Just Say Mo
Breast cancer has the pink ribbon, heart disease has the red ribbon and prostate cancer has…the mustache? In effort to raise awareness—and money—for the fight against prostate cancer, men around the world will grow mustaches throughout the month of November Movember.
The Movember (sometimes referred to as No Shave November) rules are as follows: start Movember 1st clean-shaven and then grow a mustache (Mo’s, in Australia) for the entire month. According to the Movember website, the mustache is the ribbon for men’s health. Participants can raise awareness and funds for cancers that affect men by sacrificing their faces.
Started by a group of friends in 2003 in Melbourne, Australia, the movement has evolved and expanded to become a world-wide effort that raises millions of dollars for organizations such as Livestrong and the Prostate Cancer Foundation.
New York Yankee Nick Swisher is growing one, even the Flip Camera is sporting a ‘stache. No word on Tom Selleck, although suffice it to say he serves as inspiration to “Mo Bros” everywhere.
While Movember generates a lot of buzz and is certainly a fun way to raise awareness for men’s health, it’s tough to predict if the mustache will ever achieve the recognition level of the pink ribbon. For now, all I can do is hope to spot a Yosemite Sam-esque mustache sometime this month.
The New Quick Change Shoe
DR. SCHOLL'S has tackled one of woman's biggest modern day dilemmas: cute or comfortable? It's no secret that most fashionable shoes aren't suitable for wearing all day ... whether it's a on business trip or a girl's night out, we want to look our best but struggle with achy feet at the expense of our high heeled kicks.
A few weeks ago, "Merck Consumer Care announced the launch of DR. SCHOLL’S® FOR HER Fast Flats™, a stylish and practical solution for women who need a break from their uncomfortable shoes.
Fast Flats™ are compact and foldable shoes that fit discreetly in a purse and come with a wristlet for easy storage and portability. This spare pair is perfect for nights out, weddings, traveling through airports and other times when a long trek in heels won’t cut it. Women can even wear Fast Flats™ during their commute, and then slip in to their fashionable shoes just in time to hit the office."
According to Jay Morgan, vice president of Research and Development for DR. SCHOLL’S®, “While women love their stylish shoes, many feel they have to sacrifice comfort to wear them for an entire day or night. We know that’s not the case, and we wanted to give women a great solution for their feet. Fast Flats™ are fashionable and affordable, enabling women to be prepared for the many scenarios they face throughout the day without having to worry about shoe discomfort.”
As a woman who has spent countless hours in uncomfortable shoes at the sake of fashion, and as someone who has been naming new products for over a decade, I can appreciate both the uniqueness of this new offering, and the simpleness of the name. DR. SCHOLL'S could have taken a variety of directions when naming this new product, but they chose to be descriptive, and emphasize the ease of use and quick-change nature that women prefer. Fast Flats is set up to be a category definer (as illustrated by the current surge in knock-offs). The messaging of the name makes it easy to for the customer to understand the product and the benefit. Alliteration lends to memorability, and the two syllable name construction adds easy recall.
I'm excited to try my own pair. What do you think? Ready for a quick change?
Nervously Naming our Newborns
Sad, but true. According to the Wall Street Journal, sociologists and name researchers are seeing unprecedented levels of anxiety among parents trying to choose names for their children. While once a reflection of family tradition or cultural values, a child's name has now become a symbol of individual taste. The pressure is on! Knowing the name will become a lasting part of the child's identity, parents are turning to several resources before they commit to a final name for their baby's birth certificate.
Hiring a baby naming consultant or branding consultant has become a recent trend. Some of these "baby naming experts" offer phone consultations and even mathematical formulas. The consultants may analyze the phonetic elements, popularity and ethnic and linguistic origins, and can serve as an objective third party when parents are in disagreement about a name. Some parents even turn to research to find out how society reacts to different names. Albert Mehrabian Ph.D., a professor of psychology at UCLA, found that more common names elicit positive reactions, while unusual names typically result in negative responses. He has a popular article, "Baby Name Report Card: Beneficial and Harmful Baby Names" and is frequently cited in blogs for his knowledge regarding which names will lead to success vs. failure.
For parents that want to do their own exploring, nymbler.com is an interactive website where the user can input their favorite name and the site will generate popularity statistics as well as similar name options they may want to consider. Some parents go straight to the Social Security Administration website, which allows them to browse reliable data and see the most common names for each gender. The Social Security Administration site allows searches for past years as well as particular names.
Will parents every truly find unique names for their babies? Only time will tell!
Contributed by: Ashley Popham
They're Back...Again
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Very few fashion brands can say that they’ve stood the test of time, especially those that don’t constantly evolve to fit the ever changing trends. Well, the Ray-Ban Wayfarer is one brand that keeps coming back for more and has managed not to get a major face-lift over the decades.
Wayfarers have been manufactured by Ray-Ban since 1952. Since then, the brand has come and gone…and come and gone…and come again. Although very successful in the 1950s and 1960s, the brand’s popularity hit a slump in the 1970s. With the help of some primo product placement in the 1980s, the brand struck gold once again. You may recognize the brand from such movies as The Blues Brothers, The Breakfast Club, or the infamous showing in the hit, Risky Business.
Although successful in the 1980s, the brand hit another slump in the 1990s. During this time, the brand even underwent a redesign that proved to be unsuccessful. It wasn’t until the late 2000s that Ray-Ban noticed stars rocking some vintage Wayfarer frames, so they came to their senses and brought back the original design. Since then, the brand has found itself at a steady up and up.Read more
Green Brands Put to the Test
We've talked a lot about how brands are trying to add "Green" to their corporate color palette, sometimes with real, valuable initiatives and sometimes with just words. (Green: Who Can Claim It? and Greenwashing) So in honor of this Earth Day, the 40th Anniversary actually, we'd like put some of those brands to the test to "verdify" how green they really are.
