president barack obama : the winning marketing strategies. Strategy No. 2 : High-Ground

WAWAM! will be looking at exactly the same things that a political analyst or strategist will be looking at in analyzing the campaigns. but WAWAM! will look it at from the eyes of a marketing and advertising man. these strategies and analysis can be written into marketing plans of brands and it will make sense and most likely work.

this is part 2 of a series and we have added point number 2 here. read part 1 here : http://the-wawam-file.blogspot.com/search/label/Obama%20Winning%20Marketing%20Strategy

1. Consistent, consumer-meaningful message from start to finish : Change. the obama campaign is on the "time to change" theme from the very beginning, on day 1, as early as the democratic primaries. the core message was, enough of the 8 years of the bush-led republican years of managing the country be that the iraq war across other issues, specially on the US economy. consistency in message across time allows the audience to focus and the candidate to build consensus. marketing tells us a brand needs to stand for something and the obama campaign has done a most admirable job at standing for "change". it is not only consistency that is important ans where the obama campaign has succeeded, it is also in relevance or in WAWAM! marketing term - "consumer-meaningful". being consumer-meaningful and consistency are both required to be there to succeed, they are like twins where having only one in the end will not amount to anything. while both are critical, finding the right message that is consumer-meaningful is a much more difficult task. it is here where most campaigns and brands fail at. you can be consistent but if you do not have the right message, the effort will not amount to anything. consistently delivering the weak message is very much like garbage in-garbage out, repeated many times over.

2. High-ground brand character that was strongly defended, upheld and consistently applied across all aspects of the campaign, again from the very start, during the primaries to the end till the presidential contest. The most telling application of this high-ground brand character is the stubborn refusal to do negative campaigning. Not only did the campaign refuse to do negative campaigning, it called out the Mccain campaign each time their opponent did negative campaigns.

This brand character also fits Obama very well as a person. It reflects his demeanor and views on politics. You get the impression it comes from within and not just a political message. The eloquent speeches also fits within that brand character.

Not only does having such a brand character help drive up desirability, it also removes potential negatives. It would have been tougher for him as an african-american to adapt a brand character other than that. A tough and aggressive brand character would have fed right into the stereotypes. Being the exact opposite of the stereotypes made sure race cannot be used in any form.

The good guy image and the relentless pursuit of the high-ground brand character was so powerful that it could have changed american politics forever. The accepted principle is that negative campaigning, though seen by many as ugly and not right, do work in american politics. Poll results during this election point otherwise. Mccain's ratings were hurt because of the negative campaigning they launched when things got too tough for them.

But that does not mean the Obama campaign only does positive campaign materials. They do not do negative campaigning but they are competitive and aggressive. Another key difference is that the Obama campaign has not done that kind of campaigning on a national level but limited to pockets of states where it was needed. This is unlike the Mccain campaign where we hear Mccain and Palin launch negative speeches on the national stage.

For brands that run for elective post, brand character is very important. Having a bad one spells disaster, having a good one at minimum removes a potential negative. But for Obama, it has dome much more than removing potential negatives, it has built his desirability.

read Strategy No. 1 here : http://the-wawam-file.blogspot.com/search/label/Obama%20Winning%20Marketing%20Strategy

read US presidential election posts here : http://the-wawam-file.blogspot.com/search/label/US%20presidential%20elections

microsoft's new dirty word : v#$@!$&!

well, yeah, come to think of it - microsoft's "i am a pc" ads do not mention v(blip) by name. in fact they just say "pc", not even windows. its strange because all of these is being caused by v(blip)'s failure to impress users and gain the market share they wanted it to do. i suppose microsoft is just hoping these ads will give a halo effect on v(blip).

and now, apple makes use of that omission in its ads. we are impressed with apple - they are able to see even small things such as the omission of a brand name in an ad.



which makes us wonder even more - why did microsoft omit v(blip) in its tv spots? is that word so dirty that they are afraid if they mentioned it in the ad, people will automatically tune off? that it's mention in their ad might weaken the ad?


read other posts on this topic here : http://the-wawam-file.blogspot.com/search/label/i%20am%20mac%20i%20am%20pc

obama's november surprise vs mccain's november surprise

obama and mccain share the same two things - one, now is the time when both of them don't have time anymore. while they share the same thing on that part, the end result of that they need to do are very different. and both, this is the 2nd thing, need to pull out a november surprise. while they share the need to pull out a november surprise, obama will pull out his to close the deal for good. mccain on the other hand need to pull out his november surprise to reverse the trend and win the election.

both camp's november surprises are the sort of things these candidates need to do trampoline their campaign to get to the results they want. for obama, a strong, clear and emphatic close for the win. for mccain, it is not just to recover lost grounds but more importantly to overtake obama. it's obvious mccain has a tougher job to do than obama.

