VerveCast

April wrote a post about her new favorite kind of Cheerios, and asked about putting a new spin on existing brands… but the curmudgeon in me wants to start my reply with “Well, when I was a kid…”

So I will.

(First, a disclaimer: I’m old. When I say “When I was a kid” I’m referring to the 1970s.)

So, when I was a kid, there was one kind of Oreo. There were not Oreo cookies filled with peanut butter, or orange creme for Halloween, or green stuff for St. Patrick’s Day, or dipped in fudge, or available in miniature sizes, or as an ice cream sandwich… We just ate plain old Oreo cookies and we survived. And it was good.

Oh sure, Oreo Double Stuf(f) came out in 1975, but it was one variation on the original, just with more… stuff.

But somewhere along the line, every product started to have all sorts of variations. Take the Ritz cracker. There was the plain old Ritz, and then Ritz Bits, and Rizt with cheese, and Ritz Sticks, and Ritz peanut butter and jelly. (Really!?)

Is it just the snack food industry that does this? If someone asks you for chips, do they want “regular” or cool ranch, or salt & vinegar, or jalapeño, or some other crazy flavor.

As of this post, I can view 47 different Oreo “products” available.

But is this all just the process of “extending the brand”? Are companies doing this sort of thing just to get more shelf space? To appeal to wider and more peculiar tastes? For publicity?

Oreo just had a birthday, and here at the office we had some sort of “Birthday Cake” Oreos and they were terrible. Well, I thought they were terrible, but as I said, I’m old. Maybe a kid would love them. (Especially a kid who loves cookies dipped in frosting and then rolled in sugar.)

Anyway, enjoy whatever weird flavored product you have in the name of extending a brand. :)

A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon a glorious new product at Pick ’n Save—Peanut Butter Cheerios. Previously I hadn’t been buying Cheerios because I thought the flavors were bland. But I just had to check out this new one. And let me tell you… ah-mazing. I was so happy with my new find that I’ve been eating them every day since. That was, until yesterday.

After work last night, I once again found myself scanning the cereal aisle for a box of my favorite new treat, and what do I discover? Drum roll, please… Dulce de Leche Cheerios! I could not believe my eyes. (Side note: I have a minor obsession with Dulce de Leche after last year’s trip to Puerto Rico in which I found myself eating it daily.) Needless to say, I’m in heaven.

Okay, enough discussion about breakfast cereal. What these recent findings reinforced for me is the importance of expanding upon a brand and its offerings. Yes, it is essential to stay true to your company and product, but in certain cases it is just as important to reinvent yourself from time-to-time. This will keep your current customers interested and draw potential customers back to your product. Now, what can you do to put a new spin on your brand?

As a recently engaged woman, I’ve been doing a lot of research within the wedding industry. And I have to admit, the amount of terrible marketing in the field has been fairly shocking. Some examples…

(Note: these observations/suggestions could easily transfer to many other industries.)

Photography

The wedding venue my fiancé and I chose is beautiful, charming and rustic… but you’d never guess from the photography on its website. Photography should be the Number One sales tool for wedding venues. How else will potential clients get a feel for your space and envision themselves choosing your facility for one of the most important days of their lives? (Luckily, I heard about my venue from a trusted friend, or I may have missed out completely.)

Salespeople

I attended a bridal show a few weeks ago and encountered the worst salesperson I have met in my entire life. As I approached his booth, where he was sitting on the table, he immediately told me how much he didn’t want to be there. He then asked where my wedding was to be held. After I told him, his head immediately dropped. “Not there,” he says. “You should consider choosing another venue.” Not something an excited bride-to-be wants to hear mere hours after she signs her contract for the venue. The guy goes on to explain that they don’t like the place because it’s up on a hill, it’s hard to get equipment to, it’s on the smaller side, yada, yada, yada. Really, dude? Make sure you keep your employees in check. That first impression of your company could easily make or break the sale.

Websites

Or shall I say, lack thereof. I’ve looked up multiple vendors only to find their profiles on YellowPages.com, and nowhere else. Hello! Get yourself a website. Hire a freelancer, ask a friend for help. Anything to have some presence in cyber space. That’s where I’m doing most of my research, and I’m assuming most other brides are doing the same.

Taglines

This is a more minor one, but just something I noticed. Taglines such as “Photography you can live with,” are not the most convincing. Maybe run your tagline by a few people (or anyone, for that matter) before it goes live? This idea also can translate to your company name in general. For example, alliteration using letters that aren’t actually in the correct spelling of what you are trying to say. Often seen with “K”s used in place of “C”s.

As a marketing/communications professional, I might be a bit more sensitive to these blunders than the average bride. However, I think most others in my position would appreciate the improvements.

A couple Z2 staffers had the opportunity to spend time at the impressive World of Concrete trade show in Las Vegas earlier this week with one of our newer clients, Putzmeister America… and it was a blast.

Over the past few months, we have worked on many projects for the show, including the booth itself, brochures, product videos, press kits, sales sheets, and much more. It was great to see it all come together, and to help Putzmeister stand out at the event. A special thanks to the Z2 staff for the hard work that went into the show, and to our client for a valuable new partnership.

By now, you’ve probably at least seen the new Facebook Timeline layout. (Maybe you even recall getting a sneak preview of it a few months back in a blog post by Pete.) I recently switched over to the new layout myself. Personally, I find it a little less user-friendly, but maybe that’s because I’m still getting used to it.

To my point… I just came across the first example I’ve seen of a business/organization using Facebook Timeline for marketing purposes. The Israel Anti-Drug Authority created a fictional profile of a guy that depicts what a year of his life would look like while using drug, versus a year of clean living. That was the concept at least, however, it really only goes back to Dec. 1, 2011. Although the execution fell flat, especially on the druggie side, which turned out a little cliché, the idea behind using the timeline in this way is creative.

This got me thinking about the potential uses for Facebook Timeline in terms of marketing and branding. The platform would be great for showing a company’s history, product innovations, major events, etc. Although Facebook has not revealed details on Timeline for brands just yet, I’m guessing it will follow this initial rollout for individuals. In the meantime, it’s exciting to imagine the possibilities.