eComm by a Blonde

Save the world - Showerpool!

2010-04-23T09:01:00.002-04:00

Showerpooling to save water?

I suppose it directly related to my previous post about guys getting clean - now women can get in on the action too.... err.... no pun intended.

Axe Canada launched an environmentally friendly campaign encouraging people to showerpool.... Using a french accented woman, people can save 5 times the amount of water if instead of 5 people showering alone, showered together.

I'm glad to see on their facebook page, they have a call out to the WWF and ways to save water without taking your clothes off.

I like the idea of this campaign - the execution is totally in line with their other recent spot (Clean Your Balls) where the sexual innuendos are trying to be more subtle than girls fighting over a guy down a street, in a bar, in the shower... etc

It is time to clean up Boys!

2010-04-12T09:16:00.000-04:00

Recently, there has been a massive push to get men down the grooming isle.

Next time you're in a Shoppers, PharmaPlus, Loblaws, Walmart... etc. Check where the men's bath products are. I'll bet you (a hypothetical) 10 bucks that the men's products are mostly likely at the end of the isle close to the main thoroughfares.

Why? Because men are MEN. They don't buy body wash! They don't smell "pretty" and what the heck is a LOOFA?!

Well.... not so much anymore, maybe.

Take a look at what Axe and Old Spice have done to the men's grooming business... and Dove is taking a shot at it now too.

The emphasis is on still being a man, smelling good and still getting the ladies. Welcome to "Man 2.0" And I think it's working.Men are conscious of how they look and present themselves. They look good, smell good and I like it!

You can clearly see the different age targets at work: Axe: the young blossoming man that is into Sex, Sex, Sex humour; Old Spice the 25 - 40 range guy that likes the more subtle random humour that a bit more sophisticated and Finally the Dove man - the family man. However, the message is always the same BECAUSE YOU ARE A MAN.

I love the Old Spice work (and scent). Talk about taking a old brand and making it relevant and .... awesome.

Old Spice website
The man your man could smell like (my favourite)

I'm a Man

Axe - they've always pushed the boundaries - taking more of a shock value than the kind of humour seen in Old Spice

Balls (this spot makes me awkward)

Dove for Men

Re-branding to BORING.

2010-04-05T09:13:00.001-04:00

Taking the fun out of the Internet isn't really all that much fun....

Ebay, the auction giant and PayPal pusher, has decided to re-brand their Kijiji classified site to ebayclassifieds.com

and all I can think of is.... barf, how boring!

The success of Google has sometimes been attributed to its funny, goofy and random name. The name "google", as far as I know was made up as something that was fun and people wouldn't know. Of course now it's a verb and a noun and adjective and.... you get the idea, its fun.

Ebay claims that though Canadians love the Kijiji site, it wasn't catching on in the US - and so they decided to dumb it down to Who made it: ebay and what is it for: classifieds.

Here is the GlobeandMail article.

PS the name Kijiji comes from:
The word "kijiji" (pronounced like key-gee-gee) means "village" in Swahili. This name was chosen because it captures the essence of what we are creating - a site where people can connect with others in their local community.

It's no accident: If you look down at your keyboard you'll noticed that the letters k, i and j are located next to each other. So you see, it's all about local for us.

PPS. apparently Google comes from Googol
1 googol = 10100 = 10, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000
It is equal to ten duotrigintillion and a hundredth of a tretrigintillion.

YIKES!! Check out the explanation here.

you didn't ask if i wanted a REAL one!

2010-03-02T17:33:00.000-05:00

"It's a piece of Junk!"

These Ally commercials are well recognized for being creative, inventive and cruel. I have to admit, I laugh a lot especially at the red truck and more recently the Pony one.

Are they using real childrens' reactions or are those reeeeally good actor children? I feel bad for the creators if they are real reactions - imagine telling that little blonde girl she can't take the pony home? Worse yet, imagine being the kid :(

Interesting take on "wrongful advertising", ridiculous conditions and hiding behind fine print .... At least i now know to ask for a REAL pony.

I like it. I now know who Ally is.... success?

Red Truck

Pony

Bike

Teaching Americans through viral and social media networking!

