Ben and Jerry's ... Walking the Talk

I recently had the occasion to visit the Ben & Jerry's ice cream factory (and birthplace) in Vermont.  Ben & Jerry's is known for the eccentricities of the founders.  It's been called a "hippie" company ... but more importantly it has a longstanding reputation as a company with a core set of sustainable values that include social responsibility. 

Touring the facility, those values were definitely part of the brand experience.  The tour guides were well scripted in verbalizing the founders' values and the three missions were prominently displayed on the walls.  The mission was exemplified by practices such as buying from local farmers, no GMO products and paying fair trade prices for their ingredients.  I was especially impressed because Ben and Jerry no longer own the company.  It was sold to Unilever years ago. 

My impression was somewhat diminished, though, when we ended the tour and bought some ice cream at the little shop on site.  Despite all the talk, the ice cream was served with non-recyclable plastic utensils.

It keeps coming back to a fundamental truth.  When it comes to branding, everything ... even the "little" things ... make a difference.

Kona Brewing: Selling the Sizzle

Sad Hour

Single Tasking

There's an old saying in advertising:  Sell the sizzle, not the steak.  In other words, don't focus on the physical attributes of a product:  sell the enjoyment ... sell the feeling ... sell the "sizzle."

Kona Brewing does a terrific job of selling the sizzle in these two spots which run on television on the mainland.  The spots never mention anything about the qualities of the beer itself.  They just capture the personality of the product.  Click on the images to see the ads.

Creative - or Wasteful - Media?

It seems that people are always looking for new media outlets.  Pizza Hut famously put their logo on the side of a rocket.  I've seen ads emblazoned on urinals.  And I've seen ads on baggage conveyor belts. 

One has to wonder what the effectiveness is.  I suspect the impact of these ads is not measurable, so advertisers are taking a "shot in the dark" when they "invest" in these non-traditional media. 

Recently I was in a fairly nice coffee shop (certainly not a dive).  They had flowers on the table and the decor was quite nice.  When we ordered coffee ... it came in a mug with advertising on it. I have a hard time imagining that someone would look down at their coffee cup and say "by golly, I should use Joseph Perry plumbing."  If I'm right, Joseph Perry wasted some money advertising in this medium. 

Honolulu is considering allowing advertising on the exterior of buses.  Now, that's actually a proven medium in other cities, but Honolulu is a little different.  Right now, there is an ordinance that prohibits any outdoor advertising, so there is a fear that bus ads will begin the "slippery slope" to allowing other outdoor ads.  The other issue stems from the fact that the bus system is owned and operated by the city.  So, by law, the city could not prohibit or put restrictions on ads appearing on the bus.  So tasteless ads, political ads, and any other ads would be fair game.  I was wondering what the mayor would think if a rival in a campaign bought bus ads that said "I'm going to restore the bus service that the current mayor cut." 

I guess my point is that there are an infinite array of media opportunities if you think creatively about them ... I just don't know that they all make sense.

Rules, rules, rules ...

I am currently in New Jersey where I was somewhat surprised to discover that it is not permissible to pump your own gas at a gas station.  When I asked a few people why this was the case, no one knew for sure, but someone speculated that it was all about safety.  Of course, New Jersey is the exception to the common rule in other states that drivers pump their own gas.  This makes economic sense, since it reduces labor costs and, in theory at least, lower costs benefit the customer through lower prices.  I suspect there are other reasons for the rule in New Jersey that are related to creating jobs.

That's only one example of the many local anomalies that companies deal with in getting their products to customers. 

In some states, liquor is only sold through state run stores.  In others, beer and wine is sold in Supermarkets, but not hard liquor.  Long ago I was at a conference in Utah and in order to purchase a drink in a restaurant, the customer had to walk over to a liquor store (in the restaurant) purchase a miniature bottle, bring it back to the table and order a mixer from the waiter.  The waiter was not allowed to touch the alcohol. 

In Hawaii there are strict laws about billboards and other outdoor advertising.  The laws have loosened upa bit, but they're still pretty strict.  At one point, soda vending machines couldn't put the name "Coke" or "Pepsi" on the front panel of the machine if it was visible from the street.  Currently, the city is considering whether to allow panel advertising on city buses.  The opposition cites this as a "slippery slope" leading to outdoor billboards. 

I doubt that there will be common rules for advertising and distribution anytime soon.  In the meantime, companies have to wade through a plethora of local regulations.