The New Coke Mini

I love Coke. I'm biased to Coke. They say the new Coke Mini is like fueling an addiction in small dosages like light cigarettes and maybe it's true.

There's a version of this in the Philippines - Coke Sakto. It's a tiny bottle, smaller than the solo bottle & it's relatively cheap. It doesn't seem to be any different.

Coke has immersed itself so much into local culture that new marketing techniques form part of lifestyle changes. It's amazing and scary at the same time for this marketing critic

Here's their video from Business Wire. Check if you've got sound. It doesn't come out right on my laptop

Applying The Fun Theory - It Works!

Many behavior modification techniques have been used over the years to control or manipulate behavior. There's fear and there's pain, there's deprivation and punishment. There's also gratification (in many forms)

The Fun theory (thefuntheory.com) has taken this to the next level. This isn't a new concept because fun is being generally (albeit indirectly) used nowadays to teach children - pre-school children to be exact. In a way, you get children to learn while enjoying themselves. Thereby allowing them to like going to school - as opposed to hating it as most kids do later in life.

Here's one of the applications - The Bottle Bank Machine




Many of us return our plastic bottles and cans. Noticeably fewer recycle their glass. Maybe that's because we don't get any money in return, as we do for cans and plastic. Can we change this attitude by making recycling glass fun to do? So you are not just rewarded with a good conscience, you also get a smile.

via thefuntheory.com

This is one part of marketing that needs to be enhanced. There is a lot of marketing going around for things people want to have (aspirational motivation). There's not a lot of marketing for the things that people don't prefer - like vegetables and elementary education. Marketing then has to present these concepts as attractive in the same way as Havaianas has become one of the most expensive pair of rubber slippers.

This marketing critic isn't saying this hasn't started though as sustainability campaigns are becoming very visible. In fact the environmental changes have made such an impact on our current lifestyle it is but necessary to think about these things. Here's hoping the fun theory expands to cover a lot more...

When Ads Bite Back - BMW vs Audi vs Subaru Vs Bentley

I was researching luxury ads when I came across this funny series of ad attacks starting with BMW versus Audi then Subaru and finally Bentley. This is indeed worthy of a post. This marketing critic sends kudos to BMW for the guts to start the trend, praises to Audi for not letting itself be trampled upon and of course the clincher award to Bentley for ending the battle

Start here then just watch the ads respond to each other. The first ad from BMW is quite smart and very aggressive if you ask me



As expected, this is naturally followed by a response from Audi



But then Subaru decides it wants in on the fight. The ads must have been effective for Subaru to jump in the bandwagon



Bentley finally puts an end to all this with this simple yet succinct message. And it doesn't even show a car

Generation V: When Your Ads Can Now Get Voted Off

The new challenge for marketers has now come to buyers rating their ads - literally. Whereas traditional marketing leaves clients with no choice but to take the product and marketing collateral that come with it, whether they like it or not - now we have come so far technologically that clients have a say inwhat ads they want to see when they want to see it.



This started pretty much with search marketing. The more popular the keyword, the more expensive the ad. This helped both ways - it defined which industries were popular and which ads could or could not work without having to divest millions in research before finding out.

This time Digg is in the picture.



Social networking has long been in the picture but has not really meshed with advertising. It seems that social networking is more for socializing and networking (which is by itself a form of marketing) instead of outright advertising medium).

We've seen Facebook try to do it and fail miserably. Twitter has long been trying to get it in the bag but doesn't seem to have taken off.

Digg on the other hand seems to be doing pretty well by comparison. The voting concept that applies to their articles have been adopted for ads. And psychologically, giving people the power (albeit imaginary) to decide which ones are good or not is an egotistical mechanism that just fuels people into participating. It's like me criticizing all things marketing - ergo marketing critic

The basic idea is that advertisements that get more “diggs,” or votes, get a lower cost-per-click rate for the ad, and the ad is likely to stay visible on the site longer. If users veto the ad, also known as “burying” it, the cost-per-click rate will go up and the advertiser will be more likely to remove the ad from the site.

