Monday, February 9, 2009

good marketing

what's good marketing? one marketer's trash is another marketer's dream ... there's an amazing amount of disagreement, i think, even among folks who have spent their entire careers in this field, about what's "good." some think award-winning advertising is good. some think the proof is entirely in sales. some think the answer lies in net promoter score (NPS). and others think those folks ought to stfu and let's go get some drinks, the client's an idiot for god's sake, and we get paid whether it works or not.

so here are some of my past and present favorites. i have a long list, so you'll see more faves from time to time. the fact that these show up first is meaningless...they surfaced in a recent conversation with the dogs (who are all about making stains, drinking bottled water, and riding around in cars), and perhaps that's why they're now top of mind.


tide to go stain stick. this is an outstanding combination of product development and competitive differentiation, channel marketing, and communications. tide figured out where shout had gone wrong -- a great idea, the wipes were, and they were first to market -- but the idea was poorly executed, and not promoted well. plus, tide's 2008 superbowl ad was incredibly well-done and the web tie-in was equally cool. and this, about a laundry detergent! i admit, as one who's prone to spilling things on herself, i am in fact the target for the product ... but i think i would still have liked it.




evian. what can one say about a company that can convince people (before anyone else did) that it's not only okay to pay money for something which is free -- but that it's really required if you want to improve your image? i hadn't been to evian's website in a while, but it's really quite something. i HAD seen the line extensions (jean paul gautier, christian lacroix and the new cool "palace" bottle) and it'll be interesting to see if that's enough to continue to propel the brand. i still remind people who tell me that people will never pay more that "evian" is "naive" spelled backwards, and people will ALWAYS pay more if you simply give them a compelling reason to do so. "brand" is not "margin" spelled backwards, but really, isn't this what it's all about? the only gripe i have is that the music on the site sounds remarkably like a soundtrack from a low-budget porn flick. (How do i know this, having never seen a low-budget porn flick? i'm guessing, and have heard from others).


hyundai. ok, time will tell whether these guys were incredibly brilliant or seriously misguided when they came up with the "lose your job, give back the car" deal, but you've gotta admit, it's a pretty solid idea for the current time. so far, only suburu and hyundai are hanging onto increases in the car market (slim ones, but still positive numbers vs. the other automakers). their work is having a positive impact on their brand performance, and jd power doesn't lie about quality -- hyundai has it over acura, bmw, volvo and a host of other more expensive vehicles.
next time ... bad marketing, and what can be done about it.

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