obama's november surprise - get colin powell to do a political ad endorsing obama. or at least make an apearance in two to three states where the polls see a tie between obama and mccain. powell has been asked that question but his answer was he was not planning on doing it as he is not a politician. recernt polls show there are around 4% tp 5% undecided voters specially in battleground states. that figure is equivalent to most poll's margin fo error. that means the candidate who will get the undecideds will move his poll numbers away from tie to a significant win. and powell is the man to do this for obama for the simple reason that most of the undecideds are republican holdouots. powell is a well respected and highly regarded republican who obviously has the power to get the undecided republicans to move towards obama, a phenomenon that has occured in a few states that used to be solidly republican but now has chosen obama.

mccain's november surprise - is his hail mary pass play, pull out the race card. we have talked about this previously in WAWAM!. mccain actually said he does not think race will not be a factor in the election. he said it's just going to be a "tiny, tiny" number of people who will vote on the basis of race preference or race fear. but the polls show otherwise. some polls show that for some of the holdouots, race seem to matter. if the mccain campaign finds itself in a tight corner, playing the race card can be their hail mary pass play. will mccain do it? or will he not do it for fear of a backfire.

both november surprises have the potential to be powerful and truly game changing. but one is a high risk one while the other is a sure thing. will any of the campaigns do it? the only time to do this is this weekend. we will wait and see.





read all posts on obama and mccain here : http://the-wawam-file.blogspot.com/search/label/US%20presidential%20elections

add the Coke Zero ad, it will equal to a sum zero ad, plus ADS Sindrome

What is with Coke and other worldly characters in their ads?

This Coke Zero ad is the second time this marketing year that they have other worldly characters in their ads. The first ones were the angel and the devil in their regular Coke thematic brandsell advertising.

In that ad, the angel in heaven got curious on the fizz that coke was making, flies down to earth to check it out, tries Coke, gets enamoured with it, then decides to become human to continue to enjoy Coke. Cute, interesting and straightforward story.

Except for one thing- they got carried away and added a devil character to the story where the angel turned human meets a handsome man who also enjoys Coke but turns out to be the devil as a last close up shot of the man reveals he has the horn impressions on his forehead, implying he is a devil turned human.

We did say a lot about this ad, things like the wings of the angel and the devil, etc. read all here in full : http://the-wawam-file.blogspot.com/search/label/coca%20cola

This new Coke Zero product introduces new characters to their line-up, most likely coming from Coke's large talent pool of other worldly characters- the mermaid and the centaur (ad featured here is the mermaid). We have to give 5 stars to Coke's talent casters for their stellar skills for finding such stellar pool of talents. They must travel far and wide to find such a wide range of talents. Up next will probably be Tinkerbell herself or the tikbalang.




This ad is about a male hunk in a swimming pool whose attention is caught by a hot lady drinking Coke Zero. It's unclear if the it's the hot lady in a swimsuit or the new Coke Zero product that she is drinking that caused him to move towards her. But the hunk uses Coke Zero banter as an opening line to strike a conversation with the hottie.

We all know that Coke is really just colored water with lots of sugar in it and that common knowledge the hunk uses to talk to the hottie, with a zinger line : "Impossible, right? Real Coke taste without sugar? Impossible!". The hottie says it is possible and he better believe it, saying that it is time the hunk believes in the impossible. The hottie dives into the water revealing her lower half, she revelas her tail, the hottie is a mermaid. And the mermaid that got away from the hunk as she swims back to sea.

The ad wants us to believe the impossible - the taste of regular Coke in Coke Zero even though it has zero sugar in it. We are the kind who are very skeptical and not prone to easily believe those that we know are not possible. Apparently for us, it takes a lot to make us believe in the impossible.

We are supposed to believe the impossible that Coke Zero was able to achieve because a mermaid says so. A mermaid who all of us know is not possible as mermaids don't exist in real life, except in fairy tales and cartoons which are all man-made.

That is like shooting themselves in the foot.

The ad wants us to change our mind about something that going in we think is not real and not possible. The ad wants us to think that a regular Coke taste is now made real and possible. And yet the character they used in the ad to convince us on that is a mermaid who we all know is not real and not possible. We are supposed to believe a fairy tale character, an unreal on something that is supposed to be true in real life.

The use of the mermaid can be cute but it defies the logic of what they want to achieve in the ad. The first question that popped in my mind was - what is it that Coke wants us to believe? Is this ad about the reality of Coke Zero tasting like regular Coke without the sugar or is it about the unreality of mermaids?

It's wierd that they are using an unreal character to make us believe reality.

