State of the Brand

Author: Jason Voiovich Ecra Creative Group

Key Points: 1. The US Justice Department fined Pfizer $2.3 billion for illegal marketing practices; taking doctors on golf trips, paying for massages, and the like to encourage off-label prescriptions of popular drugs. 2. With such a hefty penalty, conventional wisdom would say Pfizer’s market perception should suffer. By objective measures, that is not happening. 3. Pfizer has insulated its corporate brand by positioning its blockbuster drugs as the stars, and not marketing itself. That seems to be working. For now.

Remember the dad in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”?

He used Windex® for everything. He went so far as to carry around a bottle at all times, spraying things (and people) at comically inopportune times. Clearly, neither the FDA nor our friends at S.C. Johnson and Company in Racine, Wisconsin endorse Windex for the treatment of cold, flu, arthritis, and acne. The depiction was so ridiculous, most (reasonable consumers) wouldn’t take it seriously.

Now, let’s change the scenario.

Imagine you are recovering from a surgical procedure. Let’s pick appendix removal, but it could be anything. Clearly, you’re in pain, and your attending physician prescribes a medication - in this case, Bextra®. She tells you to take the prescribed dosage as needed and come back in three weeks.

Let me ask you something: In that scenario, do you look up the drug name in the formulary? Did you learn your doctor just prescribed well beyond the recommended dosage? Did you also learn Bextra; was not approved to treat post operative pain? That is was really an arthritis drug? And a Cox-2 inhibitor? The same Cox-2 inhibitor class of drugs you’ve heard about?

But your doctor knows best, right? (more…)

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Author: Jason Voiovich Ecra Creative Group

Key Points: 1. Most “special financing offer” auto advertising is so bland, you hardly notice. Not this time. 2. Porsche is under tremendous sales pressure, volume down some 27%, and special offers seem to be helping the cause. 3. However, price discounts undermine the value proposition of any brand - but especially lux brands like Porsche. Say hello to deteriorating margins.

Three words undeniably mean “sale” at your local car dealer.

Giant. Inflatable. Gorilla.

It conjures images of smarmy guys in plaid suits and plastic smiles. Add in stale popcorn and balloons for the kids, and you’ve got the makings of a busy Saturday afternoon.

When you arrive, you can count on a bevy of smart-sounding deals: X% financing (where “x” equals some number less than 1.0%), Cash Back deals, Bring Back deals. You can expect to learn what “taking delivery from dealer stock” means. You’ll start to wish you listened more carefully to the super-fast-disclaimer-talk the last time you saw the television ad.

It’s also pretty easy to guess what car nameplates you’ll see on the lot: Chevy, Ford, Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep, Buick, Kia, Hyundai. You might see the occasional Honda or Toyota, but don’t get your hopes up.

It is so common, and so predictable, that it becomes background noise. In the advertising biz, this type of promotion is akin to wiping your backside with your ad budget - no one is listening anymore.

But here’s where it gets interesting. (more…)

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Author: Jason Voiovich Ecra Creative Group

Key Points: 1. It may be a response to the globalization of the food supply, but locally-produced foods are a growing trend. 2. Following the same broad strategy as organics, local food producers use emotional appeals as well as raw facts to convince us to pay more. 3. In the end, however, globalization (and resulting efficiencies) may be too powerful a force for anything but a niche market presence for “local” foods.

I had every intention to buy Gold’n Plump chicken.

My wife and I were at the grocery store (which shall remain nameless) last weekend. And I was ready. I had seen the ‘local chicken’ ads on television and on billboards during my (some days too many) trips around town. They made sense to me. I was ready to ‘take a stand’.

When we arrived at the meat counter, I noticed a competing national brand on sale for 20 percent less money. But I was prepared. Locally produced food was important to me. I put it in the cart anyway.

That’s when I noticed the I-can’t-take-you-anywhere look. (more…)

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Author: Jason Voiovich Ecra Creative Group

Key Points: 1. A single print and broadcast ad from the World Wildlife Federation comparing the 9/11 terror attacks to the 2005 Tsunami death toll crosses the line. 2. But it is not that the ad shocks us - that’s not the point - the ad flies in the face of the mission of the organization, and undermines its reputation. 3. Corporate sponsorship, partnerships, and individual membership will likely suffer in the US, perhaps with irreversible damage.

