Diary Queen

Dairy Queen.

Suddenly, I have become enthralled with the New Dairy Queen Marketing Strategy.

I used to find the old commercials incredibly boring and almost annoying. They would have those lips talk about their specials and boast their ice cream products... Not that their ice cream is bad, but I don't typically think of going to DQ when I want some...

I am not sure how long they have been doing this, but now they are taking it to a whole new level. Their new campaigns with the mustached man describing how they don't stop at "good enough" is brilliant. It is ludicrous and absurd (their claims) but that is what makes them funny and memorable. I appreciate that sort of nonsensical style.

Some of them include - We blow bubbles with kittens in them. We water water ski while boxing. We have rabbits that give old fashioned shaves. We play guitars that make dolphin noises. We have rock n roll falcons. We have ninja towel boys.

I had some pretty bad feelings about Dairy Queen before these commercials. Back home, I know the family who owns a DQ. They aren't exactly the nicest people and the quality of employees they hire isn't something I am a fan of. You could say I haven't had the best experiences there. With these new commercials, I am reminded that DQ is a brand outside of Kohler with a marketing team and corporate strategy.

These commercials are just well done. A little quirky, rediculous, and comical, but on message.

(I like being able to refer to my blog to find links I have found - or put collections of related links for saving. It is just convenient when I tell my friends to watch something, and they become easier to find on my blog. :)

Every 60 Seconds

A Star Wars Post

There are a growing number of Star Wars advertisement posters. The franchise has been booming since the movies came out, and have subsequently become the most recognizable science fiction franchise on Earth.

The movies are classics (I could argue all day about how episodes 1-3 are garbage... but that is not the point) and as a result, have generated an incredible amount of products, parks, events, viral videos (One, Two, Three, Four, Five...), memes, and conventions.

It has led to multiple spin-offs and continuations and video games and useless novels and everything else.

What I enjoy the most are these mock advertisements in Star Wars theme.
Granted, some are scandal, and some are just dubiously creative, but they are rather well done (regardless of taste).

The sources I got these from have several more. They are listed below:
Choosing Sides: Star Wars Branding Star Wars Propaganda Posters Star Wars PSAS
Star Wars Pin-Ups (Yeah, I'm Confused Too) Star Wars Arts


This whole genre brings an interesting idea of using these cultural wonders thought of as classics to advertise most anything... to draw on demographics that they market to already.

Non-Traditional Advertising

The following are a handful of creative ads that I found right away. Clicking the Image takes you to the subsequent blog or other source of the said advertisement.






I love this variety of advertisement. Quite simply, for a society where TV, internet, and print ads dominate the marketplace, anything else extra ordinary seems to be that much more powerful.

I would like to point out that it is a step further to experience these ads in person versus reading about them or seeing pictures of them. Being in the ad is what makes it so powerful.

Surprisingly, as soon as I read this assignment for our blog posts, this article for the smallest advertisement in the world came up on my feed. It is printed on a human hair.

The article goes on to say that it is still up for consideration by the Guiness Book of World Records.

The full article with a demonstration video can be found at Dvice.
It isn't hard to find creative ads on the internet. Not even remotely.

A quick google search or query on your news sites will pull up varieties of advertisements that will peak your interest and probably keep you occupied for hours. As soon as you get into circular loops reading websites of lists like Oddee.com (at least for me anyway) I can plan on not doing anything for the rest of the afternoon.

Some of the biggest advertising news to me lately is that a indestructible cellphone survived the most industrial commercial blender. Blendtech was a pioneer in the Youtube.com advertising scene, and have blended practically anything that would never have a practical use being blended. Rakes, neodymium magnets, cubic zirconium, iPods; nothing has escaped the wrath of this blender. Then behold one particular cellphone survives the test.

Another would be this edible advertisement by Volkswagon. It is a printed page for a magazine that can be eaten because it is composed of rice flour.

