Mickey Mouse Marketing

Disney is struggling to figure out what to do with its most iconic brand, Mickey Mouse.

In his early days, Mickey was a wild and crazy guy – almost like a 1920s version of Bart Simpson.   In the 1930s, though, that began to change as Walt Disney toned down his image.  As this article states:

 

Animators once made a cartoon for a private viewing to amuse their boss, in which Mickey went all the way with Minnie. Disney congratulated them on the craftsmanship, asked for the names of all those involved and then sacked them. No one could tamper with Mickey’s family-friendly image, even as a private joke.

 

But Mickey has grown a bit stale for recent generations of children, especially in the United States.  These days he seems to be more prominent as a corporate logo than as an animated character with a distinct personality.  So Disney is trying to “re-brand” Mickey without eroding his core meaning – not an easy task.

At Variance Over Vegemite

Here is a little case study about a marketing blunder that might not have been a marketing blunder.

The article deals with a contest sponsored by Kraft Foods Australia which let consumers create a name for a new Vegemite-based based snack product.   A decent idea that went horribly wrong.  Or did it?

Guilty!

A recent article in the Wall St. Journal describes the marketing tactics that some luxury brands are employing to overcome “shoppers’ guilt” in these trying economic times.

Surviving in a Big Box World

When I was still living in State College, Pennsylvania I watched several longtime Mom & Pop stores go out of business as big box retailers moved into town and siphoned off their loyal customers.

• One was a very quirky hardware store that, among other things, sold fresh meat.  It was a cool place.  Unfortunately, customer service was horrible and when you entered the store, you felt about as welcome as swine flu.

• Another was an electronics store.  Nice selection of products.  But their hours were Monday-Friday, 9 am – 5 pm. 

• Another was a downtown bookstore.   It was OK.  They sold a lot of scholarly books that you couldn’t find elsewhere.  But their marketing plan consisted of…well….pretty much nothing.

What all three of these business did exceedingly well was whine about how we ungrateful consumers no longer appreciate the importance of locally-owned businesses.    But if you don’t serve me well or give me any compelling reason to patronize you, why is it my moral obligation to keep you in business?   

Of course, many small businesses have used a little creativity and found ways to survive and even thrive.  One is a bookstore in New York City that has succeeded through some interesting promotions and valuable services that are unavailable from larger bookstores.  Then there is another bookstore in Portland, Oregon that has used design cues to create an emotionally compelling shopping experience (I thought the customer-created shelf talkers were particularly neat).

An American Tale

This piece from The Atlantic discusses a paradox present within the “American DNA” – the conflict between Americans’ risk-taking entrepreneurial spirit and their risk-averse Puritanical sensibilities.

As we have found many times, similarities from culture-to-culture run deep.  But sometimes the uniqueness of a given culture can explain a lot.  It can be particularly interesting when apparently conflicting sets of values work in tandem, as the author claims is the case in the US.

Ouch

An article in the current Scientific American Mind provides some insights into the psychology of pain – including nuggets that could be particularly relevant to the medical industry. 

Some of the highlights:

• Soldiers who are wounded in battle report less pain than civilians who suffer comparable injuries.  This might be because injuries in a military setting can have positive connotations (honor, surviving a battle, going home) whereas the same  injuries in a civilian setting seldom have the same kinds of positive associations.

• Anticipation of a positive end result can serve as an analgesic.  For example, a boxer might have a high tolerance for pain if he expects to win a fight. 

• Positive expectations can affect recover from painful injuries.  Car accident victims who suffered whiplash injuries and who expected to return to work recovered significantly faster than those who had lower expectations.

• If you empathize with a person and you see that person in pain, you are likely to become more sensitive to pain.

• If you suffer from depression or are under chronic stress, you are likely to experience pain more acutely than someone in a more positive frame of mind.

Too lumpy to lead?

According to an article in the New York Times, the Democratic governor of New Jersey has very subtly made a campaign issue out of the size of his Republican opponent’s waistline.

The intent (allegedly) is to activate unconscious negative frames for people who are obese.  And, according to polls, it is working.

I had two reactions when I read this:

1)      Brilliant marketing

2)      Morally dubious

Malcolm Gladwell discusses this topic in his book Blink.  Before television and film, the United States elected some fine Presidents who were bald, obese, and generally goofy-looking.

Being elected to high office today seems to be very difficult if you don’t look the part.

Volvo Saved My Life

At OZA, we often describe how powerful stories can help build and maintain brand image.  Here is Exhibit A from Volvo’s website — The Volvo Saved My Life Club.

At this link you can hear stories from Volvo drivers who were involved in horrific accidents, and see photos of the accident scenes.  The moral of all the stories is, “If not for my Volvo, I would be dead.”

Volvo has long stood for safety.  This “club” builds on that by creating a sense of community and also by illustrating Volvo’s safety with real-life vignettes that are extremely emotionally engaging.

Humans are natural storytellers.  We like telling stories — and we like hearing them.  It is an elemental, basic form of human communication.  That’s what makes storytelling such an effective marketing tool.

Cold people and weighty questions

Josiah Foster from OZA’s global partner MindRoads in Brazil has forwarded this article from the Boston Globe about embodied cognition and the ability of metaphor to shape thought.

This contains several neat examples of recent research that supports the idea that physical experiences affect our thinking and our perception of the world around us.

The Pain of Innovation

The podcast linked below discusses innovation and some of the barriers that can inhibit creative thinking in  large corporate environments.

http://www.researchtalk.co.uk/rt/2007/07/24/client-innovation-roundtable/

This is a roundtable discussion filmed in the UK featuring  managers from Unilever and Coca-Cola along with some representatives from the ad agency and research worlds.