Muses

marketing deceased celebrities

Amy — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 21:15:44 +0000

Bob Marley earned over $1 billion in worldwide sales from 2009-2012. Well, his estate did. Marketers see the value of a deceased celebrity’s legacy, and if tastefully done, can profitably continue to celebrate a celebrity’s brand.

A New York University marketing professor and professional marketer said, “’Marley is a strong global brand…He enjoys a high level of awareness and people feel positive about his music’” (CNN.com). The Deputy Director of the National Library of Jamaica reasoned, “’Marley is more popular in death than in life because a lot of his work is still being discovered and recognized’” (Answers.com).

Marley is not the only deceased celebrity earning a substantial amount of income for his estate. Forbes published a 2011 list of the Top 10-Earning Dead Celebrities including, not surprisingly, top 3: Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, and Marilyn Monroe. Elizabeth Taylor (#5) earned about $12 million since she died in March 2011. Also on the list: Albert Einstein (#7) and Dr. Seuss (#8).

Successful licensing is the key to marketing deceased celebrity brands. Take someone like Martin Cribbs, Personality Rights Manager and well-known player in the growing celebrity estate-licensing industry, has built a solid reputation licensing dead celebrity names, photographs, and videos. For instance, he licensed Albert Einstein’s name to Disney for its Baby Einstein product line.

Most recently noteworthy is the marketing firm Authentic Brands Group’s latest venture: creating a Twitter account for Marilyn Monroe. According to CNN, Authentic Brands Group “purchased the rights to all things Marilyn Monroe for a reported $20 million to $30 million”.

innovative companies

Amy — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:12:15 +0000

Fast Company published a list of the World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies. The list includes 10 companies that have had advertising success; success attributed to several noteworthy tactics.

Multiple-way branding has proven to be successful. Combining 2-3 popular brands in one advertising campaign gives more immediate and memorable brand recognition and clout to the main product or service. Multiple-way branding may include associating a celebrity, the network or show the celebrity is primarily tethered with, and the product or service.

Data analytics helped Network Insights make Fast Company’s most innovative companies list. While most companies do (and those who do not should) track their marketing and advertising efforts, what is even more important than harvesting data is interpreting and translating it to better invest marketing dollars and truly understand a market space.

Other innovative companies that made the list successfully manage their social media presence while others use professional word-of-mouth tactics like engaging the #7 company, Klout. Klout has a network of influencers who are hired to spread the word about new products and services. Finally, companies like Target (ranked #8) are considered innovative because of its success with creating a sense-of urgency and exclusivity. For example, Target achieved success and popularity by launching limited-collection, celebrity brands like Missoni (September 2011) and most recently Jason Wu (February 2012).

The most eye-catching tactic to me included developing a network of partners (check out #6: Dentsu Network West). Why? Because, amüsegrafik works with and is consistently adding to a pool of talent – especially since we moved into encandle, a co-working space on Newbury Street. We have access to creative extraordinaires including photographers, illustrators, CSS magicians, writers, social media managers, artists, and printers. The great thing about solidifying a network of partners is being able to customize a team of professionals that best fit a client’s needs.

(image courtesy of taget)

pocket square sketch pads

Jon — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:29:47 +0000

All design teachers advocate carrying a sketchbook around with you where ever you go. Only issue is where do you keep said notebook without having a bulging pocket. This Hankie Pocketbook is a stylish and quirky solution. Concepting has never looked so classy.

(Image courtesy of freshbump)

the design office

Jon — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:03:48 +0000

As most of you know, I joined a coworking space this past September. I can’t stress enough the value of sharing an office with other creative professionals who own their own businesses. Allana Taranto, AKA Ars Magna, is a talented photographer and a studio mate of mine at encandle. She and I recently took a trip to Providence to check out another co-working space called The Design Office.

One of our other studio mates, Ben Spear of Thinkside, is a fabulous brand designer. He and Allana recently spoke in San Francisco at MacWorld about the advantages of co-working. Ben is in SF for the month on a coworking journey, touring numerous co-working spaces in the San Fran area. Check out his blog and read about our inspirational night at The Design Office.

sometimes, less is more

Amy — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:30:53 +0000

Leonardo de Vinci said, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” Simple can be an oxymoron. More often than not, being simple is actually very complex, especially in marketing, advertising, and graphic design. A clear, simple message is difficult to plan, construct, and execute. But, simplicity sells.

A cluttered brand identity, website, or ad is camouflage in a noisy world. Buyers, whether consumers or businesses, cannot differentiate one product or service from another if a message is not easily and immediately discernible to who matters. What helps? White space. Short, direct messages. And, visually appealing imagery and typography that is in harmony with its target audience.

Brands I love that follow these principles are Apple, Volkswagen, and JetBlue. Besides iconic logos and clean, easy-to-navigate websites, Apple’s Mac commercials and famous iPod silhouette campaign, and JetBlue’s print and outdoor advertising demonstrate that less is in fact more.

super bowl influence on advertising

Amy — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:43:23 +0000

The Super Bowl significantly influences advertising tactics. The Super Bowl is the most popular day for television advertising. Brands that can afford $3.5 million for 30-seconds or over $6 million for 60-seconds of airtime (LA Times) plus the millions of dollars that go into producing a single spot, have an attentive, eager audience. Viewers look forward to commercials played during the Super Bowl, unlike daily commercials that are sometimes ignored.

