipotle made the wise decision to run their full 2-minute Willie Nelson-fueled, stop-motion masterpiece Back to the Start, featuring a Lou Reed-like crooning of Coldplay’s The Scientist.
Where was Shazam? About halfway through the show I tweeted about my disappointment that there wasn’t a Shazam integration. After it was retweeting about nine retweets, @NicoleSorice posted a link to this tweet from @TheGRAMMYS saying that there actually was an integration, meaning that Shazam’s lack of exposure was the result of a poor marketing effort, not a nonexistent one. Shazam, this is the Grammys. You help people discover music. How could you not have plastered yourself all over the Grammys? I tried Shazaming a song thrice and twice was met with the disappointing “No Match.”
Grammys Live, the app. I tried it. Briefly. I was hoping for a second screen experience that complimented the live show, preferably that gave more information on performers and nominees. But that’s not exactly what the app had to offer. You could watch live, a nice touch, but not something I was looking for in a second screen. There was a list of who won, which was great since they only gave away about five awards given away in 3.5 hours, and the few awards they did hand out were not accompanied by helpful graphics. I checked out the barrage of Grammy-related tweets, but I preferred the barrage of Grammy-related tweets in my own Twitter stream. For more on the failings of the Grammys Live app, read this article.
Getting the spins with the Glam Cam 360. People tune in to the pre-show to check out the outfits. This year featured a new 360º view of all the hottest and nottest dresses. This was accomplished by placing cameras in a circle and having the stars stand still in the middle. It wasn't pretty (seeing the cameras, the clashing colors of the background) but it was a cool effect. I would have liked to have seen the Glam Cam 360 pulled into the Grammys Live app so I could control the rotation and viewpoint, but no such feature was offered. Fail, Grammys. Fail. This was a second screen integration begging to happen.
The highlight: Adele. No question about it. Her whole story is too good. Her return from throat surgery in October. Her show-stopping voice. Taking home 6 awards, tied for most ever by a female artist. The only negative? Her utter greatness made the rest of the show feel mediocre. Adele, take it (and your 6 shiny new Grammys) away!
Text walkers. They're the worst. Of course, at one point or another, we all deteriorate to their distracted level. It's not our fault; texts must be sent and standing still is a horrible alternative.
Type n Walk helps prevent your next text walking collision. This app gives places a view of the upcoming street in the background as you type your messages, helping you dodge unpreoccupied, non-texting pedestrains. Next time someone bumps into you while they're texting, "Get Type n Walk, jackass!" might be the the most worthwhile riposte.
Hyundai had 5 spots play during the Super Bowl and they all led to the newly redesigned Hyundai.com.
The new “Hyundai Digital Experience” is designed to be more than just a shopping tool. It's a gateway to what sets the Hyundai brand apart. With almost 3 million visitors every month and growing, we worked to improve the site both functionally and aesthetically. One week after Hyundai received a #3 OEM website ranking, they launched an upgraded site that’s brighter and more premium, with the goal of reaching that #1 spot, and improving perception and ultimately conversion.
Key to the experience, the new design and tone of voice had an impact. The new New Thinking section received 4,000 visits per day. There was a 46% increase in consumers going from the home page to the Build & Price page.
I’ve even seen real ads that interact with fake ads before. But this week Proctor & Gamble pulled of an unprecedented twist on the ad-within-an-ad concept: the first-ever co-branded commercial.
Make no mistake, they’re for Old Spice Body Spray. But these ads feature two real P&G products that interact. Terry Crews, the other dark-skinned, non-shirted Old Spice spokes-hunk, busts into the other product’s ad to announce that Old Spice Body Spray is “so powerful it sells itself in other people’s commerciiiiiaaaaaaaals!!!”
Again, Old Spice manages to knock down the 4th wall to blend reality and advertising. After every new Old Spice spot, it’s tempting to wonder if they’ll be able to top it. Most marketers would run out of steam or get lazy and bask in their own glory, right? Not Old Spice. As these two unprecedented commercials prove, they haven’t hit the wall yet. And even if they did, they'd blast right through it.
Not only are these spots humorous and unexpected, they show that P&G understands that it’s OK to use Charmin and Bounce in the best interest of Old Spice. Most conglomerates would balk at this type of request - to come across as the afterthought and the foil. But these other P&G brands get some exposure, and come across as cooler for being associated with Old Spice. I wouldn’t be surprised if they even chipped in some money to get these ads produced.
But it’s not all about what these commercial are. It’s about what these commercials do: they reinforce the brand attribute they’re trying to sell: power. Next time someone is looking for a powerful body spray, they’re going to remember the brand that’s so powerful it busted into another product’s commercial.
