State of the Brand

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. Abercrombie & Fitch publicly said is abandoning its premium price strategy and focusing its offerings in order to boost earnings. 2. Lowering prices, however, is a dangerous slippery slope in the fashion world. Shoppers devalue the brand, and will only buy when there’s a bargain. 3. Youth trends are fickle, but Abercrombie & Fitch could have positioned itself for success if it had only reinvented itself sooner. It is likely too late now.

I thought I’d never see it.

A sale. At Abercrombie & Fitch.

Middle school has arrived for our family, and so has a certain sensitivity toward the clothes we buy our oldest son. Needless to say, I found myself at the kid-version of the popular Abercrombie & Fitch. This is the store with less soft core imagery than the adult version, but basically the same clothes, the same undeniably pungent over-cologned aroma, and the same lucky-I-have-rock-n-roll-ear-damage music volume. (more…)

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