|
Duh!
Marketing Awards / May
2005
 The
Isn’t He Dead Award? — Honorably
awarded to Kroger Co. The grocery chain is introducing
its own line of dog food named Old Yeller after the classic
heart-warming story about a dog and a boy. But, as you might
remember, the boy has to kill the dog! What message is this
brand sending? Feed your dog Old Yeller and he’ll die
too? The lesson: Honoring a classic by naming a new
product after it is a long-held tradition. But, all of the
components must work positively for the brand. (Thanks
to Karen Axelton of Entrepreneur magazine for this submission).
 A
Ta Da! Award
for a store brand that is working goes to Wal-Mart
for its dog food named Ol’ Roy. Rumor has it that he
was actually Sam Walton’s dog, but what matters is the
homey, "aw shucks" essence that the name on this
label projects. It conjures up fond memories of love and companionship
— a true pet lover’s treat.
The
Dress for Success Award— Honorably awarded
to Ross; it is running a good amount of media promoting
Dress Week, but one of the women prominently featured in the
ad is wearing a pantsuit! Duh! My guess is that the company
used footage currently on hand, but forgot to specifically
review the tape for any contradictions. The lesson:
Review any footage with fresh eyes before unveiling it to
the world.
A
Ta Da! Award
for a simple, product-focused ad is Sunkist. It shows a picture
of an orange wrapped in plastic wrap with the ends twirled
to resemble the ubiquitous red and white striped after-dinner
candy. The copy simply states "fresh, nutritious and
always delicious. Life should be so sweet." This is one
tasty ad!
The
That’s a Tasty Meatball! Award —
Honorably awarded to Dominoes. It has paid a bundle
to NBC for sponsorship of The Apprentice. The Donald himself
touted the pizza chain and further editorialized that it serves
up more than 400 million pizzas per year. The Net Worth team
then created a Meatball Pizza. But was it offered to consumers
by this chain? No, Dominoes introduced a cheeseburger pizza!
The lesson: Give the consumers what they want. (Thanks
to Tammy S. Holtzmeier of Profound Communications, Inc. for
this submission)
On
the other hand, Papa Johns is a Ta Da! Award winner.
This pizza chain stealthily captured the concept of meatball
pizza and turned it into a product in time to trump the Trump!
It even advertised it during the airing of The Apprentice.
What a coup!
|