This Coke Zero ad when you add the two key story elements of the ad do end up to a sum zero. In other words, it's a WAWAM! and has ADS Sindrome.

president barack obama : the winning marketing strategies. Strategy No. 1 : Change

last october 15, 2008, we posted in WAWAM! our prediction that barack obama will win the US presidential election on the strength of a brilliant marketing effort and a marketing blunder of the mccain campaign.

(read in full here : http://the-wawam-file.blogspot.com/2008/10/barack-obama-wins-us-presidential.html)

we also said that the point of no return will most likely occur right after the 3rd debate. our analysis of the 3rd debate was that mccain was unable to rock our world. mccain's task was to not only to do well in that debate but to do so well that he needs to reverse the trend to his favor. while he did well than the first 2 debates, mccain unfortunately did not do well enough to reverse the trend that was not in his favor.

we also posted on WAWAM! a few factors that has the power to reverse the trend of an obama win. since that time, none of the factors listed occurred, thus we concluded, also posted in WAWAM! that obama is on track to win in this election.

(read in full all posts on barack obama here : http://the-wawam-file.blogspot.com/search/label/barack%20obama)

just about 8 days before the election, we are posting here what we think were the core marketing strategies that both campaigns employed that resulted to obama winning the presidency and mccain losing it.

WAWAM! will be looking at exactly the same things that a political analyst or strategist will be looking at in analyzing the campaigns. but WAWAM! will look it at from the eyes of a marketing and advertising man. these strategies and analysis can be written into marketing plans of brands and it will make sense and most likely work.

we will be posting this in a series.

1. Consistent, consumer-meaningful message from start to finish : Change. the obama campaign is on the "time to change" theme from the very beginning, on day 1, as early as the democratic primaries. the core message was, enough of the 8 years of the bush-led republican years of managing the country be that the iraq war across other issues, specially on the US economy. consistency in message across time allows the audience to focus and the candidate to build consensus. marketing tells us a brand needs to stand for something and the obama campaign has done a most admirable job at standing for "change". it is not only consistency that is important ans where the obama campaign has succeeded, it is also in relevance or in WAWAM! marketing term - "consumer-meaningful". being consumer-meaningful and consistency are both required to be there to succeed, they are like twins where having only one in the end will not amount to anything. while both are critical, finding the right message that is consumer-meaningful is a much more difficult task. it is here where most campaigns and brands fail at. you can be consistent but if you do not have the right message, the effort will not amount to anything. consistently delivering the weak message is very much like garbage in-garbage out, repeated many times over.

at the start of the primaries, bush ratings were on all time lows and on a continuous decline. the key issue at the time was the iraq war and most specifically on the solutions that america was supposed to apply to it. more and more americans were increasingly withdrawing their support on the iraq war and they felt the end game solutions were unclear at best to wrong at worst.

then as of late the failing US economy has been the key focus. and that while largely unpredicted by the obama campaign (no one else was able to predict it), it fell quite nicely, very snugly into the "change" theme and core strategy.

we can argue that the obama campaign was very lucky that the US economy failed towards the last months of the presidential campaign and towards the very last part when nothing can be done to reverse the trend given the short period of time.

with american voters disappointed with bush on the iraq war at the beginning of the primaries the US economy failing became a double whammy to mccain. add to that the fact that obama stands to be the first black president in the history of the US, the meaning of "change" takes on a very different, almost cosmic meaning. when obama wins, it will be a real "change" in the US in very many ways, in very many aspects of american life and most specially the american psyche.

BBC formally apologizes to RP

it is after all a racist slur and BBC has stopped to defend it and now apologizes for it.

---------

BBC formally apologizes to RP

For ‘racist’ skit

By Veronica Uy
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 10:26:00 10/24/2008

MANILA, Philippines -- The British Broadcasting Co. (BBC) has formally apologized for a comedy skit that stirred outrage for portraying a Filipina domestic helper gyrating in front of her British employers, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Friday.

The apology is contained in a letter dated October 10, 2008 from BBC Director General Mark Thompson to Philippine Ambassador to the Court of St. James's Edgardo Espiritu.

The episode of the comedy Harry and Paul, initially shown on September 26 and replayed on BBC 2 on September 29 had members of the 200,000-strong Filipino community in the United Kingdom protesting the "insulting reference to Filipino women, typifying them in a dual role as domestic workers and sex toys of their British employers."

"Please accept my sincere apologies, on behalf of the BBC, for the offence that this program caused you," said the letter from Thompson, which the Philippine Embassy received only on October 20."

The BBC apology was written a week before Andrew Zane, chief executive of Harry and Paul producer Tiger Aspect Productions apologized to Filipino protesters who picketed the BBC office in White City, just outside central London, and Tiger Aspect in Soho in central London on October 17.