2010-02-22T20:30:00.000-05:00

Talk about a promotional piece for Canada!

Tom Brokaw's segment on the Canadian-American relationship made my patriotic heart swell and taught me a few things.

It's also felt a little like a Tourism Canada commercial for Americans. However, for all the flack we give Americans for not knowing anything about their neighbours to the north (think of Rick Mercer's amazing portrayal of "Talk with American") this might've actually helped create a much more constructive way of teaching Americans about Canada - mind you they would have to actually SEE the spot to learn

I think this Tom fellow has a heart-on for Canada, even at the very end he makes an incredibly poignant comment about the economic stability of Canada... that might've stung the American's a little.

In the air of being patriotic, I would suggest that everyone post this youtube link to their facebook and share it around to everyone they know - maybe we can Americans to better understand of Canada through a little viral, social media networking!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYoTJItSPt0

Tourism BC and Tourism California - Battle of the Celebrities

2010-02-15T19:30:00.000-05:00

Visit BC, seems a little bit like Visit California....

Beautiful landscape shots and celebrity cameos doing all the voice overs. It's really not surprising that the American ad focuses on the individual and the Canadian ad focuses on the province itself, both claim you have to be there.

Call me biased or riding on an Olympic patriotic high - but I like the BC one better...

BC - You should be Here:

California - When can you Start?
Click Here

......

The snuggie on 'roids?

2010-02-12T10:09:00.000-05:00

Ahh, remember when you were a kid and you had the footie pj's? The ones that zipped up the front, had the non slip soles and when you got too big for them you cut the feet off so you could keep wearing it?

Are you sad you had to give them up and nothing keeps you warm the same way? Did you try the snuggie but found the back-draft too chilly?

Well have I got an offer for you! The Hoodie-Footie. This clever little product HAS TO BE A JOKE. However, I don't think it is despite the laughter it caused.

Please enjoy the hilarity - and if you dare to purchase one - invite me over.

Super Bowl 2010 Ads: WIN and FAIL

2010-02-08T10:23:00.001-05:00

Ahhhh the Super Bowl. Where diehard football fans and advertisers meet up for chips, beer and big screen entertainment.

I realized, if you have the right mix of people, there should never be a bathroom break line - the people into the game go at ads and the people in to the ads go at the game. Genius.

I would be going during the ads.... if Canada got the super fun US ads. Thank goodness for the interweb, where I can spend the better part of my Monday morning watching all the US ads that we miss north of the 49th parallel (it also means I can take a "break" whenever I want without fear of missing something). Check out all the ads HERE.

On to the ads. I have posted what is, in my opinion, the BEST and the WORST.

The BEST: Google.

Watching this spot incited such an emotional reaction that I felt like I was at the end of a well written romance. Google hit the nail on the head with a simplistic love story. The spot showed the capabilities of Google, a search engine, while telling an increadible tale of a man moving to Paris, learning the language, falling in love, getting married and having a baby with just their search field. They even captured common spelling mistakes and the ability of Google to still understand what you meant. A story in 30secs, without a face, name or verbal dialogue.

This is the kind of spot I dream of making.

The WORST. Watch the spot and you'll understand. They've spent millions of dollars on an ad that is pointless and tries way too hard to be funny. Crappy ad + wannabe funny = FAIL.

The disappearing act

2010-02-02T15:35:00.000-05:00

I stumbled across this SunChips ad (creative agency: Juniper Park) and I really liked it! The simplicity is really nice, the music reinforces the emotional feeling really well and though I often scoff at the realistic-ness of the claims - I actually believe SunChips.

Maybe I'm just searching for a warm fuzzy feeling but I do think they've done a great job here. I also think it was a better execution than "T-Shirt" only because it was easier to read and understand the point.

One more - this time they have an interesting use of an Aussie accent when talking about American chips and California....

I hope more brands will start heavily pushing R&D to make sure that what SunChips has started and broken through with becomes "old news" and the norm.... but is that too much of a warm fuzzy feeling again?

SunChips has taken the campaign to really really creative levels that perfectly ladder up to the essence of the brand, check out this super simple billboard ad, talk about using something seemingly mundane and often ignored to do something truly interesting

Be Stupid. .... really?

