SLOW BURN MARKETING
  • Home
  • Portfolio
    • Branding
    • Audio / Video
    • Print
    • Web
    • Collateral Etc.
  • About
    • Blaine Parker
    • Honey Parker
    • Testimonials
  • Services
    • Do You Fit?
  • Stuff
    • Speaking
    • Books
    • Newsletter
  • Story Lab
  • Contact

Marketing Between A Rock And A Hard Place?

9/20/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
WHAT'S UNDER YOUR WALLET? 
 
This is dangerous territory.
 
Especially for early on a Tuesday morning.
 
From coast to coast, there will be faithful readers of the weekly screed performing unintentional spit takes, spraying morning coffee across their computer screens.
 
Be sure to have a tissue handy.
 
The Small-Business Brand Of The Week Award goes to...
 
[DRUM ROLL]
 
Genitals Or Not?
 
YES, YOU READ IT HERE FIRST 
 
There is a business called Genitals or Not?
 
They offer a highly specialized service.
 
Ready?
 
They work with you to determine whether your company's logo looks unintentionally like genitalia.
 
And they're unabashed about what they do.
 
"We'll take a look at your genitals so your customers don't have to."
 
Your relentless scribe is not making this up.
 
This is actual news.
 
WHY ON EARTH?
 
A couple of reasons.
 
For one, it seems unintentional genitals is an actual problem.
 
The website serves up vivid examples of real-world logos suffering from, um, exposure.
 
And not just small, unknown brands. Big ones, too.
 
For instance, who designed that Trump-Pence logo?
 
Moreover, who let it go public?
 
Additionally, the Airbnb logo is problematic. It's very...how do we say this...feminine.
 
Even Amazon is not immune to such a stumble.
 
(And you thought that big swooping line was a smile...)
 
SOMETIMES, YOU JUST NEED A THIRD-PARTY EYE 
 
Otherwise, "The results of this unforeseen graphic content can make your brand into a laughingstock or, even worse, irrevocably ruin your business."
 
That's the first reason for the existence of Genitals Or Not?
 
There's also second reason, though it isn't stated explicitly. We are making an inference.
 
When you have a small advertising agency, it can help to get noticed.
 
And sophomoric, frat-boy humor can be one way to make the world pay attention.
 
It also seems to have worked.
 
GENITALS OR NOT IS GETTING COVERAGE
 
From Adweek in the US to Dagens Media in Sweden, the ad industry is chattering about Genitals Or Not?
 
And for anyone who visits the website and remotely interested in whatever lunatic put this thing up, there's a link to Josh Mishell's Fermentable Sugar.
 
Mr. Mishell is a creative director who comes from the brewing industry, hence the name.
 
In an overly simplistic explanation, fermentable sugars are what help yeast produce alcohol.
 
And alcohol content of a beverage is measured in specific gravity.
 
Higher gravity brews have more alcohol and are more potent.
 
Hence, Fermentable Sugar's tagline: "High-Gravity Design & Marketing Solutions."
 
SO, WHY ARE WE EVEN TALKING ABOUT THIS?
 
Is your relentless scribe recommending that you spend $25 with Genitals Or Not? to determine if your logo is inadvertently exposing your brand to ridicule?
 
No.
 
You're too smart for that.
 
(Too smart to have such a logo, that is. But maybe you'd like to submit your logo anyway. Frankly, I'm curious to see what 25 bucks gets a client of Genitals Or Not?)
 
The reason we're talking about this is for the object lesson in how a small brand can get huge coverage.
 
It's not the size of the brand. As it were.
 
Here's an ad agency in Denver that has half as many desks as Slow Burn Marketing.
 
AND THEY'RE GETTING COVERAGE IN NATIONAL INDUSTRY MEDIA
 
Going back to last week's mention of earned media credits, Krylon picked up millions of dollars-worth of media coverage with a miniscule budget.
 
Arguably, Fermentable Sugar is going to blow Krylon out of the water in terms of dollars spent to media earned.
 
How?
 
By using smart, targeted creative that draws people in.
 
The advertising industry is noticing Mr. Mishell for his skills at creating evocative, engaging material.
 
AND GUESS WHO CAN BRING THAT MAN A LOT OF BUSINESS?
 
That's right: the people who are noticing him.
 
He can certainly work directly with his own clients.
 
But small ad agencies are often hired by bigger ad agencies as subcontractors.
 
And those contracts can be very lucrative.
 
Is that Mr. Mishell's goal?
 
If it is, he's made himself magnetic.
 
AND CIRCLING BACK AROUND...
 
What's your magnetic promotion?
 
It doesn't need to be sophomoric humor about unintentional genitalia.
 
But it should still get a rise out of your core customer.
 
Could your brand do something equally simple that makes your prospect sit up, take notice and want to play?
 
This all goes back to the notion that your relentless scribe pounds with a stick, to wit: branding is not about spending money.
 
