Hey, You! You Got Some Change?

Today's Theme Song - Smash Mouth, "All Star"


I have a Snapple lid on my desk that says, "When in doubt, change zip codes."

As advice goes, I wouldn't normally suggest taking it from a Snapple lid, however this particular lid offers an odd bit of wisdom.

Let's dissect this a little more.

"When in doubt..." - If you're having second thoughts, or you think something should change.

Let me tell three short stories here to illustrate the point...

Story 1: A man walks in a McDonald's and orders a burger and fries. He happily accepts the tray of food, complete with napkins, ketchup packets, drink and straw. He sits down, unwraps the sandwich, dumps out the fries and starts the brutal attack on the ketchup packet. Since he touched his greasy meal already, his fingers slide off the package again and again as he tries to tear a hole just to get a little bit of ketchup for his fries. He finally puts the package between his teeth and savagely rips at it. The ketchup packet explodes and he suddenly understand why they gave him so many napkins - he spends the rest of the day with a ketchup stain on his tie. He avoids his last meeting of the day because of the stain, ruins a major deal for the company, resulting in his ultimate demise with this company.

Story 2: Young Timmy forgot to get his 5th grade sweetie a Valentine's Day present until the last minute. So he begged and pleaded with his Mom to "PLEASE" take him to the local drugstore so he can see if there is anything left on the shelf. He gets there and in his frantic search finds only a few packages of pale, chalky hearts with old, outdated messages. He sighs and hands the packages to his Mom. The next day, Little Susie examines the odd messages printed on the hearts, tastes one, spits it out and spends the week with Bobby, who thought to bring her some chocolate.

Story 3: A TV station once decided to fill a void - A void it saw as black hole in the American heart that truly loved it's music. And with the announcement, "Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll," the Music Television Station was born. Twenty years later, that little station lost it's way. No longer did Rock and Roll rule the screen. Instead it was filled with talk shows, reality TV, date shows and every once in a while a music video popped up. Teenagers, radicals and rebels checked their TV Guides and saw the logo which proudly announced itself as "Music Television," only to tune in to betrayal. For over ten years, people turned away from their televisions in hurt and confusion.



And now for the next line...

"...change zip codes." - It might be time to make a change - a small change or a big change, it. is. time!

And the ending to each story to illustrate...

Story 1: Heinz Ketchup announces that it will finally change it's Ketchup packets so they are easier to open. Better late than never? And they are so sorry for the ruined clothing over the years.

Story 2: Necco who makes the age old conversation hearts has decided to update their messages, flavors and colors. It might be too late for Timmy, but surely someone will benefit from this long awaited update.

Story 3: MTV finally changed their logo in the most subtle way possible. They simply removed the words, "Music Television," from the logo and left everything else. This attempt to note the difference in their format probably should have been more dramatic, but they did try.

The simple lesson here?

Make sure your business changes with the needs of your consumer, so you aren't left out. Keep up with your customers. Sometimes change is a good thing.

Pepsi Did WHAT?! - The Final Act

So we've briefly reviewed some of Pepsi's advertising mishaps over the past three decades (and we've never even ventured into the Britney Spears issues) and now we've come to Super Bowl XLIV and what could possibly be the Pepsi fiasco of 2010. After 23 years of advertising during the Super Bowl, Pepsi has decided not to participate this year.

Here's the catch.

Pepsi has decided, instead, to sink the $20 million they'd spend in advertising on social media instead.

Pepsi Refresh is a site where you can go and submit or vote for projects that impact your community and the world. From sending girl scout cookies to the troops to providing a health care clinic for the under-served of rural Tennessee Pepsi is asking everyone to vote for their favorite community effort. Don't see something you like? Submit a new idea.

Finally, Pepsi has broken out of the "celebrity" mold and decided to try something different. Bravo Pepsi!

As for whether or not this will work? I imagine three future scenarios in the Post-Super Bowl World where Pepsi has not advertised.

Scenario 1: 50 years into the future when all advertising is suggestive and integrated into shows and daily life you see a women walk into her apartment, open the fridge and crack open an ice, cold Pepsi. She then starts talking to her husband about how important it is to continue the fight against global warming.
You go to the ballpark to watch your favorite baseball game and the man behind the counter pours you a Pepsi. The same thing happens at ballparks across the U.S. because Pepsi is now part of the American Dream, not Coke.
Coke, a more bitter version of the sweeter, more considerate Pepsi, is seen only in the hands of a hero's bitter enemy.

Scenario 2: Pepsi Fail. 50 years from now the only people who remember Pepsi are the senior citizens. Like eight track tapes, records and VHS, teenagers roll their eyes at the story of more than one popular colas.

Scenario 3: Coke counters Pepsi's attack. The war wages on.

Pepsi Did WHAT?! - Part II

In part two of our review on the Pepsi/Coke war we're going to take a look at Pepsi fiasco #2. Madonna.

The material girl was another heavy-hitter in the line of famous Pepsi promoters. And yep, it was another failed Pepsi spot.

