In addition to the brand favoritism I have for JetBlue and their ingenious marketing/branding efforts, I’m also quite a fan of Dunkin Donuts. Now blame it on memories from my youth when my dad and I would take early Saturday morning trips to Dunkins to get donuts for the family for breakfast, or blame it on the delicious quality of the first iced coffee I ever consumed, but it’s safe to say I’m hooked on Dunkins.
My loyalty used to lie solely with the iced variety of coffee, namely blueberry (don’t knock it ‘til you try it), but spending recent years in MA and now living here, the weather doesn’t always cooperate for the drinking of an iced beverage. Hence, my taste buds, my need for caffeine no matter the temperature, and my frozen fingers have grown to appreciate the deliciousness and all-important warming factor of a hot Dunkins coffee as well.
I go to the same Dunkins every morning in the T, and I go to the same line with the same woman working. You know you do this too often when the only question she asks is whether you want a medium or a large today. And no, I don’t order just a black coffee; I take mine with hazelnut flavoring, skim milk, and two Splenda. Props to this very nice woman for remembering my order day after day, and it seems to be one of many orders she remembers from us regulars.
Now don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I haven’t consumed Starbucks, and it’s not like I don’t occasionally crave something like a green tea latte or skinny caramel latte. But as insane as it sounds purchase a cup of Dunkins on my way to work every morning and if I did this at Starbucks I think it’s safe to say I’d be close to broke. If you’re wondering whether I’ve calculated how much money I spend per week or month purchasing coffee, the answer is no. I’m pretty much avoiding doing that, but I’m sure there would be at least a little extra in my bank account if I made coffee at home in the morning.
Now down to the actual point of this post. In addition to Dunkin Donuts’ great “You Kin’ Do It” ad campaign, they have a creative consumer involvement contest running. Through April 7th you can visit dunkindonuts.com/donut and design an original donut. The grand prize is $12,000. Not a bad prize, the contest sounds fun, and who wouldn’t want to design their own donut and maybe see it in a store near them! Maybe I’ll have to give donut design a whirl. Check out the story here on BrandWeek to learn more.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Score one more for JetBlue's Marketing Team
Back in February I wrote a blog post touting my brand loyalty to JetBlue and their brilliance in marketing. With their Welcome Bigwigs campaign they really took into account the current economic climate and all of those frowned upon CEOs and their private jets.
Well, they've done it again. JetBlue, with some help from JWT, has extended the campaign further online with the creation of The CEOs Guide to Jetting. This guide to jetting consists of three videos explaining the simplistic details of air travel that us "regular folk" encounter every time we fly.
The videos are brilliant and one of the most amusing things I've seen lately. Give them a watch and decide for yourself.
Side note: I'm flying US Airways down to D.C. in April and I'm dreading it already. How will I distract myself from thoughts of the plane falling out of the sky without Direct TV and Terra Blues potato chips?
Well, they've done it again. JetBlue, with some help from JWT, has extended the campaign further online with the creation of The CEOs Guide to Jetting. This guide to jetting consists of three videos explaining the simplistic details of air travel that us "regular folk" encounter every time we fly.
The videos are brilliant and one of the most amusing things I've seen lately. Give them a watch and decide for yourself.
Side note: I'm flying US Airways down to D.C. in April and I'm dreading it already. How will I distract myself from thoughts of the plane falling out of the sky without Direct TV and Terra Blues potato chips?
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Engaging Out of Home
Now this is something I just find great and not to mention totally fun. Carnival Cruise Lines and their ad agency Arnold, read here via BrandFreak, have come up with an engaging out of home display that takes advantage of empty storefronts. Not only does this concept add the interactive aspect to OOH advertising, it also makes those previously boarded up storefronts look a little more attractive. And who can complain about that?!
Now some might say it adds to the advertising clutter we already see on the street, and in all other forms and places as we go about our daily lives, and while yes, I guess this is true, I also say this is one of the best forms of ‘clutter’ I’ve seen lately. However, working in the marketing/advertising field I do tend to appreciate the ad clutter, not actually thinking of it as clutter, so maybe my opinion is a little biased here.
Also, being familiar with virtual aquariums, as I happen to have tried my luck creating and watching my own virtual fish swim around on the screen, only to see it be munched on by a larger fish, I can attest to the fun aspect these allow.
If you find yourself in Baltimore, Houston, L.A., N.Y., or D.C., keep an eye out for Carnival’s virtual aquarium. See if it catches your eye. While it may not prompt you to head straight back to the office and book yourself a cruise, it might encourage you to pull out your cell and create your own fish. Sounds like a good way to procrastinate on the way back to the office from lunch.
