Louis Vuitton - Destinations Galore!

As you can see from my pictures, Louis Vuitton hits the nail on the head with their "destinations" theme for this year's Christmas display. Tokyo, Mumbai, London screams the stamps from their Manhattan store on Fifth Avenue. They have successfully managed to promote their brand such that it stands out in the holiday clutter and they have done it without losing sight of the function of the actual product. Luggage = destinations = Louis Vuitton. For a luxury brand in this economy this is a bold step and if I may say so, a beautiful one.

Christmas Window Displays from the Streets of Manhattan

Macy's invented the concept of Christmas window displays in 1862. Even today, Manhattan's famous Fifth Avenue attracts thousands of people during the holiday season...they brave the cold and the crowds to soak in an art unlike any other.

Marketing students will be aware of POP or Point of Purchase advertising which of course are known to make quite an impact on sales if done right. After all, the whole idea of "impulse buying" stems from the perfect display.

Above is the window from Bloomingdale's Dynamic Duo theme from this year. Wrapping up a year of blogging, I will be posting a series of window displays from the streets of New York.

Happy 2010 everyone!

Vanity Flies Right Out of the Window

The above is one from a set of three of Jeep's latest campaign. Although hard-core Jeep enthusiasts may not like the new strategy with its lack of a dirt trail, I must say am liking it! I get that this is more of a lifestyle ad than a product communication but given the state of the automotive industry and GM in particular, this seems to be a pretty smart move! And what's more, the core brand value "life outdoors" remains untouched.

Addressable Advertising

TV ads have always lagged behind their technologically advanced cousins...interactive web ads. Not any more.

<- Pic via WSJ Online

According to WSJ Online, "As Comcast gets close to a deal for control of General Electric's NBC Universal, the big cable operator and Madison Avenue think the merger could lead to some major changes in the $65 billion U.S. television advertising market.

The potential new company could speed the development of interactive TV ads and "addressable advertising."

Interactive ads let viewers vote in a poll or use their remote controls to request more information about a product or apply for a coupon. Addressable, or targeted, advertising uses set-top boxes to route commercials to specific households or neighborhoods based on data about income, ethnicity, gender or other characteristics. It lets an advertiser send a sports-car commercial to a childless home and a minivan spot to a home with children."

This summer, Procter & Gamble Co. teamed up with TiVo for Charmin Toilet Paper. As shown in the pic above, the animated ad has an option in the top-right corner with which viewers can interact. If interested, one can apply for a Charmin coupon using their TiVo remote control. For this kind of one-on-one interaction, Madison Ave is ready to spend the big bucks. Of course, the program remains paused and no part of it is lost during the exchange. The coupon is sent by mail but according to WSJ Online, TiVo has declined to provide results for the ads since the campaign is still on.

While this degree of involvement is every advertiser's dream, the actual process behind interactive ads is far from easy. The ads have to be customized for different TV companies which almost always use different technologies. But what seems tough today can be made simple tomorrow. Soon interactive ads may become the norm rather than the aberration that they are today!

Take Charge

O&M does it again. Creativity at its best. The latest from American Express basic charge card, after a hiatus of 7 years is captivating yet simple. The tagline "Don't Take Chances. Take Charge" urges customers to take responsibility for their spending with a lightness of spirit that is hard to ignore. Although the benefits mentioned in the commercial is a huge plus, the charge card in question requires the balance to be paid in full each month. Given the economic turmoil of the past year, am not surprised.

According to Forbes, "The number of credit cards issued this year has decreased 39%, causing further concern for card companies already dealing with financial setbacks. AmEx's second-quarter revenue, reported in late July, dropped 18% to $6.09 billion and profits plunged 48%."

Keeping the above in mind, this campaign is a hands-down winner. It not only encourages consumers to get credit cards and buy stuff (which by the way is great for the economy), but also manages to remind them to be sensible about it. Few campaigns can say it all...and still make us smile. This one sure does.

Coca Cola - From Santa Claus to Social Media

Advertising plays a larger role in our life than we can ever imagine. Did you know that the image of Santa most people have today is largely based on Coca-Cola advertising?

Before the profiling by Coca-Cola, Santa's appearances ranged from big, small, tall, fat, elf-like, bishop-like, gaunt, strict, spooky...and he wore everything from animal skin to a tan suit. Except for the color of his suit, the jolly old man owes much of his persona to the beverage giant.The traditional red coat has more to do with the imagination of Civil War cartoonist Thomas Nast than with any brand color.

Back in the 1920s many people thought of Coca-Cola as a drink meant for warm weather. With the 1922 slogan "Thirst Knows No Season," followed with a campaign connecting Santa Claus with the beverage, the company tried to remind people that Coca-Cola was a great choice in any season. Thus started the association of Claus and Coke.

An Excerpt From the Coca-Cola Website:

"Archie Lee, the D'Arcy Advertising Agency executive working with The Coca-Cola Company, wanted the next campaign to show a wholesome Santa as both realistic and symbolic. In 1931, The Coca-Cola Company commissioned Michigan-born illustrator Haddon Sundblom to develop advertising images using Santa Claus --- showing Santa himself, not a man dressed as Santa. For inspiration, Sundblom turned to Clement Clark Moore's 1822 poem "A Visit From St. Nicholas" (commonly called "'Twas the Night Before Christmas"). Moore's description of St. Nick led to an image of Santa that was warm, friendly, pleasantly plump and human. For the next 33 years, Sundblom painted portraits of Santa that helped to create the modern image of Santa ---an interpretation that today lives on in the minds of people of all ages, all over the world."

More recently, as part of the "Open Happiness" campaign Coca-Cola Company is sending three bloggers to 206 countries on Jan 1, 2010 to find out what makes people happy and then blog, tweet, upload videos and generally create a social media buzz around it for one whole year! Consumers will get to vote, suggest and complain as with any social media campaign. - [via psfk]

From redefining an icon to digging deep into the latest trend, the Coca-Cola Company is all about branding and maybe a secret formula or two. Given the composition and benefit of the product in question, that is the way to go!