A Marketing Mokuso

mokuso /mohk-so/ - Meditation or meeting of the minds. This is an open forum about the world of marketing. Please feel free to visit, comment, or post.

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  • Friday, January 18, 2008
    MGD 64
    Recently SABMiller announced a new brand of MGD that will only contain 64 calories per serving entitled "MGD 64". As an avid* beer drinker, I think this is yet another great move on the part of SABMiller. AdAge reports:

    Miller Chief Marketing Officer Randy Ransom said MGD 64
    would actually replace MGD Light in the marketplace, and would be aimed at
    stealing women drinkers from rival brands such as Michelob Ultra, Bud Light and
    Coors Light. "Basically, this is a new and improved Miller Genuine Draft Light,"
    he said. "It has the lowest calories out there and still tastes like beer."


    At 64 calories, the brand is the lowest-calorie mass-marketed domestic beer to date, although Beck's Premier Light, from Belgian beer giant InBev, also hit the 64-calorie level when it debuted in 2005.


    Now where they are marketing is even more interesting:

    As for marketing, there will also be a clear focus on placing ads
    in and around health clubs, executives close to the situation said, noting that
    the tagline used in the trial market, "As light as it gets," was well-received by women.
    With the introduction of MGD 64 and the reports that SABMiller had a 7% boost in 3rd quarter sales, it's evident that SABMiller is making moves in the right direction. It is a shame however that the other move SABMiller plans on making will be westward.

    *Avid as in I live in Milwaukee.

    Labels: , ,

    posted by Marketing Sensei @ 8:36 AM   0 comments
    Friday, August 31, 2007
    In the Tune of the NFL: "dun, dun, dun, da, dun, dun"
    Yes, I still am breathing. Wow, doesn't it seem as if:

    My daily posts have become weekly.
    My weekly posts have become monthly.
    My monthly posts have become quarterly.


    Well if you’re really jonesing for more, feel free to hit up a monthly newsletter that I’ve come across. It’s a great read and you’ll get your AMM fix.

    On that note, I’m not just here to post about my procrastination. I’ve been given a hot tip by the supreme punster and thought I’d pass it on. As some of you may have heard, the NFL has announced the introduction of a new logo. Don’t be alarmed; it’s not a redesign! The launch is more of a much-needed enhancement. The logos (pictured below) show how they’ve just brought the look into the new millennium.



    From a design standpoint, I truly applaud the move. As opposed to some other sporting logo debacles*, this one is smooth. There is a nice gradual change, sharpening some edges, and deepening some tones. I think the look is good and now the logo is more closely aligned with other up-to-date looks.





    Well done NFL.

    Labels: , ,

    posted by Marketing Sensei @ 4:46 PM   0 comments
    Thursday, July 26, 2007
    Simpsons Giving a Lesson in Integrated Marketing?
    Adotas' editor tells it like it is.


    Don't forget to try the avatar creation...


    Labels: ,

    posted by Marketing Sensei @ 5:19 PM   2 comments
    Friday, June 29, 2007
    An Evolution
    A Marketing Mokuso is proud to introduce a new company emerging in the Milwaukee market - SHAKEN creative. From what we've learned, the company offers a wide range of marketing services to small and mid-size companies. The company's home page boasts:


    "SHAKEN creative is the beginning of a new-age in the creative agency industry. We're filling an evolving niche with innovative strategies, individual marketing solutions, and unprecedented service. Our goal at SHAKEN creative is to help small-to-mid size companies with their marketing needs."
    You can visit their website by going to http://www.shakencreative.com/. There you can read about all of their services, retrieve contact information, and read a little bit more about the owners...

    Labels: , ,

    posted by Marketing Sensei @ 4:56 PM   2 comments
    Tuesday, June 12, 2007
    Direct Marketing Still Effective
    Recently the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) published a report claiming the effectiveness of direct marketing, especially in respects to branding campaigns. As we all know, the brand is by far the most important part of a company and if marketers prefer the direct marketing approach, then clearly they have a strong reasoning. The AMM has always been an advocate for direct marketing, especially considering the influx of e-mail and Internet marketing.

