“Ad Big Wig”

In tough economic times, shoot with a purpose. Take aim at your target and concentrate on what it is going to take to bring down the big game.

ok – flagrant capitalization, but isn’t that our job as marketers, to maximize our client’s reach and take advantage of situations/opportunities like this?
Was it smart though, for the new agency’s first big attempt to market the dying brand, to just give away the product?

When you undertake an initiative like this, how much do you balance being a blinder-wearing / experiential-marketing loving product sampler versus attempting to brand position your company as a cool hip motivator for social change? Has Starbucks jumped the shark already on cool? Krispy Kreme is giving away donuts and somehow comes off looking good doing it. Yet Starbucks could look like a brand whore?

Will soft minds – where the brand is moving towards – be impacted by “fake altruism.” Will juicier temples see through the initiative for what it is? The brew is getting cold; music was the last-ditch attempt to stay in front, but alas, they couldn’t pull that off with influencers. Where are they with sheep – they couldn’t sell them breakfast. How can they sell them a free cup wrapped in an eco-friendly cape of social responsibility?

Even baby New Year ages. Is Starbucks still a relevant brand?

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LOL – you should have just seen my 5-year-old’s face when I tried to explain the significance of tomorrow’s election – she will hopefully be exposed to a whole new world, no matter who wins.

http://adage.com/bigtent/post?article_id=132164&message=Thanks+for+submitting+your+comment!

Do you have to “be from” to “market to”?

Recently, at an Orlando Advertising Federation Ad2 event (Ad2 is the under-32 group in the federation – www.ad2orlando.org), I enjoyed a spirited and informative discussion with a young African American professional who believed that this was true. She said that her culture possessed so many nuances, more than any other culture, that the only person who could truly understand and market to the segment had to be African American. I have been thinking about that a lot since we spoke, and while I am not sure if she was 100% right, wrong or somewhere in the middle, this article rekindled the discussion in my mind and got me thinking…

If I believe the Wiki definition within this article: Racism, by its simplest definition, is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. Then, by saying that you have to be African American, for example, to market to African Americans, aren’t you racist? Or is that cultural biased? Or culturally motivated or embraced?

Often, we compete against, consult or partner with “Hispanic” agencies more so than “African American” agencies. Maybe this is because I am from Florida and have a large and growing Hispanic demo or maybe it is because the “Hispanic Agencies” have done a better job at branding themselves as specialists? I do not know?

With all the research that is out there to better understand a target audience, is it truly necessary to “be from” to “market to”?

I am not sure anyone really has the 100% right or wrong answer, but I think that because we are asking questions like this, we are getting better every day, and when done positively, I am proud to be part of the industry that is helping to change social perceptions and acceptance. The rest of the time, I lower my head in shame and blog about it.

Larry @ EVOK
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