Viral Marketing is a Two Edged Sword

A Dummy's Puppet's Ramblings - from Chip Martin, Puppet
Mannequin American views and guidelines on marketing/PR trends, news from the world of puppets and ventriloquism, bits of humor and other interesting but useless information. I post every Tuesday and Friday. For information on this puppet's background, go to http://www.dale-brown.com/.

Crop Circle Ad Draws Attention

To advertise its 100 percent whole-wheat pizzas, Papa John's flattened about six acres' worth of wheat. The pizza crop circle was created in a wheat field in Commerce City, so in- and outbound Denver International passengers could get a nice big eyeful of pie from the sky. You have to be pretty impressed with the GPS technology that allows tractors to work with that kind of precision.

Within a few days the subject of "Papa John's crop circle" had 29,000 Google hits. So I guess that's the definition of an ad that works.

For those that may find this particularly inspirational, a company called Circlemakers specializes in producing crop circles for brand names.

Creative Way to Introduce Up-Dated Web Site
 
If you're going to introduce a new Web site, this is a fun and attention-getting way to do it. North Carolina-based agency The Republik invites users to shoot the living crap out of its old Web site. Choose from a 44 Magnum, a shotgun or a sniper rifle. The Magnum is by far the most satisfying, and after about 10 hits, (you have to reload) a fancy new Republik site appears. (I wish I could use that gun on some other Web sites.) 

Is This Why I Can't Sleep?
Now here's an unusual marketing twist ... a trade group has hired advertising and media agencies to make the point that its products are less durable than consumers think.

The International Sleep Products Association, which represents mattress makers, has tapped some high-powered ad and PR agencies to get consumers to buy new mattresses more often.

The current average mattress-purchase interval is 10.3 years. But trade association studies show mattresses ought to be replaced after five to seven years. Naturally, if consumer habits changed accordingly, that would significantly boost the industry's sales. Last year, total units sold declined by 2.1%, while price increases helped eke out a 1.4% revenue gain for the industry.

Viral Marketing is a Two Edge Sword

Viral Marketing isn't as easy as some think ... as Wendy's is finding out. In a new Wendy's TV spot a man shuns a bite of salad offered by a woman across the table. "I can't eat that," he says. "I'm a meatatarian."

In an effort to build the meatatarian message via the internet Wendy's created a video that shows a head of lettuce devouring a Baconator sandwich. But results for the film are mixed to say the least. Reviews are overwhelmingly positive on MySpace, where it has received 82,000 views, but heavily negative on YouTube, where it picked up about 16,000 views. Someone smarter than me will have to figure out the finicky demographics behind that.

Letters to Santa

Muppet Studios is currently in production on an all new television special filled with songs, mayhem and heaps of holiday high spirits. Entitled "Letters to Santa: A Muppets Christmas", this one-hour television project is set to air on Wednesday, December 17, 2008 at 8:00PM on NBC (check local listings for details).

When the Muppets inadvertently prevent three children's letters from making their way to Santa Claus, Kermit and the gang set off to make things right before Christmas comes. The Muppets are forced to give up their plans of escaping a snow-filled New York City, but needless to say, nothing (not even Miss Piggy's planned trip to the tropics) will stand between the Muppets and a happy Christmas for all.

Thanks to our friends at the Tough Pigs Blog, here are a couple of behind-the-scenes photos taken during filming in New York.

Jack Daniels Gets Political ... Sort of
Jack Daniels launched a new marketing campaign consisting of postings near the Republican and Democratic national conventions and other media outlets. Using headlines like "Sometimes common ground is small enough to fit on a cocktail napkin," "Drinking champagne is a perfectly acceptable way to celebrate being elected president...of France," "Jack supports all parties," and others the company cleverly tied into a political campaign style without being "political."

I'd link you to all of the Jack Daniels' political-related ads, but I know my readers ... and you've probably already seen them.  If not, apparently I'm appealing to a demographic that I'm not familiar with.