Comcast Atlanta Four-Color Print.
Posted by truecreek on August 4, 2010 under The Work | 
Be the First to Comment
Stella Artois Positions Its Beer as a ‘Thing of Beauty’.
Posted by truecreek on July 14, 2010 under More Dam News | Be the First to Comment
By Elena Malykhina
Stella Artois has enlisted famous photographer Bert Stern to create Vogue-like images for a U.S. campaign that depicts the finer things in life.
The campaign, created by Mother New York, positions Stella Artois as “the most premium beer in the world.” It kicks off with an ad shot by Stern, which recreates a 1960 cover of Vogue. The ad shows a man enamored with a woman who is drinking Stella Artois beer. The tagline is: “She is a thing of beauty.”
That ad will run in print and out-of-home in the U.S. for six months starting this week. Michael Ian Kaye, a creative director at Mother, said additional ads—including TV—will break during the holidays (November/December timeframe).
Kaye said the U.S. effort builds on a Stella Artois campaign currently running in the U.K. Some of that overseas creative is currently featured on the company’s Web site, which also sports the new tagline.
“‘She a thing of beauty’ came from the work we’ve done in the U.K. It’s really about a brand that has been established with a sense of luxury,” said Kaye. “We were tasked with creating a U.S. print campaign that bring that notion to life.”
The ads are also meant reflect Stella Artois’ target consumer: a more sophisticated beer drinker. Kaye said: “While, it tends to be a slightly more female base, we’re targeting both men and women who lead a certain lifestyle.”
Starbucks to Offer Free Wi-Fi at all Stores Nationwide, Starting July 1st.
Posted by truecreek on June 15, 2010 under More Dam News | Comments are off for this article
By Joseph Young
During an appearance at Wired’s Business Conference, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz announced the company was going to recognize customers desire for a better in-store wi-fi experience. Starting July 1st, the company will offer customers a free, one-click wi-fi connection to the Internet through AT&T, in all U.S. company operated stores.
Very nice move.
Schultz also announced that sometime this fall the company will be introducing the Starbucks Digital Network, in conjunction with Yahoo!. Again, only U.S. company operated stores, but the network will offer exclusive and free content, access to some paid sites and plenty of local and community news. Content providers will include Apple, The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal and more.
New Coke: One of Marketing’s Biggest Blunders Turns 25.
Posted by truecreek on April 23, 2010 under More Dam News | Comments are off for this article
By Abbey Klaassen, AdAge
Today marks a quarter century of one of marketing’s biggest blunders — and the sixth biggest moment in 75 years of advertising, according to Ad Age: New Coke.
Still smarting from the 1975 “Pepsi Challenge” taste-test battle, Coca-Cola Co. launches “Project Kansas,” a top-secret mission to reformulate Coke. President-Chief Operating Officer Robert Goizueta appoints Coca-Cola USA head Brian Dyson, who taps marketing chief Sergio Zyman to head the endeavor. Mr. Zyman and company test a new, sweeter version of the flagship cola with 190,000 nationwide taste tests at a cost of $4 million.
At a bottlers’ meeting in Atlanta back on April 22, 1985, Mr. Zyman announced from the stage that Coke was changing its taste. The next day Coca-Cola revealed the new, sweeter taste to financial analysts and the media. But word of the new product finally leaks out and Pepsi dispatches its own press assault on the same day claiming victory. “The other guy blinked,” Pepsi says in ads saying Coke reformulated its brand to taste “more like” Pepsi.
The press hammers at Mr. Goizueta, now chairman-CEO, to explain the difference and what will happen to the old Coke, which 39% of consumers still favor. When Mr. Goizueta admits it will do away with the old formula, consumers revolt. Dazed by the backlash, management on July 11, 1985, just 79 days later, agrees to bring back the original formula, renaming it Coca-Cola Classic.
Some in the industry counter-intuitively suggested the blunder was actually good for the beverage giant — that its fans’ reactions to the idea of their beloved Coke going away, along with the reintroduction of the cola as Coca-Cola Classic, have created a fantastic new marketing strategy. But we think the lesson is pretty clear: Don’t tinker with success. Or at least think very, very carefully before you do.