Wells Fargo

My favorite bank is Wells Fargo.  Every bank wants you to feel that your money is safe with them, but Wells Fargo does the best job of all.  Let's face it, all the major banks had to be bailed out a couple of years ago so any sense of safety in a bank's advertisement is hard to justify.  But Wells Fargo has such a long history that they have me convinced.  The traditional Wells Fargo stagecoach is the perfect symbol to show that my money is safe with this bank.  If I was really in the 19 century, I might be concerned about being robbed by Jesse James, but here in the 21st century, the stagecoach shows me that Wells Fargo is traditional and has been successful for a long time.  If the company has been around this long, it must be safe.  Besides, yellow and red are pretty successful colors.  

Dyson's Multiplier

If I can assume you went to Summerfest in Milwaukee, WI this year, then you must have seen the Dyson tent.  No - there were no vacuums on display.  Instead, Dyson sales associates were showing off the ultracool Air Multiplier Fan that you may or may not have heard of.  If you had ever seen this fan before, then you had to stop by if only for the chance to stick your arm through the enticing loop where air magically "multiplies."  

Once  inside of the tent you would have seen the coolest (don't mind my pun) use for the Dyson fan ever imagined.  Check out the video below.

Anytime a company can showcase it's product in such a clever way, I have to applaud.  This display really showed off Dyson's slightly nerdy but fun persona that is seen in all their advertisements.  No, I did not walk away from that tent with a purchase, but I have a great story and a video to share with all my friends.  This is an advertisement that "multiplies."

Double Impact

Today, as I was driving home from a local festival, I heard a radio commercial that caught my attention.  The voice in the ad was telling me about the impact the small things we do can have on the lives of others.  It began with a volunteer who brought a book to a young girl.  That book inspired a love of reading followed by a love of science that propelled her into a career as an aeronautical engineer.  The story ends with this girl growing up to be on the team that sent a rover to Mars.  I soon found out this commercial was for a gasoline company.  The hook was, "How far can a gallon of gas take you - 40 million miles."  As it turns out, the volunteer who gave this girl a book was from a books on wheels program that relies on Citgo gasonline.  This radio commercial ended with a call to action to the website about Citgo's charitable efforts - fuelinggood.com.

The story of the aeronautical engineer ended with the radio spot, but my experience with Citgo's marketing did not end there.  Coincidentally, I soon passed a billboard for Citgo a mile or two down the road.  This billboard was about the product this time, but the reinforcement of Citgo's brand and the Fueling Good campaign was fortunate - "Citgo is Good Gas Guaranteed.  Fueling Good."

While a coincidence like this is hard to plan, the experience I had with Citgo's brand had double the impact of either the radio ad or the billboard on it's own.  Anytime as ad can overlap with some other type of marketing the chances of persuading the audience goes up.  While my experience was mere coincidence, this kind of double impact can be carefully constructed.

Snickers Commercials

"You're not you when you're hungry.  Snickers Satisfies."

Snickers has a series of television commercials that feature various celebrities in funny and unlikely situations.  It turns out that being hungry can literally turn anyone into a diva like Aretha or Liza or an angry man like Joe Pesci.  Below, I've gathered four of those commercials that take advantage of celebrity spots.  What attracted me to these commercials was the surprise element like when you find out that Betty White isn't really playing tackle football with a bunch of young guys.  Fortunately though, for comedy's sake, you still get to see Betty get tackled, and Roseanne hit by a log.  So, please enjoy the commercials posted below.  Remember not to watch them on an empty stomach.  And also remember, Snickers satisfies.

What exactly is a "green" burial?

What exactly is a "green" burial?

I don't know the answer to that question, but you could find out at this particular funeral home.

While a lot of companies are jumping on the "green marketing" bandwagon, I did not expect the funeral industry to follow suit.  Many companies that tout their products as "green" do not have backing of any third-party evaluation to support the claim.  I have my doubts about this funeral home's claim as well despite the cute little plant pictured.

Beyond my feelings towards the green marketing trend, I have a bigger problem with this billboard.  Rule # 1 for burial advertisements - don't include dirt in your graphics!  When the time comes to make plans for your own death or of a loved one, the last thing you want to see is dirt.  Adding a shovel and a hole in the background is the only thing I can think of that would make this ad less appropriate.  As I read this billboard, I suddenly got the feeling that a green burial means that your body will become compost for the young plant pictured.  I doubt the gruesome picture in my head was the intent of this billboard.

Milwaukee Mile is lost without a title sponsor

On Father's Day weekend 2011, race teams, drivers, and the Idycar IZOD series were excited to come back to the famed Milwaukee Mile.  However, the fans didn't show up.

AB Promotions, an Indianapolis based sports promotions company, failed.  They had many plans and great ideas for bringing fans back to the track and keeping Indycar at The Mile, but were not able to secure a title sponsor for the race.  AB Promotions' second mistake was with the lack of publicity around the race.  However, I did receive a 2 for 1 ticket deal with my Time Warner Cable bill! Unfortunately, I didn't receive it until the week of the race - I had plans.  I heard the race was exciting, but the turnout was disappointing all around.

I understand the race wasn't given the best date (Father's Day) and the weather man was calling for rain all weekend, but without proper promotion or a title sponsor, this race was doomed to fail.  Why were they not able to find a title sponsor?  With all the big time Wisconsin businesses - Bucyrus, Sargento, Johnsonville, Northwestern Mutual, Johnson Controls, Harley Davidson, Rockwell Automation, it should not have been that hard to find a sponsor.  In the 90's the Indycar races brought a ton of fans to the Milwaukee Mile.  What went wrong?

I'll Be Your Corona and Lime

I absolutely love the Corona television advertisement that has been airing lately!  See the link below.

YouTube - Corona - Plane

While I know that I don't want a Corona (not my cup of tea), somehow this commercial wins me over every time.  Somehow, this ad, along with the long-standing beach series, has convinced me that Corona is the perfect relaxing, vacation beer.  I know in my head that I don't like the taste of Corona, but I like relaxing, and I like the beach.

Also, somehow, Corona has convinced the world that their product is inextricably connected to the lime.  One product has taken over an entire fruit!  The partnership between Corona and lime is even sung about by Shwayze.

Baby will you be my corona and lime.
And I will be your main squeeze.
And if your brother don't like my style.
We could take it to the street.
We could take it to the street.

 Because of these advertisements, I know that if I am sitting on an Adirondack chair on a sandy beach overlooking the ocean with a slice of lime in one hand, the only thing missing is Corona beer.  And, I don't even like the taste!