Distinctively ordinary

I think I've mentioned here before that I'm an investor in a new "fast-casual" restaurant, which has grand plans of becoming a small nationwide chain. Other than being an investor, my primary role is as business and marketing counselor. Well, I attended a marketing meeting a week ago with our new advertising agency, who's primary responsibility is designing a website and a marketing look for all of the company's materials. In these two artful areas they're performing well. They also pitched several slogans, including the one they liked the best, "Distinctively fresh."

I cringed.

After letting them complete their pitch, while maintaining zen-like calm control, I casually noted that every single one of our competitors claimed to have "fresh" food. In fact, one of our competitors had the word "fresh" as part of their name. I explained that we could not possibly position our company as exciting, newsworthy or unique by following this not-so-fresh path.

They all nodded and smiled and agreed. No problem, they would come up with new slogans based on our advice. We're paying them well, after all, and every hour on the clock is money in their pockets. But why did we have to give them this obvious advice to begin with?! Because ad agencies do not understand marketing. They only understand creativity and aesthetics. Anyway, they're gonna take another crack at a slogan.

But, never in my experience of working with advertising people have they ever shown me a clear understanding of marketing knowledge. Marketing people generally like to make creative advertising that strikes the funny bone, or is perceived as cool. It's up to the brand's owner to insure that the correct marketing message is not overlooked. It only takes a flip through any consumer magazine, or a night's worth of prime-time TV watching, to witness that most ads fail in properly positioning the brand or product. Who's the Einstein who thought a lying salesman was the perfect pitchman for Isuzu? Who thought talking lizards could pitch beer? Did someone think that launching furry animal out of a cannon would tell people why they should shop online out Outpost.com?! What the heck does Microsoft's slogan ("Your potential. Our passion.") mean?! Sounds like decent slogan for a college, but a software maker!

Ad agencies, left to do their own thing, will not do the thing that best benefits your brand. That's a fact. Leave it to them and you get lameness like "I'm lovin' it" (McDonald's) or slogans you cannot even remember -- anyone know what Coke's is? Didn't think so.

The funny thing about the "Distinctively fresh" tagline is that we clearly explained the uniqueness of our restaurant in a prior meeting. And while freshness was a part of the message, it isn't the key positioning angle we are shooting for (which I'll reveal at a later time, along with the name of the place).

Anyway, as this develops I'll update.

Side note: Added a reading list on the right side. Will list every non-fiction book I read regardless of how it relates to the game industry. If anyone has a question about any of these books, I'd be happy to talk more about them.

Second side note: Ran across this page on Dexterity Software's site that has great articles and advice for indie developers.

Comments

[Aubrey]

Duke Burger??

It's gotta be Duke Burger, right?

Oh come on! Duke Burger. DUKE BURGER!

You'd eat it and a decal with a flashing "+10" would float above you.

[Nat]

Isn't "Distinctively Fresh" the old slogan for Orbit Gum? Altoids had "Distinctively Strong" so it now sounds like a fast-casual mint restaurant. Perhaps you should bring a copy of Al Ries' book next meeting.

[Sam]

ah, but the loving it slogan works well.

I heard this guy humming it in the elevator the other day. It certainly may not be a good slogan but it sticks in the mind throughout the day...seemingly with the younger generations. So when they get hungry..that tune is playing in their head throughout the day...you get the idea. I think it's good mind occupying material.

I'd like to see some reports on whether or not McD's sales have picked up at all. I guess that would be the viable stat to see.

[Jonas]

Hey, why don't you give us a blip on your unique position and we'll all take a wack at a slogan free of charge :)

[Scott Miller]

Sam, lot's of bad (a.k.a. ineffective) ads, or slogans, are catchy/funny/memorable, but they do nothing to improve our perception of the brand or product. I love clever ads as much as the next guy, and it's become the primary reason I watch the Superbore (well, lately there've been a few good games), but *most* ads forget the Prime Directive of Advertising: Give the consumer a reason to want the product.

And, uh, no... Duke Burger it ain't! ;-)

[Mike]

Interesting that most advertising these days rely on the same philosophy that tanked the dot-com boom. That is, eyeballs somehow magically convert to cash. They figure that if they can make an "attractive" ad that people will pay attention to, then if even a fraction of those eyeballs turn into consumers, it's money in the bank.
It would be interesting to see which is larger: an attractive ad that converts a small fraction of a large audience, or a not-so-attractive but persuasive ad that converts a large fraction of a smaller audience.
Of course, the holy grail is to create a persuasive ad that is also attractive, which converts a large fraction of a large audience.

[David Thomas]

Scott:

You shouln't pick on advertising people. Marketing people are almost always worse!

Back in my corporate days, I used to ask any marketing manager I came across--"Oh, you like Al Ries?" The only answer I ever got other than "No" was "I think he wrote one of the books I used in college."

As far as I can tell, marketing as a profession is the business of looking good and telling product people that they are smart. Seriously. At least advertising people waste your money in amusing ways.

