You’ve come a long way, Sony.

Honorary Agent Cory notified Sanctioning Agent of Sony’s new product and campaign.

Sony has launched the BRAVIA (Best Resolution Audio Video Integrated Architecture) flat screen TV. They’re billing it as “the world’s first television for men and women.” I was caught off guard to find we're living in a world that had TVs strong enough for men, but not made for a women.

I applaud Sony for including women (ok, well not really because this is as diverse as the United Colors of Benetton), but from a brand identity standpoint what are they thinking? Don’t try to be all things to all people. Men and women, that just about covers…well, it just about covers everyone. Also, just because you say something in your ad doesn’t mean it’s grounded. In this case, just because you mention women, doesn’t mean you’ve done something to truly cater to women. A trip to the Sony site doesn’t seem to indicate anything truly differentiating for men or women; or, men AND women. The campaign doesn’t seem to ring true.

Gladwell: Anatomy of Explanations

Interesting NEW YORKER article from Gladwell.
http://www.newyorker.com/critics/books/articles/060410crbo_books

Even more interesting and related blog post from Gladwell.
http://gladwell.typepad.com/gladwellcom/2006/04/tilly_and_focus.html#comments

Comments (Re)Activated

Greetings.

An update about comments, comments on the Sanctioning Agent blog have been reactivated. They were turned off while blog spammers were hitting the site.

While you need to be a “registered user” to comment, I hope that doesn’t dissuade you from continuing the blog dialogue.

Thanks for your understanding.

Beth what can I do?

KISS fragrance? Will it be a little more "Detroit Rock City" or "Beth"?

Alternate tag: "The fragrance that smells like Ace Feels"

Translating Brand Online

Today I presented "Translating Brand Online: Managing Message & Media" at a MIMA (Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association) event.

Here's the presentation.

Chevy Tahoe & Consumer Generated Media

Interesting article in today's New York Times regarding the Chevy Tahoe's write your own ad contest. The promotion has generated buzz and lots of people appear to be talking about the Tahoe, but I believe this was a big misstep for Chevy, as it's not all upside. Like Ford's Flash Concerts, they're missing the boat with product, drama, and customer segment. Outside of celebrities, I don't believe the adage that any buzz is good buzz.

Chevy spokesperson Melisa Tezanos claims Chevy knew this would happen when they turned their brand over to the public. The Tahoe (and SUVs generally), GM's reputation, and the Web have combined to produced negatively chaining themes. The media, the message, the product and positioning seemed to have created an unfortunate combination for GM.
It seems like a "me too" promotion for Chevy.

Take-aways from the article:
1. Consumer generated content is not inherently good or bad, but i tneeds to fit with the product and the consumers worldview to get the intended results.
2. Themes can chain out negatively or positively. The negative theme of gas guzzling SUV is easy to share among the Web savvy consumers and trumps the pro Tahoe themes Chevy was looking tease out.
3. All buzz is not good buzz.

BMW & Gaywheels.Com

Adage.com reports that "BMW of North America is under fire from a gay-advocacy auto Web site for advertising in gay and lesbian magazines."

It's an interesting issue demonstrating the need for a brand identity to be consistent and recognizable both internally and externally. Your symbolic identity needs to be grounded in reality, or stated differently, must have plausible reality links. You have to walk the talk when trying to bring your brand to life. In this case, Gaywheels doesn’t like the hypocrisy of placing ads in gay or gay friendly publications when the company doesn’t have domestic partner benefits for its employees. As Gaywheels points out, BMW is violating the "here and now" phenomena with their ad messaging. It’s like Wal-Mart saying something was made in the USA and it was actually manufactured in China, or trying to be both "everyday" and the low price leader only to try and upscale store.

The article and the controversy also demonstrate the increased difficulty in branding in the information age. Customers and communities can quickly research and share information regarding products or services.

Flash Mob Redux: The Wasik Interview

A follow up to the Flash Mob/Wasik post. Sanctioning Agent received a transmission from the fine folks over at Vulture Droppings (the Vulture is associated with Gyro World Wide). Vulture interviewed Wasik, providing more interesting insight.

I see that I’m now a post-modern participant-observer, as I’m reporting on, and participating in, a here and now phenomenon of viral.

The behavior/phenomena was there, but did the term provide a symbolic lens raising self awareness?