BRANDING IS ABOUT THINKING
 
It's about understanding the person to whom you're talking, and how to make that person feel one way about what you do.
 
Again, last week we talked about the Krylon campaign for The World's Longest Yard Sale.
 
We pointed out how that effort, national though it was, was eminently scalable.
 
There is absolutely no reason why a small brand with some creative and strategic thought couldn't do something equally engaging and effective.
 
Today, we have a project that can't possibly be scaled down.
 
IT'S ALREADY SCALED AS SMALL AS IT'S GOING TO GET
 
It's a simple website with a running gag about bad marketing.
 
And still, it's international news.
 
Literally, it's one guy in Denver.
 
And his work is getting press coverage across the country and across the Atlantic.
 
Will it bring him new business?
 
Dunno. We have no crystal balls.
 
But we do admire it, puerile though it may be.
 
And, again, it serves as a high-profile example of how a small, focused brand can command global attention.
 
www.genitalsornot.com

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Author

    Blaine Parker is prone to ranting about any and all things related to brand. In many ways, he is a professional curmudgeon. While there is no known vaccine for this, the condition is also not contagious. Unless you choose it to be so. 

    Archives

    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015

    Categories

    All
    Abe Lincoln
    Advertising
    Advertising As Art
    Ad Writing
    Amazon
    Apathy
    Art And Advertising
    Attack Ads
    Authenticity
    Beat Bobby Flay
    Besotted
    Best Ads Of 2017
    Big Ideas
    Billboards
    Bobby Flay
    Book Marketing
    Brand Advertising
    Branding
    Branding Book
    Branding Santa Claus
    Brand Names
    Bud Light
    Budwieser
    Burger King
    Burger King Advertising
    Burning Man
    Burning Questions
    Business Book
    Buy Now
    Car Advertising
    Carefu;-ish
    Careful-ish
    Casablanca
    Christmas
    Commercials
    Commitment
    Communication
    Content
    Core Customer
    Corny
    Corporate Culture
    CoupleCo
    Couplepreneurs
    COVID 19
    COVID-19
    Crazy Ivan
    Creativity
    Creativity Over Message
    Cult Brands
    Customers
    David Ogilvy
    Dick Orkin
    Diisruptive
    Down Market
    Dr Sam's Eye Care
    Effectivness
    Electronics
    Entrenched
    Exceeding Expectaion
    Facebook Advertising
    Feeling
    Focus
    Focus Grouping
    Fonts
    Food
    Fraud
    Gary Vaynerchuk
    Hair Club For Men
    Hanukkah
    Holidays
    Hotels
    Hugo Boss
    Hurricane Relief
    Ideas
    Influence
    Inspiration
    Internet Radio
    Jeep
    Jerry Lewis
    Johnnie Walker
    Jungles
    Krylon Spray Paint
    Lawyers
    Lightning Branding
    Logos
    Lulu Lemon
    Mackerel
    Make Customers Care
    Marketing
    Masks
    Meaning
    Media
    Medical Tourism
    Membership
    Me Too
    Millennials
    Milton Glaser
    Must See TV
    Napa
    Nastalgia
    New Clients
    New Skills
    New Years
    Nicaragua
    Niche Brands
    Offers
    Ogilvy On Advertising
    Outdoor
    Pasta
    Patriotism
    Pen & Paper
    Personal Brand
    Pizza
    Podcasts
    Poetry
    Point Of Purchase
    Political Advertising
    Political Correctness
    Price Advertising
    Pringles
    Procrastination
    Product Experience
    Publicity Stunts
    Punctuation
    Puppy Monkey Baby
    Radio
    Reader Question
    Reality TV
    Relationship Marketing
    Repeat Customers
    Research
    Rhode Island Tourism
    Road Trip
    Romance
    Rosser Reeves
    Sailing
    Sales Staff Writing Radio
    SEO
    Small Business
    Small Business Branding
    SnapChat
    Social Media
    Social Media Marketing
    State Farm
    Story
    Struggling
    Subaru
    Super
    Superbowl
    Super Bowl Ads
    Sushi
    Sy Sperlling
    Taglines
    Thanksgiving
    The Big Short
    Trademarks
    USP (Unique Selling Proposition)
    Vail
    Velcro
    Vernacular
    Vocabulary
    Wine
    Words Good
    Writing
    Writing Advertising
    Zeitgeist

    RSS Feed

OFFERING:
Branding & Marketing
Speaking
Books
Newsletter


INFO:
Services Breakdown
​
Clients
About
Testimonials
Contact
STORY LAB
Picture
​
​
© Copyright 2020 Slow Burn Marketing LLC
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Picture
  • Home
  • Portfolio
    • Branding
    • Audio / Video
    • Print
    • Web
    • Collateral Etc.
  • About
    • Blaine Parker
    • Honey Parker
    • Testimonials
  • Services
    • Do You Fit?
  • Stuff
    • Speaking
    • Books
    • Newsletter
  • Story Lab
  • Contact