Miracle Whip, What Side Are You On??

I have a question for you; do you love it or hate it? Seriously,…which side are you on? In case you have no idea what I’m talking about…I’m asking you about Miracle Whip’s commercial! Miracle Whip ads ask “Love them or hate them?” Their new campaign is pushing the idea that they know “it’s not made for everyone.” To spread the word like wild fire, the first commercial part of their new campaign aired this week during Fox’s Glee.

It is so gutsy for a company to have a commercial with people stating they do not like their product…and even more surprising was the effect it had on me. Strangely, after watching the commercial I wanted to actually try it out and see if Miracle Whipe actually tasted as bad/good as people claimed it to taste. Having people from both sides share their opinion about Miracle Whip made the commercial seem genuine and did not seem like they were forcing you to buy their product. In the end it made you feel like it was completely up to you and you were in control, they weren’t using a “push strategy,” instead it almost required customer engagement.

One of my favorite parts of the commercial was around 32 seconds when the sitting on the steps said, “Miracle Whip tastes like disappointment, spreadable disappointment.” Just the fact that he referred to the product being advertised as “spreadable disappointment” shocked me! That part of the commercial genuinely caught my attention. Marketers for Miracle Whip managed to somehow create an emotional connection with their audience by…having people speak negatively about their products…it blows my mind! To make the commercial even more awesome was Jersey Shore’s Paul D’s part around 50 seconds. Of all of the people in the commercial, they had the famous person (or at the very least the only person I recognized from the commercial) speak negatively about their product. If that’s not courageous, I don’t know what is…! Near the end, text is written in what looks like Miracle Whip, it shows a person taking a whiff of the opened bottle, and he makes a face as if he just smelled a skunk or something. It’s like they’re not willing to hold back anything!

Creativity and emotional appeal are important in the world of marketing and Miracle Whip nailed it! Having people say they would never eat it or do not like the product is consistent with their theme of “It is not made for everybody” and it is okay if you do not like it. Their competitors should be taking notes and learn a thing or two about branding from Miracle Whip! Their new campaign is a great example of an awesome integrated marketing communications. Their television advertisements, print ads and social media send deliver a consistent message and work together in unison. Cohesion is very important when working towards create a strong brand image. I also loved the interactivity of the campaign because not only did have people give their opinions in commercials, they also allow consumers to be fans on FaceBook and on their profile page, the first thing that pops up is a survey sheet that allows you to share your opinion of whether you like Miracle Whip or not!

Pure genius.

Was Poor Barbie Valentineless?

“OH EM GEE!”

So, like the other day I was talking to my friend Audria and you will never believe what she told me…hold on to your boot straps because what I’m about to tell you is going to blow you away! She was like OMG…I was like NO WAY!



http://bit.ly/eXupjL



In case you did not get the memo, what I am going to tell you is a pretty big deal!

A few years ago after a 43 year relationship, Barbie and Ken split up and I could not believe it. I think I was shocked along with ever other five year old who was crying their eyes out over this Hollywood break up. With their on again off again relationship, rumors spread like wildfire that they would get together again. As usual about any relationship under the spot light, ridiculous rumors also spread about why they broke up. Let me give you some examples of how obnoxious these were. Patricia O'Connell from Businessweek address some of them in an article-

“Being single better suits the Cali Girl doll”



“Barbie has left Ken for Blaine.”

“Ken is gay.”

Then again, another rumor that tops all of the one’s I listed above…(a rumor that I STRONGLY) believe in….

http://bit.ly/goe0oA



Cynics called the split a desperate publicity stunt by the couple's company, Mattel Inc., which has seen Barbie's popularity and revenues in the U.S. drop recently despite her numerous image makeovers and new products.

http://bit.ly/eawAJa

Seriously, is that not the one of the most genius marketing ploys you have ever heard of? Of course, in a press conference the handsome doll had a statement prepared at a press conference to save face:

"Barbie and I decided to spend some time apart," the statement read. "She's got a new look ... I'm confident we will always stay friends."