Madonna's commercial featured around her new song "Like a Prayer," was a sweet look into the past of a little girl drinking Pepsi and that little girl, all grown up, still drinking Pepsi. The commercial was an amazing feat for Pepsi's media planner - it aired in 40 different countries to an estimated 250 million people one night. It only aired once.

Madonna's Pepsi Commercial


Not bad, right? And trust me that commercial is hard to come by, because Pepsi wanted it buried. After the commercial aired, the next day Madonna aired her music video for "Like a Prayer." This video was a far cry from the sweet Pepsi commercial - Pepsi never watched the music video of Madonna with a black Jesus, burning cross and other controversial scenes.

Poor Pepsi. They paid $5 million for one commercial, which might not seem like a lot in 2009, but in 1989 it was, and it only aired once.

Pepsi Did WHAT?! -Part 1

We get it - Pepsi has declined to advertise in this year's Super Bowl. Breaking a 23 year tradition, Pepsi is taking a chance in it's battle with Coca-Cola for market share.

The big question - What kind of doom does this spell for the future of advertising?!

Well, before we answer that question, I think we need to do a brief analysis of Pepsi's past Super Bowl history. Maybe I should say fiascoes, because Pepsi seems to be doomed when it comes to advertising at the Super Bowl. Let's take a trip back in time.

It's 1984 and the war of the colas is in full scale battle mode. Pepsi brings up the big guns for it's Super Bowl surprise - Michael Jackson - The King of Pop.

Round 1. Pepsi.

In a much anticipated spot, Michael was supposed to sing and dance amidst a series of explosions.




You may want to rewind that, just in case you missed it.

Yep. That's right. Pepsi managed to catch The King of Pop's hair ON FIRE!! And try as you might to pass the blame, it lands squarely on Pepsi's doorstep.

And Pepsi Fail.

Oh, and I think this is what the commercial was supposed to look like.

Playing to Your Audience

All I can say is, "Congrats Walmart!"
And if you're not laughing after watching this, I have some serious doubts about your sense of humor! Walmart has finally found a commercial tame enough for their family and housewives while appealing to the darker humor of their younger audience.

Walmart, regarded as the biggest retailer on Earth, with an budget of over $800 million dollars, has plenty of loyal fans and plenty of haters. With such a big budget, it is impossible to have one target market. Instead Walmart has had to appeal to a larger audience in order to draw more people into their stores.

Walmart has tapped into one area that very few can truly hate - humor. This commercial made me laugh and for a few, short seconds I forgot about the evil side of Walmart. Humor is, after all, the ultimate distraction.

Stealing the Golden Goose

So your small business doesn't have the advertising funds of that giant across town. No worries! As a smaller business you have abilities that a giant doesn't. Just think Jack and the Beanstalk! You move left, you move right and before that giant can even think about reacting you're on your way down the beanstalk with that giant's golden goose.

Okay, so maybe you aren't Jack and maybe there isn't actually a beanstalk, but you can still run off with the giant competition's golden goose. You just have to be ahead of the curve and make smart decisions about how to reach your target market.

One of the best ways to stay ahead of the curve is to watch what's happening with mobile these days. Smartphones are becoming so popular that this is one trend you need to watch closely. And if you're a small business, this is a great opportunity for you.

"A number of new location-based services are beginning to provide attractive alternatives for such small-scale advertisers. Foursquare, for one, allows small business to target offers based on a user's actual proximity to their location. These offers can deliver heightened relevance by appealing to a player's status, nearby friends, or demonstrated preferences." - Five Mobile Trends for 2010

What does this mean for you? It means that if your customer is within a certain distance of your business, you can reach out to them in a timely, attention-grabbing, cost-effective manner! Now, isn't that so much better than trying to compete with a million dollar ad budget?

Take that golden goose! RUN!!

Something to Talk About

Google has decided to continue it's attempt at global domination by patenting new technology for selling ad space in 3D mapping technologies.

Now that's something to talk about. In a world of clutter, where every consumer has learned how to tune out even the most obnxious advertising, Google has found another new way to grab attention. Now when you search the map for that new restaurant across town you'll see active billboards displaying advertising for your convenience.

This does, of course, raise quite a few questions about how one would go about purchasing this ad space, how tracking would occur and how often you can change or update the billboard.

My theory? It's going to be a combination of alternating billboard (out-of-home) ad buying with banner ad tracking and some low pricing (at least until this becomes more popular).

Just imagine the future possibilities of this technology. Similar to Second Life, I predict 3D maps will soon give you the ability to view directions in a 3D environment. You'll know to turn left at the McDonald's because you've already seen yourself do that from your own, personal computer. You'll know the building you're searching for is gray and black because you've already been there in virtual reality.

If you're the last person on earth to view Google Earth, go check it out. We're getting there.

As for the media and advertising gurus? Be there, be on top of this technology and be ready to take advantage of the low, low initial price offerings. ;)