Great Radio Ad for Buckley's

I heard one of the best radio ads in a long time yesterday, and it was for Buckley's Cough Syrup. I can't remember it word for word, but the concept was plain as day, and brilliant from a marketing standpoint.

Basically a guy calls up what equates to the "Buckley's Customer Service Center," and starts complaining about how awful the cough syrup tasted, likening it to all kinds of disgusting things. The support person agrees, and fully acknowledges it. She said that their cough syrup certainly does taste horrible. Then she asks the man about his cough, to which he replies he hasn't coughed since he took the medicine. Point made.

This is a classic example of great branding, because the company explicitly says that it's cough medicine isn't supposed to taste good or even "not that bad," but that it tastes extremely awful. However, the point of the medicine is to stop your cough, not taste good. So they demonstrate that perfectly with this ad, and with their entire campaign. They have television spots, too. They even have a Buckley's MySpace page that, although I'm not a fan of MySpace, was executed fairly well.

I will definitely keep this brand in mind the next time I get sick and have a bad cough. I just have to see how bad it really tastes! And also see if it works!

New eBay Ads

I must say that I really like new TV commercials for eBay, and the overall message they're sending. They really positioning the online auction site as a competitive shopping destination.

The idea is that with other e-commerce sites, you're just picking out something and buying it outright. Where's the fun in that?? Why not compete against others for the bid to purchase something, and win it in the final moments. In the end, you're "Shopping Victoriously," as the new commercials put it. Quite frankly, buying items through an auction is simply competing against others for the goal of ownership. What a great way to differentiate.

I know the next time I'm in need of competing with someone else to spend my money, I will end up on eBay. See you there, too...and may the best bidder win!

CareerBuilder with Wieden & Kennedy now

As a follow-up to my previous post, CareerBuilder has chosen Wieden & Kennedy for it's $60 mil creative account, according to a recent Ad Age article. I'm happy for Wieden, but hope that CareerBuilder doesn't judge the work they do based on a one-time viewer's poll without looking at actual results. I guess we'll have to wait until Super Bowl XLII...

A Geico Caveman Sitcom: Genius

Ad Age reports that The Martin Agency is in talks with ABC to run a pilot sitcom about the Cavemen icons that Geico has made famous. As a huge fan of the cavemen commercials, I can't wait to see how they transition from the 30-second spot to the 30-minute show. The "Cavemen" sitcom would be a great way to extend the brand and break through existing ad clutter.

Even if this doesn't pan out well on regular broadcast television, there is a great opportunity online with the broadband video surge, and companies creating a market for it like YouTube. Or, they could create their own web content portal like Anheuser-Busch's Bud.tv.

Regardless, I love the ads because they use humor while effectively conveying the brand message - Geico insurance is easy. And there is a huge following, with a lot of buzz around the cavemen, including the website for Caveman's Crib.

I recently made a conscious effort to track down the song from the airport spot when the caveman, Joe Dyton, was going past the Geico ad on the moving floor. The tune, Royksopp's "Remind Me", got stuck in my head and I had to get it. So personally, this campaign makes me want more; I'm always hoping to see the next "episode" in the series of ads, and hopefully now there will be full-length episodes that are just as entertaining...and valuable.

How To Not Measure Super Bowl Ad Success

It's CareerBuilder vs. USA Today Viewer's Poll. The victor? The poll, of course. Why wouldn't it be? It's probably the greatest measure of advertising success ever created, right?

Ok, let's put sarcasm aside for a moment. A recent Ad Age story confirmed that CareerBuilder is going into an agency review as Cramer-Krasselt has resigned the account after the "disappointing" Super Bowl advertising that CB is claiming. Although, it's a little naive to think that being in the top 10 most liked ad spots for the Super Bowl equals advertising success. I would look at that metric last. What do you think?

I think it's bologne, and totally agree with Cramer-Krasselt's president Peter Krivkovich that CareerBuilder's reliance on the USA Today viewer's poll as a measurement of success is plain ludicrous. Adweek has more.

Furthermore, the poll used 238 adult volunteers to weigh in on the ads during the big game. Wait a minute, what if the 238 adults all had jobs? Even more, what if they liked their jobs? Then, they wouldn't give two flips about a commercial aimed at those who hate utterly dislike their jobs and want more from a career. Go figure.

The funny thing is, I remembered the CareerBuilder commercials better than any others. Not only was the message clear, but the humor alone got my attention.

So, it looks like CareerBuilder wants to win a popularity contest instead of having true business success - seems like high school drama to me.

2007 Super Bowl Ads

AdAdge.com has put all the 2007 Super Bowl ad spots online. They also have the ones from last year. I'm probably late learning about this, but I think it's really nice to be able to go back and watch them. CBS Sportsline also has the Super Bowl commercials, by quarter and by advertiser. Pretty neat.

John Hancock, Unique and Meaningful to Generic and Mundane

John Hancock is changing its marketing campaign...but why? They're changing their tagline from "Insurance for the unexpected. Investment for the opportunities," to "The Future is Yours." Holy crap, are you kidding me??

C'mon JH, you can't be serious. Talk about running toward differentiation, then doing a 180 and sprinting in the opposite direction. Why would you change a campaign ("fix it") that probably isn't broken ("if it ain't broke")?

What I get from this is that John Hancock is totally abandoning a tagline and strategy that actually says something - what they offer - to people in a "real-life," clear and catchy way. And in turn, they're coming up with a generic tagline and strategy that any XYZ company could use. "The Future is Yours" says nothing to me, except "Hey, I'm generic, boring and unmemorable." The future ultimately is nobody's, it's just the future. Your future is yours, but not the future. That belongs to all of us, including those not yet born. I think a better alternative would have at least been "Your Future, Our Support," or something like that. But I honestly don't think the new tagline speaks to consumers on any kind of emotional or rational level. Even Nike's "Just Do It" tagline is simple, yet powerful. It basically says, no matter what excuses you have, just get out there and perform...we have the products to help you do that. As for John Hancock, they have the services and products to help improve your future, but that's not really what the tagline says.

I could be completely wrong and this may be a great change for JH, but only time will tell...about 10 years or so.

Google Attempting Cost-Per-Action

Sooner or later, Google was bound to give a nod toward Snap.com, which I recently posted about regarding their Cost-Per-Action ad model. Well, sure enough, they've already started in that direction. And with their recent launch of Google Checkout, you can see how they're intending to bring a measurable (and functional) CPA model to their advertisers, among other things, like the fact that this application, if it has the cajones, could simplify e-commerce on a larger scale for the billions of Internet users out there (like you and I).