Mascot Naming is an Olympian Task

Wenlock and Mandeville. The names don’t exactly roll off the tongue like Mickey Mouse, Papa Smurf or Spongebob Squarepants. But those are the just unveiled names of the mascots for the 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics.

Any you know what, even though it doesn’t seem to have the staying power of a Bart Simpson, I like these names.

Just think about the brainstorming and approval process they must’ve gone through. You can’t offend anybody (in about 75 different languages), it should be playful and original, child-friendly, loveable, and it should relate to or have some sort of meaning for the “Olympic Spirit.”

Wenlock is named after Much Wenlock, a town about four miles outside of London that helped inspire the modern Olympics with its own local games. Mandeville is named after Stoke Mandeville, a town about 45 miles from London where the Paralympic movement started. A little bit forced? Sure. But when you consider all the parameters, test-marketing, and other creative paths they could’ve taken, these mascot names earn a Bronze Medal. Maybe even a Silver.

Now we just need to add a little fuzzy fur. And maybe an ear, nose or mouth. And perhaps a second eye. On second thought, why not just make Poochie the Dog the Olympic mascot.

The Hot & Cold Life of a Soup Cafe

I need to start with a major disclaimer: This blog entry is mostly based on my reasonable assumptions, perception, and sometime foggy memory, with very little knowledge of the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk about the plight of The Bucktown Soup Café.

After a few excited, but preliminary write-ups in RedEye and TimeOut, the Bucktown Soup Café opened up about a year ago. The initial buzz on the place was about how the owner used to be involved in the fast-paced finance/hedge fund world, and now he was taking his mother’s/grandmother’s/aunt’s soup recipes, adding a few of his own, and opening up The Bucktown Soup Café. I applaud him for pursuing his dream.

Always a fan of small, family business, I went there within the first few months. This was a time when the owner still had aspirations of drawing a mix of hippies and yuppies to a casual, upscale environment where they could enjoy delicious, gourmet soup. About a dozen different varieties were cycled in regularly. The few that I’ve either sampled or ordered were delicious, and assume it’s easy to come by positive reviews for all varieties.

But it was very over-priced for what amounted to a soup-based lunch or a starter bowl to take home to round out your own home-cooked meal. This was a place that truly believed its marquee soups and a little world-of-mouth would be all it needed to get people to treat it like a destination restaurant. At least I assume so, because as great of a location that is Bucktown, this café’s specific location seems slightly less than ideal to survive solely on neighborhood and shopping foot traffic.

But these prices for very good but not “to-die-for” quality, I’ve felt very little urgency to go back. And imagine most foodies feel the same way.

Over the course of the past year-plus, I’ve walked by the place pretty regularly in 0 degrees, 90 degrees, night, day, you name it (aah, the joy of city-dog ownership). And I’ve seen The Bucktown Soup Cafe crowded. What I’ve seen is a place that is slowly evolving into the type of hodgepodge place that doesn’t really stand for anything. First they added some Good Humor ice cream to draw crowds in the summer, and followed it up with a big sidewalk sign promoting it. Then they started tacking up signs on the window announcing that they’ve added sandwiches. Anybody looking at the name of this place would have to assume the sandwiches are pedestrian and unmemorable. Now I see hand-written signs out front that say things like “$2 Tuesdays.”

These seem like signs of slow desperation. Opening up a restaurant, especially in this economy, is tough. But the whole vibe of the place to those of us passing by seems all over the board. As if its trying to be a little bit of everything for everybody. But in reality, its unsure of what exactly it should be. It seems like the owner doesn’t have the restaurant/small business/casual dining experience, so he’s trying to throw anything that’ll stick and help keep his business afloat.

I guess its not enough to do one thing really, really well (in this case, making soup). You need the right mix of marketing savvy, restaurant savvy and confidence to stick with your vision. But what do I know, I’m not the guy that poured my savings into the place.

The King and The Colonel Seeing Eye to Eye...Sort Of

A quick tip of the cap to The Colonel and The King. KFC and Burger King have both taken different paths of innovation, but I believe each will end up with their own success stories.

By now everybody knows that KFC went back to its roots to create the Double Down, which is chock full ‘o so many unapologetically fried calories they had no choice but to exclusively use burly men in their TV commercials. It may not be the best thing for society, but KFC believes its responsibility isn’t to society, but rather it’s to people who like to use meat as their bread. I even love that the name implies that you’re gambling with your health by eating one. They’re throwing caution to the wind, and I salute KFC for staying true to its brand.

On the other hand, you’ve got Burger King. They just announced they’re going outside their wheelhouse in order to start serving brunch. Traditional brunch is best summed up by an old quote from The Simpsons. Its not quite breakfast, and its not quite lunch, but it comes with a slice of cantaloupe at the end. And now, BK is putting its own twist on brunch. Only time will tell if it works, but we’ll no doubt soon be seeing The King extolling the virtues of their tweener meal offerings. And I have to applaud BK for finding fresh ways to peddle their grub during off-hours. But will it come with a slice of cantaloupe?

So there you have it. The Colonel and The King are taking two different approaches for building growth and buzz. One is doubling down on its reputation, and one is going after an untapped weekend institution. Will any of their hearty faithful live to see the day these approaches are deemed success or failure?

First Day Jitters

Did I pack everything I need? Who will sit with me at lunch? What if I can’t find the bathroom?

The first day of a new job is very similar to the first day of school. For a freelancer like myself, the first day of school comes a few times every year (hopefully). But it doesn’t make it any less nerve-wracking, perspiring and exhilarating. We don’t truly know what to expect in terms of team dynamics, project expectations and dozens of other less important pieces of minutiae that can stress out all but the most savvy, veteran advertising creative.

