Funny Marketing Blunders: Flower of the Month
June 16, 2008
Funny Marketing Blunders File:
They say there’s no such thing as bad publicity, but is being featured as a “funny email to send to friends” really the best way to build your company’s image? You have to wonder if the message on this flower shop’s sign helped to sell more product. Even though this marketing blunder is more than 2 years old, I got the following funny email from my friend this morning:
I wonder if they come in different colors?
I wonder about the fragrance?
I wonder if it would help to put those preservative packets in the water?
I wonder if they bloom?
I wonder whether they would look better on the kitchen table or in the entry?
I wonder if they’re cheaper by the dozen?
I wonder if they come long-stemmed?
Captured at 115th and Allisonville Rd. in Fishers which is just North of Indianapolis.
The sign is real and was up for two hours before someone stopped and told them how to spell PEONIES!
Is there really no such thing as bad publicity? Is even the worst marketing effort still better than no marketing effort?
How do they expect to stay in business when they treat their customers like this?
July 29, 2007
Two years ago this week, I purchased a brand new Dodge Grand Caravan SXT from Charlie’s Dodge in Fort Pierce, Florida. I purchased the van from a lovely young woman whose tenure at the dealership was fleeting…. obviously Charlie’s Dodge in Fort Pierce, Florida had no room in the company for someone who treated customers with respect, especially customers of the feminine persuasion. I came to that conclusion after dealing with the dealership over the past two years.
My Dodge van came with a 36,000 mile warranty which meant returning to the dealer for service work. For the first 18 months, the service department performed these ritualistic lube/oil and filters without trying to extract excess cash from me. Then, about 3 months ago, I began to get the hard sell. There were about $600 worth of services that my van NEEDED in order to continue to function. Without these ESSENTIAL services, surely my van would cease to function and fortunately, I had the professionals at Charlie’s Dodge in Fort Pierce Florida looking out for MY well being. All I had to do was hand over the cash and all would be well.
What they didn’t know at Charlie’s Dodge is that my father owned a car dealership as I was growing up. I also am the proud owner of a husband who is very automobile savvy. Between the two of them, I have at my disposal two very knowledgeable advisors on the necessary maintenance of my cars, both of whom recommended I tell the service department that I may have been born at night, but not last night in response to their "efforts" on my behalf. So, I instead politely told the gentleman at Charlie’s Dodge that I would pass on their recommended services. Read more
When Compelling Goes Horribly Awry…ATHF
April 4, 2007
I’ve talked about how creating clever and compelling content frequently means walking a fine line between the positive and the negative. Just as the opposite of love is not hate, but rather apathy, the opposite of positive compelling creative is NOT negative creative.
Take for example, the not so recent Terrorists Marketing Tactics Campaign launched by Cartoon Network to promote their upcoming movie for Aqua Teen Hunger Force. The campaign certainly took the awareness of the upcoming release to new heights, garnering top mention on almost every media source in North America when they placed small LED circuit boxes featuring a character from the show giving the middle finger. (Which this character is prone to doing on the show.)
The marketing ploy turned full fledged incident brought Boston bomb squads running, closing roadways and bridges, tying up the city of Boston for most of the day in question. Not only was legendary Boston traffic snarled, but it’s been reported that the Pentagon was alerted and the U.S. Northern Command was monitoring the situation from its headquarters in Colorado Springs.
The question we always ask at my house when something like this happens is this: “Does this make me want to see the movie (or purchase the product in question)?”
Because my home is populated with pubescent males and a pubsescent female, I know it’s a real turd if NO ONE in the house answers the question above positively… and no one could in this case.
By the way, the story’s a bit old now, but I’m amused by one online account that reported the event with this spin:
“A great family-oriented brand has been damaged in an incalculable way, and significant monetary damage could follow via compensatory damages, fines and legal fees.”
Um… obviously the author has never WATCHED even a single episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force. My 12 year old is NOT allowed to watch a single episode. The characters on the animated show are routinely maimed and disfigured. Actually, to promote the film in a way that DOESN’T conjure up imaginary threats to national security would probably be out of character with the genre.
By the way, Cartoon Network promoted the film the other night by playing the ENTIRE movie, in it’s entirety, during their regularly scheduled programming. The movie played constantly in a TINY box on the screen. At inopportune moments, the movie would take up the full screen and then would revert back to it’s tiny portion of the small screen.
MAC’s branding boo boo….
March 20, 2007
Now, if you’re a geek, when you hear Mac you think MacIntosh…. as in the computer. While Apple computer has, in the past committed more than it’s fair share of branding boo boos, they have definitely LEARNED from the experience and are currently riding an immensely entertaining and profitable wave with their latest campaign.
