Play-Duh!

Sure, brand extensions are popular.. and some are actually successful. Think Oprah's O Magazine, Pet Smart's Smart Hotel, Nike Sports wear....

But what do you say when Hasbro comes up with a colonge to celebrate Play-Doh's 50th anniversary.

According to the folks at Hasbro the fragrance is meant for highly-creative people, who seek a whimsical scent reminiscent of their childhood...."Close your eyes and you're back in kindergarten all over again! It's amazing how the scent of Play-Doh can take you to another time and place. "

Sigh!

10 Steps to Direct Marketing Success

I came across a great post on direct marketing....

Check out "Direct Marketing: A Science of Stupidities" by Eric Weaver on this blog "ad-verse"

Warning: It is a little verbose. So if you find yourself losing interest, scroll all the way down to the section called Weaver's Snarky, Sanctimonious Ten Steps

Audience Dilemma

Here is what marketers have to decide very often, especially when their target audience consists of a diverse demographic - Should my initiative/ communication cater to the lowest common denominator or to the majority?

In this particular case, we are redesigning our product website and the question of the hour is - should we have a Flash on the homepage or not? One group feels that not everyone has Flash on their computers and so we should just stick with a static image....where as the Flash proponents feel that Flash will add to the visual appeal of the website and also provide messaging opportunities...

While my common sense usually pushes me in the direction of simplification and "idiot proofing" everything....I am with the Flash proponents on this one. Why? 85% of internet users have Flash. And most importantly, it adds value by not just making the page more visually appealing but helps delivering multiple messages ( for example, each frame can address a different benefit)

Here is an interesting article that speaks to the issue: http://www.businessknowhow.com/internet/flash.htm

common sense marketing...not without creativity

When I talk about common sense marketing, I by no means elude to dull and boring (or safe) marketing strategies. While one rarely hears creativity and common sense in the same breath, they go more hand in hand than you would ever imagine.

In my opinion…creativity allows you the freedom to think "out of the box”, and common sense helps keep that out of the box paradigm “real”.