Now some might say it adds to the advertising clutter we already see on the street, and in all other forms and places as we go about our daily lives, and while yes, I guess this is true, I also say this is one of the best forms of ‘clutter’ I’ve seen lately. However, working in the marketing/advertising field I do tend to appreciate the ad clutter, not actually thinking of it as clutter, so maybe my opinion is a little biased here.
Also, being familiar with virtual aquariums, as I happen to have tried my luck creating and watching my own virtual fish swim around on the screen, only to see it be munched on by a larger fish, I can attest to the fun aspect these allow.
If you find yourself in Baltimore, Houston, L.A., N.Y., or D.C., keep an eye out for Carnival’s virtual aquarium. See if it catches your eye. While it may not prompt you to head straight back to the office and book yourself a cruise, it might encourage you to pull out your cell and create your own fish. Sounds like a good way to procrastinate on the way back to the office from lunch.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Staycations
In times of economic uncertainty the majority can't really afford to take vacations. This in turn is leading to a number of marketers/advertisers/PR pros, etc., pushing the fantastic idea of the 'Staycation'. A term I was first introduced to in the the late summer, you know, back in the days before things started really getting bad, staycation was kind of being used as a way to see, do, and explore all of the things in your city, or nearby city, without having to go a great distance, spend the money on airfare, etc. And from my experience it's still being used this way, but it's been expanded upon.
Maybe the staycation concept was around before this past summer when I first learned about it, but if not, why wasn't it. In reality it's a brilliant idea. I feel like the majority of people that live in or close to a city probably don't regularly explore all of the sights, venues, entertainment that they city has to offer. Now I have to ask myself, if I were in the shoes of a city tourism bureau, why wouldn't I be using this concept and messaging to target my local inhabitants all of the time? And perhaps they have been using this and I'm just unaware, and I also know that city tourism bureaus are probably more focused on just that, tourists, but it would seem like a great idea to target all of the locals just hanging out in the palm of their hand so to speak.
As an example, take my favorite place in the whole wide world, not counting Blacksburg, Va/Virginia Tech, it is Washington, D.C. Now having grown up not too far outside of D.C. we made the trips into the city to visit the museums, see shows at the Kennedy Center and the National Theatre quite often, but my parents believed in culturing us. I can't say I had too many friends at the time who's parents regularly took them into the nation's capital to let them experience all it has to offer. D.C. has so much to offer, and what's even better is so much of it is free.
Having many friends that have grown up and/or live in Northern Virginia, I can say that a lot of them don't Metro in to check out the newest exhibits/renovations at the various Smithsonian museums on a regular basis. And we're talking FREE museums here. Of course the thought running through my mind is man, why wouldn't you take advantage of the close proximity, I'd be there like every weekend, but maybe that's just because I miss D.C. that much. Maybe the real problem for these locals is that it's just not top of mind having grown up with it all right there.
So, then my question is: Are these institutions/tourism bureaus putting into effect the staycation message, is it new, or have they been using it in good times too, and should they? Especially with the current economic climate, the doom and gloom recession, and the growing unemployment rate news that seems to be showing up on a daily basis, I'd think a little staycation, 'all of this stuff can be done in your city and you're on it's front porch' messaging would be pretty timely.
My post on staycations here was spurred by by an article I read last week on the BrandWeek website. It seems Sabra Hummus is breaking a new campaign inviting consumers to "enjoy the taste of the Mediterranean without leaving home". I would say that Sabra is tapping into the staycation concept, which is something that I'm seeing for the first time with a product, but that doesn't mean others haven't done it before. Will their first national campaign sell more hummus, and can this be attributed to the use of the staycation concept, well your guess is as good as mine, but I'm all for timely messaging.
Sabra hummus is pretty good too, I recommend giving it a try if you're a hummus eater!
Maybe the staycation concept was around before this past summer when I first learned about it, but if not, why wasn't it. In reality it's a brilliant idea. I feel like the majority of people that live in or close to a city probably don't regularly explore all of the sights, venues, entertainment that they city has to offer. Now I have to ask myself, if I were in the shoes of a city tourism bureau, why wouldn't I be using this concept and messaging to target my local inhabitants all of the time? And perhaps they have been using this and I'm just unaware, and I also know that city tourism bureaus are probably more focused on just that, tourists, but it would seem like a great idea to target all of the locals just hanging out in the palm of their hand so to speak.
As an example, take my favorite place in the whole wide world, not counting Blacksburg, Va/Virginia Tech, it is Washington, D.C. Now having grown up not too far outside of D.C. we made the trips into the city to visit the museums, see shows at the Kennedy Center and the National Theatre quite often, but my parents believed in culturing us. I can't say I had too many friends at the time who's parents regularly took them into the nation's capital to let them experience all it has to offer. D.C. has so much to offer, and what's even better is so much of it is free.
