Goodby + Quaker Oats = Future Success for both

Of the seven days a week, I probably eat oatmeal for breakfast about five times. I love oatmeal. And, it’s not just oatmeal, it’s Quaker Oatmeal. I’m a fan of the Quaker Instant maple and brown sugar. When I’m home, I like the original Quaker Oatmeal from the stove with a little brown sugar and milk. Mmmmm…

Quaker Oats is a great brand. Oatmeal is not the only thing they provide. The Low Fat Granola and Whole Grain Rice Cakes (currently using agency Juniper Park in Toronto) are all excellent. So is Life cereal. I guess I just love the brand and the nutrients their products provide me on a daily basis. 

This is why I am excited to see what direction Goodby, Silverstein & Partners will take this great brand. I believe that Goodby will provide a fresh perspective for the brand and possibly provide some entertainment value to the upcoming ads. It seems like most recent oatmeal commercials center around a concerned mom providing a hearty bowl of oatmeal to her hungry children. I can’t wait to see if and how Goodby will change the typical oatmeal advertisement. 

Goodby is inheriting quite a large challenge. Quaker Oats spent $45 million on media last year. They followed that with $20 million in media spending in the first half of this year. This means that the communication strategists at Goodby are going to have their work cut out for them shortly!

 

Old Navy makes a move – to Crispin

 

 

For me personally, the fact that Old Navy will now be working with Crispin Porter & Bogusky is very exciting. I can’t wait until March to see what the final result will be. 

Old Navy is one of my favorite brands. I would shop there for back-to-school clothes when I was in elementary school and I plan to make a trip there today for some decently priced and modern work clothes. I also worked there for seven weeks – good discount, but not as fun as shopping there. I just really like being able to find clothes I need there and, as an added bonus, they’re usually trendy. 

As I have mentioned before, I remember talking with my manager about the brand shift they were trying to execute. I have read that it didn’t go over very well, but I enjoyed it while it lasted. I remember him telling me that they were trying to compete with American Eagle instead of Wal-Mart, which is the brand they used to compete with. 

Crispin should offer some pretty exciting changes to Old Navy, it will certainly offer a young and refreshing take on the brand. Crispin seems to understand how to effectively advertise to specific target markets – their target market for The King commercials (Burger King, if you have been living in a cave) was 18-34 year old stoners. Old Navy will be a challenge for Crispin because I’m not sure how humor will work with Old Navy, but nonetheless I can’t wait to see what this marriage will bring to the table for consumers.

Virgin Atlantic introduces “Airphoria”

 

 

If there is one thing that is true about me, it’s that I completely hate flying. It’s not the inconvenience of a late flight or a missing bag (all of which are seriously annoying), it’s the fact that I’m actually scared of flying in the sky. I need to be in control to feel safe and I am most definitely not in control when I’m in the hands of a pilot. 

In May, I was in Atlanta for the NSAC/AAF National Competition. When we were scheduled to take off, there was a line of 30+ other planes that were ahead of us in line. Literally, 30 planes. By the time it was our turn, we had to go back to the airport to refuel before we were safe to fly. We ended up being many hours late to out next destination, Minneapolis, and ended up having to spend the night in the airport. The next morning our group had to separate so that we could make it home. Did I mention that our college graduation was mere days later? We had to get back. It was awful, I have never had a flying situation like that before. It seems that these days, flying has just become a huge hassle. My mom keeps saying over and over again that “flying isn’t glamorous anymore.”

Virgin Atlantic has noticed this also. And, they have a response to everyone. Virgin Atlantic is “glad you hate flying.” What? Should an airline trying to make profit really say that? They want people to hate flying so they can look forward to flying on Virgin Atlantic. It’s all part of their “Airphoria” campaign. Virgin Atlantic wants passengers to feel excitement and anticipation when flying their airline. They offer completely flat beds for sleeping as well as an open-all-the-time bar. These are two things (especially the second perk) that would make me look forward to flying on Virgin. 

This unique airline made the terrible attitude about flying into the perfect opportunity. They saw an opening in the market and ran with it. In looking at their website, though, I don’t think they fly within the U.S. Too bad, because Virgin would have been a great airline for me to fly to see my friend Emily in New York. And, despite my fear of flying, next time I need to fly internationally from San Francisco (my new home), I will certainly start with looking at Virgin. The complete bar is reason enough.

Audi A4 = Luxurious AND Fuel Efficient

When thinking of luxury brand cars, consumers immediately think of the two biggies – BMW and Mercede. But, Venables Bell & Partners also wants you to consider Audi in the luxury car brand category. I agree with them, Audi should automatically be considered a luxury car when consumers are looking for a classy and fuel efficient car.