"We're sorry to anyone who was in any way offended by the program. This certainly was not our intention," Zane told the protesters.

source : http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view/20081024-168247/BBC-formally-apologizes-to-RP

------
other posts in WAWAM! on this topic : http://the-wawam-file.blogspot.com/search/label/Brand%20Filipina

Brain Food # 5 : Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Watterson

this is a definite Brain Food book not only for those in advertising and marketing but everyone else who appreciates life. check out the books today, they are available in most bookstores.

calvin & hobbes is my all time favorite comic strip. if the the books themselves are not enough for you to get interested in it, read about the author, bill watterson and you will get floored.

bill watterson before he rose to fame with his calvin & hobbes cartoon was an advertising man.

view calvin & h0bbes posts in WAWAM! here : http://the-wawam-file.blogspot.com/search/label/calvin%20and%20hobbes

Calvin and Hobbes is a comic strip written and illustrated by Bill Watterson, following the humorous antics of Calvin, an imaginative six-year old boy, and Hobbes, his energetic and sardonic—albeit stuffed—tiger. The pair are named after John Calvin, a 16th century French Reformation theologian, and Thomas Hobbes, a 17th century English political philosopher.[1]

The strip was syndicated daily from November 18, 1985 to December 31, 1995. At its height, Calvin and Hobbes was featured in over 2,400 newspapers worldwide. To date, more than 30 million copies of the 18 Calvin and Hobbes books have been printed.[2]

The strip is vaguely set in the contemporary Midwestern United States, on the outskirts of suburbia, a location probably inspired by Watterson's home town of Chagrin Falls, Ohio.

Calvin and Hobbes appear in most of the strips, while a small number focus on other supporting characters. The broad themes of the strip deal with Calvin's flights of fantasy, his friendship with Hobbes, his misadventures, his unique views on a diverse range of political and cultural issues and his relationships and interactions with his parents, classmates, teachers, and other members of society. The dual nature of Hobbes is also a recurring motif; Calvin sees Hobbes as a live tiger, while other characters see him as a stuffed animal.

Even though the series does not mention specific political figures or current events like political strips such as Garry Trudeau's Doonesbury, it does examine broad issues like environmentalism, public education, and the flaws of opinion polls.[3]

Because of Watterson's strong anti-merchandising stance[4] and his reluctance to return to the spotlight, almost no legitimate Calvin and Hobbes merchandise exists outside of the book collections. However, the strip's immense popularity has led to the appearance of various counterfeit items such as window decals and T-shirts that often feature crude humor, religion, binge drinking and other themes that are not found in Watterson's work.[5]

History

Calvin and Hobbes was conceived when Watterson, having worked in an advertising job he detested,[6] began devoting his spare time to cartooning, his true love. He explored various strip ideas but all were rejected by the syndicates to which he sent them. United Feature Syndicate, however, responded positively to one strip, which featured a side character (the main character's little brother) who had a stuffed tiger. Told that these characters were the strongest, Watterson began a new strip centered on them.[7] But United Feature rejected the new strip, and Watterson endured a few more rejections before Universal Press Syndicate decided to take it.[8][4]

The first strip was published on November 18, 1985 and the series quickly became a hit. Within a year of syndication, the strip was published in roughly 250 newspapers. By April 1, 1987, only sixteen months after the strip began, Watterson and his work were featured in an article by the Los Angeles Times.[4]

Calvin and Hobbes twice earned Watterson the Reuben Award from the National Cartoonists Society, in the Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year category, first in 1986 and again in 1988. He was nominated again in 1992. The Society awarded him the Humor Comic Strip Award for 1988.[9]

Before long, the strip was in wide circulation outside the United States.

Watterson took two extended breaks from writing new strips: from May 1991 to February 1992, and from April through December 1994.

In 1995, Watterson sent a letter via his syndicate to all editors whose newspapers carried his strip. It contained the following:

I will be stopping Calvin and Hobbes at the end of the year. This was not a recent or an easy decision, and I leave with some sadness. My interests have shifted however, and I believe I've done what I can do within the constraints of daily deadlines and small panels. I am eager to work at a more thoughtful pace, with fewer artistic compromises. I have not yet decided on future projects, but my relationship with Universal Press Syndicate will continue. That so many newspapers would carry Calvin and Hobbes is an honor I'll long be proud of, and I've greatly appreciated your support and indulgence over the last decade. Drawing this comic strip has been a privilege and a pleasure, and I thank you for giving me the opportunity.

