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.
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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.
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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.
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Author: Jason Voiovich Ecra Creative Group
Who eats candy bars anymore?
Honestly. I can’t remember the last time I had one. It’s not because I don’t think I’d like one, or that I couldn’t eat just one for heath reasons. I simply haven’t wanted one. Perhaps you could count sniping a fun-size “Three Musketeers” from the kids’ Halloween candy bowl at home. Maybe.
Admittedly anecdotal, my experience is hardly unique. The shelf space for “candy bars” at the local convenience store is decreasing largely because the definition of “snack food” is broadening. But more on that later.
That’s why the Snickers brand candy bar advertising campaign was so surprising. Talking M&M characters were the last promotional spat to be even remotely interesting.
Snickers forces you to take notice. (more…)
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