The Super Bowl gives commercials a celebrity status. Brands play into this celebrity by creating commercials that entertain more than inform. The Big Game has influenced brands to create “catchy and clever short films designed to entertain rather than to move merchandise” (JSOnline). In fact, film directors are hired to produce ads specifically for the Super Bowl. For instance, The Hangover’s director, Todd Phillips, directed the Honda commercial for Super Bowl XLVI.

The Super Bowl has also influenced the trend of pre-commercial advertising. We are all familiar with movie trailers – now there are commercial trailers. For Super Bowl XLVI, brands like Coca-Cola, Kia, and VW got viewers involved with their brands with teaser commercials. My favorite: VW’s The Bark Side. According to LA Times, VW’s online commercial for its prime-time commercial “attracted more than 1 million views” in 24-hours. Check out other pioneering advertisers who produced teaser commercials for Super Bowl XLVI.

food disguises

Amy — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:16:10 +0000

“Fancy some motor oil, spray deodorant, and shoe polish with your dinner?” Pixiq.com asked? Do you question why food used in ads look much more appealing than what is actually presented on your plate or in your takeout bag? Is it false advertising to camouflage food in ads so it is more appetizing in consumers’ eyes? Are consumers being tricked into eating unappetizing cuisine or is making up more appealing dishes just part of advertising and consumerism?

Domino’s appears to take the side of staying true to actual food appearances. According to a NYTimes.com blog, Domino’s vowed to use actual food in its new advertising rather than “enhanced versions lovingly tended to by professional food artists.”

Other brands seem to invest in professional food artistry. Designer-Daily.com compiled pictures of fast food in ads versus actual food. Check out the drastic differences between what is seen in ads versus what is revealed under take-out wrappers. Would you eat Burger King’s Whopper Jr. if you saw an ad with the actual burger’s face on it? Probably not. How about Delish.com’s list of ad versus real food? McDonald’s “Real Deal McRib” looks like it has been through the wringer a few times and Arby’s actual Beef ‘n Cheese looks like it fell out of the drive-through window. Even healthier options, like Subway’s Turkey and Ham sub, look more appealing in ads than in reality.

Pixiq.com revealed the non-edible makeup used to disguise food and make food in ads appealing to consumers. Some food photographers are known to use motor oil as syrup’s more photogenic counterpart. Or, white glue instead of milk and shoe polish on raw meat to give it a perfectly medium-rare tint.

What do you think? Is enhancing food for photo ops an art and legitimate advertising technique, or is it false advertising?

(Photo courtesy of Pixiq.com)

sleepbox

Jon — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 23:18:25 +0000

SleepBox is a contemporary and cozy piece of furniture made from HI-MACS® material. The shape allows users to interact with the piece in a few fun ways: lounge around on the outside and snuggle up on the inside’s leather cushion. Hopefully this will be the future of airline travel, assuming they’re cleaned VERY well between each flight : )

Photos by Manuel Kretzer via Design Milk

snowy wonders

Amy — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 22:02:43 +0000

Graphic designer Nicole Dextras creates large-scale typography installations using an all-natural, organic, medium: snow. Her inspiring installations give landscapes a voice. I was curious to see what else people were creating with snow.

Snow is a challenging medium to work with because of obvious time-constraints and unpredictability when working with nature. However, the outcome of snow creations can be spectacular and breathtaking. Check out these striking snowy sculptures: 40 Coolest Snow Sculptures.

I was also curious if snow was used as a promotional medium as well as simply for pure artistry. Snow is in fact used for advertising. According to Media Life, “Snow can be used to deliver unexpected, eye-catching ad messages, whether by stamping a logo in the snow, painting it with biodegradable chalk spray, or creating a branded snow sculpture.” The creation of snow ads is promotional in itself because passerbyers become engaged and enthralled with the development process. Minneapolis-based advertising and branding agency, Element Six Media, is one of a small group of professional agencies that use snow as a marketing tool. “Snow branding” is part of the agency’s “Green advertising”. Very cool.

Photos courtesy of chicagonow.com, nicoledextras.com & elementsixmedia.com

the history of advertising

Amy — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 18:48:18 +0000

Mashable.com developed a very cool and informative infographic documenting highlights of advertising’s history. The infographic’s first date, 2000 BC, notes, “The Egyptians invent outdoor advertising, carving public notices in steel”. And now, online advertising is one of the top 2 forms of advertising. While this infographic shows that advertising mediums change – hand-carved steel advertising to HTML, digital communications – I wanted to know if the messages really changed that drastically. I found out that they did not…

The year BC Egyptian artisans and farmers carved messages in steel to distinguish their products and promote trade. The year BC Babylonians used baked clay tablets to spread the word about their religion to gain followers. BC Greeks and Romans used hawkers – today we call them marketers – to promote their products and services. Their trade depended on word-of-mouth advertising via hawkers.

Today, we have more tools to organize market data and narrowly target specific audiences. Companies spend millions of dollars on market research and analysis of qualitative and quantitative marketing campaign data. Despite these additional tools and more market and audience complexity, marketers are saying the same thing that people were saying thousands of years ago. How about that.