The 3,160th and final strip ran on Sunday, December 31, 1995.[2] It depicted Calvin and Hobbes outside in freshly-fallen snow, reveling in the wonder and excitement of the winter scene. "It's a magical world, Hobbes, ol' buddy... Let's go exploring!" Calvin exclaims as they zoom off on their sled,[10] leaving, according to one critic ten years later, "a hole in the comics page that no strip has been able to fill".[11]

taken from here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvin_and_Hobbes

another english 101 tv spot with ADS Sindrome

here is another tv spot in germany again that sells english lessons. the same mistake is committed in this ad - the ADS Sindrome.

the target market of this ad are non-english speakers to whom they are selling their english lessons to. the humorous part being in english means it will be understood by english speakers, not their target market. given the tagline in the end, "improve your english", granted that their target market are those with some knowledge of english, that does not guarantee their target market with some english knowledge will get the humor. a good grasp of a language is a requirement in appreciating humor.

this ad is a WAWAM! and has ADS Sindrome.




view the other english 101 tv spot here : http://the-wawam-file.blogspot.com/2008/10/english-101-if-you-dont-get-it-it-might.html

view other ads with ADS Sindrome here : http://the-wawam-file.blogspot.com/search/label/ADS%20Sindrome

memo to The Philippine Star : top things to do to take leadership away from the Philippine Daily Inquirer

the philippine daily inquirer (PDI) has been releasing print ads (above) of various sizes touting the latest ac nielsen media index results wher it placed PDI's readership at leadership position at 48%.

something shocked me when i first saw that ad of PDI - it's not that PDI is the readership leader, that was expected and common knowledge, what shocked me was the rating of The Philippine Star (PS) where it scored 41%, damn close to PDI's readership. PDI used to enjoy a wider margin, did not realize the ratings have come so close, a 7 pts spread is within spitting distance.

so given this spitting distance, i thought i would write a memo to PS the objective of which is to give them some ideas on how they can take leadership away from PDI. here are some points to consider:

• the very first thing i would do is to look at the DISTRIBUTION numbers and look for areas of improvements. this i think will yield the most incremental readership for PS. i would do a thorough study of the PS distribution system and benchmark it against PDI. and i would be very thorough about it. i would literally look at EVERY distribution point and discover where the weaknesses are and apply improvements. they should go beyond number of distribution points, more importantly they should look at distribution system and strategy. finally on this topic, i would be creative and add at least a superiority edge of +15% more distribution points versus PDI.
• i would conduct a nationwide research, a combination of quantitative and qualitative researches to find out what readers think of the both newspapers and figure out improvement areas.
• and from that research, i would implement improvements very quickly.
• PS should not hold back in improving or applying changes on the whole newpaper in as many parts necessary - from layout, to writers, to writing style, sections, photos, editorials, etc.
• there is a lot to do but i would be very smart about it and determine which ones to do, drop and what to do first, how much of it and when. these are all very critical as while they may find clear improvements, any one or all can backfire on them. a lot of strategic thinking needs to be applied here.

the above essentially is a consumer marketing approach to exploiting a marketing opportunity that has been laid on a silver platter to the philippine star. doing the above will see the philippine star taking away leadership from the philippine daily inquirer.

notice : the above is protected by intelectual property rights and may not be used, published and printed in part or as a whole without written permission from the author of this blog.

apple ads that bite on vista

it's really very hard not to love these apple ads. it's not just that they do a great job at biting vista, they are very amusing but direct to the point, you know exactly what they want you to understand and remember.

it's very amusing at the way they it exposes the weaknesses of vista. being very competitive and combining that with humor is not very easy to do in advertising. but in these ads, it comes very naturally.

the bonus is that it sustains the image of mac as a very cool and hip brand and product. if there is one element in the mac brand equity where it is clearly superior over vista/microsoft, it is in being hip and cool.

it's no surprise that even microsoft admitted that aside from product problems on vista, the apple ads hurt their business.



Give Up On Vista


Leopard Better And Faster Than Vista


Emergency Refresh


PC News Wire

iphone reaches 10M sales, 3 months ahead of schedule. world domination is on track

Apple Profit Rises 26% as IPhone Sales Top Analysts' Estimates
By Connie Guglielmo

Oct. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. posted a 26 percent rise in profit as iPhone sales topped estimates and Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs reassured investors the computer maker will pull through an economic slump. The shares jumped 15 percent.

``We may get buffeted around by the waves a little bit, but we'll be fine and stronger than ever when the waters calm in the future,'' Jobs told analysts in his first appearance on the earnings conference call in eight years.

Apple sold 6.89 million iPhones in the quarter, reaching Jobs's goal of selling 10 million handsets three months ahead of schedule. Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray & Co., had estimated sales of 5 million. The demand for the iPhone, along with record shipments of Macintosh computers, helped investors look past a forecast that missed analysts' estimates.

