Are You Feeling Guilty...Yet?

Target is once again telling us what is cool, but the notion of "cool" has taken a sharp turn to--well, somewhere else. Nowadays it is cooler than ever to be thrifty, and not cool (in fact, it seems downright offensive) to indulge in the small luxuries of life--things like pedicures and store-bought espressos and gym memberships and trips to the hair salon. Things we used to take for granted. This is a commercial from Target's latest TV campaign.

Along the same guilt-inducing lines, in a recent ad for Sonic Drive-Ins, a tweenage son berates his mom for buying herself an expensive handbag at the mall. The son, it appears, has a much better handle on the value of a dollar, as he's treating his mother to a few items from the varied Sonic dollar menu.

And this widespread feeling of badness is affecting the super affluent as well, not just the rest of us. In this Washington Times article, we see how even those purchasing luxury goods are no longer comfortable with flaunting their favorite brands.

All this leaves me with one question about where marketing goes from here. As the economy continues to take a beating, what will the toll be on branding? As customer loyalty takes a back seat to the quest for value, which brands will become more significant, and which simply become obsolete?

New to the Endangered Brands List?

A brand that epitomizes ego and over-the-top consumption like few others. Given GM's dire straits, its survival is questionable....

Losing Your Religion

Whew...maybe not surprisingly, even Protestantism has trouble with its branding. Is it time to bring in the experts from Procter & Gamble?

U.S. Protestants more loyal to toothpaste brand than church?

I know I, for one, would rather give up indoor plumbing than Crest.

Nostalgic Food Brands

Granted, this old-fashioned version of a Cracker Jack box is "vintage" enough to pre-date my childhood, yet it conjures images of a happy time for me. When I was very small, my mother would often bring me home a box of Cracker Jack after an afternoon of running errands and shopping. Back then, it didn't take much more than some caramel popcorn and a nifty prize, torn out of its sticky wrapper at the bottom of the box, to make me smile.

Food brands from our past just seem to have an effect on us that way--one taste, one smell, and we're right back at that moment when life was oh-so-simple.

This vintage package is sold exclusively at Cracker Barrel Old Country Stores.

Unlikely Comeback

If there's ever a brand I thought would never be (could never possibly be) cool and relevant again, it's Old Spice. Sorry, Papa, I know this stuff was hot back in the day, but I couldn't picture anyone under the age of 75 aspiring to live the Old Spice lifestyle.

Taking a cue and inspiration from Unliever's edgy marketing for Axe body stuff--I suppose--Old Spice is back with a Swagger. Will the 18-34 male demo buy it? Can a brand make itself cool again just by putting out cheeky creative? Judge for yourself.

http://www.swaggerizeme.com/

Once Again...the SuperBowl

Yet again I've committed marketing sacrilege by failing to watch the Big Game to catch the ads. I figure I can always catch the best and worst of the spots online somewhere, and today I glanced through the more interesting ones on AdAge.com. How interesting that in spite of the millions so many companies pour into creating the quintessential and most memorable message for their brands, it was a consumer-generated spot that got the most attention.

For Doritos, by "the Herbert brothers." Made me laugh out loud.

http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=134270

Brand Placement for the Next Decade

Product placement has become over the top. Dove plastered its personal care items all over scenes of the recent movie "The Women," and although I'm a loyal Dove user I found the approach to be working against itself--a bit of a turnoff, like a guy coming on too strong.

Then again, some companies have identified novel ways to sneak into our daily entertainment without losing brand authenticity. Nationwide Insurance shot some spots with the star of "Burn Notice," a USA spy-action series set in Miami, and the result blends seamlessly into the high-energy, sleek personality of the show. The main character gives me, the viewer, driving tips in the event of an emergency. Who better to instruct me on surviving a brake failure than a highly trained, crime-fighting undercover operative?

It works for me: entertaining, clever, appropriate, and entirely true to the values of the auto insurance brand. I was pitched... and I hardly noticed.