2010-01-25T12:21:00.000-05:00

I struggle with the new diesel campaign: Be Stupid.

Check it out:

It strikes me as trying too hard and not really that original an idea. I understand that they are attempting to push consumers into thinking differently and with a different perspective of what is stupid but I just couldn't agreed with them, though the music is catchy. Perhaps because I'm not the diesel target? Or did they just miss the mark?

Diesel claims that Stupid is brilliant, has the stories, the balls and creates. I struggle mostly with the idea that Stupid is how this gets done and "Don't be stupid is the crusher of possibility". I think being stupid is the crusher of potential and opportunity...

I decided to trot on over to Dictionary.com to look up the meaning of "Stupid" to see if my internal definition was skewed... it wasn't:

stu⋅pid

–adjective

1.	lacking ordinary quickness and keenness of mind; dull.

2.	characterized by or proceeding from mental dullness; foolish; senseless: a stupid question.

3.	tediously dull, esp. due to lack of meaning or sense; inane; pointless: a stupid party.

4.	annoying or irritating; troublesome: Turn off that stupid radio.

I've thought about this campaign for about a week and I still don't like it but perhaps I'm just near sighted or closed minded or..... STUPID? (though I guess in their eyes that would make me brilliant?)

Here is their online landing for Be Stupid: http://www.diesel.com/be-stupid/

To each their own?

2010-01-20T13:55:00.000-05:00

My inital thought when i read the article in the globe and mail about the guy who got Ray-Ban glasses tattooed to his face was "what an idiot..." but soon after shrugged and thought "to each their own, it's not my face, doesn't bother me"

The article mentions about how far companies should go to promote their brand - it's unknown if Ray-Ban has any involvement (if you know, fill us in!) but they are for sure reaping some viral attention. In my opinion, if someone is dumb enough to get a tattoo on their face for some fast cash - then go for it. They weren't forced into it, they made the decision.

Here is the viral Ray-Ban video

For us Canadian, did it not make you think of the recent Excel Gum commercial for the 2010 Olympics?

I'll have a Diet Coke and a Men's size small....

2010-01-15T08:49:00.000-05:00

Vending machines for clothes?! Sounds bizarre but it's real.

Mark's Work Warehouse has set up a clothing vending machine in Toronto's Union GO station in Toronto. We've all heard of the insane vending machines you can find in Japan that literally sell anything, but you'd be hard pressed to find vending machines in Canada like that. Check out this blog to see some really fun, interesting and weird Japanese vending machines.

Mark Work Warehouse's goal is to be in more places and be more visible. They've paired up with IBM to develop these vending machines and hope to roll out more if they are successful. As the first retailer to really offer this kind of shopping experience in Canada, they have some big hurdles to overcome. Canadians aren't used to this kind of shopping, think about how many people still refuse to shop online. This is a major shift in how people shop, though given a situation where a big stain threatens to become a the only thing people notice about you (see the funny Tide ad below) then maybe having a shirt at the ready is a pretty convenient thing to have!

I'm interested to see what the future of this will be. The vending machines have been out since December and so far this is the first I have heard of them. I haven't seen any advertising or viral buzz floating around, except for this article in The Star.

Would you buy a shirt from here?

Print is not a dead medium

2010-01-11T12:00:00.000-05:00

Using the printed page to some advertisers is considered to be archaic. Brand managers are pushing their ad guys to push for more interactive online channels, flashy banners and new social networking site features. However, there is a growing trend for brands to go back to the printed page to draw consumers back online - through their phones.

A little while ago, ecommbyablonde brought you a couple posts about interactive magazine pages: one from Nike and another from an article in the globe and mail.

Now the New York Times is running an article about the progression of using smartphones and magazine pages to drive sales. It is incredibly interesting to read about the technology, how it is being used and even where it started from. Check it out here.

Have you purchased anything online or used your smartphone to access more information from a magazine?

The best ads of the decade - did they make you purchase?

2009-12-29T10:21:00.000-05:00

Best campaigns of the decade?

