Category: Ideas

Four n twenty – Authenticity Facilitates Radvertising

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

For non Australian readers Four n twenty is a brand of meat pie, which is very Australian. A brand people know and love.

We also know that meat pies really have no place in the push for health and wellness. Pies are not a ‘healthy’ food. And quite frankly, who cares? All foods can be part of a healthy diet and trying to change your product because people can’t control themselves, does not a strategy make. It’s high time food marketers started to realise this. The so called ‘obseity crisis’ is not their issue.

Under the control of Multinational Food Giant Simplot, Four n twenty lost the ‘plot’. They started launching pathetic line extensions like ‘Low Fat Pies’ – which clearly would never change the perception of a meat pie, let alone get a non pie eater to start eating them. It’s fake and just damages the brand.

Recently the Four n twenty brand was divested from Simplot, to new owners Patties. These guys – who just play in the pastry and pie market have really shown they get it, when it comes to engaging their core target market.

Four n twenty make no apologies for what they are, the product the sell, and who they make it for. It’s authentic marketing. And their authenticity facilitated a great piece of communication.

This spot is Gold. Clearly it is radvertising.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIYC1gLSSq0]

Kudos Four n Twenty.

Quirky fact

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

Fact: The average youtube video only gets watched for 6 seconds.

The average Youtube video lasts for 5 minutes. It’s a rare event indeed for a video to get watched until the end. That’s why most view counts are so low, only those watched until completion count.

With almost 90 million videos on the site;

Start up blog says: Review your Youtube videos. Make it clear what they’re getting in first few seconds, or they wont have the patience to ever find out.

Your call

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

(read in digital voice)

Hello, (pause)

Your call is important to us. We are unable to take you call at this time. (what?)

If you wish to change your account details press 1

If you’d like to listen to your account balance press 2

If you’d like to make a payment press 3

If you’d like to hear these options again press 4

If you wish to talk to an operator press 0 – the expected wait time is: 17 minutes…..

I hang up. My call is not important to them.

What surprises me is that companies spend millions on TV advertising attempting to create an interaction with potential customers who aren’t listening. Then when people try to interact with the same company, they get given the machine – the finger.

Most companies invest in the wrong area.  Automation is only a benefit when it increases interactions with people. When it facilitates the conversation, not circumvents it. It’s a classic case of balance sheet marketing.

Everything big companies do here is wrong.

Start ups: Talk to your people. Give them a real phone number to ring with a real person at the end of the line. Be there when they call. Have a conversation. Make it personal. Over invest in this area.

Guitar Hero – a mass customized microcosm

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

Guitar Hero is quite clearly a cool product. It’s super fun and intuitive to use. I think anyone who has used it can agree on this. I knew this before I owned one, now I understand why. Beyond the fun of playing the game does two key things:

 

– Mass customization

– it’s Microcosmical

 

We often here the buzz of mass customization, but it’s rare for a very mass market product to hit the high notes that Guitar hero does on the customization front. Here’s a picture of my custom Gibson Les Paul Axe.

 

 

You’ll notice I’ve strategically placed the stickers in a symmetrical fashion which suits my style and design preferences. While going for a clear Mid-late 1980’s rock look by using the stars and flames only. For me this design rocks. While my friend Reg has plastered every sticker available on his guitar. Such a simple sticker pack creates a real personalised guitar.  

 

The store is also a very cool feature where players can buy everything from new clothes, different guitars (personally I prefer the Gibson flying vee), buy new songs, heck you can even buy actual new guitar bodies for the controller guitar.

 

It then goes beyond fantasy and steps into a physical reality for the players. Having on-line guitar battles and starting a band. You then build a career in the game which transports guitar hero to a special place. It creates a microcosm which closely relates to the rock star reality. The microcosm is the future of gaming.

 

Often exclusivity in distribution is a winning strategy. Not in gaming. Smart brands which need companion products, and companion products which are expensive (as consoles are) need to ensure they have the broadest possible number of entry points. Guitar hero has done this by being available on Playstation, Wii, Xbox, PC and even Mac. 

 

Guitar hero rocks, simply because it does all the stuff we hear about in new marketing so often.

Time & Luxuries

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

People substitute time for luxuries.

 

The next revolution will the ‘post’ industrial consumption age – where people wake up and start to reverse the above equation.

 

Time will be the ultimate luxury.

 

Singapore Series – episode 3 – Political correctness

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

I stumbled upon this car called ‘clinic’ while in Singapore. The bar has a hospital theme. Some of their gimmicks include wheelchairs to sit it, alcoholic drinks served in syringes, drinks served in drips, hospital beds and operating theatre lighting. See below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Firstly, I found it very offensive. To me there’s nothing cool about emulating the situation ill people find themselves in while in hospital.   Secondly, I’m certain that such an outlet in the USA, UK or Australia would be lambasted by the community and in the media. Is it different – sure. Is different always good? 

   

The interesting issue is this: What’s unacceptable in one  market, may be fine in another. The world is not a global village. Although we are experiencing convergence on a macro level, at a micro level, opinions and values will always differ.

 

Startups with global ambitions – take heed.