As devastating as their Hollywood breakup was for all of the Barbie loving customers, I think this was a BRILLIANT marketing strategy. Just recently Mattel implemented another awesome campaign that revolved around Valentine’s Day and had millions wondering if Ken was going to take him back. Billboards were displayed all over the place with Ken begging Barbie to take her BACK!  

Not trying to be repetitive or anything but….Who ever thought of this idea IS A GENIUS in my book. The campaign was implemented just in time to reveal the Barbie’s answer right around Valentine’s Day. The bright blue billboards with Ken pleading Barbie to take him back created great sense of emotional appeal to women and young girls everywhere and the campaign generated a crazy buzz.

My brain flooded with dollar signs when I first heard of the campaign. I can’t even imagine how many girls cried out “MOMMM LOOOK OVER THERE! IT’S KENN!” All of the kids who went through the stress and emotional rollercoaster due to their separation must have been ecstatic Ken is back. What can I say, I guess even Barbie fell in love with the billboards and couldn’t help but take him back.

Although this campaign was probably a retention strategy I also think it was a great customer acquisition strategy. For the younger kids who may have just recently started playing with Barbie and are not familiar with Ken, this campaign was a great way to gain their attention.

I can’t wait to one day be the mastermind behind an amazing marketing and advertising campaign.

TTFN, ta ta for now!

Social Bookmarking Soul Mate

It’s official, I think I found my soul mate. She is not the cute romantic kind, more like the awesome social bookmarking kind! Ladies and gentlemen I present to you Kat Caz.

It has been a while since Kat added to her awesome collection of sites. The last time my soul mate bookmarked any interesting sites was November 9^th 2010.

She has fifty-six pages bookmarked and My three favorite pages Kat has book marked are AdFreak, Chris Brogan’s Blog, Top 5 Brand Culture Tips. Need I add her and I both have Chris Brogan’s site saved? I has hears about AdFreak once but had never really checked it out. This site posts some funny commercials and ads. I recommend you check it out if you like watching funny commercials and reading about some ridiculous ad campaigns. 

I’m telling you Kat is just something else. It’s like she is my cyber twin/soul mate…! She mainly bookmarks sites related to marketing, more specifically digital marketing, social marketing, campaigns, and web 2.0.

Although she has not saved any sites recently, the ones Kat as bookmarked provide tips and tools on how to improve marketing campaigns, have informative marketing videos, give advice on how to monetize social media.

She is a member of four groups on Diigo, two of which are web 2.0 related. She is also part of a blogging and social-media group. It is safe to say I am now part of that group as well. I still have a long way to go to catch up to her but…I’m slowly getting there! She has many tags but they are neatly organized so you do not have to worry about drowning though a redundant list. Another thing I noticed was she does not seem to comment on the tags or ad descriptions. She has everything from marketing films to marketing music. Some of her most useful tags are the website tutorials, social media and marketing ones. Why didn’t I know about her that one night I was up until 2AM, snacking on cheese puffs and Twix, searching the web for cool marketing blogs?

For future blog posts, I will refer to her awesome bookmarked sites to learn about new and funny ads as well as updates on the social media world. As helpful as her sites are, I would like to learn about more recent campaigns and case studies. I had come across other Diigo users who had social media and marketing tags but what made Kat stand out was all of her other important tags! She was one of the few I came across that had campaigns and advertising tagged. She is a good resource for finding interesting marketing strategy tips but up to date info on new companies I plan to use other sources such as Entrepreneur magazine.

I must say, I’m one lucky gal for finding my social bookmarking soul mate at such a young age. I have been dreaming of this day for such a long time. I think it is safe to say in the online world rules of  monogamy do not apply and one can have multiple soul mates. Although Kat Caz is one special gal with helpful and relative tags, I look forward to finding my next social bookmarking soul mate.

Can’t wait to see what to future holds for me and my blog! HAHA

TTFN, ta ta for now.