I figure this is a good thing. It means I still care. It means I know there are still things I need to learn. And there are still goals I want to achieve. Guess that’s why I do what I do.

Creative Ways for Creatives to Persevere

I just read that Tina Fey pitched this amazing commercial spoof many times over a number of years before it finally was produced.

In her case, she believes it gathered dust because men dominated Saturday Night Live’s writer’s room. And the reason it saw the light of day was because more and more women who got the joke slowly found they’re way into the sketch pitch meetings.

Reflecting on this story, it’s easy to think the lesson here is that creatives should never give up. But advertising creative is different. This type of perseverance doesn’t often pay off. The expiration date on great ideas can change at any moment. Maybe the strategy changes, maybe you switch accounts, maybe a different agency executes a similar concept. But certainly, your creative director, account director and client don’t want to hear the same idea twice.

So what’s an advertising creative supposed to do when their best ideas don’t make it beyond the internal pitch meeting? How can we persevere?

Some go the spec route, which I only recommend for your absolute best ideas that have to be unleashed on the rest of the world. For the rest of your good ideas, my philosophy is to move on, but never forget.

I have a folder for all of my favorite broadcast scripts and headlines. When I hit a creative roadblock while concepting, I’ll dig out those old scripts for inspiration. Maybe I just need the ego-stroking reminder that I’m funny, insightful, and quick-witted (and gosh darn it, people like me). Or maybe the creative formula that just fell short for one product is a perfect fit for a different one.

So my dream of producing a radio spot involving a pool boy and a stay at home mom will never happen. But who knows, one day it might just inspire me to develop a completely different idea for one of your clients.

How to Make it...Authentic

Here’s a link to the opening of the relatively new HBO show, “How to Make it in America.” Check it out, and then read the rest of this post...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvfIGPiZL-g

I’m not a New Yorker, and I’ll argue to my dying breath that Chicago is a better city, but these opening credits just makes me want to jump off the couch and live in New York. It gives you that feeling of energy that the opening credits of every show from “Sex and the City” to “King of Queens” and everything in between can’t capture. These opening credits make me want to hustle in a non-sports kind of way. These opening credits have given me no choice but to watch every episode of a good, but not great, TV show.

Are they showing me the authentic New York experience? I don’t know, but based on the fact that when I watch the opening credits my heart races the same way it does when I walk through New York, it sure feels like the real deal.

As a person who makes a living trying to convince people to buy and try, there’s definitely something in here from which we can learn. The lesson is that most consumers/viewers just innately know when the energy and story is authentic and when they’re getting a version made to be a little too pretty and perfect.

Lesson learned. Roll credits.

Quaking in their e-Boots

Has there been enough said about the iPad? Um, yeah. Has it been mentioned that the iPad could have a drastic effect on sales of The Kindle? I’d say yes to that too. But why has there been so little chatter about how Amazon (makers of The Kindle) is advertising it? Let’s take a look at the creative for The Kindle, and see if we can answer this question.

Without digging too deep, I’ve seen their new TV spots, website, and one print ad.

The print ad version I saw is on the back cover of last week’s Newsweek. Ironically, the front cover article is titled, “What’s so great about the iPad? Everything.” Between the glowing review for the iPad and all the free media publicity, no wonder the Kindle people are quaking in their e-boots.

The visual in the ad is more or less an actual-size hand holding what I assume is a more or less actual-size Kindle with all of the links of “Madelyn’s Kindle” on its screen. I think they used this image when they introduced the product, and I still think it works. But this word-driven product distracts me with lots and lots of words in the ad. The headline is “Amazon’s #1 Bestselling Product.” Seriously? If this is where the strategy of the brief sends the writer, there are probably plenty of “bestseller” lines with a little more wit and panache. And I wonder what Amazon’s #2 selling item is…a snuggie, a Twilight poster or Bridget Jones Part III?

The ad also has a series of call-outs, such as “Long battery life. Read for up to 2 weeks without recharging.” These call-outs point out what makes the Kindle great and perhaps even life changing. But c’mon, the iPad has now pitted you in competition with the geekiest (in a good way) company out there. You need to raise the coolness factor of your product in a simple and visually clean way.

And Amazon’s #1 bestselling product knows this. Which is why they made a few new TV spots. And these I really like. Each spot uses stop-motion to tell a visual story about a person finding themselves in many different worlds simultaneously. There’s light, fun music playing and the tag at the end says, “Books in 60 seconds.” This is the differentiating message that the Kindle needs and says it all in 4 words. Plus, it has more tech appeal than the print ad, which seems to be speaking to an older crowd that’s a bit more fearful of tech or change.

Now, as a consumer I’m intrigued. So I go the website to learn more, or perhaps even order one. And here’s where it all falls apart again for Kindle. The official website is the product page on amazon.com. So let me get this straight…this product that’s going to change my life is being branded and sold on a page that looks exactly the same as the page where I bought a new vacuum cleaner? I trust the website’s ability to ship me the product, but I’m left with 13,000 customer reviews, an intro video, some product specs, and no consistent messaging.

Overall, the print ad and website are incredibly unsexy, but the TV spots are showing a little cleavage. Will this cause confusion for the average consumer? Probably not. But when you’re competing with a similar product where reading is just one of many options, you need to do a better job of putting your stake in the ground as the e-book leader.

Perhaps the reason there hasn’t been munch chatter about Kindle’s advertising, is that they’re not exactly sure themselves of what they should say or how they should say it.