No Turn On Red

Cocaine energy drink is a drink marketed by Redux Beverages, LLC. Last month, it was announced that the FDA had issued a warning letter to them suggesting that it was not proper to market an energy drink under that name with the slogan “a legal alternative”. In response to mounting pressure against the drink name, the drinkmaker said that it was ceasing distribution of the Cocaine energy drink and shortly after announced that they would be renaming it as Censored.

As I wrote last month, this was the first time I had ever heard of the drink. I agree that the name of the drink was quite silly and they were trying to build a brand about something controversial without actually investing the time to build an lasting brand. It was a horrible attempt to be edgy.

Last night, while at my local deli, I noticed that they still had several cans of the energy drink. I figured I would give it a try to see if maybe, just maybe, there was something there. If the drink is great, maybe the company can spin the band press and use that level of awareness during the rebranding. All PR is good PR, right?

But boy, is this drink putrid. I’m sorry, I’ve drank a lot of energy drinks and weird sodas, but this one was pretty nasty. I couldn’t even finish the can without getting heartburn, so I put it down and moved along.

Maybe the drinkmaker was right to try to brand themselves in an edgy, controversial way in order to gain marketshare. It’s obvious they don’t have much else going for them. The product, in this case, seems like an afterthought. It’s almost as if the brand was conceived of first and then the product was developed.

Lesson learned: develop a great product first and build a brand around that. Focus on what sets you apart from the competition and what you deliver to the customer. Don’t rely on a gimmick when sculpting your brand, today’s consumers are too smart for that and eventually, they will move on.

Related posts

• Cocaine energy drink pulled from shelves (1)
• Retailers and Social Media - when are they going to learn? (1)
• Success and convtroversy lead to higher national profile for Rutgers (0)
• Sears. Where it begins. (4)
• Sears’ Lands End Shop (3)

Boy, do I feel like an idiot.

Yesterday I wrote about the new Sobe Energy Coolatta at Dunkin Donuts. But you know what I didn’t realize? In my multiple mentions of the word “coolatta” in that post, I spelled it wrong every time. Stupid me.

I don’t feel so bad, since I am currently the number one Google search result for “sobe coolata” and that has actually driven a bit of traffic to this site. Welcome!

Maybe this post will put me towards the top of the results for “Sobe Energy Coolatta” or “Sobe Coolatta”, with the proper spelling!

There’s some more information about the new drink at QSR Magazine (of course they spelled the name right!) and also an official website, that doesn’t seem to have much to it right now, at Coolatta.com.

Related posts

• Dunkin Donuts unveils new in-store marketing campaign, donuts, and new Summer drink (5)
• Success and convtroversy lead to higher national profile for Rutgers (0)
• Sears. Where it begins. (4)
• Sears’ Lands End Shop (3)
• Salon: The Man Behind Abercrombie & Fitch (0)

I am a loyal Dunkin Donuts drinker. I’ll usually stop in to one of the (many) local locations twice in a day. I like my coffee with extra cream and extra sugar. I don’t care if coffee snobs look down on this, I love my Dunkin Donuts.

Last week, Dunkin Donuts announced that they were launching a new website, MyIcedCoffee.com, today. Partnering with MapQuest, the site has a driving direction application that will let you know where the nearest Dunkin Donuts are along your trip. More coverage is available from the Boston Globe.

Judging by the few addresses I put into the application, they seem to be rather liberal with the locations that they are coming up with. From Point A to Point B, I know of 3 Dunkin Donuts that I pass but the application provided me with the addresses of 2 Dunkin Donuts that would require me to turn off my route. Technically speaking, I think that this website is bloated and too flash intensive. It’s well designed but it takes a few seconds to learn how to navigate. The driving direction portion of the site isn’t intuitive to get to. But, they’re giving away $10,000 and I’m sure people will look around.

The underlying branding message is there, though, and that’s important. Dunkin Donuts needs to keep reinforcing the notion that they are the drink that you will grab every day. Coffee while running errands, Coolatas at the beach, Smoothies at the kids baseball game. Being able to find out where Dunkin Donuts is while you travel reinforces this notion. Just because you aren’t home, doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the coffee you like.

In my travels across the country, Dunkin Donuts is something I have looked for. I’ve started my days with my favorite coffee whenever I can. I was suprised to find a Dunkin Donuts during my recent vacation to Aruba. This website, bloated as it may be, is something I will look at when I am planning my upcoming Summer getaways.

When walking into Dunkin Donuts today, I saw that they’ve also unveiled their new marketing campaign with Rachael Ray. She was unveiled as the spokesperson in March, but the extent of her marketing involvement seems to have been slim until this point. Now, her photo is now slathered all throughout the store. There has been a commercial playing with her on television, but I wonder if now there will be more to come.

My worry is that Dunkin Donuts is going to get away from the branding message that works for them. Coffee your way, I think is what they say. They have to keep that idea strong in people’s mind. Rachael Ray will increase their visibility, but they can’t rest on that. I don’t want to see Dunkin Donuts settle for a campaign that basically says, “Rachael Ray likes Dunkin Donuts and so should you”. Consumers are smarter than that.

In addition to the new marketing, they’ve unveiled some new drinks and new donuts.

