America's Best-Loved Brands

What are America’s best-loved brands? Market research firm Brand Keys recently released its list  and some of them may surprise you. But despite their popularity, they’re certainly not without their slip-ups.

Case in point: JetBlue Airlines, whose storm-related cancellations back in February resulted in thousands of stranded passengers and cost the airline $30 million. 

So how come they’re on top, at least as far as consumers are concerned? Simple. They provide a better overall customer experience than their competitors (except for that ill-fated day in February, of course). So do Target, Wachovia and Macy’s, which are just a few of the other Best-Loved brands.

And as we all know, a better customer experience translates to higher loyalty and increased sales. Kinda makes me feel a little sorry for all the companies out there busting their butts every day, who never have a major goof up like JetBlue did, or worse, the disaster that Tylenol experienced 25 years ago (another Best-Loved brand according to the study), and yet they struggle to gain market share and win new customers.

I suppose it’s not about being error free, day in and day out. It’s about doing something different or just plain better than others in your space.

Shrek says, “Get up and play,” but finish your Happy Meal first.

As the release of Shrek the Third quickly approaches, the advertising campaigns to market the friendly giant to America’s children are hitting fever pitch. And that’s all fine and good—to a point. What I don’t have a problem with is kids going to see the movie. They should. I think the last two Shrek movies have been enormously funny and entertaining, and as a character, Shrek is extremely affable. But I’m concerned that movie theater seats just aren’t wide enough for all the overweight kids who love Shrek and everything he promotes.

The bone I’m picking here is not with the kids, but with the Ad Council and GSD&M in Austin. Sponsored by the Department of Health and Human services, these two advertising entities launched a series of public service announcements, using the slogan, “Be a Player: Get up and play an hour a day,” urging the more than 10 million obese school age children in the U.S. to get off their asses and do something physical. To the folks at those agencies—which typically put out solid creative work—with all due respect, what the hell were you thinking?

Sure, you had focus groups that proved Shrek was a well-known character in the target population of the “Player” campaign. And that kids will likely listen to what Shrek has to say. But the research ignores the most glaring reality of all: Shrek is a big fat ogre. Austin, we have a strategic problem. And to top all that off with whipped cream and mayonnaise, he’s a big fat ogre who’s being used to promote McDonald’s Happy Meals, Fruit Loops, Frosted Flakes, M&M’s, Pop Tarts, Snickers, Sierra Mist, Cheez-Its and Keebler cookies to name a few. Sounds healthy, doesn’t it?

Surely, the Ad Council and GSD&M did their homework and knew these campaigns were in the works. But apparently the public relations opportunities for donating their services outweighed (pun intended) the aforementioned strategic problem and the inherent conflicts of interest.

So kids, listen to Shrek (like the focus groups proved you would do): Binge and purge. Stuff yourselves until you’re green in the face. And after you finish gorging yourself on that bowl of French fries and Fruit Loops, put down your Sega Game Gear from 1991 (seriously, that’s what the kid is playing at the beginning of the TV spot) and get up and play. That is, if you can move. And boys, don’t forget: be a player.

The time I apologized for creative excellence

Let me begin this blog entry by saying I am a passionate advocate for great work. On every job, I push for the surprising, the emotional, the unexpected. I enter our agency’s creative in the national award shows because I think it’s important to size up our thinking with the thinking that’s being done around the country and around the world. And, I’m proud to say that we’ve won a lot of awards. But not long ago, in a new business pitch, I didn’t act that way. When asked about our creative, I found myself apologizing for the awards we won. I was couching our accomplishments with, “Not that awards are important, but…” and “We don’t put a whole lot of credence in awards, but…” And that was bull. I doubt Crispin  has ever apologized for their awards. Fallon either. And I won’t do it again. Because agencies who typically diminish awards are the ones who can’t come up with compelling strategies, who don’t spend nights and weekends concepting, who don’t have the passion. These are agencies who either can’t raise their game to a national level or don’t have the fire in their bellies to try. And those agencies who say that “we don’t win awards, we just focus on results” are lying to their clients. Because if they were truly focused on the results, they’d be making damn sure that the communications they were creating were insightful and impactful and emotional and breakthrough and as good as or better than anything the Fallons or Crispins could ever do. So to that client I was speaking to the other day: I apologize. Not for winning awards, but for telling you they didn’t matter. We are proud of the trophies we’ve had bestowed up us. The Athenas. The CAs . The Addys . All of them. Because they say a lot about the commitment and passion of our creative and account folks. And they say a lot about the commitment and passion we have for our clients’ business. And if you do decide to hire us, you can expect more than a few of those trophies to land on your desk.

The Question

Ask any Marketing Director in the world one question, “What’s your favorite ad?” They’ll be quick to answer – saying the ad moved them in some way. Maybe they laughed or cried or thought differently about something. But one thing is for certain – they’ll say the ad was unique. They’ll say they had never seen anything like it before and that the experience has given them a positive association with the brand.

Now ask those same Marketing Directors why they demand forgettable, ho-hum advertising from their agencies.

You’d probably get some blank stares followed by some meaningless banter about low budgets, challenging marketing objectives or differing target audiences. The excuses would come fast. Because every company feels they have unique situations. Different challenges. Fickle customers. And they’re right. They do. So do those companies who allow their agencies to do great advertising. But those companies chose to trust their advertising agencies to do their jobs. And it worked.

I can go on and on naming companies like Nike or Apple to illustrate my point. But I think you get it. And, if you’re a Marketing Director who’s getting a little angry as you read this, you really get it. Because you know you can take your company to the next level. You just have to take the first step and trust your advertising agency to help you do it.

And if your agency won’t take you there, find one that will.

There are millions of ads out there that nobody sees or remembers because they’re too safe, too generic and too boring. Is that an effective use of marketing dollars? Is that what companies want from their Marketing Directors?

Or maybe I should ask, “Is that job security?”