So there’s that age-old axiom about marketing – that leap of faith that we somehow need to grow and sustain our brands by expanding our footprint.
We were all brought up to believe that marketing works – on some level – but it’s always been a bit of a mystery as to the specific actions that took root and produced results. You know the old phrase – “Half my marketing works – I just don’t know which half.”
Given these times we’re living in, I would suggest that it’s not a matter of which marketing activities are working – it’s more about which anti-marketing activities are working.
There are three big cases in point right now that are demonstrating that you can throw the old rules away. And the list is probably growing.
The first two are in the car industry, where the automakers (in particular) had a historic love affair with the facts. That meant engine size, trunk space, wheel base, and fuel economy. You know, my payload’s bigger than your payload, and all those comparative advertising techniques.
While those “auto-metrics” might have factored into the ultimate decision about whether to buy or lease a particular make and model, the new truth suggests that stories, humor, and buzz play a part in the process, too. Perhaps a bigger role than we ever imagined.
Take Dodge Durango’s Ron Burgundy commercials. The over-exposed parody anchorman recently did a series for these SUVs. While the spots featuring the horse are the funniest, the spot below – extolling the virtues of the size of the glove box – parodies car ads as much as it does the hairsprayed news readers Burgundy mocks. The spot isn’t about facts and logic.
It’s stupid. And of course, that’s the point:
>Email Recipients: Click here to watch Dodge Durango/Ron Burgundy commercial<
Then there’s Jerry Seinfeld’s newest venture for Acura. Perhaps you’ve seen his series of humorous web videos featuring famous, classic funnymen – “Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee.” Jerry has hung out with everyone from Don Rickles to Alec Baldwin to David Letterman.
But now these video clips are being sponsored by Acura, and Seinfeld is supplying the laughs to a campaign that is devoid of mainstream marketing strategy. They are inane, there’s no USP anywhere to be seen, and they mock traditional car ads. But hey, we’re talking about them:
>Email Recipients: Click here to watch Acura commercial<
Stupid, but funny.
Then there’s something that’s not stupid at all – Beyoncé’s new album…that was released before it physically existed – right before Christmas no less. In just a few days, it sold one million units – online.
It came out without fanfare, without record guys, without Walmart. And it was released only in the Apple iTunes Store (where hundreds of radio stations had to go and actually do what millions of consumers did – buy it).
Oh, and she didn’t release a single – you had to buy the whole album.
Now we’re not talking about an up-and-coming Indie artist in Beyoncé. Her brand is unmistakably huge, but the fact her organization (OK, her and Jay-Z) eschewed traditional marketing to just release the album is what’s newsworthy here. And not surprisingly, social media was a part of that effort.
For those who continue to question whether social works, look no further than Beyoncé who proved once again that an established brand can become even more powerful when it interacts with real fans.
And by the way, for those people who are somehow still “digital deniers” in 2014, it’s time to throw in the towel and admit that the way music is played, marketed, and sold has changed forever.
One more piece of this pie – and it’s something that we talk about a lot in this space: it pays to be different. People talk about you when you do remarkable things.
And all three campaigns are remarkable (even if some think they’re stupid).
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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