``I still fully expect the company to gain share even in this turbulent economy,'' said Jim Grossman, an analyst at Thrivent Financial for Lutherans in Appleton, Wisconsin, which owns Apple shares.

Fourth-quarter profit advanced to $1.14 billion, or $1.26 a share, Cupertino, California-based Apple said in a statement. That beat the $1.11 a share estimated by analysts in a Bloomberg survey. Sales rose 27 percent to $7.9 billion in the three months ended Sept. 27.

Apple rose $13.40 to $104.89 in extended trading after closing at $91.49 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The shares have lost 54 percent this year.

`Hyper Conservative'

Profit this quarter will be $1.06 to $1.35 a share and sales will be as much as $10 billion, Apple said. Analysts had predicted earnings of $1.66 a share and revenue of $10.6 billion, according to a Bloomberg survey.

``They're just being hyper conservative,'' said Piper Jaffray's Munster, who is based in Minneapolis. ``For the most part, they haven't seen the economic slowdown in their core businesses.''

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=axueHSOtLHpQ&refer=home

jollibee - start of the return of the happy face on jollibee?

jollibee released a full page, full color print ad today at the PDI (Philippine Daily Inquirer) for the launch of their Jollibee Hug & Share Doll promo and i was pleasantly surprised and happy!

i saw a happy face on jollibee!

(read about "who put a sad face on jollibee" here in WAWAM! : http://the-wawam-file.blogspot.com/search/label/jollibee)

new Jollibee Hug & Share Doll with a happy face

we wrote in WAWAM! that jollibee's face in their mascots looked sad. the face of the mascot is not an exact copy of the face of jollibee in their flat logo and the jollibee statue (is that what you call that?). what made the face of the jollibee mascot sad were two things - first, the eyes did not have sparkles on them and were just a flat black, looking "blind" with no white spaces around the eyes. and the second, the smile on the jollibee mascot was not full, it wasn't wide enough and did not show the red tongue.

although this is just a doll premium item and not a mascot, it is still a great step forward towards doing the right thing. the Jollibee Hug & Share Doll is very close to the flat logo, almost an exact copy.

it is our opinion that it is a mortal sin to have two versions of the face of jollibee since it is also the company logo. and these inconsistencies we feel go much more beyond shape and graphics but affects the brand personality of jollibee as well.

here is some interesting trivia. this was my answer to one of the questions on the comments section of the jollibee discussion in this blog:

apparently a top jollibee executive has noticed that there was something wrong with the face of the mascot but he could not indentify what was wrong with it. this was discussed in one of the executive committee meetings some months ago. since no answer was found to the gut feel of the top executive, the topic was dropped.

for some reason, the contents of the posts in WAWAM! was brought to the attention of the top executive. and it was only then did he know the specific reasons behind his gut feel that something was wrong with the face of the jollibee mascot. we were also told that at the time the topic was posted in this blog, the jollibee marketing team were reading this blog.

i am almost certain that when the jollibee brand management team presented the compre artwork of this Jollibee Hug & Share Doll, they made a point of it being an exect copy of the flat logo and now, this jollibee has a happy face.

close up of Jollibee Mascot with a sad face

the flat logo of jollibee, a happy face

bayantel tv spot that showed it did not move - a brand character that is not moving at all

in the previous topic on the Six Flags tv spot, we talked about how a strong brand character can be powerful that it will move you to prefer a brand. this bayantel (landline telephone service provider) tv spot has a strong brand character but i think it is one that moves you in the wrong direction - one in leaving a bad smell that you would rather not have.

just like the Six Flags tv spot, this bayantel tv spot also uses humor, i think, but it is one which very few, extremely few people will appreciate. it can put a smile among this very few but i don't it will be enduring, one that will most likely go up in smoke. you know how it is with hot air - it disappears very quickly.

ok, enough of the analogies on farts and defecation.

everyone appreciates humor in advertising and also creativity, specially the unexpected. these are the ingredients for a great ad. but that needs to be tempered with the question -- are these kinds of humor and creativity building a desirable brand image? one of the things we want advertising to do is to build desirability and likability - an affinity to the brand. is there a member of the target audience who will appreciate being associated with a brand that reminds them of farts and defecation?

the most simple way to describe what brand character means is this -- "if your brand is a person, what kind of person will it be? describe your brand as if it is a person with personality, attitude, looks, etc."

that is usually how the section on "brand character" (or "brand personality") is stated in many advertising brief and advertising strategy forms used by many ad agencies.

looking at this ad and deconstructing the brand character statement in bayantel's ad strategy, it will probably read something like this : "bayantel is a male who wants to defecate but can only fart and now wants his money back. he is a very practical person."

brand character statements are in fact those that usually end as "this brand is someone you want to be your friend" -- anyone want a friend who likes to fart and defecate?

clearly a WAWAM!

