Lewis Lazare: Last time we checked, the Coca-Cola Co. wasn't cash-strapped. So it's surprising the company couldn't come up with a more compelling look for the revamped Fresca design hitting grocery store shelves this week. Fresca's new bubble-inspired design strikes us as something you'd be more likely to find on a third-rate generic cola. Rack it up as another misstep in what has been terribly uneven marketing and …
Sex Sells “Your Favorite Little Pelmeni”
Konstantin Dlutskiy writes about marketing and advertising in Russia. ‘Pelmeni’ are Russian ravioli-like pasta envelopes containing minced meat. Always with meat. Envelopes with mashed potatoes or fruits are called ‘vareniki’ and are more popular in Ukraine. The popularity of pelmeni in Russia is immense. It’s one of the most popular traditional fast food. You simply put frozen pelmeni into boiling water and in 5 …
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A Hard Look At The Old Soft Sell
San Francisco Chronicle: In most ads, a company is trying to sell you a product, or a brand, or some oxymoronic notion of corporate philosophy (as if the pursuit of profit wasn't credible self-justification in a capitalist marketplace). But flipping through a recent copy of the New Yorker -- the Sept. 5 issue, to be precise -- I came across several ads for leading companies that spoke to a relatively new trend in …
Dear National City Bank,
How stupid is your marketing department? I leave town for 9 days and what did I find in the stack of mail upon my return? 1) A Visa "CheckCard" I never asked for, but is just sitting in an envelope any moron can feel has a card enclosed. It's just there waiting to be "instantly activated." 2) A letter containing my PIN number. The one that's supposed to be a freakin' secret. Had anyone other than my trustworthy …
What Would Jesus Double Down On?
Here's a news flash: Religious people are a little sensitive about their deities. From Yahoo: Irish bookmaker Paddy Power was fending off the wrath of Christians in overwhelmingly Roman Catholic Ireland on Friday over an advert depicting Jesus and the Apostles gambling at the Last Supper. The billboard posters, on display in the Irish capital, adapt Leonardo da Vinci's famous painting of the event to show Jesus with …
Coors Launches Onionesque Site
At long last, Coors Brewing has found a way to make their key point-of-difference relevant to young male beer drinkers. Beer Drinkers Against the Mistreatment of Beer Mission Statement Imagine being packed by the hundreds, even thousands, into un-refrigerated or un-insulated trucks and rail cars for days on end. Standing in up to 100 degree heat. No windows, no air-conditioning. It sounds like a scene from a horror …
Schwab Chucks Charles For Chuck
According to New York Times, brokerage house, Charles Schwab, has introduced a new ad campaign from Euro RSCG Worldwide in New York, the Havas agency that was awarded the company's brand and retail advertising account in December. The campaign is directed at current and potential Schwab customers in a way meant to echo the informal yet focused approach of Mr. Schwab. "It's a bit of a risky move," said Marc E. Babej, …
Palm Capitulates
Om Malik: Palm, the company that ignited the handheld computer market, capitulated, and switched away from its own house OS to a Windows Mobile operating system. In other words it has just become yet another Windows-handheld device maker, and lost its “unique selling point.” Proof, that Microsoft eventually wins. Microsoft’s in-house spin-meister won’t even have to spin this one. For this highlights the miscues and …