The Globe and Mail article has set out the 5 best campaigns this decade, with a few runners up. Most of h spots they've posted made me smile and agree with them. Some, like one the runner ups made me cringe at the thought of watching it again....

Take a look and let me know - did they miss something?

Potentially the Nike Freestyle ads?

Copen to Hopen - Climate Change and the digital world

2009-12-13T12:01:00.000-05:00

I'm flummoxed.

I'm not against the idea of getting together to figure out how to stop the way we treat our planet, but I'm concerned at hope it is being done and the example that is being set.

In 2010 the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit is happening in December. The climate summit will bring together the leaders from around the world representing 192 countries.... wow that's a lot of flying and a lot SUVs and cars.....

At the summit they will discuss how to help solve the climate change problem happening right now and reduce greenhouse gases and emissions.... huh, i wonder how much will be added by the planes and cars their using?

A bunch of corporate giants including Coca-Cola and SAP and numerous agencies have united under Hopenhagen. A creative attempt to bring awareness to the summit. Their goal is to "To connect every person, every city, and every nation to Copenhagen. To give everyone hope, and a platform from which to act. To create a grassroots movement that’s powerful enough to influence change. " Hopenhagen.org

Here are some of the ads from hopenhagen:

There are rallies against the summit happening around the world and Greenpeace is also stepping in to make their demands heard. I doubt many are against WHY it is being held for BUT they are frustrated at HOW it is. With the wonders of technology, could a software giant not come up with the most advanced teleconferencing system to allow the summit to exist without the need to travel?

If you argue that most of the ideas, deals and agreements happen outside, during the networking sessions - then there MUST be a better system of sharing planes, cars and transportation. These are the leaders who are supposed to be setting up strategies and making promises - why don't they SET AN EXAMPLE instead?

From the Globe and Mail: the president of SAP, involved with Hopenhagen replied with this when asked if he would attend "““From a carbon perspective,” he said, flying from his base in Palo Alto, Calif., to bring attention to climate change might be a counterintuitive move."

Ummm, duh?

No money? No purchases!

2009-12-09T05:17:00.000-05:00

Great skit by SNL.

Don't buy stuff you cannot afford.

Amazingly simple idea but incredibly hard to follow apparently (see: current economic conditions for more information)

Thanks to the Consumerist for posting.

Could someone please make this an actual ad. For real.

Advertising Dollars and there's a lot of them.

2009-12-03T11:20:00.000-05:00

Interesting video about the cost to advertise in New York City, NY.

It's a little old but you get the idea, it costs MONEY. If you think about the companies that advertise in the city you'll start to recognize the cost of advertising and the strength of the industry.

Be aware though, advertising is more than just pumping out flashy ads, visuals and text. It's about creating ideas that capture imagination, attention and memory.

Heineken is keeping it real

2009-11-28T08:23:00.000-05:00

Perhaps a little like Dave Chappell's sketch "When keeping it real goes wrong", this holiday season Heineken is taking a different approach to draw attention to it's brand.

Heineken is highlighting the social dangers of drinking too much; however instead of going for a tear inducing, heart-aching story/warning, Heineken is keeping it light and humourous and (in my opinion) doing a pretty good job.

They've created a TV ad that drives drinkers online to a micro-site knowthesigns.com where they can play a game of spotting the people who drank too much. The object of the game is to spot the typical characteristics that all of us have had to deal with when we've gone out with friends including: the crier, the flirt, the fighter and the groper. All the kinds of people that we really don't want to deal with and will/have ruined our nights.

Beyond the game Heineken is leveraging this other media as well. They have an iPhone breathalyzer app and a "tag of shame" app that users can download to their social media site and actually tag pictures of their friends being TG (That guy or That girl)

Launching during the prime holiday season, at a time when office parties, friends are celebrating and family is getting together Heineken is offering an interesting spin on marketing of one of the worlds favourite beers. They are keeping the fun, lighthearted and interest while maintaining a drink responsibly message.

Warning: No heartstrings were pull in this campaign.

Autoban for the better and having Fun

2009-11-20T07:59:00.000-05:00

The fun and quirky car company that brought the world the Beetle and other fun zippy cars like the Rabbit is taking their marketing beyond cars but keeping the fun.

