At $3.5 million per 30 second spot, we had better see some Super Bowl advertising magic. So, expect a close game between the Patriots and the Giants….and some Bright Beacon blog posts on our views on the best and worst of SuperBowl ads. Follow us at BrightTopics on Twitter or on FaceBook.
That Super Bowl Ad Magic?
February 3rd, 2012Beware tone deafness…..
February 3rd, 2012The Komen folks have demonstrated once again that you can create your own public relations disaster by not considering all the angles. Hearing all the viewpoints. Considering all the reactions.
They have the right to go in whatever direction that suits their charter with whatever partners fit them best, just like any small or large business, not-for-profit, government agency or other.
You may have to pursue a radical or potentially controversial change in course through a series of steps and stages….
Now this will go down as one of the worst public relations disasters ever.
In our social media world, the penalties are enormous for missteps.
Truly epic brand damage.
Wow!
I’m being trampled…..
February 3rd, 2012….in the content players’ desire not to send spam.
When I email an article to a friend (how old-fashioned is that?), then I’ve got to read and replicate the characters, numbers and letters in the little box to validate that I’m just one person sending an email.
Is it me…..or is the combination of characters, numbers and letters getting harder and harder to read?
I don’t know if it’s cutting down on spam but it’s certainly challenging me.
Is there another way?
The new USPS model – like garbage pick-up?
January 23rd, 2012Why do we get mail once a day, except Sunday and holidays?
Our garbage isn’t picked up every day?
Would it be a terrible thing if the paper bills (if you still get any) came in once a week? Do you really pay them every day as they come in? And haven’t you just been procrastinating in moving more bills to electronic methods?
But you say….what about the weekly magazine? Answer: iPad, Kindle. Magazines belong there. Was just reading my Fortune on the iPad. Excellent!
And if you want service more days a week, then pay for it as a premium service? Platinum for every day, gold for every other day, silver for twice a week. Once a week delivery is complementary.
Or perhaps junk mail companies would be willing to pay for certain highly desired customers to receive service more than weekly?
***
But let’s be data-based in our comments. Here’s a week’s worth of mail held by the USPS:
A week's mail
Contents were:
Total pieces: 53
- Bills or statements – Sixteen (that’s too many – must move more electronic, but none due in the one week timeframe)
- Magazines – Four
- Junk mail – Twenty-three (none time sensitive that I could see and nearly 45% of the mail)
- Late arriving Christmas cards – Four (and thank you very much)
- The neighbor’s mail – Two
Items requiring same day action: Zero!
Does this really merit the hands-on attention of personal delivery each and every day?
***
And further, you can’t actually leave any real mail in your mail box since that’s subject to identity theft. Or is that an urban legend? I think not since I just read an article advising people to have a post office box in which to receive their tax statements as these are subject to identity theft on the inbound side.
Should we all go back to mail boxes at the post office? Is that an option? With delivery once a week for what you haven’t collected?
Companies, not-for-profits, government institutions etc. who don’t undertake radical change risk catastrophic failure.
Free mail delivery once a week.
Applaud getting customer feedback – pick your shots!
January 20th, 2012Macy’s emailed me to participate in a customer survey after I bought socks. Sorry, I am not that vested in that situation to go through a survey.
But, I did find the sales person helpful.
And I appreciated the coupon that you guys sent me.
So, I guess I have given feedback.
The end of the buggy whip example!
January 19th, 2012When markets shift dramatically, we strategists know that it doesn’t matter how well you make a certain product.
You couldn’t sell buggy whips once cars came in….
And you couldn’t succeed with the world’s best film products when digital photography came in.
RIP, Eastman Kodak.
(But you’ll be back in many Harvard business school cases.)
Beware acronyms!
January 17th, 2012We’ve all seen it in corporate life – the proliferation of acronyms to describe life at the company quickly and efficiently.
But, exercise caution when they spill over into your customers’ world.
Witness a huge banner at the Post Office saying basically, “Come and use the APC to meet all your postal needs”.
The APC?
That’s the Automated Postal Center.
But why? And why not something catchier. Like PostalPartner or QuickPost or PostalBuddy or Postie…..
Call me!
That crazy “naming” business……
December 5th, 2011One of my clients recently said to me that doing a product name is just very hard…..
