There’s a lot of buzz about the Pepsi Refresh project and how they’re pulling their usual investment in Super Bowl Advertising and moving funds to a broader social strategy. It’s exciting news for people like me who work on big brands and are trying to bring perspective to the old-school Mad Men wanna-bes who still crowd this industry while the world moves away from traditional one-way advertising to deeper experiences. But, even as Pepsi tries to break new ground by cancelling their standard multi-million dollar 30-second football spot, their television ad agency proceeds to fumble the ball by blatantly ripping off a brilliant YouTube video to sell the new social initiative.

Here’s the Pepsi Refresh ad:

And the original music video that Pepsi “Refreshed”:

Much more magical, don’t you think?

Imagine if they contacted SOUR and worked with them to take SOUR’s concept to a whole new level, as opposed to just blatantly copying it. Wouldn’t that be more in line with the ideals of the new Pepsi Refresh Project? Imagine the positive wave of support from SOUR’s fans, and the 1 million+ other viewers of this video who surely would like the band to succeed. Please agencies — it’s not about you anymore. It’s not about your ads. It’s about the customer; the consumer; the user; the publich; the individual. It’s about The Human.

Filed under: Brands, Creating Magic, Marketing by Craig Ritchie
No Comments »

Tags: 30-second spot, advertising, agencies, Brands, pepsi, pepsi refresh, Social, Social Media, sour, super bowl, television, ugc, User-generated Content

I’ve never used Lolcats on my blog, so this is the first, and last time. Promisses.

Photo credits: Marc Shandro.

Back in May, I tweeted eight “Web Strategy Reminders” that got some great responses. Here they are altogether, with two bonus reminders to allow people to laugh like Count von Count when they’re done.

Web Strategy reminder No. 1: If you’re just adding a “Community” tab to your web site, You’re doing it wrong.

Web Strategy reminder No. 2: If you’re pushing Content out through banners, You’re doing it wrong.

Web Strategy reminder No. 3: If everything you build has a unique interface, You’re doing it wrong.

Web Strategy reminder No. 4: If you start with a tactical gimmick on a platform your market doesn’t use, You’re doing it wrong.

Web Strategy reminder No. 5: If your platform doesn’t separate form from function, You’re doing it wrong.

Web Strategy reminder No. 6: If you’re ignoring the fact that Search is the number one way that users find you, You’re doing it wrong.

Web Strategy reminder No. 7: If you’re not considering how your experience will change over time, You’re doing it wrong.

Web Strategy reminder No. 8: If you’re not implementing a holistic measurement strategy beyond clickstream analysis, You’re doing it wrong.

Web Strategy reminder No. 9: If you’re ignoring the fact that your employees are telling the story of your brand (good or bad) better than your corporate web site, You’re doing it wrong.

Web Strategy reminder No. 10: If you’re excited about your new banner ad pushing to your new television ad on your new Flash web site, You’re doing it wrong.

Filed under: Business, Community, Design, Flash, Ideas, Marketing, Measurement, Sales & Education, Social Media, User Experience, Web, Web Strategy by Craig Ritchie
1 Comment »

Tags: banner, Flash, gimmickry, lolcats, Measurement, plaform, search, site, strategy, television, Web