I don’t have a problem with shock advertising.

I really don’t.

In some instances, violently abrupt advertising can help shake us out of our complacency and drive attention (and ideally, action) toward a worthy cause.

But it is so easy to get it wrong. The follow ad from the World Wildlife Federation is a case in point.

(more…)

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Author: Jason Voiovich Ecra Creative Group

Key Points: 1. The US Army spends 10 times what the average college or university spends for each new recruit. That just is not sustainable. 2. A combination of regulatory changes and careful data-mining - combined with smart sponsorship and coaching for the popular video game Halo 3 - are likely to turn the tide. 3. The inevitable targeting of younge r and younger children by recruiting messages could be seen as both a threat to the innocence of youth as well as an opportunity to communicate civic virtue to young citizens.

It costs the US Army, on average, $24,500 for each new recruit.

$24,500.

That may not sound like a lot of money until you consider the average university spends just over $2000 to achieve the same result. Street math: The Army spends 10 times what the U of M spends. Yikes.

Let’s do more math, shall we. (more…)

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Author: Jason Voiovich Ecra Creative Group

Key Points: 1. Lund’s and Byerly’s entered into a partnership with the Double R Ranch to provide premium beef for its retail grocery stores, taking advantage of building its footprint in a rapidly growing segment. 2. However, it can be hard to distinguish the Lund’s and Byerly’s effort from similar efforts at other major grocery chains, where the “partnership” is more marketing creation than physical reality. 3. In the long-term, however, an authentic branding position has better staying power than a simply imaginary one.

I love the meat counter at Byerly’s.

They still have actual butchers. Not that I would blame most people for not knowing one when they saw one, but nowhere else can use ask tough questions about meat preparation and cooking and actually receive intelligent answers. It’s just about heaven for an armchair chef. (more…)

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Author: Jason Voiovich Ecra Creative Group

<em> Key Points: 1. Petey (the urine cup) and Pokey (the syringe) take an ironic twist on the kids’ mascot theme in order to grab attention. 2. They could be particularly effective with young adult healthcare consumers who don’t tend to pay attention unless they need to.  We’ll see. 3. Compared with poor generally healthcare advertising, HealthPartners made the kind of gutsy move the system clearly needs more of. </em>

The look on my wife’s face was priceless.

Last weekend, our family decided to brave the road closures around Lexington Avenue in St. Paul to visit Como Park.  Even though the family favorite polar bears are off exhibit until next year, the park has come along way since lions were kept in the rusty metal cages up front when I was a boy.

Outside of the new visitors center, rounding the corner to the sea lion tank, stood - no joke - a walking urine cup mascot.  Trailing close behind was another HealthPartners employee handing out cards promoting same day test result services available at HealthPartners clinics.

Needless to say, there was plenty of pointing and laughing. <!–more–>

I asked the kids if they wanted their picture taken with Petey P. Cup (also, no joke).

No takers.

Now before you laugh too hard, when was the last time you paid close attention to any health plan advertising?  Ordinarily, it’s just plain ordinary.  We’re the best hospital.  We’re the best clinic.  We have the best doctors.  You’ll get the best care.  Pretty cringe-worthy stuff at best.  Forgettable at worst.

You are unlikely to forget Petey or his cousin Pokey, the walking syringe.

Crafted by local ad shop Preston Kelly, the funky mascots have their own website and even their own Facebook page (now boasting over 1400 fans).

According to the word in the biz, the mascots are targeted at younger healthcare consumers - late teens to late twenties - who are conspicuously absent from their yearly physicals.  They say young adults understand the obvious irony, and the abruptness of the campaign will break their complacency and get their attention. More to the point, it will get them into the clinic.

Undoubtedly, a walking urine cup is hard to miss for those of us outside that age bracket as well.

Color me iffy on the whole premise that all young people need is an awareness boost to get into the clinic.  The fact remains that unless they have a specific (or chronic) medical condition, the invincibility factor is still pretty strong.

I’m sure HealthPartners is tracking the numbers, though.  If the data prove me wrong, kudos.

What might be more interesting is the juxtaposition between this effort (collectively part of HealthPartners “A new way to look at healthcare” campaign) and its rival Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota and its well-underway “Do/Groove” campaign.