    The Direct Marketing Association reports:

    "Direct marketing’s scalability, measurability, and undeniable ROI has moved it to the forefront of all marketing, including branding," said Eugenia Steingold, PhD, DMA senior research manager and author of the new report, in a statement. "The findings of our latest report show that direct marketing tactics designed to increase consumer awareness and action are ubiquitous—from URLs on all marketing materials, to 800 numbers, to calls-to-action in TV, radio, and print ads—and across every other type of marketing media."
    After reviewing the report, the DMA continues to ‘pound the accountability drum’ and that really holds true with direct marketing. As the report infers, direct marketing can create the path that the consumer must follow, be it an 800 number or a custom URL. All of these paths are then quantifiable which will record the effectiveness of the campaign. Now, we can deduce that because it’s so easy to quantify, it also must be an effective approach.

    So with the continuing pinch on marketing departments everywhere, they will continue to use methods that have undeniable evidence to success or ROI – in this case, direct marketing.

    HT: AMA

    Labels: , ,

    posted by Marketing Sensei @ 11:02 PM   0 comments
    Thursday, March 29, 2007
    Yet Another Recap
    Well, I'm not out of the busy season yet - I still have about two months of classes and other personal items that will interfere with my blogging. My goal was to be posting at least on a weekly level but I have been extremely pre-occupied. Bear with me as I'll be back to normal this summer.

    I want to leave you with fascinating article by The Brand Channel on Wikipedia, the next generation of information gathering.
    posted by Marketing Sensei @ 10:53 PM   0 comments
    Wednesday, February 28, 2007
    Serious Monkey Business
    I'm a huge fan of c-k's work with CareerBuilder and am shocked to hear CareerBuilder's recent move. Granted, the "savages" are no monkeys, it's no reason to destroy a good thing:

    CareerBuilder Wrecks a Good Thing Over Poll in 'USA Today'

    Cramer-Krasselt Scored Top Marks One Week; the Next It Was Being Reviewed
    By
    Jeremy Mullman

    Published: February 26, 2007

    CHICAGO (AdAge.com) -- Cramer-Krasselt was asked to make CareerBuilder "famous," and, by pretty much any measure you care to use, the agency did just that. By the Chicago shop's reckoning, it helped the job site overtake Monster.com to become a market leader, nearly doubled its share of the online recruitment business and grew sales exponentially.

    The ad that didn't make 'USA Today's' top 10. Together agency and marketer won a number of awards for their chimp-centric campaigns. So you can imagine how stunned the agency was when, late last week, CareerBuilder's VP-consumer marketing, Richard Castellini, walked into its office and told a team of C-K's senior managers that he was calling an agency review because the shop's Super Bowl offerings hadn't made it into the top 10 in USA Today's poll about the commercials. At least, that's how agency CEO Peter Krivkovich tells the story, and CareerBuilder, despite repeated requests, didn't want to comment.

    'We trust America' "Just a week earlier, he'd told us our performance report card would be at 100%," Mr. Krivkovich said. "He said USA Today is 'America's poll, and we trust America.' It seems all our insights, business results and ad awards mean nothing compared to a poll featuring 238 people from two states. There are a few times in your life when you have to tell someone to f-- off and mean it."

    Cramer-Krasselt resigned the account on the spot rather than partake in the $60 million review as incumbent.

    A spokeswoman for CareerBuilder confirmed the resignation and review but wouldn't elaborate.

    The split followed a shift in campaigns at CareerBuilder, which rode its popular "Office Monkeys" for two years, an effort that spawned the Monk-e-Mail viral website that drew 13 million unique visitors.

    For this year's Super Bowl, however, the marketer changed course, airing a series of high-concept spots set in a jungle in which meetings and attempts at promotions are viewed as potentially lethal hazards.

    Lukewarm response Lukewarm critical response followed -- the spots got three stars from Advertising Age and finished 16th and 27th in the USA Today poll.

    There were positive metrics throughout the partnership, as CareerBuilder grew from the No. 3 job site to No. 1 during C-K's five-year run, although, as always, there's debate about how much advertising had to do with the brand's performance.

