Sunday, May 27, 2007
Does This Make Sense?
My daughter and I saw a commercial for a local business this morning. In explaining the location of the business, the commercial pointed out that the business was located near another local business. Does this make sense to you? Inadvertently marketing another business while advertising your own? I'm pretty sure the two businesses didn't go half-sies on the commercial. Honestly, what are they thinking? To fix the situation, they need to come up with a different (non-business) landmark or make their own store stand out in some way.
Labels: business, commercial, daughter, landmark, marketing
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Watch the NOS
Young Son Number Two went to the store the other day with a friend and both brought back bottles of the drink you see here. Son offered me a sip and, before I took one, I examined the label. This is NOS, a "High Performance Energy Drink." Anytime I see a drink like this, I want to know what they've put in it. This one has Taurine, L-Carnitine, Caffeine, Inositol, and Panax Ginseng, plus the requisite carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup and a variety of other ingredients. I was a little leary of Son drinking such, especially with all of the added supplements. I grew more leary when I read the warning on the back of the bottle: "Not recommended for children, pregnant women or people sensitive to caffeine." By looking at the second picture above, is it obvious to you that there's a warning on this bottle? If my camera would've allowed it, I would have given you a close-up, so you could see that the warning looks pretty much like the rest of the text with only two lines setting it off from everything else. "Product of Canada" and the "Cash Refund" lines are actually more prominent on the bottle.I showed Son how to read the labels and told him that the manufacturers left off the age of the children who were not supposed to drink this and warned him that he shouldn't make a habit of buying the stuff.
When my husband saw the bottle, he practically shot off like a rocket, but for a very different reason. You see, he recognized the bottle and the word NOS as mimicking the Nitrous Oxide tanks used for adding extra power to engines. Nitrous Oxide is also laughing gas. People (kids!) have used it to get high. It is no accident that NOS Energy Drink looks just like a bottle of Nitrous Oxide - the logo for the drink is taken directly from Holley Performance Products, a company that sells Nitrous Oxide for engines.
Not having any experience with Nitrous Oxide for engines, I had no frame of reference for the NOS Energy Drink. Once my husband pointed it out to me, I thought, Holy Crap! This company is encouraging the confusion between an energy drink and the use of Nitrous Oxide as a drug. Of course, they'll swear up and down that that's not what they're doing, but who are they marketing this drink to? Not old fuddy-duddies like me. They're aiming for a younger audience, one that wants more power in their engines and wants to live on the edge. If someone offered our son a bottle of Nitrous Oxide at a party, he might just think it's the NOS Energy Drink and try it. That, my dears, is irresponsible and dangerous marketing.
Labels: holley performance products, husband, irresponsible marketing, marketing, nitrous oxide, nos energy drink, son, warning
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Candy Hearts and Dogs
Happy Valentine's Day, to those of you who celebrate. Our family doesn't because we aren't particularly attached to the holiday. It feels too much like a marketer's holiday to us and we don't buy into conspicuous consumption. As for celebrating our togetherness, the hubby and I do that on our wedding anniversary. I do have one weakness when it comes to Valentine season - candy hearts - the ones with sayings. Mmm, mmm! I break down and buy some of these every year for the family. I've noticed that the candy heart makers don't seem to be able to keep up with technological change any better than I do. There are still hearts that say "Fax me," but none (that I could find) that say "IM me." My husband, aside from enjoying a little Valentine chocolate, has a different seasonal weakness: The Westminster Kennel Club's big dog show, generally held at Madison Square Garden. Puppies and hearts, puppies and hearts. It's love.
Labels: candy hearts, dog show, dogs, family, holidays, husband, marketing, technology, valentine's day, wedding
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Writing + Marketing = A Lot in Common
Writing and marketing have a lot in common. Both depend on the ability to tell a believable story. The difference is that in marketing, a story is used to sell a product or service. In writing, it's the story that's being sold.
Marketer Kathy Sierra has posted common writing tips on her site Creating Passionate Users in order to teach people how to give interesting technical presentations. She includes suggestions for the beginnings of presentations so that listeners will be hooked, instead of lolling and drooling on their skinny conference tables.
My problem has never been beginnings. It's always those blasted middles that do me in.
Marketer Kathy Sierra has posted common writing tips on her site Creating Passionate Users in order to teach people how to give interesting technical presentations. She includes suggestions for the beginnings of presentations so that listeners will be hooked, instead of lolling and drooling on their skinny conference tables.
My problem has never been beginnings. It's always those blasted middles that do me in.
Labels: creativity, kathy sierra, marketing, story, writing
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Whoppers
I have a weakness for marketing books. Right now, I have a stack of Seth Godin's books beside my bed. (Surely you've noticed that I've mentioned him before?) He's inspirational & motivational & cutting edge where there is no edge, yet he has a fairly simple message overall. His book, All Marketers Are Liars: The Power of Telling Authentic Stories in a Low-Trust World, can be summed up with the following:
1. Be remarkable.
2. Be authentic.
3. Tell a good story.
4. Believe the story.
5. Live the story.
There are a couple of caveats.
1. Whatever you're selling, be it a product, a service, your fine personality, be sure that it will not cause long-term damage to your audience or the world. Of course, if the thing you're selling does cause damage, then it's not really remarkable or authentic, is it?
2. Pick an audience whose worldview meshes with your story, or adapt your story to fit a particular worldview. Audiences at the fringes of society (those without a homogenized worldview) are best.
Marketers are not the only ones telling whoppers. Fiction writers do the same, only we place more emphasis on creating a believable story, because that's what makes our stories authentic and remarkable.
I wonder if Seth has ever tried his hand at fiction . . . .
1. Be remarkable.
2. Be authentic.
3. Tell a good story.
4. Believe the story.
5. Live the story.
There are a couple of caveats.
1. Whatever you're selling, be it a product, a service, your fine personality, be sure that it will not cause long-term damage to your audience or the world. Of course, if the thing you're selling does cause damage, then it's not really remarkable or authentic, is it?
2. Pick an audience whose worldview meshes with your story, or adapt your story to fit a particular worldview. Audiences at the fringes of society (those without a homogenized worldview) are best.
Marketers are not the only ones telling whoppers. Fiction writers do the same, only we place more emphasis on creating a believable story, because that's what makes our stories authentic and remarkable.
I wonder if Seth has ever tried his hand at fiction . . . .
Labels: marketing, seth godin, story