Volkswagen. The Theory of Fun.

Busting out some truly innovative ideas VW is getting people in Stockholm to have fun and do good. Check out these spots that have gone massively viral:

Staircase

Garbage Bin:

But here's the thing: Volkswagen is a car company, their main objective year over year is to sell cars, is it not? So how are they selling cars when their marketing campaign doesn't include any? Even their website thefuntheory.com offers more videos and a chance for people to submit their own ideas for awards.... and NO cars.

For a young urban professional, they are buying the brand. Yes, of course the typical factors play into their choice (price, features, safety, size) but they will look to and lean on the brands that speak to them.

What is interesting though is their dig for a deeper connection through the additional layer of "doing good". It's a fairly common belief that the younger generation is more deeply concerned about social issues (obesity, environment, helping others). Car companies are often vilified for being massive polluters and supplying the world with polluting machines. So it's interesting that VW is taking this perspective.

Are they smart? Risky?

Will we see these in Toronto, Vancouver or anywhere in North America?

2009-11-15T19:35:00.000-05:00

Even the billionaires of the world are being hit by this global economic crisis, so it's a very good thing that there exists a website where they can auction off their one of a kind luxury items to raise some cash AND ensure their precious items are given a good home.

Welcome to Billionairexchange, the luxury online auction site. Here the billionaires of the world can bid on and sell items ranging from castles, to diamond encrusted iPhones, to armored luxury vehicles, even a mexican resort is up for sale.

All one has to do is sign up for a membership; however, the price isn't shown because (I assume) "if you have to ask, you can't afford it".

What is interesting about the site is ease and ability a user has to buy advertising space. The prices are all laid out and based on impressions. Users can purchase leaderboards, features or sponsored links. Pretty interesting way of selling the media space as it seems they are cutting out the media companies and have made it really simple for their users.

I currently have my eye on a sweet diamond iPhone 3G, so if you're looking for my xmas gift, that's a good place to start: check it

Imagine a world where the hot "spot" is the size of a city

2009-11-10T09:28:00.000-05:00

Imagine the whole city as a hot spot. That would be pretty great right? Sitting on a park bench reading the paper online or stuck at Davisville station in the morning streaming online video.

Seems like a pretty good idea but will it happen?

Well, sitting at home watching TBS... I mean PeachTree... I caught one of the many Atlanta area ads but this time, instead of catching one of the irritating college ads to study at home and earn a degree - it's so easy!... this time i caught one for clear.com

Boasting super fast internet access in approximately 9 states, clear offers consumers internet everywhere based on data usage. Clear states "With CLEAR 4G WiMAX, you'll always get crisp, super fast mobile internet, regardless of where you are in the coverage area."

I have to admit, I am not an expert on this kind of technology, but it seems like it is similar to smart phones that access the internet... payment is based on a data plan/usage and the service (4G) is just a little jacked up.

How long until Canadian major markets get this and who is going to do it? Rogers with the largest, fastest network? It'll be interesting to see how this develops....

Here is the ad I saw:

Athletes as brands and selling them.....

2009-11-04T19:30:00.000-05:00

Steve Nash the basketball star, Canadian and brand?

A great (but long) article posted on the Canadian marketing website, Marketing Mag.ca explains the evolution of athletes from brand promoters to brands themselves. Not very long ago Michael Jordan was just breaking through creating the Air Jordan brand with Nike.

Now athletes are brands themselves. Steve Nash is one of the most viral of these brands and is successfully leveraging his celebrity, awkward humour and viral videos to really make a breakthrough impact which is doing a great job at creating an image for himself and the products he promotes. Professional salaries are rising and so are the sponsorship stakes... not to mention the egos, yet somehow Mr. Nash is managing to keep it lighthearted.

Check out the full article here

Here are some of the Steve Nash videos. Two are for Vitamin Water and another is just fun:

"Web 2.0 way to get your vitamins" (Shamwow/SlapChop Parody with 50 Cent)

"I've been hired, naturally...." (Parody of the Office)

(Step Brothers Parody)

The Steve Nash brand is fun, entertaining and in good taste. It'll be interesting to see how athletes promote themselves after the success of Mr. Nash and his kinda awkward videos. Check out the article above for a deeper insight and other expamples of athletes promoting their brand.

