Moshe Engelberg On Everything Marketing

To "prepare" us for the next Muppets feature film in 2011, Disney (who bought the Muppet franchise several years ago) has unleashed a brilliant and carefully orchestrated combination new and traditional media strategy that draws on Disney's many assets. A major communication channel is YouTube, and Muppet characters have been appeared in several ABC and ESPN programs. Check out the very cool Muppets version of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, which to date, has been viewed by over 11.6 million viewers.

Soon we'll be seeing Muppets everywhere. The power of pop culture to influence our collective psyche!

The Tiger Woods brand identity is hurting. Tiger is laying low. His sponsors are running. What should he do? 

My daughter Alyssa showed me the interesting critique and ideas for reviving the Tiger brand in The Economist. But he's probably waiting for the official Moshe Engelberg brand identity improvement recommendation before he does anything. Who can blame him?! So here ya go Tiger! 

Come clean - totally clean, and make sincere amends to your wife and fans. Show your pain Tiger, show how deeply you hurt. You'll find that your attempt matters more than his wife Elin's acceptance. America so wants to sustain its belief in you not just as the world's best golfer, but you as a good man (which are of course the two parts of the Tiger Woods brand). We are very forgiving and love stories of good overcoming evil, even more than good, well just staying good.

The marketing lesson: The gap between Tiger's identity (who he is) and his image (how he is perceived) is the problem. People assume their perceptions match the reality, and have trouble reconciling a gap. Similarly, an identity-image gap really hurts companies too. For people and for businesses, closing the gap means one of two things: Changing who you are to match how you're perceived, or changing perceptions to match who your are. 

Tiger, for your integrity and for your money... come clean!

Viacom's movie studio Paramount needs a new way to make money since DVD sales are declining. They are now launching an online video clip service that makes favorite segments from its movie collection available for purchase. 

The price depends on your licensing agreement with them, and how you plan to use the clips. Heres' a link to their demo, which is only open to "friends" right now (if you have access, please let me know).

Techies call these clips "short-form video assets." I think they are the future of online video. We're working in this space too - more to follow!

Oral Roberts, the television preacher whose faith healing ministry had millions of followers, died last week. Here's a short video of him faith healing little Billy Ray, a boy with polio, so Billy can suddenly walk without crutches.

I remember as a kid watching Oral Roberts, and Jimmy Swaggart, the 700 Club, and other TV ministries with utter fascination. Even then I questioned what they said, but loved how they said it. They were experts at the art of persuasion! Their effectiveness had very little to do with facts, and everything to do with faith, and feeling. Which is, I believe, why the religious right is as powerful as they are. In public dialogue, they "own" feelings and emotion. As entertainers, they tap into our uniquely human ability to suspend disbelief and go along with the story. Those left of center are driven by logic and reason.

The promise of hope and despair of fear almost always trump rationale thinking, especially when it comes to the abstract values that guide our lives. What would happen if the pendulum shifted? Let's try it!

(P.S. When I start typing "Oral" into the Google search box, the first suggestion is "Oral Roberts" -- immediately followed by... "oral herpes." Be careful of the company you keep!).

Here's a cool example of effective health communication, albeit disgusting. Powerful metaphors, vivid imagery, and strong social math.

Check out this CNN video story on the campaign.

So you know, the NYC Health Department is a trendsetter, having banned trans fats in restaurants several years ago (and it's working!). The former Health Department director now heads up CDC. We consult with CDC and will be pushing for more edgy campaigns there.

The Senate is considering tossing the public option in favor of an experiment: See if private insurance companies play fair for a couple years, and if not, then include a public option. In a very clever reframing, cartoonist Andy Lubershane paints a picture (draws an animated cartoon actually) of what would happen if we treated firefighting services like we do health insurance - complicated contracts, pre-existing conditions, etc. Check it out.

Whatever your opinion, now's the time to express it.

OK, Twitter-head, can I ask you a question? Only if it has less than 140 characters. This action-packed exchange was in a recent Non Sequitur comic strip. 

Is tweeting good or bad for communicating what matters? I say both. And here's why (in less than 140 characters!). The upside is the good judgment needed to be effective and concise. The downside is no judgment and tweeting about meaningless things.

Check out this very funny "SuperNews!" animated comedy sketch that was on Current TV:

And bonus... here are Soren Gordhamer's four insightful Taoist tips for better and balanced tweeting.

What a marketer LuAnne is - making money from her blog! She recognized how to apply the law of supply and demand to transform her little brother's need for computer time into a revenue stream. Now kids all over the world can learn the economics of blogging from the Sunday comics... see, entertainment can educate!

Last week, I was at the mall with my wife and kids. Following along, I wasn't paying much attention to where we were going, though I did her someone say "Nordstrom" as we walked into the nearest department store. Passing the shoes, I noticed their selection was well below par. I was also amazed a the low prices and Kohl's-like display of men's pants. Then when I asked for help on two occasions, both salespeople simply pointed and said "over there." At this point, I knowingly said to my wife, "The service is really bad for Nordstrom's and some of the prices are so low!" She looked at me and said, "Moshe, this is Sears. You've been here for 20 minutes and you still thought it was Nordstrom??"

Rather than trying to convince her that I was doing such a good marketing experiment that I didn't even know I was doing it (inadvertently doubleblind, as it were), I simply said, "yes."

Looking back, I realize how well Nordstrom lives its brand promise of service and quality. And how Sears can win on price - sometimes. And lastly, how Nordstorm can transform clothes shopping (even for a non-shopper like yours truly) into an "experience." Now that's a brand!

I was making a deposit in the bank and saw this "rock" on the counter by the teller. In fact, there was one of these promotional items by every teller branding the solidness of Union Bank. (The pen is there for scale).

Then I picked it up. It was made of soft foam. About as solid as a marshmallow. Is that really the brand message Union Bank wants to convey?? Trust us with your money. Because we're solid ...like a marshmallow. The morale of the story is the medium can be the message. Think it through Union Bank!