Having many friends that have grown up and/or live in Northern Virginia, I can say that a lot of them don't Metro in to check out the newest exhibits/renovations at the various Smithsonian museums on a regular basis. And we're talking FREE museums here. Of course the thought running through my mind is man, why wouldn't you take advantage of the close proximity, I'd be there like every weekend, but maybe that's just because I miss D.C. that much. Maybe the real problem for these locals is that it's just not top of mind having grown up with it all right there.
So, then my question is: Are these institutions/tourism bureaus putting into effect the staycation message, is it new, or have they been using it in good times too, and should they? Especially with the current economic climate, the doom and gloom recession, and the growing unemployment rate news that seems to be showing up on a daily basis, I'd think a little staycation, 'all of this stuff can be done in your city and you're on it's front porch' messaging would be pretty timely.
My post on staycations here was spurred by by an article I read last week on the BrandWeek website. It seems Sabra Hummus is breaking a new campaign inviting consumers to "enjoy the taste of the Mediterranean without leaving home". I would say that Sabra is tapping into the staycation concept, which is something that I'm seeing for the first time with a product, but that doesn't mean others haven't done it before. Will their first national campaign sell more hummus, and can this be attributed to the use of the staycation concept, well your guess is as good as mine, but I'm all for timely messaging.
Sabra hummus is pretty good too, I recommend giving it a try if you're a hummus eater!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Branding the Stimulus Package
The powers of branding have reached new heights. Yesterday, President Obama unveiled a new logo that will be featured on all projects that are funded by the stimulus package. In my opinion this was a brilliant move. American people want to know and see where the stimulus money is going. What better way to do this than through a unique, easily identifiable emblem that will adorn these endeavors.
The logo, which is actually quite visibly appealing, has been designed as a circle featuring three different quadrants that showcase areas where the money will be spent. According to this article via Denver Business Journal, the gears represent infrastructure and the plant in the green sector represents green technology. There are American flag looking stars over a blue background and the emblem features recovery.gov, which is the url for the website that has been set up to track the progress of the various stimulus projects. I think the inclusion of the url is a great way to remind everyone that they can learn more via the website.
The administration has so far been praised for their web saavy initiatives that allow the American people to be more involved, the White House website, etc, while this is a little different, I think it falls under a similar category of saaviness. I'd say it's pretty ground breaking to be, in a way, branding part of the presidency. That is a marketing job I wouldn't pass up.
The logo, which is actually quite visibly appealing, has been designed as a circle featuring three different quadrants that showcase areas where the money will be spent. According to this article via Denver Business Journal, the gears represent infrastructure and the plant in the green sector represents green technology. There are American flag looking stars over a blue background and the emblem features recovery.gov, which is the url for the website that has been set up to track the progress of the various stimulus projects. I think the inclusion of the url is a great way to remind everyone that they can learn more via the website.
The administration has so far been praised for their web saavy initiatives that allow the American people to be more involved, the White House website, etc, while this is a little different, I think it falls under a similar category of saaviness. I'd say it's pretty ground breaking to be, in a way, branding part of the presidency. That is a marketing job I wouldn't pass up.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Brand Extensions
This past weekend before the latest snowstorm hit on Sunday, I braved the cold weather and ventured somewhere new for dinner, LTK, also known as Legal Test Kitchen, in the up and coming Seaport District. LTK is an extension of the Legal Sea Foods restaurant chain, one of the better chains in my opinion since they actually serve decent food. You can get delectably fresh fish and probably one of the best crab cakes I’ve ever consumed. I know my crab cakes; I grew up in Maryland, home of the MD crab cake, so trust me on this one.
Now LTK is a bit of a different story. With a name like Legal Test Kitchen I expected exactly what a name like that would convey, a Legal restaurant with the same atmosphere, but some sort of rotating menu where they might pilot new dishes that would perhaps rotate in on the specials menu if they fared well in the test kitchen. Obviously I didn’t do my research, or any research before going to LTK, because my assumptions of what the restaurant would be like were completely incorrect.
LTK is a flat out brand extension of Legal Sea Foods if you ask me. If you didn’t have the Legal part in the LTK, the Legal logo appearing every so often, and a few of the same/similar menu items and concepts, then you’d never guess that the two restaurants were related. At least I wouldn’t have.
It seems that LTK aims to target a different, younger and more hip, demographic. First, off the décor was completely different. While the Legal restaurants tend to be bathed in blues and rich wood colors, LTK had bright reds, oranges, sliver, and black. Hipper colors if you ask me. Next, we have the menu. While it does rotate every few weeks, I don’t think any of the items are actually “tested” for market in Legal Sea Foods restaurants.