Six Flags tv spot - how the power of brand character can make you dance! move over ellen!

we have come to expect to see certain things from ads of certain brands. we expect to see these communicated either as visuals, part of story plots or copy. it's like when we see these elements, we know what kind of product is being sold. these are mostly the obvious ones - refreshment from drinks, clean from detergents, power and ride from cars or beauty from cosmetics.

in advertising terms, we call that generic benefits. these are benefits that all brands that compete in the same category can offer.

caution: positioning your brand on these "generic benefits" is a double edged sword - it can harm your brand or it can benefit your brand.

it can benefit your brand as your target audience will see things that are familiar to them and will readily sympathize with them. but because your competition have the same benefits, it can harm your brand as you are not offering anything different or unique. one of the things an ad is supposed to do is to set your brand apart from competition. that is one of the core reasons you advertise in the first place and also one of the characteristics of a great ad.

aside from product benefit, the other component that makes an ad a great one is brand character. actually i think having a great brand character is a lost art in many ads specially in the philippine market. it's one component that is largely forgotten and ignored and i would say something many creatives in the philippines do not understand at all.

this Six Flags tv spot is one ad that has practically nothing but brand character in it. and it works brilliantly! you have to love Six Flags after seeing this ad. you very quickly and strongly understand what Six Flags stand for and yes the compelling reason why you should visit it the next time you go to an amusement park.

they could have shown the fantastic rides Six Flags has. it is very popular for their rides, they have one of the most exciting rides in the market. but that's not what they talked about in the ad. instead they dramatized the feeling one gets in going to a Six Flags park. you get it. you smile and you may have even danced to it a little bit.

brilliant advertising!




thanks to charlotte from san francisco, california for sending us the link for this Six Flags tv spot.

new american brand launched : Brand "Joe The Plumber", the metaphor for the main street american

there is a new main street american - Joe The Plumber unveiled yesterday during the 3rd and last debate between obama and mccain.

he is now a celebirty. we are just wondering, with his new celebrity status, will mccain eventually owe Joe The Plumber an apology or will joe thank mccain?

After Debate, Glare Of Media Hits Joe
Plumbers Union, Tax Collectors
Notice

By Robert
Barnes
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 17, 2008; Page

"The real winner" of Wednesday night's debate, John McCain said yesterday at a campaign stop in Downingtown, Pa., "was Joe the Plumber."

That might depend on the definition of "winner."

Joe the Plumber, a.k.a. Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher of Holland, Ohio, is suddenly (sort of) a household name, featured in a McCain ad and sought after by networks news anchors and newspaper reporters.

McCain would like to meet him in person this weekend, but Wurzelbacher's got a date on Mike Huckabee's Fox News show and might not have the time.

But the emergence of Joe has allowed the state of Ohio to locate the man it says owes nearly $1,200 in back taxes. His motives for confronting Sen. Barack Obama at a campaign stop in his neighborhood earlier this week are the subject of intense Internet speculation. The city of Toledo is preparing a letter to his employer seeking to determine whether he is violating city codes, and the plumbers union is on his tail.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/16/AR2008101603614.html

obama-mccain 3rd and final debate : did not rock our world, obama on track to win election!

largely a boring debate. conclusion : it did not rock our world which means obama 's winning the presidential election is on track.

key points:

• mccain did much better than the previous two debates.
• but it was not earth shaking enough that he was able to turn the tides to his favor. mccain was not supposed to just be better, he was supposed to do an earth shaking performance that he can reverse the trend. that did not happen.
• obama held his own. no catastrophic blunders.
• we got to see in some areas sharp differences between the two. that's good for the voters.
• obama seemed cool and collected, unaffected and confident. he was able to answer all the attacks well - either killing them dead on its tracks or making it sound not very relevant.
• mccain though obviously more aggressive this time seemed unsure on how to pursue the attacks. the biggest weakness of mccain i think was that he did not have a clear and solid plan on how to manage his attacks. while making "joe the plumber" memorable in the debate, he really needed much more of those types. there were numerous attacks but they were hardly eloquent and hardly stinging. i think the weakness is on a weak line of attack and failure at eloquence.
• the ayers and acorn things were brought up but no fireworks there. it did not hurt obama. mccain did not score points. in fact in some ways that might have hurt mccain for bringing up some things that were really of no consequence.
• the race card was not brought up. not that we expected it. we also do not think if ever they want to bring out the race card, it won't be done in this debate at all.
• no miraculous economic recovery occurred during the time the debate was on. in fact wall street lost 700 points during the day.
• obama was not complacent and he answered the attacks levelled on him. the debate however became a little more personal than previous.
• obama did not blow-out. neither did mccain break-out.

