Love the Brand Not the Product

Ninety percent of the time I purchase products because they perform well and I enjoy the brand. I'm usually open to trying new products and brands, but when I find something that fits it's hard for me to even think about purchasing or using anything else. But lately I've noticed a disconnect in a few brands that I find favorable but do not use or like the product.

Dentyne
I absolutely love the Make Face Time campaign. It makes me smile. I do, however, have to say skip it to the product. No matter how much I like the Dentyne brand, I will always purchase Orbit because I like the product better even though I couldn't tell you much of anything about the Orbit brand. I recommend the strawberry mint. Weird, I know.

Nike
I haven't purchased a pair of Nike kicks since The Great Blister of 2001. I didn't think I even owned anything with a Swoosh on it until I busted out my Twins t-shirt last week and found a small logo. But that doesn't stop me from loving the idea of Nike. I will probably never go out of my way to purchase anything Nike, but I can't help but like the idea of sport that Nike embodies.

Coke
I can't drink Coke, hurts my teeth. But even that "bad" product experience hasn't deterred me from getting a bit excited when I see a Coke Side of Life commercial or see some fizzy bubbles. Coke delivers on brand every time. I will always say I like Coke more than Pepsi. But I'll have a Sprite (with vodka), please.

A few others:

• Sony Bravia. Bouncy balls and rabbits bunnies. Enough said. But getting me to buy? Not unless it comes with the bunnies.

• PBR. The whole art thing is awesome. It's classic. But it still tastes like shit. Maybe even worse than Keystone?

Anyone else have this experience?

Blog Smog - Dentyne Make Face Time

Look out, kids! Blog smog! This video is getting released into the wild interwebs tomorrow, but we're giving you a sneak peak.  This is the newest work in the Dentyne Make Face Time campaign. Sinuate Media hooked us up. Check it.

I shared my thoughts on the campaign a while ago and Libby also included it in her best of 2008 post.  I enjoy the quirky animation and LOLd when the stank breath dude mutters, "tags: breath, menace, satan, evil."  While it's a lot different than the current campaign, this could be a hit with the smaller blogging crowd, but there are few things to consider with this move away from the crowd pleasing "real instant message" ads.  Instead of providing a compelling reason to make face time, this spot focuses more on the minty side of Dentyne rather than the heart side.  Even though we're advertising bloggers, this video transcends the ad world and can become a topic among all blog writers.  Good thing LiveJournal is still hanging on, I can see this being a hit over there. 

Ypulse Year in Review Sneak Peek!

I'm working on a Ypulse feature of the best and worst teen-targeted campaigns of 2008, and I thought you Yaybies might appreciate a sneak peek. I'm still debating a few of the final spots, so please leave your suggestions in the comments!

BEST:

Obvs. Everything from Barack Obama's iconic logo to his sans serif font resonated with young voters, and Obama urged them to talk about it. The campaign mobilized youth by linking them together through forums they already used--Facebook, texting, Twitter, iPhone apps--and helped them form communities through which they rallied for change. Obama's team attitude and liberal policies clearly didn't hurt his popularity among youth, either. 18-29-year-old voters responded by voting for Obama in record numbers, and some think his focus on young voters won him the White House.

BEST:

Erin Yaybia'd this Dentyne campaign back in October and talked about how it is relevant to the way young people live their lives through a screen. We do want to disconnect, though, and I love that Dentyne wants to prepare me to make face time for my friends IRL. Sometimes "xoxo" just doesn't cut it.

BEST:

VitaminWater made two key partnerships this year with Gossip Girl and the Sex and the City movie. Their brand ambassadors have also made the beverage a must-have on college campuses. You might have guessed that we don't really mind the brand, either...

BEST:

I Yaybia'd this fall about how great this Target spot is. It taps into a real consumer insight about freshmen's roommate fears and puts a positive, exciting spin on them.

WORST:

I know teens aren't Toyota's target (besides the Scion, targeted at men 18-24) but sports fans of any age are ready to stab out their eardrums the next time they hear this commercial during every NCAA football commercial break. STOP.

WORST:

JC Penney has been missing the mark with all their teen-targeted back-to-school, but this one is especially off. I'm too young for The Breakfast Club, and I left high school over 4 years ago. It shows that JC Penney is exactly what they're fighting not to be--your mom's store.

WORST:

I pretty thoroughly bashed the Candie's Foundation PSA in an earlier Ypulse entry, but I just need to repeat that it's so parental and out of touch. Ugh.

I've got room for one more Best and two more Worst. What do you think? Save the Walls? Axe/Dove/both? That JohnMcCain MyBarackBook site? American Apparel? Toyota Scion? Let's hear 'em!

Wii Would Like to Play, Indoors, Alone

This new Wii commercial for the game Animal Crossing City Folk with Wii Speak makes me sad, WOW style:



It's the polar opposite of the amazing Dentyne commercials (though I was a little disappointed that such a great commercial was from a gum company). They put out commercials like this and limit you time online to 3 minutes on their site so you can get out there and live:



The Animal Crossing City Folk commercial implies you don't need real friends, just a video game. I do generally applaud Wii for getting people on their feet. The next step: getting them out of the house.

"Let's go watch the fireworks!"

Thoughts?

Dentyne Face Time: The Good and the Bad

Just like real face time, the Dentyne Face Time campaign has a lot of good things, and some bad things. I was completely in love with the campaign. It was relevant to my life (mobile, digital, interwebs, friends) and reminded me that I do enjoy disconnecting to hang out with my friends, my sister, or boys (I'm open on Friday if you're looking!).

The NY Times thought that "That strategy could be a gamble, as the ads focus on exactly the people who are most passionate about these digital tools." But we think that people want to disconnect at times.  Sure we love our iPhones, Facebook, Twitter, Brightkite, Blogger, etc etc -- but we have the most fun when we use these tools to schedule time to hang out in real life. To meet up on Friday for happy hour, to plan a debate party, to laugh about the events that happened when we were hanging out the night before. I think Denytne has done a good job of reminding people that you may have a ton of friends on the interwebs, but those in real life are what really count. 


Here are my thoughts, share what you think of 'em!

I loved the ads.

I loved the website . Giving me a 3 minute time limit, whaa! But right on strategy with their goal of getting people to have more face time with each other.

Giving me options to ask someone for face time. Ok, I can handle that. Except, I'm using the interwebs to do it. Send them a pack of gum with an invite?

And then I hated it. The contest made me cringe and I vowed never to go back to the site. (screen shot below). The woman has a very condescending tone and is explaining to me how to create and upload content. But if you are targeting this demo, isn't that an inherent part of their lives?! I was very turned off by it and I was even considering buying some Dentyne when I'm an Orbit girl.

What are your thoughts? Will the disconnect to connect strategy work? Will Libby just try to keep trying to get me to cuddle with her anyways?