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June 27, 2007
The Law of (Magnetic) Attraction
Saw a really eye-catching and effective ad for a dog grooming company (yep, you read that right).
They've come up with a distinctive and eye-catching way to market themselves, as you'll see below (and apologies for the blurry pix - it's the best my PDA camera could manage!):
Now, why does this work so well?
1) The entire van is designed to be a mobile billboard for the business. The lettering is big and easy to read. They haven't filled up every available inch with stuff that doesn't matter.
Hey, if you need an airport shuttle for your dog, or doggie daycare, you know who you are, right? Your problem is FINDING someone who actually provides these services! So they prominently advertise their primary services - daycare, training, grooming, airport shuttle, boarding.
2) The sign in the window gets the attention of just about everyone who walks past - "Take A Magnet". It prompts you to look more closely - "What magnets?!".
3) And the magnets themselves - paw-shaped, of course - are fun to peel off the van.
It's a complete and carefully-thought out marketing campaign.
It wouldn't work if they just plastered plain rectangular B/W magnets all over a plain van, would it? And if they just stuck the magnets on there, without an invitation to take one, most folks would think they were painted on. Even if you realized they were magnets, most of us are too law-abiding to just grab one. So every element - the van, the sign, the magnets - has a role to play.
Very effective, and a great source of creative inspiration for just about any individual heatlh and wellness professional looking to find more clients.
Dys-functional Foods?
We constantly discuss the pros and cons of junk food makeovers and "faux" fast foods.
This includes everything from hamburgers supplemented with soy, applesuace substituted for fat in cake, and the deep-fried Super Donut fortified with protein, minerals and vitamins and served in schools across the U.S.
Are these products just "enablers" that encourage people to perpetuate essentially unhealthy habits by marginally reducing the bad stuff?
Or do they make it easier to take the first step towards making bigger changes over the long haul?
Beats the heck out of me. But I have to admit that vitamin-fortified Diet Coke seems like a food that just doesn't need to exist, you know?
As Dave Barry would say, I'm not making this up:
The end of civilization as we know it? Or a realistic acceptance of consumer preferences?
June 12, 2007
Betcha Never Thought You'd See It!
OK, if I ever criticized McDonald's I take it all (well, most of it) back.
Have you noticed that Mickey D's is now putting nutritional info on food packaging? And not just on the healthy stuff - but on the "sometimes" foods as well.
Check these pix out:
One of the trends we've been talking about since 2005 is more voluntary nutritional disclosure by restaurants - especially national or large regional chains. It's partly to encourage health-conscious folks to eat there - and partly to head off mandatory disclosure requirements.
Regardless of the motivation, I'm delighted to see McDonald's taking the initiative on this.
And I'm even happier to see the information on the package where you can actually see it.
Historically this kind of info (depending on the restaurant) either 1) didn't exist; 2) was inconveniently located only online; 3) parked on a tiny-print poster somewhere obscure in the restaurant or 4) stashed behind the counter.
Granted, you've got to place your order before you see the nutritional info - but you'll be smarter next time, right?
If you ask me, it's about time.
Are you seeing more examples like this in your corner of the world?