That is the position that VB & P want to take in the market. According to their ads, the Audi A4 is more fuel efficient than the Mercedes C300 and the BMW 328, which are the A4’s two main competitors. This is a huge advantage that the A4 has over BMW and Mercedes-Benz while gas prices continue to be so inflated. VB & P are using their Audi ads to directly position themselves with BMW and Mercedes. The ad below is called “Living Room” and shows what happens when an outdated living room is transformed into a modern living space and closes with the car in the driveway (a Mercedes) is transformed into an A4. This sends a very clear message that a market once dominated by Mercedes and BMW is slowly being crept up on by Audi.

Another classy and efficient step for Audi is the fact that there won’t be any print ads. Simply broadcast ads during high profile events. Think Olympics, Oscars, Superbowl.  These expensive media buys will be reinforced with ads during popular T.V. spots including Sunday Night Football, Grey’s Anatomy and The Office. Keeping things simple is the best way to be considered classy.

With Audi as a luxury brand, progress is beautiful.

My Favorite Brands (Part 1)

I was in San Francisco last week visiting my brother and an agency or two. I was asked multiple times what my favorite brands were. Though I have never really thought about this before, it didn’t take long to compile a list. So, here it is so far:

1. Volkswagen. This is a car brand that can get away with funny advertising. It’s refreshing to see a car company completely understand their stance in the market and use it to their advantage. I can’t even think of another car company that would be able to pull off a humorous ad. Their most recent ads feature Max, the little black bug with a big German accent. Lexus, a high end luxury car company also does a superb job with ads. They are classy and sophisticated, which suits their brand and the target market. I especially love the narrators voice, it just oozes class.

2. Coach. This is kind of a no-brainer for me, because I love the Coach brand no matter what kind of advertising is involved. However, I do anxiously anticipate the seasonal catalogue. Their ads are simple, classy and represent the brand in a fun way. I tend to enjoy brands that do little to no advertising except for catalogues. Coach, Nordstrom, Pottery Barn, Williams Sonoma, etc. I would also like to include American Apparel, but when was the last time you logged onto Facebook or PerezHilton and didn’t see an A.A. banner? I also tend to appreciate ads when they are simple and include a lot of white space. I think that when white space is done in a creative way, it comes off elegant and helps the audience focus on the product. For example, any Clinique ad made in the last couple years.

3. Old Navy. Now, I used to work at Old Navy (for a whole month!) and I would never work retail again, but I do recognize and appreciate the brand make over that has been implemented. I remember talking with my manager at the time about the new, semi-risque ads for their new jeans. He said that Old Navy used to want to be in the same category/compete with Wal-Mart. That wasn’t working too well and ON saw an opportunity to be an inexpensive fashion brand. So, they changed their direction and decided to go after the American Eagle consumers. It seems to have worked for them. Their broadcast advertisements are fun, fresh, and constantly new (like every week it seems). Good for Old Navy.

4. Haagen-Dazs. Ice cream, in general, seems to be pretty important to me. But, Haagen-Dazs? That is like the ultimate ultimate. You know that when you buy Haagen-Dazs ice cream, you’re getting a good thing. And the ads for Haagen-Dazs are perfect for the high quality ice cream - When was the last time you saw an ad for Haagen-Dazs and didn’t immediately want to eat ice cream? Yeah, never. Not only do the ads effectively represent the brand, but they also coincide with current events. The Haagen-Dazs Honey Bees was an opportunity for H-D to educate the world about the decrease in honey bees, while effectively selling ice cream. I believe I learned that without honey bees, there would be 40% fewer Haagen-Dazs flavors. That is terrible! And, it’s something that I wouldn’t have known without the ads. (Thanks, Goodby!)

 

Those are just four brands that I wanted to highlight at this point. Each is unique, special and understands its place in the market. There are many more brands in my little brain, but I’ll get to those at a later time. What are some of your favorite brands…?

Sorry Kobe

I am not the biggest basketball fan, but I did sit through most of the playoff game last night with the Lakers and the Celtics. Kobe Bryant is amazing, but there is just something about him that I don’t like. That’s a whole different story, though.

I watched the game so I could watch the commercials during the commercial break. And to see what celebrities decided to make the trip to Boston… The NBA has the absolute best commercials right now! The split screen of two players giving the same speech was an absolute genius move by Goodby Silverstein & Partners. It is such a simple idea that was executed so well. It also allowed them to match up different players faces depending on who was playing.

Or, just match up players who have an interesting history. For example, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. When Kobe joined the Los Angeles Lakers right out of high school, Shaq acted as his mentor. Now, with each player on a different team, a rivalry has formed. It makes this Joker-esque commercial almost comical.

But, there can only be one. And it was Kevn Garnett.