A recent brand launch for Gatorade is worth keeping an eye on.  Titled “What’s G” – the TV spots, launched January 1, are designed to create conversation and intrigue.  http://www.youtube.com/whatsg1965
The spots leave much room for interpretation and many (my sons, who are Gatorade loyalists included) didn’t get the association that “G” is Gatorade.  I informed them after seeing the new packaging on Gatorade products at Costco.  I have to say that there was no confusion with old packaging and new – as there was not a trace of old packaging.

In visiting their website, the spots are not featured; however the “G” is prominent on the original Gatorade bottle and the products/sub brands reflect new names that coincide with videos that have been released since the launch.  www.gatorade.com

 Advertising Age reported on January 7 and 12 that it is a risky yet slow building campaign.  It appears, that based on online conversation and views on YouTube that people are talking about it.  If that is the case, then the campaign is off to successful start.  But where will it go?

The question begged is brought up in the January 7 Advertising Age article, quoting Matt Cutler, Visible Measures, “It is very lightly branded, arguably not branded at all.  And there seems to be some indication that the more you leave things open to conversation, the more conversation will occur.  In this creative, they chose to leave lots of room for conversation, but the risk is people seeing this and not knowing it’s associated with the Gatorade brand.”

That’s the big question, how much will be left to conversation, is it too much room – and what additional integration and messaging will be added – and most importantly, will the confusion in some consumers minds be resolved to the brand’s benefit?  Only time and the unfolding of the brand strategy will tell.  Keep watching!

Bozell, a creative marketing communications company, won five awards of excellence and three awards of merit at the 2008 Nebraska Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Paper Anvil Awards Gala. Awards were received in the categories of marketing communications campaign, blogger outreach, annual report, internal newsletter, tradeshow outreach, news conference, web site and word-of-mouth marketing.

Bozell received paper anvil awards for work on behalf of the Omaha Stadium campaign, the DOCCENTER launch of www.doclanding.com, the Men’s College World Series, Catholic Charities, Wildsmiles and Bozell.

“Winning the awards was the culmination of an integrated, agency-wide effort to produce outstanding work for our clients, “said Sylvia France, partner in charge of Dialogue Relations at Bozell. “We are honored to be recognized by PRSA.”

The entries were judged by members of the Houston, Texas chapter of PRSA. Awards of excellence were reserved for outstanding entries that did a superior job of meeting the stated goals and in achieving results. Awards of merit were determined by the judges as entries that met stated goals and demonstrated good results, according to PRSA Nebraska.

About Bozell
Bozell is a creative marketing communications company with offices in Omaha, Nebraska and Overland Park, Kansas. Bozell combines qualitative and quantitative methodology to get close to its clients’ customers. Bozell then uses advertising, digital marketing, dialogue relations, technology and innovative creative to provide targeted solutions for local, regional and national clients. For more information, visit www.bozell.com.

As I was driving the other day my typical disgust at the number of people who run red and orange lights was a little more interesting than normal. A cargo truck for a secure records storage company breezed through what could only have been a dark, dark orange light.

This made me think a bit. Was that truck filled with sensitive information? Did it contain top-secret files destined for the archives? Were there countless legal briefs and contractual agreements stored in stacks of boxes inside the back of the truck? Since nobody crashed into the vehicle – fortunately – nobody got to find out.

That brings us to the topic at hand. Secure file transfer. A big deal is made about this simple procedure online. If I want to transfer sensitive information to another, remote computer, it’s a pretty secure process while in transit as long as the respective parties have done their jobs correctly. Somebody sets up a website with a secure certificate and a file-upload mechanism and away you go. The data is encrypted as it moves securely from point A to point B. Or secure FTP is used to the same end result. Granted, each end computer and environment has to deal with security, but you’re pretty well assured that once your files have been transferred, they got there safely and really, without risk.

How are your files getting transferred – in the real world or virtual world? Do you know whether the parties responsible for doing so are speeding through red lights or taking an armored tank to reach the destination? Be sure you know – and trust – who you have on that security detail. You don’t want any crashes along the way.

The following article about JVC and their New Year’s Eve initiative is interesting – a fun and innovative way of mixing new media and consumer engagement with a viral intent.  This article appeared in MediaPost Publications on 12/31/08.

Electronics manufacturer JVC will ring in 2009 with an advertising campaign that makes consumers the stars of its new 19- by 34-foot high-definition LED electronic billboard in Times Square on New Year’s Eve.

