By Luke Sklar and Amber Hudson

Apparently a couple years ago Stephen Colbert mercilessly mocked the hipster Miracle Whip commercials during his show. You remember those commercials:  uber-stylin’ Millennials prancing around with mayo.  I only bring this up now because of what I saw on reddit.com last week.
It’s AWESOME!  Here’s the text version of the letter to Mr. Colbert:

Dear Mr. Colbert,

Recently on your show, you tapped into a sore spot in our nation’s psyche: the eternal struggle between mayonnaise and Miracle Whip. And surprisingly, for a man of your impeccable intellect, you’ve chosen the wrong side. A side doomed to a painful, drawn-out, utter and complete defeat. Like the Plantagenet’s in the Hundred Years’ War. Or whichever one was the cat in “Tom and Jerry.”

Mr. Colbert, we found your attacks a little harsh, occasionally funny, and at times, wholly inaccurate (for the record, our target is 18-35, not 34). But unlike most advertisers who are so mayo, who would back down at the slightest whiff of controversy, and pull their advertising from not just your show but from your entire network and all its sister entities — we intend to do the opposite.

On Thursday, November 12, we will dominate the airspace on your show. With every commercial break, your viewers will be exposed to hardcore Miracle Whip attitude and revelry. You will see our legion of (as you call them) “mayo nay-sayers” snarfing sandwiches topped with our one-of-a-kind flavor in a very cool and totally hip way. They will be in your face and massively dope. It goes without saying, they WILL NOT TONE IT DOWN. And you will begin to see the soft, bland white walls of the mayo empire begin to collapse under the weight of its own whipped-egg pretentiousness.

Think about it Mr. Colbert. In a sense, we will own you.

We’re on a mission. We’re taking no prisoners.

We’re raising Hell, Man.

THE BOLD MARKETING TEAM AT MIRACLE WHIP

It deserves a HELL YEAH!  And this, from the sandwich spread company Kraft.  BTW, yes, they did as they said they would, reworking their ads to direct their message at Stephen.

I don’t know if it did anything for the brand, but THAT was some disruptive thinking.  And that got us thinking about brands that had the guts to disrupt.  Netflix did it.  So did Zappos.  Virgin, Dollarshaveclub.com and Dyson did too.

Disruptor brand create new markets, or at least new segments.  They move consumers forward.  Sometimes just a bit at first, but then they give them a big ol’ shove.  Each of these brands gave the consumer what they wanted.  Every brand must eventually, even if it shakes up the business model or drives the shareholders bonkers.

The tenet is you must disrupt, or be disrupted.

What happens of you don’t?  Kodak, Commodore, Sony, Eaton’s, AOL, Oldsmobile, is what happens if you don’t.  Wow, these are brands I grew up with.  Destroyed.  Huh.

Click to view full size

So what could you do?  Well, not every brand has to disrupt, but you may have to.  And if you do…

• Flip off the autopilot and reinvent.  Nike, Apple, McDonald’s, Harley Davidson all went  through a process of redefining their brands

• It doesn’t have to be a brand overhaul.  Disrupt through creative, media, packaging, promotions

• And fortheloveofgawd, stop playing it safe.  TAKE A RISK FOR ONCE!   Read Manoj’s blog “Be Brave, Go Fail at Something Today!”

What other brands have done a great job of disruption in their category?

Click HERE to read the full report.

Click HERE to read the full article from the New York Times.

Click HERE to read the full article from the New York Times.

By Luke Sklar and Amber Hudson

Fear.  It can sufficiently rankle nerves to cause instant paralysis; both the physical and mental kind.  Take myotonic goats for example.   When startled the leg muscles of these little guys freeze temporarily.  The result is as adorable as it is hilarious.  Check out the video.

Just for the fun of it, let’s compare marketers to goats.  There are many things that strike fear in marketers, hitting them with such speed that BAM!  before they know it…temporary paralysis, legs up in the air:

-       The most recent rolled up estimates are shorter than Snookie’s skirts

-       Your brand gets de-listed by WalMart (after all those soul-sucking meetings to get it listed in the first place)

-       A Costa Concordia-esque crisis

-       The President’s teenaged son kills the latest ad campaign idea with a simple “I don’t like it”

-       If finally hits you: your brand is the Nokia / Blackberry of the category

-       Negative chatter online (Gap logo anyone?)

-       Hitting “reply all” on an email summarizing the empirical evidence that supports your boss is a jackass

-       The new hire quits while 6 employees are on mat leave

-       Tiger Woods and Roger Clemens are your spokespeople

-       The typo on your coupon results in 5x the forecasted redemption rate

I’m sure you’ve had your own myotonic moments.  But it’s not about what happened, it’s about how you respond that counts.  After indulging in a brief “what the…?” those little goats get back up and keep on going.  Here’s what marketers can learn from these goats in the moment of crisis:

1. If you need to, lie down for a moment, and collect yourself
2. Then get up and define the problem
3. Identify 3 – 4 solutions, engage in scenario planning
4. Enter the conversation as soon as possible
5. Get smart people in a room to develop a thought-through solution
6. Don’t over react, that just makes it a whole lot worse

So the next time you’re faced with crisis, just think what the fainting goat would do.

Click HERE to read the full article from New York Times Magazine.

Click HERE to read the full article from Food Processing.

By Amber Hudson and Luke Sklar

Luke saw this on a t-shirt on Facebook:

Heaven is Where:

The Police are British, The Chefs are Italian, The Mechanics are German, The Lovers are French, and it’s all organized by the Swiss.

Hell is Where:

The Police are German, The Chefs are British, The Mechanics are French, The Lovers are Swiss, and it’s all organized by the Italians.

In keeping with the theme of stereotypes, no doubt you’ve seen at least one of the Sh*t People Say videos:  Sh*t Girls Say, Sh*t Yogis Say, and our personal fave, Sh*t Market Researchers Say.

Stay with me…

Now have a look at this video from Sauza tequila (ladies…I know).

Hilarious, right!  But wait, aren’t we supposed to be offended by stereotypes? In a previous blog we discussed how stereotypes teach us the importance of laughing at ourselves.  Now we’re sharing lessons on how to effectively use stereotypes to connect with your consumer.  That’s right, go ahead and blatantly use stereotypes.   BUT!  Before you leap into a field of landmines, think about the t-shirt, the videos the tequila ad and what they all have in common:

• They lead with a velvet glove – they’ve earned the right to use a stereotype by first winning you over
• Great humour is rooted in truth
• (The videos) exploit provocative insights.  In fact, they know the target so well it’s almost as if they’ve been listening in on their conversations (jeggings are pants!)
• Those being stereotyped feel they are part of a special club
• They are clever, yet exaggerated and completely over the top ridiculousness
• …and not the slightest big nasty

So yes, go ahead and use stereotypes.  Tread carefully.  But if done right, your consumers will love you!

Click HERE to read the full article from Businessweek.

Click HERE to read the full article from Forbes.