Goodbye Cheap Beer

April 21, 2010

In a move that seemed to surprise no-one except Lakeport workers, Labatt has announced that it is closing the Lakeport Brewery in Hamilton. Shaking up the market and selling beer for closer to what it should cost made Lakeport a great story.  Like Napster, Lakeport offered an alternative at a cheaper price.  And like Napster, it was only a matter of time before the big money saw the threat and took control back. Considering the due diligence that Labatt would no doubt have undertaken, this plant was likely slated to close about 9 minutes after the acquisition was finalized. So now we’ll have to wait and see if it is the end of buck-a-beer or an opening for another upstart. It might be nice to see more micro-brewery action in Canada. All we can do is crack open a cold one and watch the show.

Filed under: Brand — Tags: , , , , , — Paul Curwen @ 10:19 am

Canada Goose… Heading South?

November 17, 2009

Came across an interesting news item the other day.  Seems Canada Goose, makers of clothing designed for the world’s most inhospitably cold environments, will be teaming up with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. Soon, season ticket holders at the ACC will be able to store their coats at the Canada Goose coat check.  Now the ACC is fairly inhospitable to the Leafs and Raptors, but it’s not that cold, just quiet lately.  And you can look for your favourite Raptors basketball star sporting a specially designed Canada Goose coat, no doubt with pockets for the diamond encrusted cell-phone and keys to the Escalade.  Well, I say, it’s about time. The oft-overlooked high-arctic scientists will now be rocking the same threads as the downtown T.O. set.  Maybe add a little bling of their own and they’ll be beating them away with a stick at last call on an Alert Saturday night.  But, to scientists everywhere, take advantage quickly. Once the urban crowd catches on to the Goose vibe, it’s gonna flame out before you know it. In a year, maybe two, you’ll be picking up your C-G at the local Costco, next to the $35 Polo shirts and bulk meat.  Cheaper, yes but cool?

Filed under: Brand — Tags: — Paul Curwen @ 11:42 am

Event marketing reaches for the stars

October 19, 2009

On October 9, 2009 at 20:00 (EST) the world experienced its first multi-city live event that unbelievably included participation from the International Space Station. The event’s stated purpose was to raise awareness about issues related to earth’s most valuable resource- water. Guy Laliberte the founder of Cirque du Soleil and the One Drop Foundation, introduced the event called “Moving Stars and Earth for Water” and declared it as the first “Poetic Social Mission” while floating weightlessly aboard the Soyuz TMA-16 spacecraft. I have seen many of Laliberte’s Cirque performances which are well known for their dramatic mix of circus arts and street entertainment. Never before have I experienced an event that was so literally, out of this world.

Laliberte starts the event by claiming, “I am an artist not a scientist and that is the only way I can make a significant contribution to the mission and to raise awareness to water issues”. He then hooks our interest with a sobering statistic. A child dies every 8 seconds because of contaminated water. With the event now underway, we are welcomed into each of 14 cities (Montreal, Moscow, Santa Monica, New York City, Johannesburg, Mumbai, Marrakesh, Sydney, Tokyo, Tampa, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Paris and London). Each city takes a unique approach to present the message artistically. One dances, one sings, Montreal showcases all that is Cirque and Mumbai takes a perfectly white set and lets adorable children hand-paint themselves blue. Some of the guests included former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, Dr. David Suzuki, Peter Gabriel, Shakira, Mathew McConaughey and even U2.

The traditional definition of event marketing or experiential marketing is the face-to-face interaction between a brand and its audience via live events. The rationale is that when an attendee recalls the event experience they will make a positive association with the brand. This positive association will make them more inclined to take action, to make a purchase or to change behaviour. Did Guy Laliberte go to this expense and safety risk to selfishly promote his Cirque brand? Cirque is certainly quite visible during the event; including a spectacular acrobatic scene involving a wall of water and excerpts from the amazing Vegas performance of “O”. Or were his intentions genuinely to promote awareness of all things water? Watch it yourself on www.onedrop.org and make your own determination. I know that after my event experience, I’m committed to doing my part to make a difference. Thank you, Guy Laliberte for pushing the traditional boundaries of events. Who else would have ever thought of an event that included a clown in space?

Filed under: Brand, Branding Online, Events, Social Media — Tags: , , , — Cathy Schueler @ 9:03 am

Who can you count on?

October 9, 2009

You may have heard some of the fallout recently over a new advertising campaign from Mr. Sub.  Dubbed “not everyone likes surprises,” these spots place an adult male in a ‘surprising’ situation followed by the suggestion that you can “count on Mr.Sub.”  For what, we’re not sure. Mercifully pulled due to public response, one execution features a middle-aged man announcing, over dinner to his very large family, that he is gay.  Super, super gay to be more precise.  The revelation is answered with dumbfounded silence from the aforementioned family; a response that I suspect was mirrored by every Canadian who had the misfortune to see it.  The negative response from the lesbian and gay community is not surprising. That the other spots in this campaign are still running is.

I’ll spare you the usual marketing-babble; and just say this: these spots are wretched.  Rather than prompt a laugh, which I can only assume was the intent, each version elicits a feeling of acute embarrassment and awkwardness that surely no company would want to be associated with. Even the hockey/commodity beer/Megan Fox loving set, who are used to being bombarded with insipid ads, must be furrowing their collective, and purported low, brow at this lazy attempt.  Kudos to the bods at Mr.Sub for pulling one spot, whatever their reasons. Let’s hope we really can count on them to drop the whole lot and spare us any further embarrassment.

Filed under: Advertising, Brand — Tags: , — Paul Curwen @ 1:22 pm

What a great time to be in marketing

October 7, 2009

That doggy’s tail just keeps on getting bigger…

That’s why I get out of bed every morning, well one of the reasons. What a great time to be in marketing. Just when the big brand players recognized consumers were wagging their tails at those mass linear ad campaigns and demanding more choice, more features and more value – along comes the internet. Yes, I used the word “internet”, it really is an ugly word – hey, just in time for the remake of Tron! But as a creative marketer, I’m all for choice, and now we have choice; choice in how we connect with those media savvy ravaging chawa-was we call consumers (I’m secretly a consumer too, but don’t tell anyone). I love the idea of being able to launch a product or service online through social media. Why shouldn’t they have a say, after all they’ll determine if the brand stays or goes to the dogs. Now I can interact in a two-way dialogue with consumers, post a social media campaign, collect creative expressions of the brand, target the very consumer I want to engage and create massive offline and online buzz. I say, let the internet run free, let the consumers become the dog and let us creative brand marketing pros watch the world spin from the comfort of our beds, after all isn’t that what my BlackBerry’s for?

Filed under: Online Marketing — Tags: , , — David Brown @ 1:57 pm