Steve Bumstead, PixelFire Productions’ founder, designed the technology that makes it possible. Dubbed Pix-it, the application integrated in the digital billboard lets people take still photos from a cell phone and upload them to nyc@jvcnewyear.com, where they sit in a holding area on the Web site until manually approved.

Bumstead plans to oversee the project from across the street in Clear Channel Spectacolor’s office in Times Square. He will personally review and approve each photo before displaying it for three seconds as part of the Happy New Year’s Eve animation message on JVC’s sign.

JVC took the wraps off the new sign earlier this month. It’s being promoted by the company as the first 720-line progressive big screen in Times Square, with a widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio and 1280 by 720 resolution supported by 1,007 light-emitting diode (LED) modules.

The screen will run consumer-generated video, but Bumstead–who has worked with film and digital displays for many years–said technical reasons stopped PixelFire from setting up the platform to accept clips. Video uploaded to the electronic billboard that Clear Channel Spectacolor manufactured would take longer to proof because of the large files.

Partygoers who upload photos are emailed a hyperlink and a redemption code that allows them to sign onto a special site and retrieve a copy of the photo as it appeared on JVC’s billboard. The “screensaver, desktop, wallpaper kind-of-thing” provides a memento of their night in Times Square on New Year’s Eve 2009, Bumstead said. “They’ll share the photo with friends and soon a whole bunch of people will have Happy New Year from JVC sitting on their desktop.”

Bumstead hopes the campaign turns viral, since people will have an option to share the photos. Licensing and release issues stopped PixelFire from building in search options for people to view other photos on the site. A project similar to this one, which would cost between $10,000 and $30,000 to pull off depending on the complexity, typically take two months to put together. The Renton, Wash.-based company, however, managed to turn around the campaign in much less time.

PixelFire has produced large-scale projects for Times Square displays in the past. In 2006, the company teamed with Campbell-Ewald to produce Chevrolet’s display atop One Times Square, Times Square’s first video-analog clock.

As we were sitting over Sunday morning coffee and checking out the latest and greatest deals, we ran across a coupon for Tropicana Orange juice.

Old Tropicana Packaging - AWESOME

Instead of the cool twist on a classic packaging with the image of red striped straw in the orange, the brand had done a major belly flop by “genericizing” it’s brand into something that you would see on the Kmart shelves circa 1990.  I liked the old packaging. It worked. (I mean, who wouldn’t want the freshest tasting oj – and the fact that the brand portrayed it as tasting as fresh as if you stuck a straw in an orange…YES!) And if you are going to refresh the brand, I can understand that…but why move so far away from the things that worked on the old packaging and brand?

What on earth were they thinking? Number one, it is one of the more pricey brands of OJ on the shelf and the older “look” really held its own in that price point. This revision to the brand makes it look like it should be in the “dollar aisle” along with the 99 cent no name boxes of cereal and ‘faux’ hamburger helper. oh…and def check out the “mini orange” screw top. Nice place to spend the money guys…no one will notice something like that especially when the rest of the packaging really falls this short. It would be different if they decided to charge 89 cents per container, but the fact is, they are still charging a premium for a brand that now looks generic.

New Tropicana Packaging - REALLY????

What is going on with Pepsi products these days and their really odd choices in re-branding??

I am so disgruntled and confused.

http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/pepsi_takes_the_tropic_out_of.php

There’s one decoration you must have this holiday season, and it goes on your face. That’s right, ‘stache is the Tickle-Me-Elmo of 2008. So get yours today by taking the ‘stache survey. Are you the Fu Manchu, The Chevron, The Walrus or will you sport the Handlebar? Who knows. Come find out. Then show it off by sending it to your friends. And from all of us at Bozell…Merry Stachemas to all and to all…a good night.

Get yours at www.stachemas.com. Click to visit.

I am a QIP. To borrow from Ron Burgundy, I don’t know how to put this, but I’m kind of a big deal. I’m very important. I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany.

I wasn’t always this important. I was once like everyone else, accumulating affinity cards by the dozen, with no acknowledgement that they had any effect on my behavior. Sure, I would flash my keychain at the grocery store to save a few bucks. I would even trudge back to my car to get a card when the pet store (which gives $5 off the dog food that my dog eats) makes me. But in most cases, I was already in the store buying something before I considered the store’s program.

Then, in early June, I saw a display at Qdoba offering a free chips and salsa if I signed up for their loyalty card. Every time I bought ten entrees, I would get one free. I like Qdoba. Their food is good. There is one close to Bozell. The people that work there seem nice. Why not?