    According to Morningstar analyst James Walden, CareerBuilder -- backed by the three largest U.S. newspaper publishers, including Gannett which owns USA Today -- had a built-in advantage over Monster because of its local-paper alliances. "Still," Mr. Walden said, "there's no question that they've done a very good job at building brand awareness."

    Memo to staff
    But according to a memo sent by Mr. Krivkovich to staffers, the mediocre showing in the USAToday AdMeter overshadowed that track record. "It's so ludicrious (sic.) and they are so serious about that poll it's almost funny," he wrote.

    But it's not likely C-K is laughing. Losing one of its most visible accounts is not the follow-up the No. 5 independent envisioned in the wake of 23% revenue growth during 2006, its largest ever. Last year, C-K won creative duties for Corona beer, and it also landed midsize accounts such as Yellow Pages publisher R.H. Donnelley and Key Bank.

    Labels: ,

    posted by Marketing Sensei @ 10:04 PM   0 comments
    Thursday, February 22, 2007
    The Scoop, the 411, the Dish, the Catch Up...
    I know, I know, it's about time for a post and really, I've just been so busy that posting is the last thing on my mind. Let's catch everyone up with the Sensei's first quarter:

    To begin, I'm officially attending night classes at WCTC in their Graphic Design program. It's one of the most prominent programs in the United States, boasting of both community support and state-of-the-art equipment. It's a honor to be taking courses there and I've enjoyed every minute of it so far. Well, the first two classes that I'm attending require drawing and painting (two of my weak points) but besides that, it's a wonderful experience.

    Secondly, I'm working on some freelance artwork for actual companies. This, of course, is also consuming a majority of my time. I'm currently working with three companies that are considering my brand proposals and hopefully I'll be hearing back from them all soon. With that said, I'm researching a new site in which I can advertise my services and promote my work. You can find it here.

    Finally, I'm going to be re-positioning this blog so in the near future, I'll be attracting more readers and comments. Up until this point, I've made no effort to market this blog but due to my career path, I feel it is necessary to promote AMM and hopefully let it expand. Currently, I'm only posting bi-monthly when it really should be (at least) bi-weekly so ideally you'll be reading a lot more of me soon.

    Keep an eye out in the near future and until next time - Jinkaku kansei ni tsutomuru koto.

    Labels:

    posted by Marketing Sensei @ 10:42 PM   0 comments
    Tuesday, February 06, 2007
    Super Bowl Ads Recap
    Here is the link to all of the commercials aired during the Super Bowl. I'll admit, not one really stood out for me but if I had to pick, this is my number one pick and number two pick.
    posted by Marketing Sensei @ 10:16 PM   0 comments
    Sunday, February 04, 2007
    New Links....
    I just wanted to point out some new additions to the AMM's left column. I have taken all of my "favorites" from my browser's menu and have added them to the site. Here is the skinny on each addition:

    Resources
    Palo Alto - A nice software resources site.
    Business Balls - A good resource for articles, case studies, and advice.
    Lorem Ipsum - Copy for copy.
    Trifold Brochure - A resource for print design.
    All Graphics - A nice resource for templates.
    Printing Promotions - Another resource for templates.
    Printing for Less - I haven't used their printing resources but I have used their templates.
    Microsoft Library - A solid resource for all things electronic. I highly recommend the color section.

    Color
    Colormarketing.org - All things color.
    Tiger Color - A must read if you're a fan of color.
    Digital Media Minute's Color Page - Do you think I read a lot about color?

    Email Marketing
    Inbox Marketing - A provider of email marketing.
    got - A provider of email marketing that I have used.

    Blogs
    Digital Media Minute - Worthy of a spot under the blogs section.

    HTML Tools
    2 Create a Website - One of the best HTML color tools on the web.
    W3 Schools - I haven't attended any of their classes but I do visit the site for HTML tools.

    If you are a company that wishes to be added, feel free to email me.
    posted by Marketing Sensei @ 9:58 AM   0 comments
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