My local grocer seems to have a good thing going. Surrounded by national and regional chains in a very competitive suburban market, Ross’ Independent Grocer brands himself as the locally engaged grocer, with clear links to the community.

At the same time, the “Independent Grocer” franchise is clearly a part of the much larger Loblaws/Weston group of brands - and that gives owner Ken Ross access to the much loved President’s Choice range of products, as well as bulk purchasing discounts.

Ross emphasizes his connection to the community in local papers, working with the business improvement area, through the weekly flyers, and by voicing the promotional spots broadcast over the store PA system.

It really shouldn’t have surprised me - Ross’ Independent Grocers won a 2007 Retailer Award from Foodland Ontario, the provincial government public relations campaign charged with getting us locals to eat something other than Dominican bananas and California grapes.

It’s clear that, this summer, part of the Independent Grocer franchise marketing package is a “grown close to home” campaign, tied to the peak of the Ontario growing season. That’s one of the reasons I picked up canteloupes, watermelon, peaches, blueberries and tomatoes earlier this afternoon. Fresh, nice smelling, reasonably priced and, admittedly, grown close to home.

This fits well with the contemporary Foodland Ontario campaign, which is attempting to resurrect the “good things groooowwww in Ontarrrriooooo” jingle first advertised in the early 80s.

Still, I was surprised when, at the end of an in-store promo announcement, I heard Ken Ross signing the very same jingle and fairly well, all things considered.

For an idea of what I heard, the current Foodland Ontario television ad is pasted below.

And beside it is “Peaches” by Presidents of the United States - because I like it, and it’s tangentially relevant.

Forget about stoic pride. Forget about demure recognition. When you hit a defining moment in your life, you should celebrate with energy, with passion and with a demonstrable air of excitement.

That’s what Rafael Nadal did last night, climbing up into the stands to hug his friends and family. He then walked across the top of the scoreboard at Centre Court to speak to the Spanish Crown Prince.

It was only after he had finished his personal celebrations that Nadal returned to the Court - where the tournament organizers in blue jackets grabbed him to make sure he returned to the age-old script for awarding the trophy - and maximizing television time for sponsors and Wimbledon club officeholders.

The second that blazer-toting apparatchik grabbed Nadal, I recognized that the Spaniard’s impulsive decision to head into the stands had exploited the transition between sport and business on Centre Court.

The convention is that the winner stands at Centre Court, turns to each side of the stands and does the aw-schucks do-see-do, then returns to his courtside chair to be led through the rest of the agenda.

Nadal did not pause to consider his dual obligations to sport and business - his epic match was a landmark in modern tennis, and he let his emotions shine brightly through.

Technorati Tags: joy, Wimbledon, Nadal, Federer, celebration, life goal

Hoooo eeeeee! There’s some bootleggin’ going on! The fine folks of Dublin, Texas stil make Dr. Pepper with cane sugar - the only bottler in the United States to continue producing the quirky drink this way.

Problem is, their distributions rights are limited to the 40 miles around the plant.

We all know what that means - the locals are moving crate after crate out of the bottling plant, selling it bottle by bottle in corner stores and gas stations.

It’s like Smokey and the Bandit, but at a much smaller scale.

20 cases per individual, only available at the plant. And $7.89 for a six-pack of 8 ounce bottles.

“Hey! You lookin? You lookin for a snoot-full of the earthy aroma, the tangy yet fizzy bite of an old-fashioned soft drink? Just come back here, and bring your money with you.”

More details at the Dallas Observer.

That’s right - the ice cream truck is a summertime menace. I may have written about ice cream truck music - twice - but the early summer ice cream truck season is causing more grief than delight in the media:

• do you want a shot of cheap bourbon with that heavenly hash?
• a lot of people have problems with the ice cream jingle - at 10 pm
• the Good Humor man has returned to New York - and is fighting a turf war.

Most importantly - I did not realize that ice cream trucks needed to bring in foreign workers to make the business cost-effective. Which is why the Russian white slavery charges in Kansas City were so startling.

Finally, Eddie Murphy reminds us how we would mindlessly chase ice cream trucks down the street.

