Moshe Engelberg On Everything Marketing

BMW launched its U.S. campaign during the Winter Olympics with its "Joy" ads. Check out the 60 second spot:

Here's more detail from today's Marketing Daily. I thought BMW's "Ultimate Driving Machine" positioning and ad campaign was one of the best car campaigns of all time. It really showcased what was unique about the product and set BMW apart very effectively.

Not so much for the "Joy" campaign. I mean, joy is certainly a good thing. But it's not why people buy Beemers. Performance - that's why people buy them (and of course prestige for some). The attempt to connect performance with joy just doesn't cut IMHO. Not that it couldn't though.

I see this campaign as a well-intended "feel good" campaign that misses the mark. Soon sales will tell the story. What do you think?

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.

I just finished teaching a Global Marketing Strategy seminar to a great group of working professionals at University of San Diego.

The key theme was customer intimacy. Three things stand out for me: 1) How much I learn when I teach. 2) How the idea of customer intimacy resonates with people on a gut level, I believe because it is a fundamental human need to be heard, to be connected, and to matter. Which is what customer intimacy is all about. 3) How, when going global, the strategic decision about standardization (the same in every country - think McDonalds) vs. customization (think Four Seasons - you know what country you're in by just looking around your hotel room) is so foundational to corporate philosophy, product positioning, and success.

And there is a parallel in our everyday lives. How do we adapt to a different environment  or culture? Do we stay the same or change? My belief is that like companies, we as individuals need to be clear about our principles that are unchanging and those we can flex. And to know which are which.

The Chinese symbol for crisis is composed of two characters. One means danger. The other means opportunity (or some say "crucial point").

That's how I think about allowing cell phone use on airplanes. In a recent blog posting, the NY Times called it "The in-flight menace: Wireless chatter." Personally I agree.

However, from a marketing perspective, domestic airlines could seize the opportunity to differentiate by being the first to allow phones in flight, citing the success of several foreign airlines like Emirates that allow cell phones and other personal wireless devices for making phone calls. They would secure a loyal customer base, at least until it became an industry norm.

Or better, they could stand out - and avoid the danger of customer backlash - by proclaiming their opposition to using cel phones in the air, in line with numerous airline customer surveys. Then brand their action as a demonstration of customer intimacy. But the airlines should not just do nothing while waiting as their national union lobbies Congress for a ban on inflight calls.

I was on a Southwest airline flight earlier this year when they tested internet access, I thought it was great for e-mailing. But I found I could have a phone conversation too in the air via Skype. This I did not like.

Let airlines capitalize on the phone-free "escape" they provide. If not, then hey - offer cell phone and cell phone-free sections, like the old smoking/non-smoking sections. Let freedom ring (sort of)!

I was visiting my wonderful 80-something mom in Pittsburgh last week for a family wedding and saw this by her TV.

The juxtaposition of Fun-To-Know on the DVD case and the Stent plus patient guide DVD on top grabbed my attention. Isn't that special, I thought. Branding patient education on stents as fun. Actually, as a strong proponent and teacher of how to use entertainment to educate and persuade (see "TV Teacher" blog entry below), I was intrigued and ready to call my mom in to watch how much fun stents can be... wow!

Then I noticed that the Stent DVD didn't belong in the case it resting on. I picked up the Stent DVD and saw this:

Craps Made Simple. Fun-To-Know? Sure. But let's really stretch and see how we can make stents fun to know.

In the meantime, let's break out the dice mom and play some craps!

Is Radio Shack really changing its 80 year old name to THE SHACK? Hard to tell from their press release: They say this in their headline: RadioShack Invites Consumers to Rediscover 'THE SHACK' Through New Brand Creative Platform. Followed with this subhead: Integrated Media Campaign to Contemporize the Brand and Reinforce RadioShack's Authority in Innovative Products, Leading Brands and Knowledgeable Associates. Their Chief Marketing Officer explains: People trust friends, not corporations. And when a brand becomes a friend, it often gets a nickname, like Fed-Ex and Coke.  So Radio Shack gets a nickname from its creative agency. I say, "Dude!"

Is there truth to this marketingspeak? Maybe. But I think this whole SHACK thing is really about a newfound fear of becoming obselete. Is radio suddenly no longer leading edge technology? I thought that happened when TV came on the scene over 50 years ago. They say they need consumers to "understand the role that we play in keeping people connected in this highly mobile world." If they really want a contemporary image that sells the wires and cables they are best known for, and the innovative new technologies that connect people that they want to be known for, why not "Contemporize the Brand" (see their subhead above) with this branding: "Hook Up at Radio Shack." That would get attention.

(What if AT&T got rid of the second T that stands for telegraph. Then they'd be AT. Or maybe just @. Hmm.) FYI - see Harry McCracken's anti-name change blog on THE SHACK for more examples.

Here's the thing: Branding Radio Shack as THE SHACK does not strengthen their positioning as a leading technology retailer. In my informal survey of people who know and like Radio Shack, THE SHACK conjures up these associations: 1) Shaquille O'Neal, 2) the song "Love Shack," 3) the pub down the street, 4) my first apartment in college, and 5) a second-hand store that sells used VCRs and... old radios! 6) Or a hip hangout like this: 

So Radio Shack, don't throw away years of familiarity and trust and millions of PR dollars on a brand platform that makes people think of bar nuts and outhouses. Saying you're hip doesn't make it so. If you need to do something, go back to your late 1980s positioning strategy: America's Technology Store. And stick with your old red and white colors. Lose the mustard yellow and whatever green in the your ad at the top of this blog that pronounces how it's all about me. Like, whatever!