Racing to Success
A Dummy's Puppet's Ramblings - from Chip Martin, Puppet (Mannequin American views and guidelines on marketing/PR trends plus bits of humor and interesting but useless information.)
Racing to Bigger ... Endorsements
(My other title was, "Gentlemen, Start Your Engines," ... but it seemed too chauvinistic.)
Get ready to see a lot of Danica Patrick during this weekend's Indy 500. When Danica became the first woman driver to win in the IndyCar Series, her already marketable-self, nearly doubled in value.
Danica's existing alliances with Motorola, AirTran, Honda, Peak, GoDaddy, Tisso and others are estimated to be worth between $5-7 million annually. Her victory will probably raise that amount to around $10 million before the end of the year.
Even a Mannequin American like me can figure out why marketers want to hitch a ride with Danica. Click here to see more of her swim suit photos from Sports Illustrated.
The $10 million mark is significant as only four women athletes have hit that plateau. They are Maria Sharapova, Michelle Wie, Venus Williams and Serena Williams. As a side note, Tiger Woods clears $110 million in annual endorsements and a bevy of male athletes exceed $10 million including LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, David Beckham, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Peyton Manning and Dwayne Wade.
Danica's victory also lifted the "Anna Kournikova monkey" off her back. (Anna has not won a single title since turning pro in 1995. Talk about making it on looks alone ... which is fine by me.) By successfully competing in the same field as men, Danica has become a one-of-a-kind marketing icon. Marketers are already lining up to take advantage of the extended coverage she's scheduled to receive at this month's Indianapolis 500.
Bringing Your Rear Out Front
If you think toilet-tissue companies have become more "direct" with their messages lately ... you're right. While Mr. Whipple used to talked about "squeezable soft" today's Charmin commercials say the product "leaves fewer pieces" behind than competing brands.
Charmin's once innocent animated bears are now doing shocking things in the woods and using an Ultra Strong version of the product ... using a vacuum to clean scraps of toilet paper off their rear ends, for a "new kind of clean." Click here to view some of the commercials.
Cottonelle's puppy is still around, but now he's spending a lot of time looking at people's rear ends in ads that feature ... people's behinds. "We found that if you communicate the benefits of your product in a lighthearted and tasteful manner, you can talk a little more directly about what the product does," said Stu Schneider, marketing director for Cottonelle and Scott bath tissue. "Coming from the puppy, we're able to talk about kindness to your behinds. Not only are people enjoying the humor, but they're relating to the benefits we're portraying."
And it works. Charmin and Cottonelle have seen their market shares rise double digits since making their ads "more direct." The moral? Being direct and entertaining sells.
10 Most Powerful People in TV News
Television Week recently unveiled its annual list of the 10 Most Powerful People in TV News. The list includes familiar names like Tim Russert, Bill O'Reilly, Keith Olbermann and other anchors and executives.
But three newcomers tied for #10 on the list. They are Amy Poehler of Saturday Night Live, Stephen Colbert of The Colbert Report, and Jon Stewart of The Daily Show. They were chosen for "their consistent ability to undo politics and politicians and the ‘real' journalists who cover them."
In short, "fake journalists" are becoming as influential and sometime more influential, than "real" journalists. Often times more people watch these imposters than watch legitimate journalists. Why? Because the "fake" journalists bring entertainment, common sense and honesty to the news. Marketers of products and services should take note. Entertainment, common sense and honesty out sell dry puffery every time.
10 Hardest Jobs to Fill
Employers across the country are experiencing a mismatch between the talents their businesses need and the skills employees possess. Here is a list of the "10 Hardest Jobs to Fill" as reported by U.S. employers for 2008.
- Engineers
- Machinists/Machine Operators
- Skilled Trades
- Technicians
- Sales Reps
- Accounting and Finance Staff
- Mechanics
- Laborers
- IT Staff
- Production Operators
As a result, employers are encouraging current employees to re-skill and up-skill to ensure they can meet growing workload demands. In addition, companies are putting more emphasis on finding employees with "soft work skills" and a strong work ethic. Good luck with that.