Oh, and as an aside, Bing Gordon's keynote at GDC (focused primarily on Ogilvy. It actually made me want to go to work for EA:). So, there's an excpetion to the rule!

-- David

[Brian]

The whole concept of the brand as an asset was created by an ad agency. If your agency doesn't understand branding, it's time to get a new one.

[Jeffool]

For what it's worth, reading Aubrey's post ("Oh come on! Duke Burger. DUKE BURGER!") I couldn't help but imagine it being read/shouted by Gir from Invader Zim.

Y'know, I should've asked you guys to help me out with my design doc for class... Ah well.

[Diane]

WOW. Are blogs ever positive?? Lots of bad blood coming from people who sound like they haven't ever BEEN a marketing manager, OR worked for an agency. These days, either place is not a pretty one to work in day to day. Marketing managers are generally overworked, underpaid,and in these days of downsizing, are more worried about getting the 22-year old nimwit rep at the magazine to get their billing straight for the previous month's ad (because they don't have a coordinator on staff anymore), or making sure that their can't-get-my-fingers-dirty-cuz-I'm-the-big-picture VP gets all the last minute crap he forgot to request for his big meeting in the morning. Who has time to THINK about marketing. THey are always rushing to implement. Ad agencies are not all they claim, I agree (currently an AE for a small agency), but, in many casees, they are given NO positioning, creative brief or market analysis (OR a budget for market research)so they do what all of us in corporate America have learned to do so well - fly by the seat of our pants, throw dumbed-down vanilla muck against the wall, collect that paycheck and 2 weeks vacation, and keep moving when it gets ugly. Post that positioning doc!

[Brad Renfro]

I'd imagine that an advertising executive randomly picks any given videogame off the shelf and realizes that most games aren't very good. :)

[Warren Young]

Scott,

Sounds surprising to me. I'm a strategic communcations major at the University of Minnesota. The major includes a heavy focus on marketing and advertising: and always, it is about positioning of the brand - never ever "slogan/creative first."

The way you tell the story, I'm worried that the agency you have hired isn't compotent. I mean, off the cuff you were able to provide a Industry and Comptetive Anaylsis that showed all of your competitors take the same position, "fresh." If the agency can't notice that with in-depth research and then know to focus on your company's attributes other than generic details of the industry -- I'd be worried.

It may have been a little different than that, but still, it sounds bad from how you tell it.

[Todd]

Can I help beta test the menu? I'll do it for free :)

It would be cool to see a "fast-casual" restaraunt integrate some kind of nutritional eductation as part of their theme. This would help counteract McDeath and their nutritional farse http://www.mcdonalds.com/usa/eat/nutrition_faq/diet.html

[kj]

Has the McDonald's advertising worked?

Guess the proof is in the pudding:

McDonald's Profits Jump 56 Percent

[Chris Stockman]

I normally agree with you Scott but this time I have to call you out.

Anheuser-Busch has been pretty consistent with advertising. There ads are memorable and pretty funny at times. Put it this way, I always look forward to a new Bud ad. I know a few people that tend to agree with me too. I don't know what beer sells the most here in the stats but I think Bud has to be in the top 3.

I do agree though that most ads on TV are pretty atrocious. Not many are memorable in anyway and oftentimes they tend to get really annoying.

Here's something to think about. HBO runs an ad every Sunday (usually just before Sopranos) touting how they've made the Water Cooler industry profit from HBO shows. It's a pretty clever ad and the end tagline is HBO: We make water...cooler.

Except why run the ad on a channel you have to pay for? I'm already paying for the channel. No need to hammer home to me why HBO has the best shows. To my knowledge this ad hasn't run on any network or cable channels.

I understand competition and all but I've seen ads from one network run on another competing network. So go figure.

Either way HBO ads are pretty clever.

[Diane]

Agree with you on the beer advertising - tho IMHO they are slipping in recent years - didn't like any of the Super Bowl beer ads this year (but then I'm a wine-drinking female).

FYI, TV and radio stations (paid cable or otherwise) get deep discounts when doing buys with "sister" stations (e.g. stations all owned by the same mega-company). Example - NBC/CNBC/Bravo are all under the same umbrella, so if the demographics make sense, they get a price break not offered to the competition.

Stations also run their own "promos" for 2 reasons: 1) it's FREE to advertise to your existing customers, and well, who better to market to? 2) they are filler in commercial rollouts that haven't been sold out, so those commercial breaks are always the same length (since shows are pre-taped and sales may not have done their job and filled all the spots). Commercial breaks typically start with national spots, then regional buys, then local/promos.

[Warren Young]

Chris Stockman,

Bud is number one, by far. I believe they have 40% of the market. Miller is #2 with 20%.

I just recently did a mock-campaign for Guinness... The share numbers are susseptible to my memory, but the order and margins are correct.

[Logo]

A little unrelated but I can't stand beer advertising. All the crappy beers try to market they angle of being great tasting and high class when really they taste horrible and are only brought because of their low price. It makes the US beer industry (and culture kind of) look stupid. Whatever place thinks of Bud as 'the king of beers' has serious problems...