[tags] ice cream truck, music, noise, Good Humor,

The political economy of taco trucks, as explained by Jonathan Gold: personal skill, quality products not overburdened by design or packaging, effective location scouting, and feature-rich marketing.

“…I love mini-malls. I love swap meets. I love tamale carts. I love itinerant fruit vendors. I love old Guatemalan women with hampers full of corn on the cob and squirt-bottle mayonnaise. I love the pickups that roam the Eastside, with loads of mangoes or bushels of fresh green chickpeas.I love the guys who lop off the tops of coconuts with rusted machetes.

I love entry-level capitalism at its most chaotic, where the barriers to doing business are on the wispy side of minimal, where a family with a dream and a catering license can support itself selling delicious barbecued cabeza from a truck window, where two dozen oddball eating places can be launched for less money than it would take to open a single outlet of Burger King.

There are plenty of cities in America where freedom is best expressed as the right to choose between Wendy’s, McDonald’s and Carl’s Jr., but Los Angeles is not one of those places. I think that’s why I live here…” (LA Weekly)

Technorati Tags: Taquero, taco truck, Mexican food, fast food, community development, economic growth

For the life of me, I couldn’t understand why a brand manager would buy these ads. An ordinary woman, with ordinary if well-presented clothes, obviously standing in front of a false aisle of consumer goods, blatantly promoting a particular product - sauces, detergent, food.

The most direct comparison? Imagine the scripted pitch and rigid product positioning of an in-store sampling program, recorded with better lighting.

That’s Brand Power, the work of the Buchanan Group, which was featured in the National Post yesterday in an article called “Back to Basics.”

And here I thought Brand Power was a particularly Canadian program - but it’s obvious that audiences across North America and the Commonwealth are seeing one interpretation of the advertisements or another.

“… From a creative point of view the ad executions are awful, but mesmerizing. These are the type of commercials that are generally abhorred by agency brand strategists who spend months deciding on how to sell you breakfast cereal artfully.

“They are not ads that electrify you,” said Anthony Stokan, partner at retail consultancy Anthony Russell Inc. “They are very lame and uninspiring. But that said, they are highly believable because they focus on the essence of the brand and the products.” …”

Chris Clarke has made a strong, and emotional, argument in the past that Brand Power could be considered deceitful and misleading. I agree that the format is designed to appear informational rather than promotional, but I have never thought it anything but blatant advertising.

You open up a freshly-purchased magazine, and dozens of subscription cards fall out. They clog up every third page, stick to feature layouts, and make you slip on the floor.

It’s a giant waste of paper. And Outside magazine recognizes that its readers, in particular, may not appreciate the mess:

“… Beginning with the March issue, the magazine is cutting roughly 20 million annual sub cards in an effort to save trees and be more sustainable, a palpable concern among its rootsy readers …” (Folio)

Outside seems to think growth from online subscription renewals will eventually replace treeware renewals.

But magazine publishers continue to insist that subscription cards are an essential part of their marketing strategy. After all, what better marketing is there than overpricing single issue sales and then undermining that strategy with a campaign of large scale and drastic pricing cuts based on volume sales?

I think U.S. automakers can answer that question.

Nevertheless, Wired magazine tells us in a blog post that

“…they’re part of our business model. It’s not just about money, really — it’s about your eyeballs. See, advertisers pay based on audience size. And blow-in cards are a cheap way to snag subscribers and boost numbers: It costs a glossy monthly about $10 to acquire a new reader through one of those cards. But using direct mail? $25 — or more…”

As Rex pointed out, Wired delivered this ecologically unfriendly and largely unwanted news in a lighthearted design - in the print version of the magazine, their note about blow-in cards was printed in the design of a … blow-in card.

Unfortunately, the “Death to Blow-Ins” Facebook cause only has 29 members, so this marketing gimmick may have years of longevity left.

Technorati Tags: magazine subscription, blow-in cards

Cross-promotion in support of a cross-promotion campaign!

The gist of this lengthy post: take a negative, add some humour and ingenuity and make it a positive!

God bless Rax from Splendid Communications. His agency has the Marmite account, and as part of their follow-up to a cross-promotion campaign earlier in 2007, he sent me this little note:

Canuckflack, Oh Canuckflack,
How we all love Colin McKay
So we’re writing him this romantic note
Because it’s Saint Valentine’s day!