This little piggie waited in a big long line!

2009-10-30T11:48:00.000-04:00

Perhaps the scariest thing this Halloween won't be the darkened alley's, costumes, the amount of candy you'll end up eating or even well crafted Halloween Haunts but another H word..... H1N1. AKA swine flu.

I'm sure companies like Kleenex and especially Purell are going to do extremely well this fall and winter. Purell even has a "Swine Flu" button in it's home page:
http://www.purell.com/index.jhtml

The news is everywhere, panic is setting in and opinions are flying about what to do about the looming epidemic. Parents are refusing Halloween for their kids, business people won't shake hands and line-ups for the flu vaccine are literally around the block as people line up to get stabbed with the needle of "protection".

( The Globe and Mail, 2009)

Governments are also doing what they can to spread a more ubiquitous prevention tactic - proper cleanliness. Communication include techniques include coughing into something (tissue or sleeve) and wash your hands properly (I'm completely disgusted at the amount of people who think running their hands under water is cleaning... try some soap next time).

However, who is getting their message heard and who is being tuned out?

The British have done a much better job (in my opinion) at getting the attention of viewer. Their tactic BIN IT. KILL IT. Memorable and effective. Living in Canada I'm not even sure what their approach has been and had to research it.

The Globe and Mail summarized it the spot as: "featuring a racially diverse array of Canadians behaving cautiously and properly: a mother and daughter washing their hands together, an office worker squirting an alcohol-based sanitizer into his hand, a woman at lunch sneezing into her arm, a man spraying disinfectant on the door handle of his fridge, and a miserable-looking fellow laid out on the couch blowing his nose into a tissue." .... YAWN.

Check out these spots and let me know what you think:

BRITISH (April 2009)

BRITISH (October 2009)
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1847321790?bctid=46291688001

US (August 2009) - Center for Disease Control Contest Winner

CANADA (2008) - only one I could find to share

Halloween: Skin is in.

2009-10-26T13:28:00.000-04:00

Halloween is just around the corner and as parties and plans are being made, do you know what you're wearing? Or how much you're not?

It seems as though Halloween has become an opportunity for the ladies to dress more like hoes. Is it because I've grown older and it's no longer a scary witch or pretty bride that is the best costume or is there really a shift in costumes?

I'm more of a witty kind of costume girl and it's the ones that make me laugh and say "oh i get it!" that makes the night for me. However, when faced with a costume idea block and quick search for ideas on google, I'm bombarded with some fairly racy suggestions.

The Globe and Mail today ran an article sharing my thoughts and apparently business is booming for tight fitting, sexy costumes.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/celebratory-skin-why-sexy-costumes-are-hot-sellers/article1337884/

I also couldn't help but laugh at this video posted by College Humor (warning: foul language in the video)

This video definitely helps to understand the lengths some girls go to make any costume a sexy one that they think is hot.

Mean Girls the movie about high school social structure does a really great job of pointing out that "it's the one time of year a girl can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it..." ]

So what are you going to be this year for Halloween? Sexy Sexy or Frog?

They'll give you the finger.....

2009-10-10T09:04:00.000-04:00

Not having a USB key when you really need it can be really annoying. It's an easy way to transfer files or to take files with you. Now imagine having all that storage capability at your finger tips... or more correctly IN your finger tips.

Jerry Jalava is just the man with the technology. He lost the tip of his finger in a motorcycle accident and instead of rocking a stump or a normal prosthetic, he decided to upgrade to a finger 2.0. Now his finger tip is actually hiding a USB key and when he needs it, he can just pop off his finger, insert the finger into the USB drive and away he goes.

Some people might think that's just plain odd or gross, while others may agree that it's a pretty clever way of turning a negative into a relatively useful positive. Jerry is thinking it's time to upgrade again - this time to an mp3 player perhaps? Is Apple ready to launch the iFinger?

I just had one question for the guy: You've already lost a finger tip in a motorcycle accident, which too bad but relatively non-life threatening... so knowing that accidents can happen - why aren't you wearing a helmet?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7949018.stm