Freaking Marketing

The Day They Blew Up Jack in the Box

This Super Bowl 43 commercial -- and related Web 2.0 shenanigans -- took me back.

I used to live on the Left Coast, and like a lot of LA residents, I was familiar with the fast food chain known as Jack in the Box. My girlfriend at the time, who grew up in 90210 and had a father who ran a French restaurant, couldn't stand the place. She called it "Gag in the Bag."

My ex had a point. The food was cheap but it kinda sucked. Jack in the Box bosses eventually agreed and decided to bump up quality ... bigtime.

Their marketers knew Angelinos (and others) would be more than a little skeptical. After all, millions of 'em had grown accustomed to the substandard standards of the decades-old chain with the iconic mascot.

Jack's courageous marketing group went with an idea as dramatic as the menu changes. It worked. The advertising campaign helped turn around the moribund chain.

Let us know what you think of the explosive video. And check out their controversial new logo. Jack in the Box managers must be eating this up.

Marketers Don't Know the Meaning of Branding

Ready for a little "Inside Baseball" (thank you, Sarah Palin) from a marketing veteran?

"Branding" ain't what some of you think it is.

What's billed as "branding" is often little more than unified graphic design. But you rarely hear an agency executive say that, for one simple reason: It doesn't make financial sense.

A "unified graphics effort" may produce $10,000 in agency fees. But deliver the same work and call it a "branding initiative" and it could pay $100,000 or more.

Real brand-building involves much more than graphics.

It's the product. Service. Guarantee. Employees. Customers. Stores. Offices. Values. Culture. Charitable giving. And yes, advertising.

So when people say "That's off brand," they may really mean something doesn't comply with graphic design guidelines.

Speaking of that, when a book of "brand guidelines" inhibits innovation, differentiation or other important stuff ending in "tion," I suggest you throw it out and start over. 

If your new "branding" is nothing more than competent graphic design, and lacks that special quality found in genuinely awesome advertising, it won't do much for your brand.

Graphic design is immensely important, and consistent, high quality design raises brand awareness and preference. No doubt about it.

But game-changing ideas matter even more. They're capable of transforming businesses, industries, organizations, and institutions. They change the world.

What do you think? 

If you were Michael Phelps --

Would you retire from swimming at age 23 after winning an unprecedented 8 gold medals in a single Olympics (and 14 gold medals overall), or plan on competing in the London 2012 Games?

Share your thoughts in "Comments."

General Advertisers are Right: Direct Marketers Don't Know the Meaning of Brand Building

Ask a direct marketing pro -- including some of our industry's most prominent players -- about "branding" and you're likely to hear, "Ain't my thing."

That, my friends, is nuthin' but horseshit.

ALL forms of advertising -- including direct mail, email, and package inserts -- impact the brand.

So, why do many direct marketers believe they have little or no responsibility for brand building?

Here's one theory. Once upon a time, a bright person in the so-called general advertising field realized it was more lucractive to say he was in the brand-building business.

Direct marketers? They were in a different line of work -- the non-branding field. If you wanted to do great stuff for your brand, you didn't call in the folks behind all those Business Reply Cards.

Unfortunately, the direct marketing industry bought into that crap, hook, line, and sinker (forgive me for mixing metaphors). Instead of recognizing -- and maximizing -- our contribution to brands, we chose to disparage our sisters and brothers in that other marketing discipline.

Even today, direct marketers can't resist the urge to go after the other guys.

Going forward, I think the direct marketers who unite unusual advertising concepts with sophisticated direct marketing techniques will see some of the best outcomes of all.

What do you think?