His quirky take on the marketing world
Fills our lives with daily mirth
Which is why he is without dispute
The most gorgeous blogger on Earth…

You’ll always be our classic rock
As you guide us through what’s new
The communications industry has found itself
A poster boy in you.

Colin – a man like you, who knows his stuff
And can talk all things social media
Fills our minds with many naughty thoughts
About how we want to feed ‘ya…

So we’d like you to try new Lovers’ Marmite,
Which is laced with a bit of Champagne
You should have fellow citizens wondering
About that nice smell on the O-Train…

And so when you’re chomping on your morning toast
Before you head out to Uppertown
Don’t forget to reach for the Marmite jar
But you don’t have to put the butter down

Happy Valentine’s Day from Marmite
You’re our perfect date
Thanks for showing us some love
Instead of choosing to hate!

What cross-promotion, you may ask?

The fabulous Paddington Bear preferring Marmite over Marmalade ad:

But what’s the second level of cross-promotion?

Some little thing called “Lover’s Marmite” - a special blend of Marmite and Champagne only available for a limited time, with a special label on the back. A label where you can write the name of your special darling, as you hand them a jar of yeast extract that says “I Love You” on the front.

The only thing better would be used undergarments from your solo vacation to Thailand.

If that image wasn’t disturbing enough, take a look at the advert for “Lover’s Marmite”:

Honestly, I don’t know why I obsess over Marmite (the product), but Marmite (the marketer) has bowled me over twice in six months!

Technorati Tags: marmite, blogger relations, blogger outreach, Lover’s Marmite

Say no to strangers people, and remember that the policeman is your friend. A voyage back to 1965 provides a glimpse into the idealized life of a boy and girl in middle school - and how they navigate the multiple threats of dark back alleys, policemen that burst out of Spanish-themed bars at mid-day (7:24 in), old men in tweed proffering free puppies, and suburban moms in station wagons volunteering a free ride to the school.

Because I’m chronic that way, I noticed that the young boy had been dressed in a Fred Perry tennis shirt. Feel free to mock (me, not them. I used to drive 350 km to buy those shirts).

Remarkably absent? Any form of electronic device at all. No television, no radio, certainly no computer, PSP or wireless device. All those kids had was a playground and each other. Pathetic!

Last week, three separate publications asked me for a headshot (because I’m a spokeshead, not because I’m a popular blogger with an extremely photogenic mug). I have several options available, and I found myself flipping between the professional and the amateurish: a headshot prepared by a professional photographer, and a handful of profile pictures snapped with a number of camera phones.

You see, I’ve been in public relations long enough to remember when professional photo shoots were required for all your spokespeople. You always had to have a ready selection of half grinning/mildly worried looks on hand, just in case.

As I was sorting through my options, though, I realized that the bar had moved. The public no longer expects a formal upright, slightly angled shouldered look to their authority figures. In fact, I had to screw around with my headshot in Photoshop before sending it off to one publications.

A co-worker of Jason Oke has noticed that the younger generations do not have a problem finding a headshot - in fact, there seems to be

“… an age-related gap on social networking sites like Facebook in personal photo quality - anyone under 25 looks really good in all of their pictures, while the rest of us look pudgy and a bit stunned.

His theory is that it’s because those of us of a certain age grew up with pictures being taken mostly on special occasions like birthdays and holidays, and usually with some warning of “say cheese.�

We never really learned how to have our picture properly taken. But with ubiquitous casual digital photography, the young ‘uns grew up being used to taking and seeing many more photos of themselves, and have learned to quickly throw a pose in any situation. They are photo-literate.”

Me? I can’t quite pull of the casual concentration look. I don’t really like Starbucks, so I’m never at ease enough to pull off the “working in casual luxury while sitting on a loveseat” look. And every time I try the “you caught me in mid-action” pose, I look like an out-take from a Sears catalogue.