It's nice to see you in an investment in a catagory that deserves to hit it big Scott. Those kinds of resteraunts are great to eat at and much better than pure fast foods (though still potentially bad for you overall really).

[Walter]

How about, Dark Eats: Bulge Conspiracy Rising?

You sure you wouldn't go with a superhero motif and "Super Fresh" slogan?

You know, I think the 'distinctively' modifier totally negated the ubiquity of 'fresh'.

Okay, okay, enough jokes. :D

[Walter]

Okay, a serious thought:

I disagree that the word 'fresh' must be rejected merely on account of its widespread use. Especially if your chain is new, because 'fresh' denotes a positively regarded genre of fast-ish food, one that immediately makes sense to a lot of people. In this sense it's like calling your game a first-person shooter rather than putting, say, 'dark' in the title: it's going to attract fresh-food genre fans, as opposed to turning them off from your creative bankruptcy.

[brian]

Scott, how about "You won't be waiting for service as long our Duke Nukem Forver fans."

[Jeffool]

Actually, as there are so many marketing/ad people in the house...

Not to draw away from Scott's store(s) here, but just curious what everyone thinks about what Miller is doing with the 'President of Beers' campaign.

A friend and I were talking about it the other day and, even aside from their having Bob Odenkirk, a great move by anyone who wants to bring the funny, I find the whole campaign pretty good. It's just like real political strategies, as they're mostly marketing. When you're on top, you don't give your opponent references. But when you're trying to get 'to' the top, sometimes you have to call your opponent out directly and play off of the attention their name gets.

And I guess it plays into the whole 'ballsy' thing that most beer commercials try for, which works.

[Scott Miller]

Lot's of good comments since I last peeked in here. For anyone who's interested in a reading further on this subject, I highly recommend Sergio Zyman's book, The End of Marketing as We Know It. Zyman was the CEO of the Coca-Cola Company during the release of New Coke, and shares all of the decisions leading to that monumental blunder, which he now admits to freely. He also credits that blunder as one of the ground shaking events leading him to a new outlook on marketing, one that is entirely results oriented, unlike most of the creative crap (beer ads are among the worst) we now see.

-- "There ads are memorable and pretty funny at times."

Chris, memorable and funny simply do not sell on their own. For example, the famous Mean Joe Green ad by Coke was pulled because Coke's market share fell during its run, even though everyone raved about the ad. Same for the memorable Joe Isuzu ads. The Cleo Awards, the most prestigious for the ad industry, are often criticized for not awarding ads that are actually effective, instead leaning toward memorable, clever and funny ads. Thus, the ad industry naturally designs memorable, clever and funny ads because these are the ones people love to see and talk about. The task of designing an effective ad is often overlooked, or given low priority.

"If it doesn't sell, it isn't creative."
-- David Ogilvy

I could also blog about the *proven fact* that advertising, in general, is unnecessary to a company's or product's success. Starbucks, Microsoft and Wal*Mart of examples of companies that rose to stardom without relying on advertising (though they do advertise now).

"Ninety-nine percent of advertising doesn't sell much of anything."
-- David Ogilvy

[Chris Stockman]

Scott,

It goes without saying that for an ad to truly be effective you really need to make the person viewing the ad WANT to product. Or at least feel like they need the product.

I think most people decide whether they want the product within the first 10 seconds of a commercial.

Now for brand awareness I think funny, memorable ads are highly effective. If Bud's ads were annoying I wouldn't hold the Bud brand in such high esteem.

On the flipside I do think good products usually sell themselves. For instance, Dairy Queen's recent introduction of their CheeseQuake frozen treat appealed to me because I like the cheesecake and Blizzard's (its a treat that combines them both). So as soon as I saw the ad I had to go pick up this tasty frozen concoction.

In the end, if you are introducing your restaurant for the first time you need a tagline that is catchy, distinctive, and gets straight to the point. I do agree "distinctively fresh" doesn't cut it. It's too generic.

If I knew more about your restaurant I might be able to conjure up some slogans or advertising ideas.

You know where to find me if you would like some help.

[David Thomas]

One thing that is getting a little confused in this discussion is the difference between brand building and brand maintenance.

If you have a new game, or a new restaurant, then you need to build mindshare in the audience. You need to build brand. This comes down to focusing your brand on something that makes it unique. Starbucks wasn't a coffee shop, it was the first high-end coffee boutique chain.

Once you've got mindshare then you can shift into brand maintenance. Most of the Bud commercials of this type--they are number one, so they want to remind you that they are number one. I doubt a good Bud Superbowl commercial does much for increasing sales. But it probably helps keep them at #1.

New brands that look to brand leaders for advertising and marketing techniques are little bit like a high school football teams watching NFL film to get better. Sure, it's the same game, but it is played differently at different levels. You don't market a brand new game idea the same way you market Madden.

-- David