Adult Tree Video

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. For information on Chip's background, go to http://www.dale-brown.com/.

I'm Still Here - But Dale's No Where in Sight


Dale and Leslie are sill aboard this sailing yacht in the Gulf of Mexico getting sea sick, fighting over the helm, getting sea sick, learning how to sail and getting sea sick. At least that's the way I picture it. So I collected the following tidbits before they casted off.

Classy Underwear Commercial

(I got this photo autographed!)

Who knew there was such a thing ... a non-sexual, artistic women's underwear commercial? No bulging cleavage. No alluring grins. No enticing smirks. No gratuitous camera angles. No bootie-bearing thongs. Just women dancing and lucky Fruit of the Loom guys amongst a stage full of women. It's tasteful and it works.

On the other hand, Kmart says it's more fun in your undies. That is if it were made up of perfectly toned, 20-something hotties. Compare the two commercials and see which one you think is more effective.

Tree Porn

To save the earth or something Green Piece produced an ad titled "Come together for Forests." It's tree porn, short and simple. Click here to see the video. Then please explain to me why someone had to make this commercial. But trust me, it's one of those things that you'll want to forward to all of your friends.

Create a Meaningful Service

Way back in 1900, André Michelin created a driver's guidebook to France to help drivers find the best restaurants of the country while keeping their cars in good shape. It included addresses of places such as gas stations, garages, tire repair shops, and public toilets. Set up 108 years before Cities by Foot... a guide created by Crocs to give pedestrian explorers online walking guides ... the Michelin Guide remains a quintessential example of "marketing as a service." It educates customers while enhancing their lives and it does so in a highly relevant manner ... with no hard sell.

It's difficult to create a meaningful service for your customers and prospects if you don't know all that much about them. And while some might choose to follow President Truman's advice to "Always be sincere, even if you don't mean it," it is essential to have a genuine insight about the passions and miseries of your target universe. Genuine insight will uncover a service that matters, a service that your customers and prospects will truly appreciate.

This is How to Sell Motorcycle Insurance

Most people associate "insurance" with the possibility of having an accident ... so it's not something motorcycle riders want to give much thought to. But Allstate comes off as supporting the "dream" of owning a motorcycle. The Allstate Garage offers a stimulating example of Marketing as a Service at this very unique Allstate Garage Web site.  

You can get an insurance quote and have fun building yourself a customized bike in 12 easy steps. This in-depth site also features:

• scenic routes that can be viewed and mapped out for riding, courtesy of Google maps
• safety tips
• a forum to share riding experiences and
• a calendar page of local and national events.

While I was putting my custom bike together, Allstate offered up tips on getting the right kind of insurance. Since I was customizing my dream bike I didn't find their "helpful hints" annoying in the least.  Check out the Web site and learn how to entertain, inform and market all at the same time.

(It's not your eyes. The cartoon is hard to read. Dale's gone and I'm not an accomplished "scanner." Sorry.)