Not too long ago - but before the Dow bounced back to 9,000 and beyond - I received this interesting piece in the mail. Plain b&w, it's remarkable in that it invokes the name of none other than Mr. Warren Buffet himself. GEICO has been a Berkshire Hathaway company for 13 years but this is the first time I ever seen the relationship promoted in their marketing.
The Gecko is even sporting Buffet-like black-rimmed glasses.
So to establish trust in an uncertain economic evironment with high stock market volatility, GEICO has aligned its image with the one man who has beaten the odds several times over. Makes sense...but I won't consider switching over til I hear he is also a customer.
With the buzz of healthcare reform in the air, I was reminded of a Blue Shield of California mailer that actually appealed to me last year. I have yet to figure out how they knew I was a Pepsi fiend...
Sex in advertising is a cliche (just watch the ridiculous Audrina Partridge Carl's Jr. commercial). Yet Belvedere has found a new twist with its maceration campaign. Of course, maceration itself isn't as dirty as it sounds - its the soaking of fruit in the vodka to get rich flavors - but Belvedere certainly plays up the sexual innuedo.
Not a risky message if aimed at Carl's Jr.'s audience...but this campaign is aimed at women! Do they think the modern woman is so independent that self-pleasure whets her appetite for premium vodka? I am well within the demographic for this campaign and I can appreciate the clever word play but rather than entice me to buy Belvedere...it just gives me the strong urge to go wash my hands.
I keep seeing this new Kentucky Fried Chicken commercial. Designed to promote their $5 Fill Up Box, it features the line, "you're a la carte, we're a la smart." Maybe I'm just a sucker for a good rhyme but I really do love that line! In fact, I like it much more than the lazy and blatant differentiation of the final tagline about the "unsub side of KFC." It's understandable that KFC would be concerned about Subway (the fastest growing fanchise in the world). However, it seems that KFC should also be preparing itself against the threat posed by Chick-fil-A which received Zagat's "best chicken in fast food."
For as long as I can remember, I have been interested in some aspect of marketing. My favorite arts and crafts projects involved page layouts and signage. In high school, I began to file away my favorite ads - ripped from my Seventeen magazines. It's no wonder that I eventually found my way to the Communications department in college, then to a product management position, and even to an MBA. I'm still fascinated by the marketing I see everyday as a professional and as a consumer - I hope this will be a forum to indulge my curiosity (and hopefully yours too).
