Comments for CustomeRules - A Marketing Blog from BI|Digital Marketing

Comment on Rebrand or Refresh? by 'bou advocate

'bou advocate — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:23:38 +0000

I appreciate the rebranding efforts Caribou is making and challenge that what seems like a simple logo swap has the opportunity to take on a whole new energy and revitalize a brand, company and its customers. This exercise and branding renaissance engages employees in a redefinition of purpose for where they work and how they contribute to their company.

One could argue that coffee doesn’t have much purpose, but when you look at what Caribou is really selling – an escape from the sidewalk, community, comfort, hospitality, etc. – there’s a social aspect that quickly becomes pervasive and relevant to imagery needs to be developed to reinforce those values.

I like that Caribou’s agency recognized what they’re trying to accomplish and hope that the engagement of their employees, agencies and partners will continue to be strong to the last whipped latte of the day.

Comment on Unintended Acceleration by Alex

Alex — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 20:35:57 +0000

Agreed. This is not a product problem – statistically the number of affected vehicles is very small. It’s an image problem. I am ot following this issue closely but I had a bad feeling reading the news about Toyota management deciding who will face the congress, what to say and what not to say, etc. Obviously they were not prepared and this lack of preparation was displayed in the national media. What I am really curious about is the fact that this happened in the United States and the timing – but that’s the entirely separate issue

Comment on Marketing Personality by Jim

Jim — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 16:13:03 +0000

Add to the list “unable to accept criticism.”

Comment on Google Apps: The One That Got Away by Alex

Alex — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:26:59 +0000

I haven’t seen the Google direct mail piece myself but based on your description they are making the same mistake that many print designers do when they design the layout for the web – different medium matters a lot. Google became notoriuos for its simple, stripped down, intuitive web applications, so someone at Google figured let’s do the same thing in print… Apparently it didn’t work, at least for you. Perhaps they figured if it works online it should work in print, perhaps they wanted the simplicity. It is also very possible that thay are just too big to care at this point and believe too much in the power of Google logo. Maybe this sort of arrogance contibutes to the fact that Microsoft’s Bing is gaining in popularity.

Comment on Is it Ten Years Already? by Alex

Alex — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:56:14 +0000

This should be very interesting indeed. The Atlantic published an article awhile ago on related issue:

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200901/end-of-whiteness

Comment on Which Way Will the Domino Fall? by Nick

Nick — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 22:30:57 +0000

For me, it all depends on the quality of the product. This campaign will gain exposure and will compel a lot of people to try the new pizza out of curiosity, and if the pizza is actually significantly better it really could turn out to be a great move for Dominos.

Obviously, though, Mike is skeptical of whether the pizza will meet the hype, and with good reason given that they’re generally going to be made by zoned out teenagers rather than the pizza chefs featured in the commercial.

I like the idea and I give Dominos credit for flat-out admitting that their current product just isn’t good (when will Pizza Hut do the same??). But they’d better have a whole lot of confidence in this new recipe, because if it’s not a huge step up, Dominos is likely doomed.

Comment on Which Way Will the Domino Fall? by Alex

Alex — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 21:45:28 +0000

Interesting. There was a lot of attention last week on social networks about that. A couple of popular examples below.

http://i.imgur.com/fry2A.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/qrTJS.jpg

I originally thought that this was an approach similar to Clairol Herbal Essences:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsfNXj9s-iY

Any PR is good PR sort of approach.

But I agree that this looks more like a move due to desperation especially the approach with the Facebook Share button which obviously looks out of place.

Comment on Worst Practices: Email Marketing by jeffstender

jeffstender — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 23:05:15 +0000

I agree with much of what you’re saying, so for the sake of arguing a point, do you think it’s a behavioral thing? We’re pretty conditioned to go through our mail when we get home and quickly create “keep” or “recycle” piles. Webmail providers are trying to make this easier by filtering on our behalf, but technology isn’t a catch-all safety net. Maybe it’s our perception than needs to be re-calibrated. Quite frankly, with such pressure on environmental codes of conduct, brand reputations are going to be tarnished no matter how they deliver their junk.

Comment on Worst Practices: Email Marketing by Alex

Alex — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 22:49:45 +0000

From the environmental perspective perhaps it’s less destructive, but from the behavioral perspective e-mail surprisingly falls into a more intrusive medium. I could be wrong but e-mail belongs to Personal zone (around 4 ft) vs. Social zone for the mail (around 20 ft). Mobile world is even more sensitive as it lives in the Intimate zone, then there’s the cost issue too but it’s a different story.

Comment on Worst Practices: Email Marketing by jeffstender

jeffstender — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 22:41:30 +0000

I guess junk email, while invasive, isn’t quite as environmentally destructive as the bible of Champion catalogs I get every month. I haven’t run for ages and its been even longer since I bought something from them….