Last month, SunChips introduced the world's first fully-compostable chip bag. The new bags, made of plant-based materials, should fully decompose in 14 weeks (under typical hot composting conditions). A few weeks later, Snyder's of Hanover announced it too would be using sustainable packaging (on its organic line of pretzels).
I don't have a compost pile, much less the perfectly mixed 1-2-2-2-1 “hot" compost that SunChips recommends, but I do find the random scrap of trash in my yard after trash day. Would the bags eventually decompose in my yard or on the side of the road? We plan to find out.
For our Earth Day experiment, we have staked one of these composting bags to the ground to simulate errant trash. We will photograph our progress and share the results on the blog.
What the buzz, Google?
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I woke up this morning to find out something was different with my Gmail. Overnight it seems as if Google and Facebook have fornicated their technological impulses and created the newest love child of the social networking world: Google Buzz. Though Twitter might demand a paternity test from Google, this “buzzing” community is the latest of social networks trying to innovate fast-track communication.
Google Buzz, channeled through Google's popular Gmail service, allows users to micro-blog and upload pictures as well as link to other users and websites. And like one of its predecessors, Twitter, it lets you “follow” other members and blog about, well, whatever you want. However, it definitely has Facebook’s eyes, allowing you to comment on updates directly without all the weird @, #, etc. symbols that I still don’t understand with “tweets”. It also has the highly coveted “like” feature that Facebookers obnoxiously seem to enjoy. (Hmm maybe Google Buzz will get a dislike option that Facebook has yet to cave to – could be interesting.)
However, unlike the launch of other social networks, Google Buzz has already taken the initiative for current Gmail account holders. Before I even heard the buzzing, I apparently was following a couple dozen of my closest Gmail contacts and a handful were following me. I also had a link to the “Buzz” conveniently placed under my Inbox link, equipped with a Simon Says-esque color wheel, just in case I missed it.
What's that Smell? Sensory Marketing
Taste and smell are universal languages. We do not need a point of reference, a back-story, or an elaborate marketing campaign to know when something smells or tastes good.
This realization has paved the way for companies to begin using more than simple sights and sounds to reach to target audiences. Sensory marketing is based on the concept that a fully pleasurable experience will reinforce positive associations with a brand.
Check out two companies who are leading the way in the sensory market:
ScentAir
ScentAir helps companies across the globe create customized scents for their products and stores. According to their website, "scent marketing is how businesses are breaking through mundane and overused marketing gimmicks to reach customers emotionally."
Scent Air has created signature scents for retail stores ranging from Sony to Lexus to Bloomingdales, as well as for hotels, realtors, and spas.
FirstFlavor
Imagine how effective a magazine ad for Hershey's would be if you could actually taste the chocolate. FirstFlavor has recognized this power and enables companies to incorporate taste tests in their print ads and direct mail.
Branding and marketing a tool called Peel 'n Taste®, the FirstFlavor website assures that "the flavor of your product is replicated in quick dissolving edible film strips which are distributed through individually packaged pouches to prospective customers."
Would you try one?
Contributed by: Maghan Cook
Candy Brands: Brach's
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What would Halloween be without candy corn? It has been enjoyed for over 100 years. According to Brach's, the top branded maker of candy corn, each year Americans buy enough Brach's candy corn that if the kernels were laid end to end, they would circle around the Earth 4.5 times. Brach's candy pumpkin, known by the trademark name "Mellow Cream" is the most popular candy pumpkin. They are popular both for their unique texture and for being fat free. Candy pumpkins are made using the same process used to make candy corn. The ingredients include corn syrup, real honey, and sugar.
Amusingly, candy pumpkins played a role in the U.S. Implementation of Daylight Saving Time. Since the 1960s, candy makers had wanted to get the trick-or-treat period covered by Daylight Saving. They believed if children had an extra hour of daylight, they would have more time to collect candy, which would boost candy sales. During the 1985 U.S. Congressional hearings on Daylight Saving, the candy industry went so far as to put candy pumpkins on the seat of every senator, hoping to win a little favor. Soon, Daylight Saving Time was extended through the first Sunday in November.
By: Ashley Popham
Optimism Pays Off?
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If you’re a soft drink company what do you do to keep market share high in a down economy? Let the good times roll, and put on a happy face? Well, I’m not sure, but that certainly seems like the plan for mega giants PepsiCo and Coca-Cola.
According to Pepsi, 95% of their target market (individuals born between 1980 and 1990) prefer to maintain a positive outlook on life. Additionally, those born from 1980 to 1990 (individuals referred to as "Millenials,") are confident about the remainder of 2009. (Data according to StategyOne)
With those statistics in mind, Pepsi launched a new campaign which includes a redesigned logo that looks like a smile and welcoming greetings such as: Hi, Yo, or Howdy.
Coca-Cola on the other hand, is no stranger to marketing happiness (think their early 90’s polar bear campaigns). The company is at it again, with their newest slogans: Open Happiness and The Coke Side of Life, around billboards nationwide.
As for who has it right, I guess only time will tell. For now, let’s just hope the glass is half full for both Coke and Pepsi.
By Kelley Blakewood
Mommy, Mommy!
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Recently entering the world of children’s toys is a new doll that can walk the walk and talk the talk. Fisher-Price recently introduced Little Mommy: Walk & Giggle Doll. Equipped with the latest technology, this amazing doll can talk, walk, and stand up all by herself. According to a Senior Engineer at Mattel, the technology used to power this little play toy machine is similar to the resources used to power the Apple IIe.
Your little girl comes prepared to say up to 60 different phrases including “I’m tired,” or “help me, momma.” You can love your own Little Mommy: Walk & Giggle Doll for between Read more