The menu also seemed to consist of foods that a younger audience, 20s and early 30s might consume, and there were a few slightly lower priced items. These foods ranged from a tuna burger, to fried pickles, to a steamed edamame app, to a lack of swordfish, and the only vegetable side being sautéed spinach. This last factor here, and the lack of swordfish on the menu, deterred me from ordering the wood grilled fish with two sides, a typical favorite of mine. Two fried sides weren’t what I was going for, and how many people really eat sautéed spinach?
So, the atmosphere is ‘hip’ and the food is ‘hip’, however the service and the dish I ended up ordering left something to be desired. I ended up ordering hoisin glazed Atlantic salmon with vegetable lo mein. Sounds delicious, but that wasn’t the case. The fish was okay, but the glaze was a little salty, and the noodles were a gloppy disaster. I don’t recall there being so many vegetables amongst the lo mein noodles that were cut up into bite sized pieces.
Now the restaurant was a zoo, and the servers and food runners had to walk through the bar/entry area to wait on the tables, not smart from a restaurant design standpoint. This might account for the lack of terrific service, but our fried banana spilt dessert took 20 minutes to get to our table. It had obviously been sitting in the back waiting to be brought to us, as a straw would have worked better than the spoons we were provided with. Dessert, even with all of it’s ice cream soup factor, and the blueberry Stoli and soda I started the meal out with were the highlights of the experience.
While my experience at LTK wasn’t the best, I can’t say that this is a bad brand extension. Its actual relation to Legal Sea Foods seems minimal. I can’t see a bad experience harming the brand name, but there is enough of a brand relationship to draw the usual Legal goers for a one time go around. The concept of a rotating menu with some staples seems a like an ingenious way to bring customers back time and time again. Overall, I think Legal Sea Foods/ LTK is successfully targeting a different demo. They’ve been around since 2005, so something they are doing must be working. As for me, the food and service would have to improve before I’d venture back to LTK, but I’ll eat a crab cake at the real Legal any day.
Now LTK is a bit of a different story. With a name like Legal Test Kitchen I expected exactly what a name like that would convey, a Legal restaurant with the same atmosphere, but some sort of rotating menu where they might pilot new dishes that would perhaps rotate in on the specials menu if they fared well in the test kitchen. Obviously I didn’t do my research, or any research before going to LTK, because my assumptions of what the restaurant would be like were completely incorrect.
LTK is a flat out brand extension of Legal Sea Foods if you ask me. If you didn’t have the Legal part in the LTK, the Legal logo appearing every so often, and a few of the same/similar menu items and concepts, then you’d never guess that the two restaurants were related. At least I wouldn’t have.
It seems that LTK aims to target a different, younger and more hip, demographic. First, off the décor was completely different. While the Legal restaurants tend to be bathed in blues and rich wood colors, LTK had bright reds, oranges, sliver, and black. Hipper colors if you ask me. Next, we have the menu. While it does rotate every few weeks, I don’t think any of the items are actually “tested” for market in Legal Sea Foods restaurants.
The menu also seemed to consist of foods that a younger audience, 20s and early 30s might consume, and there were a few slightly lower priced items. These foods ranged from a tuna burger, to fried pickles, to a steamed edamame app, to a lack of swordfish, and the only vegetable side being sautéed spinach. This last factor here, and the lack of swordfish on the menu, deterred me from ordering the wood grilled fish with two sides, a typical favorite of mine. Two fried sides weren’t what I was going for, and how many people really eat sautéed spinach?
So, the atmosphere is ‘hip’ and the food is ‘hip’, however the service and the dish I ended up ordering left something to be desired. I ended up ordering hoisin glazed Atlantic salmon with vegetable lo mein. Sounds delicious, but that wasn’t the case. The fish was okay, but the glaze was a little salty, and the noodles were a gloppy disaster. I don’t recall there being so many vegetables amongst the lo mein noodles that were cut up into bite sized pieces.
Now the restaurant was a zoo, and the servers and food runners had to walk through the bar/entry area to wait on the tables, not smart from a restaurant design standpoint. This might account for the lack of terrific service, but our fried banana spilt dessert took 20 minutes to get to our table. It had obviously been sitting in the back waiting to be brought to us, as a straw would have worked better than the spoons we were provided with. Dessert, even with all of it’s ice cream soup factor, and the blueberry Stoli and soda I started the meal out with were the highlights of the experience.
While my experience at LTK wasn’t the best, I can’t say that this is a bad brand extension. Its actual relation to Legal Sea Foods seems minimal. I can’t see a bad experience harming the brand name, but there is enough of a brand relationship to draw the usual Legal goers for a one time go around. The concept of a rotating menu with some staples seems a like an ingenious way to bring customers back time and time again. Overall, I think Legal Sea Foods/ LTK is successfully targeting a different demo. They’ve been around since 2005, so something they are doing must be working. As for me, the food and service would have to improve before I’d venture back to LTK, but I’ll eat a crab cake at the real Legal any day.
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