given the above, this 3rd debate will favor obama on the whole and will do nothing to very little on mccain's standing. we are near the point of no return, obama is still trending for a win.







source of photo : http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-10-15-analysis_N.htm

what can derail obama's win of the US presidency?

we are 3 weeks away from the actual election - in a presidential campaign where anything can happen in a day, that is an eternity.

the point of view that obama will win the election is based on the trending as it appears as of today. some pollsters are saying obama's lead are solid, with very little changes occurring. while poll results may change day to day depending on what has happened just before the poll has been taken, my jurasic estimation is that this will continue to an uptrend.

the other major part of this point of view is based on the marketing and communication strategies and approaches both campaigns have employed. they are political moves or decisions to the campaigns, but to me as a marketer, i view them as marketing and communication strategies and tactics. those are the things i am reading mostly and the basis for the point of view that obama will win.

more on the above next in WAWAM!

for now, let me just enumerate a few things that might derail obama winning the US elections:

• catastrophic blunder - the uptrend on obama to me seem to be on a constant uptrend. what can derail that is any one catastrophic blunder from obama from now until election time. i don't know what that is, but for the trend to change course in a dramatic way that it will favor mccain, it will take one huge blunder on the part of obama. if obama stays the course and stays "clean" for the next 3 weeks, then obama's lead will grow and will ensure election in 3 week's time. obama should take lessons from john kerry on this one.
• race card - the fact is obama is an african-american, the first black presidential candidate of both parties. that in itself is already historical. mccain's campaign is getting nowhere, it not only has lost steam, it really was unable to reach any level of any meaningful threat to obama. depends on how desperate mccain may feel, but if it's crunch time, mccain may look for a hail mary pass and that can be the race card. the republican voter base are conservatives and middle america who may still be moved by the race card. the only problem there is its really hard to determine the impact the race card will have. will it take voters away from obama or will it backfire against mccain.
• US economy miraculously recovers - we don't think this will happen in the next 3 weeks. not even in the next 3 months. even the next 3 years is not a sure thing. the US economy on a tail spin seem to be favoring obama. more problems on the US economy seem to push more voters towards obama. mccain's chance on winning this election is therefore hinged on the US economy recovering to the tune of an economic miracle within 21 days.
• complacency - having it your way - the mccain campaign has already started the mud slinging strategy. when it got too hot, the obama campaign answered them. but on the whole, the obama campaign has ignored a lot of it. the obama campaign should continue this strategy of largely ignoring the mud and the negatives and being selective in what to answer strongly. they should not allow anything to get too out of hand.
• 3rd debate blow-out or break-out - this 3rd debate is important for both campaigns. we think the point of no return will be reached a few days after the 3rd debate. both candidates will need to avoid blunders in this 3rd debate. it is however easier for obama - at minimum obama simply needs to do more of the same. it is tougher for mccain because he needs to do try harder and be more aggressive. the window for errors is wider for mccain than for obama. if obama does not do a blow-out, he will be fine. but mccain needs to do a fantastic break-out to change the poll numbers to his favor.

compared to the marketing of brands, the marketing of presidential candidates is a much more volatile one. changes can occur often and from anywhere. also, compared to presidential campaigns, the marketing of brands seem to be on slow motion. but the marketing principles and what moves preferences are the same for both.

brands and presidential candidates both have brand equities. both use marketing and communication. one important difference though - once elected, voters are stuck with that presidential candidate for 4 years while consumers may see improvements or changes in their brands as quick as once a year.

more on this next in WAWAM!

barack obama wins the US presidential election - on the strength of a brilliant marketing effort and a marketing blunder by mccain

let's put things on the line here : i am calling it a barack obama win in the US presidential election. based on trending, it's no longer a question of "if" but a question of by what margin - a strong finish or a landslide.



looking at the presidential elections from a purely marketing standpoint, obama's win will be delivered through brilliant marketing and brilliant communication by the obama campaign and marketing blunders by the mccain campaign.

james carville was "The Man" during the bill clinton presidential campaigns, now i want to know who the marketing dude is of the obama campaign. the picture of this obama strategist whoever he is, deserves to be posted here in WAWAM!

james carville

geez, the election is 3 weeks away and we are already calling it an obama win. if obama does not win, well it's not the first time we have failed in our analysis.
just hope that readers of this blog will appreciate the courage of calling a winner this early. calling an obama win is based on an analysis of marketing and communication strategies and execution. and that is next here in WAWAM!


posted : october 15, 2008 12:32 pm manila time

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