A perennial thorn in the side of eyeglass behemoth Luxottica, here’s a quick rundown on what makes Warby delightful and successful-

Kings of convenience.  Taking time off work to go get glasses stinks so Warby just has you fill out a form with your doctor’s RX. Then you use a webcam to fit your glasses. Voila you have new shades in less than 10 days.

Boutique shops also carry the frames if you prefer a fitting, and now they are opening up their first brick and mortar too, using data from wifi, sensors, and other technology to understand shopping trends and improve the shopping experience.

Value and Vogue. Warby understands the fashionable Millennial’s college debt and NYC apartment makes him a little strapped for cash. But they also understand this millennial doesn’t want to compromise personal style or aesthetics. The $95 price point makes variety, value, and vogue attainable.

Customer service is a sight for sore eyes. Want to return glasses? No problem. Super easy. Having trouble with your doctor? No problem, they sort it out by e-mail, phone, or tweet. *Warby Parker team wrote 47,425 customer-service tweets in 2012.

They care. When you buy a pair, they give a pair away to someone in need.

The employees made 2,253 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for Hurricane Sandy victims and 250 K glasses distributed to people in need. In an age of slacktavism and when people want to align with brands that have desirable and laudable values, Warby delivers.

To learn more check out the 2012 annual report. It is a hoot.

Since hearing that comment, I dug around. Chrysler is donating up to 300K to the USO, $1 for every tweet using a #joinOSR and most comments on youtube are pro-ad. But the comment did get me thinking…does Chrysler have a responsibility//opportunity to do more?

I came across this piece in Esquire today, and it the wheels started moving again. The vet who killed Bin Laden is without work and healthcare (video below).  I thought, “here it is, Chrysler.” Here is your moment to build on your Super Bowl ad. Take it. Don’t offer a hand out. Give a hand up and take a stand.

In the wake of the shortage, Maker’s Mark is going to water down the existing supply to meet demand.  The video below reports that consumers cannot tell the difference.

Does that matter? Is Maker’s Mark making the same mistake as Coke when it walked down the New Coke path?  Marketing guru Samuel Monnie seems to think so, and I tend to agree with him. It isn’t about how it tasting the same. Maker’s is watering down its brand image as a premium bourbon with this decision.

When I first saw the 2013 VW ad released online, I was giddy. I clicked immediately because VW has dropped funny, endearing, and brand equity enhancing ads year after year. I wanted to be the first to see it and share my love with my fellow UW brand students.

However,  after watching the 2013 super bowl ad (featured below), I felt this weird lump crawl up my throat.

The “racist accusation” gets dropped a bit too liberally these days, and I’ve heard some pitch racist at VW for this ad. But VW’s 2013 super bowl ad isn’t racist  because it doesn’t hold one race superior to others. However, this ad, popular as it may be, is racially and culturally insensitive and does pick at the scab of a racist tradition.

Why So Serious?

1. It harkens back to an era of minstrelsy, where white performers adopted hyperbolic black imagery to lampoon black culture and make white audiences laugh.

2. It uses Caribbean dialect and culture as the butt of a joke

3. The comedic device is that some white dood from Minnesota is appropriating a  culture and dialect so far removed from his own

I am shaking my head and wondering where the “black office mates” are and why one hasn’t slapped dood for being an ass.

The ad is likely going to continue to be a hit amongst swath of (white) audiences. They will say it is funny. But these audiences aren’t the butt of the joke.  VW, a perennial “good brand” in interviews just did wrong. They likely alienated African Diaspora audiences.  Thumbs down.

2011 super bowl ad

2012 super bowl ad

2013 super bowl ad

In the world of CPG,  all marketing tasks are not created equal. And some products are inherently trickier than others.  Sometimes the marketing is more difficult because the product deals with a sensitive consumer issue.  Other times, it is such a new platform that consumers don’t totally appreciate the value-a problem that is exacerbated when competitors are competing on price and commoditizing the category.