Technorati Tags: photography, headshot, publicity still, corporate look, spokesperson

Just like Jackie and Ben tell us, just like Jake emphasizes and Connie practices, a business has to know its community and its market to succeed. Here are a few examples:

On the east end of Long Island, there’s a 1,000 watt radio station that’s extremely local:

“…Mr. Tria’s morning show, “The Dawn Patrol,â€� delivers a style of local radio that is nearly extinct on Long Island: a neighbor’s lost dog, a birth or death in the community, and news from the schools, the police and Town Hall. It is a slow-drip blend of slow-paced life that seems meant to waft into kitchens and mingle with the smell of bacon. (NYT)

A Ford dealership in a small California town has been bought out, a reaction from hq in Detroit to declining market share and a surplus of dealerships in the region. But not for a lack of trying:

“…All the while, Norwalk and southeast Los Angeles gradually became more Latino — 63% in the most recent Census data. Stutzke says he adapted, becoming among the first car dealers to advertise on Spanish-language television. Families poured into the dealership on Saturdays to watch the making of El Show de Keystone Ford. (USA Today)

Looking for some heartwarming stories of big box chains and international brands failing? Reason magazine tells us that the little guy CAN win - and has an eighty year history of beating the big guy. It’s a good read with a lot of historical context:

“…By understanding local tastes, Newbury Comics, Phoenix Coffee Co., La Flor De Broadway Café, and Kansas City’s Broadway Café demonstrated that localization, customer care, and authenticity are far more effective means of fighting larger rivals than agitating for anti-chain legislation.

Had Broadway Café owner Jon Cates initially looked at historical precedent, rather than petitioning city hall, he perhaps would have understood that David slays Goliath with encouraging frequency in the history of American business.”

Technorati Tags: community, audience, brand, retail, radio promotion

I knew this was how the magic happened. There is no such thing as a viral video. It’s all a den of deception, payoffs, spam emails and keyword optimization.

The Secret Strategies Behind Many “Viral� Videos

I found one comment just as enlightening as the post itself:

“Nice post. Nice fuzz and nice flaming comments. It has the dark mark written all over it, nicely played by Michael, no only setting the comments on fire, but getting a hell lot of diggs and driving an insane traffic to the website. No one has commented yet on the fact that the RSS post was incomplete so that feed readers would have to come to the webpage

Awesome strategy Michael and Dan, congrats.

About the actual content, some things where cool, others where just typical. For all those that are getting so mad about this, most of what he describes is part of the SEO field. It’s done by a hell lot of people. You could count even bloggers using some of this tricks. Some of them are quite unethical but hey, the Internet is a harsh place, live with that. If you get mad then it’s because you haven’t realized you are being targeted all day long YET. Maybe this post will open many people’s eyes

Welcome to the Internet …”

You know why agents, managers and representatives take a big chunk of an actor’s pay?

Because they take care of their clients.

Because they know how to work a room.

Because they know how to make a seemingly heartfelt gesture yet seem completely aloof from their circumstances.

Like bringing a plate of delicious churros to pass around the members of the striking Writer’s Guild of America.

Image from Stee.

Technorati Tags: Writer’s Strike, Churros, agents, managers

You’re like me, aren’t you? You look in the fridge, and all you can see is a package of frankfurters. Hot dogs. Sausages. Processed meat in a casing.

What to do? You can’t handle another hot dog. Not even a Coney Island special. Not a Chicago Style. Not a Detroit special. A New England Coney Island?

What about a refreshing meat bunny? Or perhaps you’d like a little meat trunk on your elephant?

It’s been around for a while, but Nippon Ham has a novel way of promoting the purchase and consumption of their Winny brand hot dogs - detailed instructions on how to carve them into a variety of animals. Like these instructions for making that adorable meat bunny.

The guys at Finding Japan even filmed their effort to make the little elephants.
All that’s missing is the soft velvety bed of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese (Kraft Dinner to us Canadians)

You MUST visit I am an American, and I eat Hot Dogs. And Fat Dave’s Hot Dog Adventures.

For those people who just watched me on CJOH’s Tech Now segment, I can refer you to a new e-book from Spannerworks: What is Social Media? (It’s a .pdf file)

The opportunity to talk about blogging and social media came about as a result of the inaugural Third Monday session held this week, featuring Shel Israel. See Joe Thornley’s blog for more information.

