Posts tagged ‘Nike’

September 18th, 2008

Dove Hits a Home Run With Their “What Is Real Beauty?” Campaign

Twenty years ago, Nike hit a grand slam home run with their now legendary “Women’s” campaign. Today, it’s Dove’s turn with a campaign that will surely make it into the Advertising Hall of Fame.

Dove taps into very powerful emotions with their "What is Real Beauty?" campaign.

It’s called the “What is Real Beauty?” campaign and it does exactly what the Nike “Women’s” campaign did — it delves deep into the psyche of men and women to touch a nerve so sensitive that you can’t help but take notice. In this particular spot, which can be seen by clicking here, Dove presents one of the most emotionally-charged commercials I’ve seen in a long, long time.

The difference between the Dove campaign and the Nike campaign is that Dove has done a wonderful job of using new and emerging media to communicate their message.

And just what is their message? As the father of three girls, I can tell you it’s an issue that parents all across America are concerned about — that is, the onslaught of sexually-charged images that paint a completely unrealistic picture of what it is to be a woman, a young lady or a little girl. (Have you watched MTV or VH1 lately? It’s mind-numbing.)

Dove understands this. And they’ve decided to take a stand by celebrating women of all shapes, sizes, colors, complexions and everything else. In my opinion, they’ve done an outstanding job of letting women know that Dove understands and cares about the people who buy their products.

Bravo, Dove. You’ve knocked it out of the park with this campaign. Someone needed to take a stand against the onlsaught of horrible, sexist imagery coming out of Hollywood and slathered all over TV and the Internet. You’ve done a tasteful job of taking a stand and, from the bottom of my heart, I hope your sales continue to skyrocket as a result.

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September 11th, 2008

“Just Do It” — The Most Over-Rated Tag Line Ever.

There are a lot of great tag lines out there. In fact, you could argue that some of the best tag lines in marketing have helped shape entire brands.

“We Try Harder,” which was introduced by Doyle Dane Bernbach on behalf of Avis in 1962, helped frame that brand in the mind of the consumer by positioning it against Hertz, the #1 brand in that category.

One of the all time best tag lines was introduced just a few years ago (and recently dropped!): “Can You Hear Me Now?” This tag line for Verizon was absolutely brilliant. Every time cell phone users uttered “Can you hear me now?” into a cell phone, they were reminded of Verizon and their promise that their network was bigger, better and clearer.

A few other memorable tag lines include:

• “When It Absolutely, Positively Has To Be There Overnight” for Federal Express

• “Got Milk?” for the California Milk Processor Board

• “Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Go Back In The Water” for Jaws II (Note: That’s actually not a tag line, it’s a slogan. But who cares? It’s terrific!)

Now we get to “Just Do It” which is absolutely, positively (thanks FedEx) the most over-rated tag line ever. Why? Because most great tag lines differentiate their products, frame the brand in the mind of the consumer, and drive home the core essence of the product.

The only thing “Just Do It” does is fall flat on its face.

That’s not to say that “Just Do It” wasn’t surrounded by a terrific ad campaign for Nike — it was. But the tag line alone is so overblown and over-rated, it’s almost an insult to the other brilliant tag lines out there. “Can You Hear Me Now?” works on so many levels for Verizon, it’s mind-boggling. Even something like “With A Name Like Smuckers, It Has To Be Good” sells the brand and has a personality to it. But “Just Do It” is flat, boring and, if it weren’t for a gazillion dollar ad campaign to support it, completely unmemorable.

Send me your favorite tag lines. Or, better still, disagree with my point-of-view. But something tells me that when you give it some thought, you’ll end up agreeing with me — “Just Do It” is the most over-rated tag line ever.

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