MortarBlog

M4W: "Single, Successful Italian Seeks Princess; Loves Mushrooms, Adventure..."

Remember about two posts ago when we were talking about allowing consumers to participate in your brand?

The other day, we were walking through Montgomery station, and there was a little jazz trio there, and we started humming along with the music, thinking to ourselves: "What is this song? Is it from a TV show? A movie? No..it's the Super Mario Brothers Theme!" Similarities between a MUNI ride and chasing an ungrateful princess through fields of homicidal mushrooms notwithstanding, we were intrigued. Turns out, our buds at VH1's Best Week Ever are calling it "our generation's Dark Side of the Moon." While that may be hyperbole, the devotion of Mario fans is undeniable. The picture above shows a 17,000-pushpin student tribute to Mario. And the video below? An actual love song about the brand.

Imagine how freaking cool it would be if Nintendo made this a spot!



AgencySpy, you advance to the next level.

Good Morning, America.

We are stunned.
We are amazed.
We are deeply, incredibly proud.

We are also hungover.
But enough about us. Have you ever seen a brand do a complete one-eighty faster than America's did last night?

Let's hear what the world - remember them, all those people who hated us yesterday? - has to say:

"Your victory has demonstrated that no person anywhere in the world should not dare to dream of wanting to change the world for a better place."

- Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first black president.

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"This is the fall of the Berlin Wall times ten. America is rebecoming a New World. ... On this morning, we all want to be American so we can take a bite of this dream unfolding before our eyes."

- Rama Yade, France's black junior minister for human rights

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"It's the beginning of a different era in the U.S. The United States is a country to dream about, and for us black Brazilians, it is even easier to do so now."
- Emmanuel Miranda, a 53-year-old police officer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

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"No doubt that Obama will be better for the Americans and the whole world, and being elected after the horrible policy of George Bush is enough by itself. Whatever change he can bring to the world after this catastrophic polices would be great."
- Hisham Abu Amer, 28, in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

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"Today, reality in America has superseded fantasy. ... Americans have struck a deadly blow to racism all over the world. Americans have regained themselves and have regained the American dream. The picture of the U.S. that was disfigured by the Republicans in the past eight years fell from the wall today. The picture of the America we had in our minds has taken its place."
- Prominent Saudi columnist Dawood al-Shirian.

And our favorite:

"If it were possible for me to get to the United States on my bicycle, I would." 

- Joseph Ochieng, a 36-year-old carpenter who celebrated in Nairobi's Kibera shantytown, one of Africa's largest slums.

Before yesterday, the only way a lot of these folks would have waved an American flag is if it were on fire. But that was before yesterday.

For a pretty neat snapshot of national and world opinion on this thing, check out this gallery of headlines we put together for you. Naturally, The Onion takes the prize.

Quotes from the AP via The Daily Dish.

Somebody Out There Needs A Hug.

This just in from the Department Of Understatement: It's a pretty tough economy out there. Oh, you heard that, huh? Us, too. In fact, we've been getting a lot of calls lately asking how we're managing, and if clients are running for cover.
Also, if we have any recipes for Top Ramen.

We are happy, if mildly shocked, to report that things are chugging along just fine. At first, we thought it might just be an East Coast/West Coast thing, what with us being somewhat removed from the scene of the crime(s) and all, but then we were heartened to see an article in the New York Times full of quotes like this one from Charles Schwab's Rebecca Saeger:

"Increasing sales and profits has “never been more important,” said Ms. Saeger...There has never been a more crystal-clear realization of why you need a strong brand.”

Outstanding. Looks like we actually learned something from the dot-com crash.
Let's review:
Your brand is what people think of, when they think of you.
So, when society's foundations seem about as stable as that waterbed you owned in the 1980's, wouldn't it be good if people thought of your brand as something they could count on?

Joseph Tripodi, CMO at Coke thinks so:

“It’s very easy now to panic, and we cannot panic,” he added. “Invest in your brands now, especially in these dry times. The easiest thing is to shut down, and that’s the worst thing.”

Same with James Stengel at Procter & Gamble:

“If we’re there for consumers when they need us,” he added, “I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

And when you start to put all the pieces together, you get a pretty heady formula for growth, like "Home Is Calling", General Mills' new Pillsbury work:

“Right now, given where America is, people need to go back to the comfort of home.”

Point is, it's easy to care for a brand when people are irrationally exuberant and talking themselves into buying flat-screen tvs for the cat. It gets a little harder when they're wondering if they should hitch the cat to a tiny covered wagon and light out for Californee. But now is when your brand matters. Now your audience is paying attention. Now is when they wonder if you're here today, gone tomorrow, or if you're stable, smart, and something that matters to them. Play your cards right, and you can make an impression that lasts a long, long time. Keep calm and carry on, eh, wot?

P.S. Add a little shrimp and some Tony Chachere's to your Top Ramen and you're good to go.

Introducing a New Brand...iPhoney

Rumor has it that Poland Orange has launched a pre-iPhone 3G marketing campaign that is paying dozens of actors to stand in line to buy one of the new devices. Mortar's very own head of brand strategy, Vikki Garrod comments on Orange's attempt to enhance iPhone's image.

"What's saddest about Orange's stunt is that the company has confused true brand loyalty with marketing,"
said Vikki Garrod, head of brand stragy at Mortar.

"They have looked at the raging success that the iPhone enjoyed in the U.S. -- with real Apple fans lining the streets in anticipation of the launch -- and said 'We want that, too.' So they have tried to buy it," Garrod said. "You can't buy sales. And you can't fake devotion. They openly admit to employing this stunt. They don't see why that would be wrong. Which is their biggest problem."

While this is an Orange initiative, Garrod said Apple is very much implicated by association, and the company needs to be careful. Apple is the people's brand. Its fans see it as real and up-front, she said. To be implicated in a stunt that is as disingenuous as this is not a good thing, in Garrod's view.

To read the full article click here.

Mortar updates Chasm theory for 2009

Thanks to Molly for this important, and much needed, reinterpretation of Moore's Chasm map. (Moore's diagram describes how modern consumers adopt new technology, duh).

Nothing like hyper-saturated bacon to brighten your day.

San Francisco is a relatively colorful city - even without the colorful residents - but lately it's been looking a little muted, a little gray even. The clouds seem to be hanging especially low and our notorious year-round coldness (or mildness depending on where you're from) seems even more cold (or mild?) than usual. Actually, it's definitely more cold than usual.  And definitely more dark and gray than it should be. Which is probably why this video made me smile.

The fantastic thing about marketing a music device is that you can do whatever the hell you want as long as there's music playing.
(So why has iPod been doing the same exact thing for six years...?)
Fun times.

Thanks AdRants.