This can be analogized to search marketing - each digg or vote is considered a click. It's a credibility booster. It's a way of gauging popularity or lack of it. And although it does give advertisers a general idea of how the ad will perform because of the incremental effect on their cost per click charge, it still doesn't guarantee what the returns will be. Well and good if the returns are positive, but what if it's not? It may be a gorgeous ad that doesn't achieve the business goal.

An Ad Can Be Popular Yet Ineffective

First of all, keep that in mind - achieve the business goal. If your ad is intended to make money - then for Pete's sake, make sure the ad brings in the dough. If however you're only interested in awareness and brand positioning at this point, then go ahead by all means.

The Digg vote-for-ad method though does work to the advantage of marketers' need to resonate. When the ad speaks to people then it works. When people start talking about the ad, the company and consequentially the product... then it works.

But of course, note that in the end, it's all about making money. Digg has started to monetize itself. Pretty much like Google... you build the concept, watch it grow and gain value. Then you think about how to make money off it

The Fall of the Belo Beauty Empire?

Maybe it's too early to predict this considering this marketing critic is not much of a clairvoyant. But in marketing we're told to make bets on what we think have the highest probabilities in campaign success while minimizing risks. So why not make a case of Belo Medical Clinic's beauty empire?

This personal case against cosmetic doctor Mari Victoria Belo Henares, popularly known as Vicki Belo, on the grounds of her alleged participation (or is it master-minded effort?) on the recent sex scandal between her ex-boyfriend & co-doctor Hayden Kho and numerous women which includes one of her marketing managers - Princess Velasco& top endorser - Katrina Halili, a Brazilian model, his previous girlfriend & model/ actress - Maricar Reyes (excellent performance in the videos by the way) among other women were released to the public - there have been 2 more released (one was said to look like Bianca Araneta - but isn't. If you guys find out be sure to shoot us an email).



The concept of endorsement heavily affects brand positioning. In this rather public sex scandal which granted Belo clinic a lot of free although negative publicity. Katrina Halili and Hayden Kho, whose names were dragged through the mud, as the prominent faces that represent Belo Medical Clinic - consequently dragged the latter down with them.

Credibility is important when it comes to product endorsements. The model/ endorser stands for the brand & represents the product in the eyes of the public, or at the very least presents a brand association that the company would like the market to adapt. Now having your boyfriend cum associate doctor who has been introduced to the public and your key endorser have a sex scandal together is downright tragic.

Having this sex scandal publicly available is also another horrific incident. After which, one thing leads to another and the famous (now infamous) Vicky Belo, among other doctors, is now also part of the accused party in the distribution of said sex tapes. Katrina Halili has pressed charges not only against Hayden Kho for filming their intimate moments but also the Vicky Belo for allegedly being the criminal master-mind of her said humiliation (not that she hasn't bared herself to the public before in several adult rated movies - she was better there too)

The economics of this is rather complicated to be solely favorable to Katrina Halili (the alleged "victim"). Belo employs hundreds of doctors & medical professionals that will lose their jobs if Belo closes down.

Although even if they don't close down, I'm pretty sure the public won't be as attracted by Belo Clinic after this incident. Having the doctor sleep with patients - not really good for business (unless customer is looking for extra services then maybe).

Nevertheless, how will this end? We know the viewing public is eagerly awaiting how the court will judge regarding this case. But for sure, Belo will suffer the consequences business-wise - no matter what the judgment.

Bing Better Than Google?

Microsoft is up to its ears with Google. Here's yet another attempt to topple the search giant.

Microsoft launched Bing - the decision engine. Positioned to get rid of search overload and somehow "simplify" the search for answers.

The ad isn't so bad though:



This marketing critic pretty much used to using Google all the time, but the new features on Bing are quite interesting. I'll use it some more and get back on the differences