The slogan : "Eat the Road."

~~~***##***~~~

The non-traditional advertisement I would like to talk the most about is this one from Superette - a clothing chain in New Zealand.


I think this advertisement is ingenious. Superette itself is more or less a boutique, that positions itself in a fashion dominated market. They sell designer clothes to both men and women - though from browsing their website, I would say they have more products for women than for men.

The best thing about this ad is that it isn't the ad itself, but how it is delivered. There is no real ad to speak of until someone sits on this particular park bench - where a metal plate etched with the advertisement presses against someone's leg. As a result, if it is bare skin, an image appears. Though whomever sat on the bench wouldn't be able to read the ad off of themselves, other people would definitely notice.

It is tough to pick a target audience with this advertisement for a couple reasons. Firstly, the ad itself reads "Short Shorts On Sale : Superette." Now, men would most likely read this ad because any girl who has this ad on them would have to be wearing short shorts to begin with and Men like that. However, it is directed to women who would be interested in buying the shorts. I am not sure how women check/size each other up when it comes to things like physique or fashion, but it is possible they would notice the ad as well. I doubt men are walking around in pants short enough to be printed on. It is just a hunch.

I believe that simply having something this creative - using the public as a vehicle for the advertisement - would simply entice people to go to Superette. I believe that it is not the ad itself that is doing the work, but the process, that would create awareness of the brand for men and women alike - though the physical context would suggest otherwise.

Apart from how upset it would make most people to realize they are the new billboard for a brand, it is extending a new boundary for what traditional advertising will be in the future. There are limits to what I want when being advertised to. For example, whenever something gets in my way of doing what I am trying to accomplish - pop ups, banner ads, mobile messaged ads, GPS ads, print ads in magazines - whether it be reading or browsing or transporting myself, really grinds my gears.

This new form of advertising is harmless and only temporary. It doesn't stop me from sitting on the bench or take time from my day to turn off. It just is part of the bench and is subtle enough to where I do not mind. Not that I want people to be walking billboards all the time - where you can tell where someone was because of the ad put on their thigh, or the space they sold on their forehead - but something can be said for trying it out.

Commercials

Perusing the Inter-Wobz, I found this today. I caught it only two hours after it was posted.

It is a rarity when advertisers hit the nail on the head with something over the top. Typically, especially with beer commercials, I feel that the audience is more directed towards 30 Years or older. I know this is typically the age that beer producers advertise to, but simply putting half naked women or stupid man jokes doesn't really attract college kids either. It is like a half way point between two demographics that they are afraid to infringe on because of the drinking age in the USA.

Other classic advertisements like the Budweiser Frogs / Clydesdales or Red Stripe / XX; Bundaberg Rum / Captain Morgan and countless countless others... Though all very creative, have difficulty bridging the gap between generations without it being too obvious that they are advertising to a younger crowd.

I appreciate it when advertisers make a concerted effort to do something creative, off color, and captivating. The problem is once one of them does it, they all jump on board to try and make up ground. Like, among my favorite commercials of all time are the Old Spice Commercials (Et all) and this one for Axe. I know the worlds to each of these.

It is when companies are able to make a definite image that it really sticks with me. I know, it is not easy to do at all either. It takes creative thinking, an able team, a capable director, and money.

The commercial above that was posted today for Hahn beer takes the cake with this one. It has a little bit of everything people want - and is relatively modern for it style of filming. It has themes of music, winning (Mr. Sheen), Rhinestones, smooth 70's, strength, and robots. It is a nostalgia hot box of past and present in a simple blue and white sleeve. If I lived in Australia, I would likely buy it.

I suppose I will have to ask my bud across the pond how it tastes...

Not to mention, as a tie in with my last post - Bender, the lovable robot, also brews his own beer. I wouldn't mind giving that a try as well...

What Brand Am I?

Simple. I am Planet Express. You know, from Futurama.


Let me explain why Planet Express is the perfect brand/corporation for me.

They continue to do business, but struggle making all the ends meet.
During the show, the employees are constantly fighting off perilous danger only for meager salaries and weak benefits. The management is senile. The physician knows nothing about human anatomy and the accountant is a cold hearted Jamaican.

