Brand Ng

Mountain Dew's mouse-liquefaction lawsuit defense is easier to stomach than you might think

Stewart Little, doin' the Dew / SONY

In a lawsuit against PepsiCo, a man claimed he found a mouse in a can of Mountain Dew.  The Atlantic Wire reported on Pepsi's defense:

Pepsi's lawyers... found experts to testify... that "the mouse would have dissolved in the soda had it been in the can from the time of its bottling until the day the plaintiff drank it," according to the Record. (It would have become a "jelly-like substance," according to Pepsi, adds LegalNewsline.) 

Typically, it's Marketing which asks Legal to approve edgy communications.  They would have been well served to do the reverse in this case.

That said, PepsiCo is quite lucky that this case is for Mountain Dew and not for some other beverage, say Lipton Brisk, or Diet Pepsi.

Smokers don't smoke for health benefits, and neither do drinkers of Mountain Dew. Dew drinkers already know that it's bad for them and, as such, this PR "problem" is unlikely to change the long term behavior of current drinkers.

The Mountain Dew brand has spent the last couple of decades attaching itself to action sports and all things "x-treme."  And action sports athletes are always trying to do tricks that are new and more creative--things which are usually more dangerous.  

Mountain Dew's ability to dissolve a living creature might ultimately be additive to its brand. Teens may view it as a valuable feature of the soda as they jockey, on the halfpipe, for status and manhood.

Contagion bacterial and fungal billboard

This is an ingenious and well-executed outdoor interactive installation for Contagion, even if it gives me further pause about having to sit in a dark crowded room for a couple of hours to buy what they're selling.

 

Mike Commodore should have chosen to wear #64

Mike Commodore, an NHL player who signed in the offseason with the Detroit Red Wings, turned down an invitation to wear the number 64, which would have resulted in a jersey reading "Commodore 64."  

As a person who routinely deals with the business problem of increasing celebrity value, I would have advocated that Commodore take the number.* 

Sure, it's a bit punny, but Commodore had plenty of reasons and excuses to wear it:

IT WAS POSSIBLE AND THERE WAS DEMAND FOR IT

1. Commodore initially floated the idea himself
2. Puck Daddy, the Yahoo Sports Hockey Blog, pledged a $64 donation to the charity of Commodore's choice, with an invitation to fans to follow suit.  Over 100 people signed up.  That's a very good number of avid fans putting their money where their mouths are--and almost certainly represents thousands of other fans.**
3. The Red Wings were open to the idea

IT WOULD HAVE CREATED OPTION VALUE FOR COMMODORE

1. While Commodore is a 10 year veteran, he is not a particularly high-profile player.  The recall from wearing a pun jersey would have increased his visibility dramatically, especially for an avid, nostalgic crowd that might not even be hockey fans.  Wearing 64 would have been good for Hockey and good for him.
2. A higher profile would allow for a greater number of future options for Commodore, especially in the areas of endorsements, broadcasting, entrepreneurial endeavors and more.
3. It is a differentiator--and a positive one (sense of humor)--with low to no risk.  It sets him apart from a sea of sameness.

Of course, Commodore may have had many reasons not to wear 64.  He's a millionaire many times over, and probably would have had to hear endless sniping on the ice.  And maybe he doesn't want the added publicity/distraction, or perhaps he didn't want to give a free endorsement.  But from a pure business point of view, for a player in the latter half of his career, it would seem that this was an expensive choice to make.

Oh well. Perhaps Wyshynski and co will now focus on trying to get Michael Vick to switch to #20 instead.

 

* I do not work with Commodore and have never spoken with  him.
** Commodore will match these $64 donations (if people are still willing to give) to a charity to be named later. Cool.

The spirit of giving shines through in word of mouth program from non-profit IOBY

As a marketer, I was really blown away by a "Giving Card" promotion from the New York-based non-profit, ioby, and--on the final day of giving for the 2010 tax year--I thought I'd share why.

ioby is an acronym for "in our back yards," a play off of NIMBY. The organization is part of the growing trend of hyper-local giving organizations. In ioby's case, they facilitate donations to small-scale local environmental projects, with the idea that donors would be able to see the direct impact of their dollars AND benefit from the improvement of their own neighborhoods.  

There's a special genius in joining the two ideas of "helping others + benefiting yourself" and many (commercial) referral programs are built on this combination.  Since ioby's entire organization is predicated on this duality, a word-of-mouth promotion is a perfect choice--it is right on brand.

ioby's "Giving Card" was handed out at it's Annual Gala. The card includes two $10 donation certificates: one for you and one for a friend.  ioby executed this particularly well:

• The piece is physically well crafted, with a premium, artisan feel that makes you want to keep it and/or pass it on. There is no substitute for good design: this would not work if it were simply printed on an 8.5x11 sheet.  The design, in combination with complex one-time-use codes evokes "bigness" and credibility.


• The promotion is not available to everybody. It is only given to those who purchased tickets to the gala and are thus highly inclined to believe in ioby's mission. Too many referral and word-of-mouth promotions lack any sort of exclusivity at all--a major disincentive when it comes to motivating your base.


• The $20 worth of donations in the Giving Card were funded by tickets to the Annual Gala.  It was important for this promotion to be backed by real value.  This allows ticket buyers to see, in an immediate way, how donations to ioby impact their local communities: buyers can direct a portion of their ticket to causes most meaningful to them. At the same time, they would be required to visit ioby.org to see and select projects in their, um, own back yards.


• Donors who use the code become invested in a specific, local project. The hope, of course,  is that people would give more than the $10 code, but even without additional donations, ioby can now report back to this donor with updates about a specific project--and the impact that even a small amount of money can make.

I spoke to Erin Barnes, ioby's executive director, who sees multiple occurrences of giving reflected by this single piece.  She said, "We wanted to create an echo chamber of giving back:

1. "You gave ioby support by coming to the gala.
2. "We gave you the cards back.
3. "You give your piece to a local project.
4. "You give the other half to a friend.
5. "The friend gives to a project of his or her choice.
6. "The project gives back to the NYC environment."

I think this simple piece really succeeds in creating that "echo chamber of giving."  Additional details about ioby and its local environmental programs can be found at ioby.org.  

Alternate views of the piece can be seen below.

 Click either photo to enlarge

Front and back of the Giving Card.  The paper is cut and folded in such a way as to open up like a flower. (the photo at the top of the page shows the inside of the card when opened).  The card was designed by a printmaking class at Parsons under Shana Agid.

 

 

Brilliant Movie Ad with Tweet Integration for Ben Stiller's Greenberg

Check out this inventive online display ad for Greenberg the Movie. 

1. Opening panel invites you to tweet directly into the ad (you'd need to click for details)
2. Clicking the ad forces you to watch a preview of the movie.  Apparently, it's about a neurotic guy with wandering thoughts.
3. You get to add your own neurotic thoughts by entering your Twitter username/password and tweeting it. No matter what you write, it will be perfectly aligned with the movie idea.

If that weren't enough, there's a good chance that the content of your tweet--displayed to all of your followers, mind you--is about Greenberg the Movie.

That's great stuff.