I know the camera is supposed to add ten pounds, but by God, I’ve got to lose weight.

While it’s still a swell, not a wave, opposition is building to the all-too-common lush resort visits sponsored by drug manufacturers eager to persuade/pressure prescribing physicians. Time weighs in this week.

Yum Brands is drawing upon the experience of its brand partners in China to prepare a consumer education plan about avian flu, Ad Age tells us.

Some industry reps believe consumers may be aware of the problems overseas, but that knowledge does not translate into perceptions at home. Richard Lobb, communications director of the National Chicken Council, told Ad Age:

�American consumers are not usually inclined to panic. They know the chicken they eat is not a hazard. It�s pretty premature to put up posters saying your chicken is safe.�

Especially when your industry is following the same line, in response to union and activist demands for worker education and enhanced equipment:

“You don’t want to tell people so they come to work every day afraid,” said Bob Ford, head of the N.C. Poultry Federation. (Charlotte Observer)

“It’s kind of a damned if you do, damned if you don’t kind of thing,” [Ken Wilson, compliance director at Case Farms] said. “If you don’t do enough and something happens, you’re criticized. But if you bring it to people’s attention and nothing happens then you’re reactionary.”

Actually, if you bring it to people’s attention, you’re being cautious, Ken. Only telling your staff AFTER an outbreak would be reactionary.

Someone get this man some risk communications training, STAT!

Your local councillor may get the sidewalk fixed, shoo the teenagers from the skate park, or line up a pied piper …

But does she party as hard as Charlotte Laws, member of the Council of Greater Valley Glen, California? Andy Gibb, Barbra Mandrell, George Hamilton, Rosalyn Carter, Boy George, Hugh Hefner, Tony Orlando, Michael Sembello, Gene Simmons … Charlotte Laws has glad-handling photos with all of them!

Wait a minute! Michael Sembello? The author of “Maniac“?

How fitting.

“You work all your life for that moment in time
It could come or pass you by
It’s a push of the world, but there’s always a chance
If the hunger stays the night

There’s a cold connective heat,
Struggling, stretching for defeat
Never stopping with her head against the wind

She’s a maniac, maniac, I sure know
And she’s dancing like she’s never danced before
She’s a maniac, maniac, I sure know
And she’s dancing like she’s never danced before!”

Creating a positive and profitable shopping environment is all about effective design. Paco Underhill makes a fair piece of cake as a result of his ethnographic studies - telling stunned suits about the inhibiting effect of the butt-brush by the tie rack and the like.

And design is more than aisle location and cabinet facing. An accomplished designer can help a retailer set a mood through lighting, finishes and sound design.

Kresge’s knew this thirty years ago. Oddio Overplay found a wonderful piece of vinyl intended for in-store play, with peppy little numbers that could have been ripped from the soundtrack of Disney’s Tomorrowland exhibits.

The Washington Post tells us about some historians getting their knickers in a knot about the new gimmicks at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum - including 1860 tv campaign ads.

The whole thing is enough to make John Y. Simon’s skin crawl.

Simon … teaches history at Southern Illinois University… Ever since he read about the life-size figures of Lincoln and his contemporaries that BRC will be installing in dioramas throughout the museum, he’s been the go-to guy for outraged sound bites.

… “Six Flags Over Lincoln,” he calls the whole enterprise, and “the modern equivalent of the old wax museum,” not to mention “Las Vegas East.” Children already see plenty of Disneyfied things, Simon believes, and are more likely to be moved “by the authentic, by grandeur, by spectacle.” …

I don’t know about that. One exhibit in particular has been designed in Holavision�, and I’m sure there will be dozens of preschoolers expecting an appearance by Dora the Explorer.

Some interesting demographics on fortune cookie fanciers, and their possibilities as a marketing channel: … about 96 percent of people who eat Chinese food open their cookies and read the fortunes, and that 67 percent read them aloud so that everyone dining with them will hear.

As the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tells us, TBS added its own words of wisdom to the lame fortunes in 4 million cookies distributed in the New York metropolitan area. Chinese food lovers who cracked open the cookies — most containing bland cliches like “You display traits of charm and courtesy” — also got this advice: “Kung fu and car chases are in your future. A new hit action movie every weekend in December. Only on TBS.”

