Old Spice Breaks the Fourth Wall Brand: Old Spice
Execution: TV, Online Viral Video
Target: Women, Bloggers
Rating: *****
Reviewer: David Vinjamuri
Summary:
A viral video campaign for Old Spice produced by Wieden & Kennedy. The videos take off from Wieden & Kennedy’s successful Old Spice “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” TV spots featu...
ThirdWay Advertising - 7/16/2010 12:58:49 PM
Tylenol and the Five Stages of Grief Issue: How will the Tylenol recalls affect the brand in the long term?
Commentary by: David Vinjamuri
The facts of Johnson & Johnson’s struggles this year with manufacturing quality are bleak and well known. As ABC News reports, the company this week issued its eighth product recall in the past year. Both the media and r...
ThirdWay Advertising - 7/15/2010 3:01:36 PM
Commentary: Getting Media Pricing Right on the iPad Issue: Newspaper and Magazine Publishers have gotten pricing wrong on the Kindle. They need to get it right for the iPad.
Commentary by: David Vinjamuri
I used to teach a pricing class at NYU whose enrollment was approximately one quarter of the number of students I routinely see in my new media survey courses. Pricing is one
ThirdWay Advertising - 2/24/2010 4:40:20 PM
ThirdWay Most Effective Ad of the Super Bowl: Google Parisian Love Brand: Google
Execution: TV Spot - Super Bowl
Target: Search users
Rating: *****
Reviewer: David Vinjamuri
Description:
This spot, reportedly a last minute buy for Google tells a love story using only the Google search engine. The search queries show how boy takes a trip, meets girl, gets girl, gets married and has babies.
What Work...
ThirdWay Advertising - 2/8/2010 3:03:39 PM
Commentary: Why Things Will Get Worse for Toyota, Not Better Issue: Toyota has fallen victim to brand hubris, and is feeling the consequences
Commentary by: David Vinjamuri
Toyota’s recall of 2.3 million vehicles, and the unprecedented step of halting production at six of its U.S. plants may seem like the inflection point in its quality crisis. Although the sudden acceleration claims ha...
ThirdWay Advertising - 2/2/2010 2:35:55 PM
Commentary: Is the Apple iPad the Next Big Thing for Print Advertising? Issue: Will the Apple iPad help print media reestablish a revenue model?
Commentary by: David Vinjamuri
Apple has just introduced the iPad - the long awaited tablet computer. Just as this advertising blog predicted that the iPhone would revolutionize the mobile internet, we believe that Apple has taken an important step towards resc...
ThirdWay Advertising - 1/27/2010 3:26:15 PM
Commentary: Why Tiger is bad for Accenture but still good for Nike Issue: Why does bad behavior hurt some brands more than others?
Commentary by: David Vinjamuri
Accenture announced over the weekend that it would sever its relationship with Tiger Woods, who has fronted a major advertising campaign for the consultancy over the past six years. Nike, on the other hand has reaffirmed support for Woods ...
ThirdWay Advertising - 12/14/2009 12:23:08 PM
Commentary: Starbucks Via Instant Coffee - Breaking the Brand Issue: How Via instant coffee completes the transformation of Starbucks into a convenience brand
Commentary by: David Vinjamuri
This week, Starbucks announced “Via” - a new instant coffee. The launch advertising was acceptable and the product has been favorably reviewed for taste. But what does it mean for the Starbucks...
ThirdWay Advertising - 10/2/2009 11:51:42 AM
COMMENTARY: ABC Reduces Advertising on Fall Show Premiers Issue: To gain viewers in a chaotic market, ABC will be omitting the first commercial break on some new shows
Commentary by: David Vinjamuri
The Los Angeles Times reports that ABC is reducing the number of commercials to be aired on the premier of new fall shows:
The network is eliminating the first commercial break — which typ...
ThirdWay Advertising - 9/23/2009 3:08:21 PM
Commentary: What does “FREE” Mean? Issue: The current debate over FREE ignores the one thing that is priceless: TIME
Commentary by: David Vinjamuri
The online marketing community is caught in a kerfuffle over Chris Anderson’s new book FREE: The Future of a Radical Price. Malcolm Gladwell fired a salvo from The New Yorker and Seth Godin jumped in to defend Ander...
ThirdWay Advertising - 7/2/2009 6:09:10 PM
Commentary: Did Jon & Kate Plus 8 Break the Brand Promise? Issue: What is the Brand Promise of Reality TV?
Commentary by: David Vinjamuri
The current fifth season of the reality show “Jon & Kate Plus 8” is the most popular in the show’s history, with the premier show drawing nearly 10 million viewers. Part of the reason for the audience growth this season has been the...
ThirdWay Advertising - 6/25/2009 5:08:16 PM
The Danger of Sponsors: IZEA Sponsors WOMMA Program WOMM-U
Issue: The Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) cozies up to IZEA - the former PayPerPost
Commentary by: David Vinjamuri
David Gelles reports today in The Financial Times that IZEA, the former PayPerPost will be a sponsor of the upcoming Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) event WOMM-U in Miami. WOMMA is an industry ...
ThirdWay Advertising - 5/8/2009 11:40:37 AM
Ten Questions with David Meerman Scott The ThirdWay Advertising Blog interviews World Wide Rave and New Rules of Marketing & PR author and social media expert David Meerman Scott:
So what are you doing six stories tall on the side of the NASDAQ building in Times Square in New York?