Things constantly break, and everything goes wrong all the time. Planet Express constantly fights off larger corporations (Mom Corp.) They battle political and legal discrepancies that are prevalent now and in the future (. Environmentalists, aliens, robots, robosexuals, the Democratic Order of Planets (DOOP), and past and future beings constantly interfere with Planet Express's ability to do business.

The company has been through a stock market boom and subsequent crash, been taken over and resold, has changed ownership, and has somehow managed to persevere and survive in the hostile environment of the year 3000.

Granted this is not a real company, and Futurama is not a reality. But that doesn't make it any less a company or brand that I identify with and would label as my own.

Let me explain.

I am an entrepreneur. I have owned three of my own businesses. These include a Custom Tshirt Printing, Landscaping/Handyman work, and small scale furniture making. These are manual, hands-on businesses that take planning and logistics to succeed and be functional. Not like other businesses are not this way, but I feel like the scale of businesses I have made is similar to that of Planet Express - a small fish in a big pond just trying to make ends meet while doing something I thoroughly enjoy.

I have hired and fired my friends before. At Planet Express, it happens often where friends are hired, shenanigans happen, and then they are promptly fired. Though most of the employees are friends, they didn't start that way. And only the closest friends of the owner are allowed to work at his company. Having started all my companies from scratch, and dealing with micro operations, I have had my fair share of employing my friends and family part or full time. And also like at Planet Express, I have had to let people go for their inability to meet my requirements as a business. All too often, the people I hire have a relaxed sense of responsibility because their buddy hired them. It is a rude awakening when they don't step up and I have to kick them out.

Planet Express has some very quirky characters working there as well as some incredibly hilarious and absurd stories. Again, it is a company based in the year 3000 AD where space travel is common and aliens/robots abound, but even on a basic level, interactions with employees and management, other businesses, and government are all reasonable if not over the top. This, I feel paints a reasonable image of some of the trends that occur in businesses across the world today. It is all relationships and brand image - these are things that Planet Express struggles with, but has to deal with all the time. Likewise, I have the same struggle. I am a brand in myself - not my companies. Back home, people have already asked if I can come back and work for them because they know my ethic and what I am capable of. They didn't ask my counterparts, just me. This parallels Planet Express because like them, I constantly shift my focus and want to try new ventures. I cannot keep myself in one domain of the market when there are so many opportunities. Not like Planet Express is trying to move out of the package delivery business, but they lose their focus often.

All of the employees of Planet Express are unique. One is from Mars, the other is a 160 year old man, another is the 24 year old uncle of the elder, there is a cyclops, a lobster, a robot, and a Jamaican. These are extreme differences between people, but it adds a dynamic diversity that allows them to see through an unending number of difficulties. All businesses face their own hurdles to jump, but I like the uniqueness of those seen at Planet Express. Likewise, because I try and do so much with my time, managing a couple different businesses, and therefore different people, I feel like I too am unique in my challenges and hurdles with the work I do.

The main character of the show, Fry, though not the owner, is who Futurama revolves around. He was was cryogenically frozen and was awoken in the future. Everything is amazing to him as he learns to adapt with this newly revolutionized Earth, but he is able to take trends and experiences from the 1990's to make positive changes for Planet Express. He constantly needs guidance from his co-workers too keep him on track, but he holds his own and does things his own way. I would consider myself to be the owner, but still a lot like Fry for a number of reasons. Oftentimes, I feel like I to do not fit in with the things I am trying to accomplish. I need advice and people to bounce ideas off of all the time. I need someone to listen to my stupid comments and tell me they are stupid so I do not go off chasing them. I need some amount of grounding while still exploring my potential. Fry and I are a lot of the same - save he is Irish.

It is not the best example, but Planet Express is the strongest thing to brand identity that I could equate myself with. There are brands that I am loyal too - Old Spice, Gillette, Adiddas, Puma, Select, Clausen Pickles, or Peter Pan Peanut Butter. But none of them are enough of what I like. They are fractions of the whole. I think that the reason why I couldn't come up with a brand identity that exists in modern day is because I haven't created it yet.