Cottonelle wet wipes face this axis of evil.  These are products used to clean the bum, but they have a different shape and form than regular tissue paper.  However, difficult isn’t impossible, and the team at KC seems to have figured out a way to clean up in the aisle.

Challenges:

1. Teaching people without offending them or making them feel dirty

2. Showing the benefits of using a wet wipe without making tissue paper irrelevant

3. Talking about taboo, sensitive, and sometimes embarrassing subjects in print, tv, and online

4. Not creating secondary problems for consumers (read clogging toilets)

5. Justifying a price premium

How Cottonelle is Winning:

1. Create a language – Talk about the place where the sun don’t shine and embrace a consumers’ natural instinct to use slang.  It is awkward to talk about wiping.  Afterall, the place where the sun don’t shine is pretty private.  However, Cottonelle marketers realized parents are talking about cleaning up down south all the time. The trick is they use phrases like “neat seat” and other euphemisms to engage in a dialog with family and loved ones.   Cottonelle tapped into consumer language and is winning big online.  Suddenly it is ok to publicly talk about the process, benefits, and product because they are using the consumer’s language.

2. Embrace humor – Bathrooms are funny.  Just ask Ben Stiller.  Cottonelle isn’t shying away from using humor to talk about its products and care routine.  Clinical doesn’t sell.  It is too sterile.  Clinical lacks emotion, attitude, and personality.  In short, it is too boring to be remembered in the aisle.  However, a laugh is a whole other matter. A laugh gets the conversation moving and keeps consumers hanging around for the punchline.  Humor not only brings people together,  it also helps Cottonelle distinguish its brand personality and set the product apart.  Funny people stand out and Cottonelle is doing just that.

3. Added value (extra clean)- Cottonelle created a new routine and regimen and frames the product as an  extra level of freshness.  Cottonelle positioned wet wipes as a 1-2 punch that supplements tissue paper.  And who doesn’t like to be a little more fresh?

1. Baseball managers wear the same uniform as players, showing solidarity. A manager should live as his employees do.

2. A pitcher’s performance can be dependent on every other teammate’s game.  A weak infield can spoil a perfect game just as a weak team can spoil a manager’s success.  Make sure your team is filled with people who are sharper than you are.

3. Baseball players are expected to play both offense and defense.  A manager has to be versatile and have a multi-dimensional skill-set.

4. The game, like business, can move quickly one day, then slow down the next.  9 innings are never the same.

5. In baseball and business, success and errors are both performance metrics.  Your success and failures matter just the same.

6. Sacrifices are also counted. Batting in a run, is just as important as scoring one yourself.  A manager needs to understand the value of selflessness.

7. Pitching fast will only get you so far.  Strategy is always more important.  Learn to throw a curve ball and have a longer career.

8. Some specialization can be a good thing (designated hitters, closers) for a team.  Focus on developing your strengths and the strengths of your team.

9. Business, like baseball, is global.

The ad is also a favorite because it taps into a larger cultural shift, namely women are powerful consumers.  More and more women have as much, if not, more spending power than men.  The working mom is the target here.  Dad is involved in the domestic care in this ad, another bigger cultural shift.

Hyperbolic as the chaos appears, the tone is on point.  Life is stressful.  Fortunately, the Hyundai Azera is an escape from all of that.  At least for mom.

Mountain Dew has been successfully playing this game for decades.  The perennial rebel brand, Mountain Dew has embodied rebelliousness in different forms to suit changing definitions of rebel.  In this campaign, Mountain Dew is back at it again.  Featuring skateboarders like Theotis Beasley and Paul Rodriguez, and rappers like Mac Miller and Lil Wayne, the ad is relevant, credible, and linked to Mountain Dew’s value proposition.

Rebels don’t fall in line. Rebels do their own thing. Or in this case, Dew their own thing.

Thanks @erikdawson for pointing me to the ad.