Category: marketing

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Ads everywhere

As we rode light rail trains around Kuala Lumpur, I noticed that ads were on the ceilings of the train cars. It seemed that companies rent ad space on entire trains. The outsides and insides of a train are completely wrapped in advertising for one company. Sometimes ads even cover parts of windows.

In this case, the company had something to do with preventing computer viruses.

I briefly raise these questions: How much advertising is too much? What if these ads help the train fare to be lower? And are the ads even effective? (I will answer that one – I’d guess that train users see them once and then the ads become invisible.)

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Polkatex?

I bought a fancy Japanese umbrella by Mont Bell.

Fabric? Polkatex! I love the name – it brings a smile to my face. However, it might not communicate “strong waterproof fabric” in America like it might in Japan.

Sadly, when the user opens the umbrella, each strut has to be snapped into place – a small hassle. But it’s comforting to know that the waterproofing will last a long time!

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What is naughty?

Volvo wants you to think that they are.

It’s a classic case of re-branding. For decades, they have been known as the safety leader. They were the first on the market to have airbags (maybe). But now they want to grab your attention and say, “We’re not boring!”

They have had their less-boring side for a while. I drove a 1995 850 T5R with a friend (who then worked for a Volvo dealer). We had massive fun. Somewhere deep in my basement is a video of that speedometer screaming toward a speed maybe a bit higher than the legal limit.

Interestingly, their campaign still focuses on safety. Their precept is that you can move a lot closer to the edge – and still be safe.

Will their “naughty” re-branding work? Time will tell.

Lest you think I am obsessed with Volvos, I really do like Hondas and BMWs better. And I thank Volvo for the great photo of their newest “naughty” car – the S60. I would like to drive one.

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They listened to me

We did a family grocery shopping trip the other day. I was thrilled to see the top of a Nature’s Path granola box.

In January, I blogged about how Kashi, a “natural” cereal manufacturer, had gotten things wrong by making their boxes much larger than the cereal inside required.

Nature’s Path read my post (not really – they probably figured it out on their own) and made their boxes in just right sizes to fit the cereal inside! Yay!!

(And yes, I voted with my wallet – I bought two boxes. Being on sale was a special bonus!)

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Simplify

Two receipts were given to me after I bought a few pieces of flagstone for a Saturday afternoon project. One was nicely generated by the cash register – complete with a little marketing message at the bottom (“On August 28th, the first 40 customers receive a free reusable bag!”). And then there was the no-technology carbon-copy of a hand-written receipt, showing the weight of the flagstones I purchased.

Santa Fe Sand & Gravel could save themselves time and money by integrating their systems – so that all the info is on the computer-assisted receipt.

Takeaway: Simplify. What are some ways you can simpilfy your business – or life – by eliminating redundant systems?

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Lost their way

Not long from now, you’ll be seeing a Mini SUV on the road. As in, Mini Cooper.

It’s just wrong.

Focus… stick to what your core strength is. My guess is that they will sell about twenty. (I am joking – but I do not think that this will be their most popular model.)

It gets as little as 20 mpg. It’s 16″ longer and 6″ taller. If you will remember back to when the Mini was reintroduced (2001), the idea was to have a sporting car that got decent fuel economy. No more.

My take? Buy a used Mini and a used Toyota RAV instead. Then you will have your SUV – and what God intended – a fun, sporty car. All for less than the $29,000 starting price of a new Mini Cooper Countryman AWD.

Photo courtesy of Road & Track magazine.

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Don’t go there

Yes, it’s true – I think Starbucks just made a mistake.

I get their weekly emails, and last week’s featured their new flavored coffees: “Natural Fusions“.

I’m showing my bias here – I don’t like flavored coffees to start with. (Those Frappuccinos and such – well, that’s a different matter. I like those. But they aren’t really coffee.) But my take is that those who like flavored coffee (or flavoured, if you are in the English-speaking part of the world) should add syrup to their freshly-brewed cup. Just like your neighborhood coffee bar would.

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You must stand out

This tower of public notices stands in downtown Boulder, Colorado – the home of a university with more than 30,000 students. Most of the posters are for live music events.

Did you notice that all of them look more or less the same?

How hard would it be to design a poster with catchy full-color photo surrounded by a significantly large white border ? Or maybe a 98% black poster with just a tiny bit of white type in the center? Then just put one on top of about every fifth standard poster. Those would stand out.

Takeaway: Let’s think outside the box, my friends.

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