Orange juice isn’t just for breakfast anymore, and La-Z-Boy isn’t just recliners, either. La-Z-Boy and its agency RPA just signed Brooke Shields to encourage women to “Live life comfortably.” To do so, of course, women must understand that La-Z-Boy makes other kinds of furniture.
La-Z-Boy is not the first marketer to own a category and then try to break beyond it. The Bic pen people wanted to be known for disposable everything, not just pens. It worked with razors, but Bic brand disposable underwear didn’t catch on. (Really. I didn’t make that up.)
La-Z-Boy is lucky to own the recliner category. I fear that by trying to broaden, they may stoke their egos but weaken their brand. For other kinds of furniture, they might be wise to introduce a new brand instead. But then, they didn’t ask me.
Mazda North America has switched marketing execs, hired a new agency and introduced new models, but they’re keeping “zoom-zoom.” I personally dislike the slogan, but that’s neither here nor there. The pertinent question is, does it sell cars? According to Advertising Age, the folks at Mazda believe that “zoom-zoom” has “done more to define the brand than the brand itself.” As soon as I make sense of that, I’ll let you know.
My ongoing protest against misguided advertising awards. Box office success is helpful but optional when it comes to winning an Oscar. Advertising awards are not dissimilar, but should be. Recognizing creativity and execution to the exclusion of sales figures — common practice — does clients a disservice.
The newest offense comes from the highly-regarded One Club for Art and Copy in New York, which just announced what it deems the top ten campaigns of the digital decade. Campaigns were chosen with no mention of results. Rather, judges from previous shows were asked to name their favorites. In other words, “Never mind how whether this campaign met its objective. I like this campaign, and that should be good enough to give it an award.”
I am the first to admit that winning awards is heady stuff. As a matter of policy, the RESPONSE Agency doesn’t enter the competitions. But sometimes clients have entered our work, and we have won. The trophies are around here somewhere. As an unnamed advertising executive once opined in Advertising Age: “Awards are meaningless. Except when I win one.”
—Steve Cuno
La-Z-Boy is not the first marketer to own a category and then try to break beyond it. The Bic pen people wanted to be known for disposable everything, not just pens. It worked with razors, but Bic brand disposable underwear didn’t catch on. (Really. I didn’t make that up.)
La-Z-Boy is lucky to own the recliner category. I fear that by trying to broaden, they may stoke their egos but weaken their brand. For other kinds of furniture, they might be wise to introduce a new brand instead. But then, they didn’t ask me.
Mazda North America has switched marketing execs, hired a new agency and introduced new models, but they’re keeping “zoom-zoom.” I personally dislike the slogan, but that’s neither here nor there. The pertinent question is, does it sell cars? According to Advertising Age, the folks at Mazda believe that “zoom-zoom” has “done more to define the brand than the brand itself.” As soon as I make sense of that, I’ll let you know.
My ongoing protest against misguided advertising awards. Box office success is helpful but optional when it comes to winning an Oscar. Advertising awards are not dissimilar, but should be. Recognizing creativity and execution to the exclusion of sales figures — common practice — does clients a disservice.
The newest offense comes from the highly-regarded One Club for Art and Copy in New York, which just announced what it deems the top ten campaigns of the digital decade. Campaigns were chosen with no mention of results. Rather, judges from previous shows were asked to name their favorites. In other words, “Never mind how whether this campaign met its objective. I like this campaign, and that should be good enough to give it an award.”
I am the first to admit that winning awards is heady stuff. As a matter of policy, the RESPONSE Agency doesn’t enter the competitions. But sometimes clients have entered our work, and we have won. The trophies are around here somewhere. As an unnamed advertising executive once opined in Advertising Age: “Awards are meaningless. Except when I win one.”
—Steve Cuno
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