On The Ground Looking Up

Hey Microsoft, Make Your Own Apple Store!

Oobject, tells us how to make our own DIY Apple Store. Theater seating included. Imitation...flattery...insert pithy quote here.

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No comment.

Becky comments.

When TV Shows Spawn Products

I like when shows spawn actual products. Die-hards enjoy it, it brings the brand out of the TV box, and it exposes everyone who comes into contact with it a new brand experience.
Check out Quantum Mechanix, a site that offers propaganda and products for Sci-Fi shows.

The Battlestar Galactica propaganda set is especially good. As the costs for manufacturing products comes down, you can do smaller, collectible items that are not your typical t-shirt or keychain.

One of the most profound examples of this is the Swingline Red Stapler from Office Space. Swingline had not produced the red color stapler for years, but after the movie came out, the product was requested so much that they went back into production and became one of the most popular items in their catalog.

I believe it is opportune time for entertainment properties to start generating incremental revenue and more importantly, lasting brand home/office invasion, by using the creative props they envision and make them into reality. With that said, I could really go for a Slusho.

Pulsar CP 1919 And The Creation Of An Icon

Pulsar CP 1919 would have been nothing without Peter Saville. Pulsars are highly magnetized rotating neutron stars which emit a beam of detectable electromagnetic radion in the form of radio waves (wiki). But more importantly, they are the lines that Saville used to create the iconic cover for Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures LP.  It has amazed me for years how this graphic has existed in the public mainstream as much as almost any pop culture icon has. In the last few years, there has also been a resurgence of it's use. From t-shirts, to tattoos to sneakers, CP 1919 is all over. The Ian Curtis Biopic also helped.  Tate Online has a great article on the creation of this image and it's virtually unknown (at the time) designer. For us trying to build lasting brands, there are some great nuggets to pull from.

The Album

The Sneaker

The Tattoo

LINK: Tate Online Article

Fictional Product - Renault Autobot

Note to Renault, make this.

Worst Ad Placement Of The Year (So Far)

Just saw this post on Gamil. We all know how bad most coach airline food is. But how bad are you communicating that it is if you have an ad for Pepto on the very tray in which you are eating the food on. I do not see how this is good for the airline's image and additionally, does it really benefit the Pepto brand by featuring it's product in a setting of bad food, discomfort and an often anxious and disgruntled consumer? Bad media agency, BAD!

The Sun As Advertising Partner

An innovative use of the sun for the this billboard for the World Wildlife Foundation. Shadow and light.

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Spoofing As Success

You know you have made it when people spoof you. If you have made it into the DNA of the
mainstream consciousness, then there is a good chance that someone is out there who will make fun of you for it. And in many ways it can be great for your brand. It 1. establishes your brand as one to watch. 2. means you have something worthy enough to be talked about (and then to be made fun of) and 3. have that earwormish hook that penetrates through the other gajillion messages that are out there.
So don't take it so seriously, don't sent the cease and desist, enjoy and embrace. We should all be so lucky.

Mad props to Felix, the end all be all documenter of white, tech brand associated hip hop spoof jams.

Yet Another Cloverfield Post

I was reading Marc's posting on the marketing around Cloverfield and all of this is starting to bug me.  I respect Marc greatly and there are many others out there claiming about the brilliance of the film and the marketing, but I feel we should look at a few things in context.

1. Cloverfield is estimated to bring in 41Mil for it's opening weekend. Broke some January records and such. BUT... The big movies open much bigger than that. I am Legend - 77Mil, Pirates of the Carib 3 - 115Mil, Transformers 70Mil, 300 - 70 Mil, and the list goes on. So really, can we say that it had an amazing opening weekend? It did well for sure, but I still feel like it actually disappointed. It did not even crack the top 100 in terms of largest openings.

2. I keep hearing that it was low budget. That is true to a degree. Estimates are that it cost $25-30 million to make. But that does not include the multiple millions that were spent in marketing and promotion. So when it is said and done, let's say it is a 75-100Mil movie. Still low compared to the 200MIl+ on King Kong, but not really low budget.

3. Also, we should consider this. Cloverfield was brought to us by J.J. Abrams, who has a rabid fanbase with LOST, brought the very popular Alias to viewers, is helming the upcoming Star Trek movie. That alone will get people in the seats and the Cloverfield trailer was initially very good and different enough to capture the attention of everybody who saw Transformers (where the trailer debuted) and therefore, added to the hype by a very savvy placement. I would have been very surprised if a monster movie, brought by a very hot entertainment personality, with a good degree of secrecy behind it, would not have opened up pretty well.

4. The marketing campaign was pretty good for me, but scarce actually. As I mentioned I thought the initial trailer and the debut of it was very smart. I did not care much about the Slusho stuff or some of the other obscure creations and placements (you can read all about those here), and they were probably not targeted to me, but it seemed like a lot of work went in to creating this viral web, when in many ways the trailer had already done a lot of the work.  Most of what I saw was the traditional - Trailers, Posters, Banners, Etc. and those still got me to want to see the movie, not sure you needed the rest. The Statue Of Liberty image was a good choice as well as controversy helps a product like this. I personally would not say that the marketing was amazing but it was good for what I saw.

5. But the final point I want to make is the most relevant to me.  I went to see the movie in a big theater in NYC on the opening weekend - Saturday night - and it was only about 2/3 full. This surprised me. I cannot remember the last big opening movie that i saw on the first weekend that was not sold out. What this said to me was that the product was not accessible enough to get crossover interest. The sci-fi and horror dudes of course would go. Just like they would AVP or any other of those that come out. But for a movie to really open big, it has to cross over. That in combination with a main gimmick that after awhile gets tiring and a story line that is not terribly developed and you get a mediocre result. I wont spoil anything for those who have not seen it, but the amount of people who seemed disappointed after the movie was high.

So did the marketing do a better job than the movie itself? We will see. I am sure it will make money and the studio will make Son of Cloverfield: The Return or something like that. But I am not sure I am ready to chalk this one up as the major success that many seem to be talking about.

WARNING: THIS VIDEO IS NOT A SPOILER AT ALL

Adidas Blows!

But in the good way :-)

I have always thought Adidas was one of the more creative companies out there when it comes to guerrilla marketing and creating extraordinary experiences. When i saw this, while I did not get as jazzed as some other Adi promotions, it still came off as a very good idea. Adidas sponsors a marathon in Auckland. I guess when you own the race you can do certain 'modifications'. Oh, like adding 50 KM of wind at runners' backs using a huge custom wind turbine for a little extra jolt.

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