Yes, the aims are quite different, but clearly Blue Cross took the more conservative approach.  Not that it is not a creative or appropriate effort.  As we say in the trade, the campaign has legs.  We’ve seen neat television spots with people spontaneously dancing waiting in line, dozens of outdoor/billboard spots, and countless specific reminders of fun ways to get exercise each day.

What makes the Blue Cross campaign successful is its longevity and its flexibility.  And it is very, very good.

All in all, I’m not sure HealthPartners’ effort quite (yet) gets to that level.

We’ll have to wait and see.

But here’s why Petey and Pokey are so important to healthcare advertising.  They represent a pretty gutsy move on the part of a major healthcare player.  Just put yourself in the pitch meeting, suggesting to one of the largest healthcare providers in Minnesota that they send a walking urine cup and syringe into public places with the “HealthPartners” name all over them?  I could name a half-dozen large organizations town that would have quickly shown you the door.

Even though Petey and Pokey do not cross the line from kitschy to poor taste, to move forward with this creative direction took real courage.

I’ll be the first to admit I would prefer the other health plans in town <em>not try</em> a game of shock-value one-upsmanship, but finding new ways to reach new groups of people is a critical element of improving the healthcare system for everyone.

Let’s hope we get that kind of courage to try new things in the ongoing healthcare debate.

Related Links: <a href=”http://www.peteyandpokey.com/”>Petey and Pokey website</a> <a href=”http://www.facebook.com/peteypcup”>Petey and Pokey Facebook page</a> <a href=”http://www.do-groove.com/”>Blue Cross’ Do/Groove Campaign Site</a>

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Author: Jason Voiovich Ecra Creative Group

Key Points: 1. There is little doubt the “Cash for Clunkers” generated intense activity and excitement, running out of money in the space of one week. 2. However, the real-dollar impact on the auto industry (or on any other tangible measure you like) of the program is modest at best. 3. The true impact is psychological, working quite efficiently to change the public outlook.

Incentives matter.

I was on the phone last week catching up with the professor who taught me that essential marketing truth more than 15 years ago. He was just back from a trip to Europe. What struck him was how Europeans drove. They owned small, efficient cars that they did not drive very often. In most of the EU, gas ranges from US$5 to $8 per gallon, so it’s not hard to understand why.

On the other hard, Europe has no “car culture” to speak of, and plenty of efficient transit options.

All of that got the good doctor thinking about the old Jeep in his driveway and the “Cash for Clunkers” program (Car Allowance Rebate System - or CARS - is the neato government acronym) and how he could drive a more efficient vehicle. (more…)

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Author: Jason Voiovich Ecra Creative Group

Key Points: 1. FantasySoapNet.com was a short-lived experiment bringing the fantasy sports idea to soap opera viewers. 2. The temptation is strong; fantasy sports leagues are huge moneymakers, in addition to providing a wealth of psychographic data. 3. But soap enthusiasts didn’t buy in like the guys did; what sounded like a great idea simply died on the vine.

Last week would have been a good fantasy soap week.

ABC’s General Hospital featured no less than complications from a miscarriage, a tearful admission from a son who ran his mother off a deserted road, and a character seemingly back from the dead.

From my count, that would have been in the 100 to 150 point range.

Points? Yes, at FantasySoapNet.com, you watched your soaps for points. Just like a fantasy football league, the soap league allowed you to select your “team” from among several soap actors and actresses. You could even add specific “moments” to your team (such as “wearing red to a funeral) just like you might add a guess on the point spread for Sunday’s game. (more…)

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Author: Jason Voiovich Ecra Creative

Key Points: 1. When the shop is slow, Jiffy Lube technicians take the opportunity to drive impulse decisions from passing motorists using direct monetary incentives. 2. The immediacy of the technique makes it quite smart for the chain; Jiffy Lube has reasons for its customers not to think too hard about their decision. 3. While smart, the idea is easily imitated. Jiffy Lube might be wise to consider spicing up the incentives to drive business and boost its brand.

We were on our way to the Pine Tree Apple Orchard in White Bear Lake when the service light came on.

The service light meant, of course, that our 2005 Honda Odyssey wanted its oil changed. Surprisingly, it was at that same moment that my wife spotted a poor, dejected soul standing in front of the Jiffy Lube station holding a small sign that read “$24.99 Oil Change”.

I was content to wait until later in the week to get the work done at the dealer. My wife was not. We stopped. (more…)

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