Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Is your product positioning "corn fed?"

Is your product positioning "corn fed?" Why do I ask? If you've read Polan's The Omnivore's Dilemma then you already know cows don't eat corn. Cows eat grass. And if you try to make cows eat grass then 40% of the herd will die unless you feed the cows massive quantities of steroids, hormones and antibiotics to keep them alive. A rancher in the eastern Sierras just passed me. On his bumper was a sticker that boasted "corn fed elk." Same thing. Elk don't eat corn. Elk eat grass. So like Clint Eastwood I must ask you: "Are you artificially stimulating the success of your product positioning strategy with massive infusions of cash and marketing support?" This expenditure is exactly the same thing as infusing cattle or elk with artificial life inducing steroids, antibiotics and hormones. Want to get your consumer package good product (or a product in any other category for that matter) on a more beneficial grass fed positioning? Reply if interested.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Coke Cannes

Across the globe, Coca-Cola is a harbinger of 'happiness'. Coke's messaging spreads bits of joy across multiple platforms. The happy ideas led Coca-Cola to its most-awarded year in Cannes -- the brand took home 30 Lions. Coke Cannes

How did Coke find happiness? By graduating our Extreme Product Makeovers Coke found that "a sale is a transfer of enthusiasm." Happiness promotes enthusiasm. Happiness promotes positive emotional response. But does happiness promote carbonated sales? True, Coke spreads Happiness and wins advertising awards but does happiness translate into sales for Coke?


Happiness is not "It" for Coke. Happiness is a generic cost-of-entry parameter. Happiness is not 'ownable' - No matter how many impressions the company's corporate coffers cough up. The most highly consumer-desired product potential to use to reverse declines in carbonated beverage consumption is something else. There is a more powerful "Special User Effect" to better drive consumer habits and practices that can be owned. But nice work collecting the bling. Does anyone other than the agency take that to the bank?