Fast forward to last week. I received an e-mail informing me that I had been named a “Qdoba Important Person.” Clicking through to their website, I saw that I had visited Qdoba 22 times since registering. This took me to my calendar, where I counted 49 days in that same period during which I did not have a lunch meeting. When on my own, I had eaten at Qdoba 45% of the time. Without realizing it, what had begun innocently enough had evolved into an obsession.

I had decided to bury this new-found knowledge and find some additional lunch venues when a co-worker informed me that my name was on the wall at Qdoba, announcing my QIP standing for the entire world to see. There is at least one other Corey Meyer around Omaha, so even at this point I considered running from my destiny. But then I realized that there comes a time in every man’s life when he has to decide who he really is. Please don’t take this as arrogant, but I really am a QIP.

I would like to thank Qdoba for officially bestowing this status on me. I will not take it lightly. Even though I will now be hobnobbing with celebrities, heads of state and high rollers, I know that this is not just about the special privileges afforded me. I accept the responsibility of being held out as a role model and I will try to remember that the paparazzi are just trying to do their job. To my public, I only ask that when you see me on the other side of the velvet ropes, understand that I am a human being just like you (except that I am, obviously, a lot more important).

Any comments about this blog entry can be directed to “my people.” They may or may not get back to you. Now I have to go do something important, like go to lunch. Probably at Qdoba.

Bozell won one of four AIGA gold awards, the top honor in graphic design in Nebraska, at this year’s Show for the AIGA Nebraska, the Professional Association for Design, chapter. Bozell, a creative marketing communications company, also received three bronze awards.

The Show, hosted annually by AIGA, exhibits the best in graphic design, photography and illustration produced in the region. This competition includes entries from design professionals and students, featuring both published and unpublished work. More than 900 entries were judged by a panel of individuals with extensive professional experience in the design field.

“The Show is a great opportunity to showcase our most creative and innovative work,” said Brian Wetjen, partner in charge of Interactive Creative at Bozell. “While our first commitment is to produce outstanding work for our clients, our team is honored to be recognized by AIGA.”

Bozell received a gold award for its design of Krista’s Creations’ Web site, http://www.letter-photo.com. This dynamic website allows customers to create custom products based on the artist’s unique photography. Customers can select images from Krista’s vast image library and assemble words out of the “letters” in the photographs. Bozell also received bronze awards for the Creighton Fine Arts Faculty Portfolio of Creative Work, the Bozell New Employee Handbook and the Bozell Office Charms.

About Bozell
Bozell is a creative marketing communications company with offices in Omaha, Nebraska and Overland Park, Kansas. Bozell combines qualitative and quantitative methodology to get close to its clients’ customers. Bozell then uses advertising, digital marketing, dialogue relations, technology and innovative creative to provide targeted solutions for local, regional and national clients. For more information, visit www.bozell.com.

Even though we are not competition hounds, it is still nice when we do well. At the annual Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Nebraska Chapter’s Gala last week, we were awarded eight Paper Anvils, five awards of excellence and three awards of merit. This year’s competition was judged by the Houston, Texas PRSA chapter.

This was truly an agency wide effort since we received awards in the areas of blogger outreach, web sites, special event/outreach/educational and/or tradeshow event, news conference/publicity stunt, integrated marketing communications campaign, word of mouth, internal newsletter magazine and annual report. It is not all about us, we have great clients such as Catholic Charities, DOCCENTER/www.doclanding.com and the Men’s College World Series (CWS), that allow us to do great work.

Happy Holidays!

Sylvia

I picked up a British Vogue last week in the hopes gaining any creative inspiration for some retail campaigns. There was a layout that absolutely blew my mind. “Spellbound: Dream of a bewitching Christmas filled with jewels fit for a fairy tale, sparkling under a diamond moon.” Never before had I seen anything quite like this as far as art direction, innovation, lighting, materials used, etc…this article was the main reason why I bought the mag.

What made it so amazing was the work of artist Su Blackwell, whose 2D and 3D paper “book” sculptures create a surreal and magical backdrop for the winter jewelry spreads.

Here are some more examples of her work.

After looking her up online, I was able to find a commercial for a vineyard that used her talents integrated with stop motion animation. Apparently this was a different bird for her entirely since she is more used to 2D and the video involved her pushing herself into the 3D world. She is amazing!

http://www.sublackwell.co.uk/films.php?id=3#3