If you like fortune cookies you … are 29 percent more likely to spend over $75 a month for wireless, 42 percent more likely than the average Joe to have had vodka in the past month, 69 percent more likely to drink Corona beer, 32 percent more likely to drive a Volkswagen, 36 percent more likely to see a movie in the first two weeks of release, and more likely to have disposable dough.

MarketingWonk pointed to a new web site for Dean supporters today: Songs For Dean.

Political campaigns have long used music to motivate and energize their workers and supporters. As the result of endless repetition at campaign events, advertising and news coverage, some adopted campaign songs are more recognized for their political connotations than their original success.

The War Room, the successful documentary about the ‘92 Clinton campaign for President, emphasized the influence of Fleetwood Mac’s Don’t Stop (Thinking About Tomorrow) - especially in setting the stage at the Democratic Convention in New York and at the Inauguration in Washington.

Farther back in time, Ronald Reagan used Lee Greenwood’s “Proud to be an American” as a 1984 campaign theme. Walter Mondale tried to counterattack, and hard, with a brutal ad juxtaposing pictures of children with missles launching, set to Simon and Garfunkel’s “Teach your Children.”

Tim Robbins mined this vein of thought in his “mockumentary” about the political campaign of Bob Roberts, a right-wing guitar-playing candidate for the Senate.

Vincent Camby of the NYT nails the character: He’s young, healthy and sincere. More important, he appropriates gestures and language associated with 1960’s protest movements and uses them in the cause of his own brand of 1990’s right-wing rabble-rousing. He calls himself a “rebel conservative.”

One of my favourite singers, Billy Bragg, made similar comments about the Labour Party’s choice of song in 2001: it was “bland” and evoked “watered-down Conservatism”. He said: “I think so much of New Labour is about presentation rather than detail. “They are hoping we won’t listen to the verse and just hear the chorus - it’s style over content.”

Camby’s comment about appropriating the cultural indicators of the 60’s can
be applied to a number of candidates over the past thirty years, Dean included. On Songs for Dean, you can find titles like “I Want My Country Back,” “Battle Hymn of the Blog,” “Take Me Out To the Blog Game,” and, interestingly, “With Dean We’re Marching On” - which is sung to the Battle Hymn of the Republic. (warning: this wav is a real church school organ rendition)

Some more historic ditties can be found on Presidential Campaign Songs 1789 - 1996 (with some sound clips). Here’s a snappy LAT article on the subject, with choice selections from he 2000 election.

Starbucks, in their unstinting quest to become the world-wide coffee shop of choice, has unleashed a new marketing tool: “Make It Your Drink,” a handy pocket-sized guide to ordering coffee at the chain. Sections include “Learning the Lingo,” “What’s Your Drink,” “Fun with Frappucino,” and “How to Order.” New terms being introduced include “unleaded” for decaf, and “ristretto” for a short pull of espresso.

Starbucks spokeswoman Jenny Walsh said the North American campaign is instructive, fun and intended to highlight the 19,000 combinations of coffee-based drinks and flavours on the menu.

Further, she said that the descriptive terms, many of which are of Italian origin, derive entirely from loyal customers.

The booklet is being distributed at outlets across North America, and includes a coupon for free ‘fixins with your next coffee. “Our goal with the customization tools is to give customers an easy way to experiment with their beverages and feel more confident ordering any drink-on or off the menu.” says an exec in Seattle.

The booklet may be trying to accomplish too much: both encourage regular customers to add extra items to their order (ah - upselling!) AND reassure new customers that the process isn’t too hard. To wit: “If you’re nervous about ordering, don’t be. … But if we call back your drink in a way that’s different from what you just told us, we’re not correcting you. We’re just translating your order into “barista-speak” - a standard way baristas call out orders.”

Of course! Just like on Alice! (theme song here) Remember Mel shouting back an order: “two bacon and eggs!” But I can’t imagine Mel, Alice or Flo using words like “Valencia” or “Ristretto.”

Mary Tyler Moore, yes. Rhoda, yes. Alex P. Keaton, yes. Jo from “the Facts of Life,” no.