No, this is about MAC cosmetics, a division of Estee Lauder. MAC cosmetics is a socially conscious brand designed with the hip young socially aware woman in mind. In a brilliant marketing move, the company created a product called Viva Glam lipstick. 100% of the selling price of the lipstick or lipglass goes to the Mac Aids Fund, which since 1994 has contributed over $85 million to organizations that provide services and care for people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.
Every cent of the purchase price of a Viva Glam lipstick or lipglass goes to the AIDS fund! Fans claim the colors are beautiful, but what really strikes the heart of the socially conscious young woman is that by purchasing lip enhancement, they are also doing a good deed!
MAC Cosmetics has launched a new product line: Barbie Loves MAC line with a tag line of: “specially created for all you living dolls”.
“This is intended to be a very sophisticated makeup collection, designed for adults — not children,” says Peter Lichtenthal, general manager of MAC Cosmetics.
Um, rule of thumb for any one in charge of launching a marketing campaign…. when you have to issue a disclaimer before you launch the campaign, it’s time to go BACK to the drawing board. Read more
3 out of 4 people agree….
February 8, 2007
Just got polled by the Gallup organization on which Yellow Page product I use.
I spent 25 minutes on the phone with a young woman who had trouble finding the “e” key on her keyboard who asked me repeatedly about my yellow page usage. Obviously “the binding has yet to be broken on my 6 month old Yellow Page Directory” isn’t an option.
“Do you use it at work?”
“No, I use the internet.”
“Please ma’am, yes or no answers. When was the last time you used the Yellow Book Yellow Pages.”
“Never”
It went on like this for 25 minutes.
Since the third question required that I go retrieve all the yellow page products in my home, I began to question how “objective” the survey could be. She was surprised [and let me know that she was surprised] when I retrieved my collection of 3 Yellow Page products quickly. I keep mine in a bookcase in my office. My neighbors two doors down obviously don’t keep theirs at all. As soon as a new product arrives, I will see the latest edition sitting on top of their garbage can on garbage pick up day during my daily morning walk. Obivously, if the nice Gallup lady had called my neighbors, she couldn’t have included their answers about their use of the yellow pages because they don’t keep them around. Requiring that I have quick and easy access to the directories is a tactic that clearly states, “Skew the results please!”
While her reason for requiring me to locate a copy was to read her the code from the book…. that code didn’t provide ANY information for her. I still had to tell her the date of publication as well as the city listed in the largest print on the front. If the special code I read didn’t tell her that, what did it tell her? I’ll tell you, it told her that my yellow page directories were easily found in my home. THAT is one of the characteristics of a heavy yellow page directory user.
The only Yellow Page product I have used in the past 6 months is the local directory we got just before we moved from Indiana. She definitely didn’t like that answer and tried like heck to tie the copy of Yellow Book I have sitting here with the binding intact to my answers about my last use of the Yellow Pages.
As we finished the call, I reflected on the “accuracy” of the poll. I kept coming back to the “screening” tools built into the poll, clearly designed to provide the results for which they were seeking. This was obviously a poll commissioned in the name of “mining for marketing material”. I mean, how many people who DO NOT use the Yellow Pages keep them around? If you can’t produce your copy of the yellow pages quickly, then the call ends and she moves on to the next “victim”.
So the next time you encounter a yellow page directory’s ad which claims that 90% of homes use their product on a regular basis, just remember how those results were obtained. Oh, and if you’re comissioning your own poll in the name of “mining for marketing data” try not to be so transparent about your efforts to skew the results.
You’re spending how much to run an ad during the Super Bowl?
January 27, 2007
In an article at CNN Money titled, “Are Super Bowl ads worth the money? With a 30-second spot said to cost as much as $2.6 million, some question the wisdom of advertising during the Super Bowl.” Paul R. La Monica tackles the pros and cons of spending several million dollars (don’t forget production costs for these ads) for a single airing of an ad.
Anheuser-Busch, Pepsico, Coca-Cola and General Motors are among those who have already made a committment to advertise. None of these companies has to worry about their Super Bowl ad bankrupting their company. However, Go Daddy and Sales Genie have a lot riding on this. Neither has the advertising budets available to other major players who are taking a gamble on advertising during Super Bowl XLI.
Yesterday I got an email from Sales Genie. It reads, “Watch Our Commercial from the Super Bowlâ„¢ Sunday, February 4! then visit Salesgenie.com® for 100 FREE sales leads and give us your feedback on our commercial. We don’t have talking lizards or Clydesdale horses, but we can make you rich. “
Here is a smaller player, a firm who is taking a HUGE multi million dollar gamble. They are WISELY trying to hedge that bet by mining their email list. However, instead of hyping their spectacular Super Bowl ad, Sales Genie has instead begun apologizing for not making their ad entertaining or “Super Bowl Worthy.”
In other words, Sales Genie has rented a mansion and they’re now planning to furnish said multi million dollar mansion with RTA furniture from Wal Mart.
Read more
