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Car Manufacturers Battle it Out in 2012 Online Super Bowl Ads
Car manufacturers are not waiting for the big game anymore to share their Super Bowl commercials. But being able to track the interest on YouTube is proving to be a game in and of its self.
So who is winning?
Right now Volkswagen’s The Bark Side teaser is leading with 10.8 million views on YouTube. But keep in mind this was launched on January 18.
Volkswagen’s Beetle commercial The Dog Strikes Back falls short with only 1.1 million views. The video was posted on YouTube on January 30.
Honda’s CR-V commercial with Matthew Broderick is a big hit with 8.3 million views. It launched January 26 on YouTube.
Accura isn’t far behind with 7.4 million views for its NSX commercial featuring Jerry Seinfeld & Jay Leno, which was launched January 30.
The bottom line is while Volkswagen really made a big splash with its The Bark Side teaser, its actual commercial has fallen short on delivering something entertaining – although the dog is cute and the commercial did make me laugh.
The celebrity power is helping Honda and Accura move to the top. Given we still have 3 days until the big game, its highly likely Honda or Accura will win the battle.
The Latest Rage: Pink LEGOs
In December 2011, LEGO launched LEGO Friends targeting girls. What most thought was a brand that could do no harm, is now feeling the heat about their gender specific marketing campaign.
A pair of 22-year-old activists for girls, Bailey Shoemaker Richards and Stephanie Cole, launched a petition to get LEGO to commit to gender equity in marketing. So far they have generated 50,040 signatures. Not really something I would be worried about if I was in LEGO’s marketing department.
However, this gender specific marketing debate has sparked media and blogger attention. NPR, Huffington Post, New York Times and San Francisco Chronicle are among the media covering the story.
The argument is pink LEGOs are preventing girls from being creative. Stephanie Cole of SPARKmovement.org wrote on her blog, “I can speak from personal experience and assure you, LEGO, that girls do like minifigs. They also like Star Wars and Harry Potter, and they like being creative and making up stories that involve adventures and good and evil and things blowing up. But if you keep on excluding them from your marketing vision, soon they will start to believe that they would rather have hot tubs and little plastic boobs.”
But what about girls who would play more with LEGOs, and would be more creative because they are pink? And no one is stopping girls from playing with traditional LEGOs because now there are pink ones. Just like no one is stopping boys from playing Barbie and girls from playing GI Joe.
In fact, coming from a family of three girls and no brothers, we never even owned a box of LEOGs. Sure we might play with the neighborhood boys, but it was never a toy my sisters or me wanted. If there were pink ones, I’m sure we would have been more interested.
On January 12 2012, LEGO responded on their website. Mads Nipper, executive vice president, marketing, the LEGO Group, provided the company’s rebuttal. “We want to correct any misinterpretation that LEGO Friends is our only offering for girls. This is by no means the case. We know that many girls love to build and play with the wide variety of LEGO products already available. LEGO Friends joins this global collection of products as yet another theme option from which parents may choose the best building experience for their child’s skill and interest.”
While pink LEGOs are sparking more interest (positive and negative) than the company probably anticipated, it is not enough to stop them from stocking the shelves. Sales will be the real determining factor, but with 4 years of research to back up their product line expansion, plan to see pink LEGOs on shelves for years to come.
Laundry Detergent Industry Shakeup
Get ready to transform the way you do laundry. In February, Tide is launching Tide Pods – laundry detergent packaged in a dissolvable shell.
This seems like such an easy solution that it is a bit perplexing none of the laundry detergent manufacturers have launched this previously. In fact, Tide has been selling these “Pods” in Europe for more than a decade. And US consumers have no issue with dishwasher detergent packets. So why should laundry be any different?
I certainly think this concept will catch on, and other manufacturers will soon be jumping on the bandwagon for a few reasons.
First, detergent is messy. We use liquid detergent and I hate it when my husband doesn’t thoroughly clean the liquid detergent cup (although I don’t gripe about it because afterall he does help with the laundry). Also, it is annoying when the detergent drips from the large containers that feature an easy to pour spout.
Second, both liquid and powder detergent takes up a lot of space. Reducing this space will be useful for both large and small households alike.
Third, it reduces our carbon footprint by eliminating the shipping of heavy liquid or powder containers.
Finally, you don’t have to lug a big laundry detergent box or bottle from the store to your house any more.
Love it… I’m sold!
Gotchies Study Smart PR Strategy for Laundry Products Manufacturer
More than 24 million pairs of underwear where predicated to be given as 2011 Christmas gifts from men to their wives and girlfriends in the UK. But almost half of those underwear will never be worn or washed because they are either the wrong color or too racy, according to survey conducted by Dr. Beckmann – a laundry products manufacturer.
This is definitely an interesting study for a laundry products manufacturer and reads more like something you would expect from a lingerie retailer. But thinking beyond the washer and dryer gave Dr. Beckmann an advantage with the competition and the media.
This type of study is certain to get the media talking. After all, we are all looking – both media and consumers – for something other than cookies, gifts and decorating to read and talk about during the holiday season.
The UK media certainly agreed. This successful media strategy landed headlines like:
“Men are pants at choosing seasonal briefs, says women”
“Too racy, too lacy: Twelve million pairs of Christmas knickers will never be worn”
“They’re lovely – now give me the receipt”
In additional to getting the media’s interest, who wouldn’t want to read, Tweet, Facebook or Google+ these stories? Heck it caught our attention on the other side of the pond.
So not only did Dr. Beckmann land some great media coverage, but the stories are definitely something people would be likely to read and share both online and verbally.
Go here to view the full study.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jennifer Manocchio
President, Sweeney
jennifer@sweeneypr.com
Jennifer Manocchio is the president of Sweeney. Jennifer joined the agency in 2002 after serving with Edelman at its headquarters in Chicago. In 2004, she opened the agency’s full-service office in Wilmington, NC.
A goal-oriented marketing professional, Jennifer is always pushing the limits of campaigns, media, bloggers, vendors, results, staff and herself. She is always prepared and ready for the next big challenge – whether she is running a campaign or a marathon.
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