The Big Fat Marketing Blog

i just saw a :30 tv spot for a local dairy/ice cream chain that featured the chairman dressing in various holiday-specific costumes. Easter, Independence Day, Mother’s Day, etc. I think the point was to get viewers to serve more of their ice cream to celebrate these holidays. But it made me wonder how the agency got stuck having to feature the chairman in their spot, instead of a more creative solution. more

Thanks to Topps Chewing Gum, I became aware of the power of successful branding long before I made a career out of it. But instead of analyzing the “art” of advertising, I studied the science of lampooning advertising, which was way more fun, and instructional, too. more

Baked into the DNA of all promotions is the need to grab consumers and make them do something. The good promotions deliver a reward for that “do something.” But, as anyone who watches late night TV can attest, a lot of promotions exist just to empty somebody’s wallet. more

Have you seen the Reynolds Wrap email that’s flying around right now? It seems that there is a little cardboard perf on the ends of all Reynolds Wraps boxes that, when punched in, prevents the roll of foil (or plastic wrap, or whatever) from tumbling out of the box, onto the floor, streaming the entire length of the material with it.

more

Frito-Lay is redesigning many of their salty snack bags to better appeal to women, who actually snack MORE than men, and not on the same salty stuff, either. To figure all this out, and capitalize on the trend, they turned to neuromarketing–literally getting into the heads of their customers.

more

Don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there are tons of commercials airing in prime time that, a year ago, would have been relegated to 2am on “Who’s the Boss?” reruns. The crippled economy has left holes in the broadcast schedule now being filled by former castoffs and attic dwellers. By far the best of these is the Snuggie.

more