It's a Soft Drink

Ever heard of the "Unique Sparkling Soft Drink" commonly known as Cheerwine? If you're not from the South East, you may not have had the pleasure of enjoying this distinctive cherry-flavored soda.

Cheerwine, produced by the Carolina Beverage Corporation, has been in existence since 1917 and has many avid fans throughout the South. In fact, some who live out of the area but grew up in the Carolinas drinking Cheerwine stock up on the soft drink while visiting home. The brand is still relatively unknown outside North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia, but their loyal fan base in that region makes the company unique.

The reason Cheerwine caught my attention, other than the fact that I enjoy the taste of the drink, is their website and marketing. If you check out their website, they offer information for distributors and branded t-shirts, but also offer a culture. The quirky set up of the site and the series of videos featuring the product help to position the soft drink in the minds of consumers.

Word-of-mouth is something that could really work to the advantage of such a company. In fact, I heard about the product via word-of-mouth. I don't know what the future plans for Cheerwine include, but the company should take advantage of it's loyal fans and expand distribution. Clearly a nearly 100-year old recipe has worked in the Carolinas. Maybe they can apply that to an ever-widening market.

www.itsasoftdrink.com

Keeping Tabs

I have always enjoyed the chance to sit and flip through a magazine. In fact, the content isn't the only draw. I find the ads fun to look at too because they're meant to be eye-catching and attractive.
In a recent copy of Allure Magazine, one advertising page especially caught my attention for it's creativity and interactive element. I have to give them credit for thinking outside the box. The page features pull-off stickers of the lip color products that the reader is encouraged to use as sticky-tabs to bookmark pages while perusing the magazine.

I like the idea because the stickers increase the length of the interaction between the consumer and the advertisement. It takes advantage of the qualities of having print media form, something that's in the hands of consumers.

The idea was great, but the execution needed a bit of work. The stickers weren't sticky enough to adhere well to the glossy pages and fell off easily. Maybe they should get some tips from 3M, makers of "Post-its." Also, the brand name was not a prominent feature of either the ad as a whole or the individual stickers.

So many "creative" marketing ideas focus on being "innovative," without the component of practicality and goal of reaching the hearts and minds of consumers. I give them points for having a creative ad that goes in the right direction, and has the specific intent to increase product interaction with consumers.

Top of the Box

I think the "Box Tops for Education" campaign launched by General Mills in 1996 was a brilliant bit of marketing genius. The on-going Box Tops program helps to create positive brand image for participating brand name products, but also motivates buyers to chose Box Tops products over comparable non-participating brands.

What could be better than having a charity program that is tied directly to the product packaging and supporting a cause dear to the hearts of target consumers? The Box Tops products are ones that families buy, and improving schools and education is a cause that has wide appeal.

I think the Box Tops program also functions as a tool for product differentiation. Everyone has walked down the cereal isle at the grocery store. More than many other isles in the super market, it's marketing that makes one product in the cereal isle seem vastly different than the other. It's amazing we're not all overwhelmed by the bright colored boxes and seemingly endless number of choices we have. In the end, most cereals serve the same function. The taste and sugar content may vary, but they're all essentially dry chunks of processed grains. Clearly, I don't have detailed marketing research on the subject at my disposal, but I think the Box Tops may persuade a indecisive shopper to choose a General Mills box over a similar cereal. That little $.10 tag psychologically makes a difference. You think you're getting more for your money than just sugary grain puffs.

The company is required to redeem the usually 10 cent value of the labels submitted to participating schools, and while the cost of millions of Box Tops adds up, the face value of them is negligible compared to the cost of the products. The Box Tops website notes that more than $250 million-worth have been redeemed to date, but I can't even imagine the gross profit margin of the products that those tops came from. That doesn't include the value of those that went into the trash with the rest of the cardboard package. I've even collected them myself, and thrown them away simply because I didn't have a convenient place to donate them.

The Box Tops program has been expanded to include many other products and brand names outside the cereal isle, but the tops seem to serve the same function. They make that Box Tops brand a little more appealing than the one next to it on the shelf, and more likely to end up in the a basket waiting in the checkout line.

Flo vs. the Gecko

I can't possibly be the only one who makes note of which commercials grate on my nerves when they appear on my tube. Everyone probably notices the annoying aspects of TV ads such as loud celebrity spokesmen, irritating jingles, or even just the amateur nature of local ads. I hope I'm not the only one, however, who takes notice of good commercials, or at least favorite ones (determining "goodness" is subjective).

Everyone remembers Mastercard's "priceless" commercials. I consider them to be among the classiest commercials: simple, classic, adaptable, and most importantly, memorable. I would imagine that few people have a bone to pick about those ad campaigns. Based on my own informal research, (discussions with family and friends) I have found that there seems to be some polarization over recent commercials created by the big insurance companies.

The insurance industry seems to be more drawn to creating series of commercials with well defined characters and themes. A few come to mind. Metlife has adopted Charles Schultz's Snoopy. Allstate has a trustworthy-looking African American actor giving their pitch. Insurance giants, Geico and Progressive have the cavemen and the gecko, and Flo. The first two of these companies may have a good product, but don't seem to attract loyalty for their ad campaigns. In contrast, Geico and Progressive have created followings for their characters. My informal research shows that those who are fans of the Geico commercials dislike the Progressive ones and vice versa. Personally, I'm in the Progressive camp.


Maybe I'll discuss each of the campaigns in more detail later. I wish I had access to metrics detailing the success of each campaign, or just to be a fly on the wall in a marketing meeting at one of the companies. For now, I just wanted to make note of the interesting trend. Maybe I'm in the correct market segment to be a Progressive fan and Geico people have different characteristics. I'm not alone, however, in being a fan of Flo. There's even a facebook group for her following, not that there isn't a facebook group for anything and everything these days.

What commercial characters do you find yourself becoming attached to, or even just simply not finding yourself annoyed by their interruption of your favorite program? I think it's worth the time to appreciate good marketing, even if it's just to keep from being frustrated by the clutter ads can create.

Progressive Commercial featuring Flo