I was invited by GlobeNewswire as part of my World Wide Rave
ThirdWay Advertising - 5/7/2009 1:17:20 PM
Amazon Kindle DX: The Last Chance for Newspapers? Brand: Amazon
Product: Kindle DX
Target: Students and Newspaper Readers
Rating: ***
Reviewer: David Vinjamuri
Description:
Amazon today launched the Kindle DX, a new eBook reader with a larger screen than the recently introduced Kindle 2. The screen measures 8.5″ x 11″, the size of a sheet of ordinary notebook paper. Th...
ThirdWay Advertising - 5/6/2009 1:23:46 PM
COMMENTARY: Hulu’s Got Game Issue: Disney Investment in Hulu brings ABC programming
Commentary by: David Vinjamuri
Today Walt Disney is reported to be taking an equity stake in Hulu under a deal that will bring ABC content like Lost and Desperate Housewives to Hulu. In just over 24 months, Hulu has gone from being yet another silly startup funded by old
ThirdWay Advertising - 4/30/2009 6:17:08 PM
2011 Ford Fiesta Movement: Building an Audience One by One Brand: Fiesta (Ford)
Execution: Web, Twitter, Facebook, Experiential Marketing
Target: Urban Drivers
Rating: *****
Reviewer: David Vinjamuri
Description:
To launch the 2011 Ford Fiesta, a new version of the subcompact car, Ford is using a year-long experiential marketing campaign called Fiesta Movement. Ford interviewed over 1,000 h...
ThirdWay Advertising - 4/7/2009 4:30:17 PM
Charmin Puts its Money Where its Butt Is: SitorSquat Brand: Charmin
Execution: Online, iPhone Applicantion
Target: Mobile Bottoms
Rating: ****
Reviewer: David Vinjamuri
Description:
Following its longstanding theme of using experiential marketing to help people find good toilets, Procter & Gamble brand Charmin has introduced a website and iPhone application that allows users to lo...
ThirdWay Advertising - 3/26/2009 6:42:38 PM
5 Tips for Building Your Brand in a Recession A few quick thoughts for those of you still looking for the silver lining in the cloud of gloom that surrounds us …
Find your core customer - This is trickier that it sounds because your core customers may not be the biggest spenders. They are the people who attract others to your business, who are
ThirdWay Advertising - 3/4/2009 11:30:26 AM
COMMENTARY: Lessons from the Tropicana Orange Juice Packaging Fiasco
You may know the details by now (and if not see Jackie Huba, Susan Gunelius or Stuart Elliott at the NY Times for excellent recaps), but Tropicana has suffered a new media thrashing at the hands of brand advocates unhappy with the new packaging by The Arnell Group.The enthusiasts are correct here, the packaging does
ThirdWay Advertising - 3/3/2009 4:25:48 PM
Cash4Gold: The Most Shocking Ad of the Super Bowl Brand: CASH4Gold.com
Execution: TV (Super Bowl)
Target: Those Awaiting Foreclosure
Rating: ****
Reviewer: David Vinjamuri
Description:
Two celebrities from the 1980’s - Johnny Carson sidekick Ed McMahon and rapper M.C. Hammer expound on the joy of selling all of one’s gold possessions for cash with numerous ironic referen...
ThirdWay Advertising - 2/12/2009 2:10:15 PM
Brand America: It’s Not About Advertising Issue: How should the Obama administration improve the perception of Brand America?
Commentary by: David Vinjamuri
As President-elect Obama has often noted, the international perception of the United States of America has a huge influence on our ability to accomplish our foreign policy goals. Terrorism is more likely to be thwarted ...
ThirdWay Advertising - 1/16/2009 12:57:42 PM
Sing with the King - Sony Creates Personalized Duets with Elvis Brand: Sony, Elvis Presley
Execution: Online Viral
Target: Potential Buyers for “Elvis Presley Christmas Duets”
Rating: ****
Reviewer: David Vinjamuri
Description:
The Sony album “Elvis Presley Christmas Duets” pairs Elvis with Martina McBride, Carrie Underwood and others on some of his Christmas classics like...
ThirdWay Advertising - 12/17/2008 11:54:20 AM
10 Questions with Author and Veteran Copywriter Susan Gunelius This week our guest expert is Susan Gunelius, author of Harry Potter: The Story of a Global Business Phenomenon.
1. In your new book you analyze the Harry Potter phenomenon. What part did the personal story of J.K. Rowling play in the success of the book?
J.K. Rowling’s personal story actually played a big part in
ThirdWay Advertising - 12/9/2008 5:00:38 PM
Volkswagen Routan Boom - Brand: Routan (Volkswagen)
Execution: TV, Online, Print
Target: Parents
Rating: ***
Reviewer: David Vinjamuri
Description:
To promote its new minivan, the Routan, Volkswagen agency Crispin, Porter + Bogusky created a mock-documentary featuring Brooke Shields entitled “Routan Boom.” The four-minute online documentary anch...
ThirdWay Advertising - 11/21/2008 12:50:23 PM
Dodge Ram Challenge: Reality Gets Tough Brand: Dodge (Chrysler, LLC)
Execution: TV, Online Webisodes, Viral
Target: Pickup truck buyers
Rating: ****
Reviewer: David Vinjamuri
Description:
A multi-part webisode series produced by BBDO and directed by Tony Scott (director of Top Gun and brother of Ridley Scott). The Dodge Ram Challenge is essentially a reality show where fo...