But how hard could it be…..we consider the product, the attributes it delivers, the target market, competitive names and off we go….
Except for matters of taste, personal preference, competitive conflicts, trademark congestion, it really would be pretty straightforward….
Here’s a few current examples and how you can run amok:
- Qwikster: So much has been written, but I have to say as well – how could the mailed product from Netflix have the Qwikster name? Ok, enough said.
- NuVal: King Soopers’ new scoring of specific foods’ nutritional value. But why is it “Nu”? Has an food’s nutritional value changed as a result of the scoring? The “Nu” hangs me up…..it even gives me some genetically engineered feel which is probably not desired.
- Dreamliner: Boeing’s new 787. What a marvelous name in a category where conventional names have the numbering pattern. But then delivery is nearly 3 years late. A headache of epic proportions for marketers.
- Metro State: The community college here in Denver wants a new name and wants Denver in that name but keeps bumping up against the University of Denver who is not taking kindly to encroaching in their space. Stop right now and work on a different name idea. Their current ideas are: Denver Metropolitan State University. Denver State Metropolitan University. Metropolitan Denver State University. This is going nowhere. They all sound the same to the naive listener and they are all TOO LONG. Start over!
- Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art: Would love to visit this new museum in Bentonville, Arkansas. But hate the name. Feels like a mall or a senior retirement community. Hmm.
What names are bugging you? Let me know.
The Ten Top Reasons I Renewed the Denver Post
October 26th, 2011The Pew Charitable Trust recently reported that some 70% of survey respondents said they would not miss their local paper. Hmmm.
But I did just renew my Denver Post subscription. There were plenty of reasons not to go this way:
- So much of the news in the paper seems like it happened two days ago. I already saw a headline alert as much as 18 – 24 hours before it is “re-reported” in the Post. I look through the paper in a bemused way as I examine yesterday’s news.
- There is so little written by the Post, which I can understand, as they have cut, cut, cut staff. I’ve already read the “long form” version in The New York Times.
- Recent feature articles seemed long and very self important. Hmmm.
- There’s that weird section each Thursday which I immediately throw out which seems like hyper-local news (a good thing) but I get a strong impression that the B team puts it together.
- I love the afternoon Denver Post Headlines email….even if they do repeat the morning news headlines (don’t do that!). You do get a good snapshot of what’s happened locally during the day. Who the cops shot at etc.
- And I can always go to the Denver Post website and use their iPad app:
Look at those finger prints - hours of iPad usage!
But I still renewed and here’s the top 10 reasons why:
- How would I have known about the corn maze south of Greeley?
- Occasionally, there are very interesting articles about events in Denver, for example, the new art museum opening on November 18.
- I love the Thursday leisure section article where some amusing dignitary in town is interviewed at an interesting “watering hole”. I don’t want to read it online as someone puts together a really wonderful photo montage each week.
- The Sunday business section has that interesting Wall Street Journal insert. You’d think I would have had enough WSJ 6 days a week, but I like the insert. Interesting columns – loved the column with the Dad and his two sons.
- How would I know when the Clinique “gift with purchase” is happening at Macy’s?
- Where else would I see pictures of the charity lunch I went to?
- My boyfriend does the puzzles while I cook.
- Reading through the paper is an excellent safety net for articles I could have missed elsewhere. This happened today.
- It’s quick and painless to read through……no guilt about deeply important articles that I should be reading.
- The Sports Section is where I look for scores and standings across my favorite sports. And, for some reason, I like knowing who made how much money each week on the PGA. Plus I need the articles on the Broncos to retain my full status as a Denver resident!
So, we’ll give it another year and see if I can justify it once again. But please, work on some good feature stories….
Why don’t my people know your people?
October 18th, 2011Congrats on Arrow Electronics relocating its headquarters to Colorado!
A Fortune 500 firm is coming HERE!
So, I immediately checked LinkedIn to see who I knew. It’s not as good as I would hope.
This is a solid target company for Bright Beacon work. Help with strategic planning? Help with product launches? Perhaps a temporary exec position? Facilitating a problem solving workshop? Serving as team leader on an important initiative?
But why don’t my LinkedIn people know more Arrow people?
Start linking! You never know where it might take you.