To the left, my friends, is the new Sobe Energy Coolata from Dunkin’ Donuts. Don’t be turned off by the neon greenness, it is actually refreshing. The Sobe Energy Coolata is one of the new drinks they’ve unveiled. It has a cherry citrus flavor and I am enjoying that. Their Smoothie was my go-to drink of the summer of 2006, Coolata could be my go-to drink for this Summer.

That is, until the nutrition information is posted for this drink and I find out exactly how much sugar I am consuming.

Key Lime and Lemon donuts are now featured to compliment the Berry Berry donut the chain started featuring a few weeks back. I was asked, “Would you like to try one of our new donuts?” when I ordered my coffee today.

Dunkin Donuts is trying to kick the summer off in high gear. I just hope that they continue a multi-channel, multi-faceted approach to their marketing campaign. They can’t rest on the superstar spokesperson, but she doesn’t hurt.

When everything comes together, this could be a very good season for Dunkin Donuts.

Related posts

• Coolata vs Coolatta - what’s in a name? (0)
• Success and convtroversy lead to higher national profile for Rutgers (0)
• Sears. Where it begins. (4)
• Sears’ Lands End Shop (3)
• Salon: The Man Behind Abercrombie & Fitch (0)

San Fransico Business Times, via MSNBC, has an article looking at new strategies being employed by the denim maker, Levi’s (see: Seeking a stylish strategy, Levi’s tries on girls’ jeans). Looking for a way to expand their market share and regain their position as a market leader, Levi’s is better look at styles they offer and rolling our new retail locations:

Opening its own stores is one way Levi’s can counter changes in the wholesale market, analysts say. It has already opened seven of a projected 20 stores in 2007. There are 45 U.S. stores now open.

“If you are an apparel supplier, it is imperative that you develop your own retail stores to protect your business,” said Howard Davidowitz, chairman of Davidowitz & Associates Inc., a national retail consulting firm. Though Levi’s still has an 80 percent share in department stores, “You can’t put your faith in department stores, who are pushing brands less and less and private label more and more.”

Retailers, like Kohl’s and JCPenney, have been aggressively pushing their private label brands over the national brands that were the cornerstones of their stores. This is not a trend unique to these mid-tier retailers, as this private label push is seen all throughout the retail spectrum. This doesn’t mean that iconic, national brands like Levi’s are going to disappear from stores anytime soon, but it does mean that they have to adapt to the marketplace and become more self-sufficient.

I’ve been to the Levi’s store in Atlantic City and it’s great. Every style of denim that one would be looking for is there, with great visual merchandising and one of the best denim presentations you will find anywhere. Levi’s knows how to create a destination shopping experience and make themselves look good.

These store fronts work in conjunction with the department stores that already carry Levi product. The department stores will, typically, serve as a means for the masses to pick up the go-to Levi styles, like the 501, 505, and 550. The Levi storefront reenforces the iconic nature of Levi and enhances awareness of the premium offerings that they have, including the $260 Redwire iPod jeans.

While Levi’s still has a good presence in department stores, I wonder how much of the overall denim has shifted away from department stores (and the Levi brand) and towards teen retailers such as Abercrombie & Fitch and American Eagle. I have to imagine that it has been a signifigent share.

The increased retail locations work well for Levi’s. They will increase brand awareness and drive bottom line results. But they still have to stay on top of the game, as far as trend and style, and it appears that they are:

For men, she’s chasing what she calls a “scene stealer,” a college-aged guy who’s fashion aware and spends more on clothing. His female counterpart is another that Levi’s is “aggressively pursuing.”

To reach these consumers, Zakem has overseen the design of a “slouch fit” jean for men that combines skate and urban cultures with a loose fit in the hips and seat but a tight fit at the lower leg. For women there’s a “perfectly slimming” jean that has a girdle-like technology in the waist.

Zakem said she will seed the coasts with these products, and if they succeed, they will work their denimmy way into the heartland and less edgy retailers.

The most important part of that section is how they say that they will seed the market with these new designs. Trends are important in fashion, but will make or break apparel makers depending on how they react to them. I don’t think that denim makers have seen the payoff in the skinny jean trend like they did with the boot cut/destroyed denim look of just a few years ago.

I am most excited about the growth of retail store locations by Levi’s. As I’ve already said, I think they are a great destination shopping experience. Excellent merchandising and visual presentation is something every shopper needs to see more of.

Related posts

• Success and convtroversy lead to higher national profile for Rutgers (0)
• Sears. Where it begins. (4)
• Sears’ Lands End Shop (3)
• Salon: The Man Behind Abercrombie & Fitch (0)
• Retailers and Social Media - when are they going to learn? (1)

Recently, I wrote about the new Sears marketing plan and slogan, “Where It Begins”. Today, a Google search for “sears + ‘where it begins’” returns an article from AdWeek first and my website second.

Good thing for Sears, I was generally positive about the new slogan and marketing campaign. Imagine if I was negative and ripped it apart.

As a retailer, do you know what your customers are really saying about your brand online?

Are people reacting favorably to your marketing strategy? To you Summer clothing line? To your latest sale prices?

Are people discouraging others from going to your store because of a bad experience? Because of a short tempered cashier they encountered? Because of the ugliness of your new dresses? Because your return policy sucks?

I can bounce across the web right now and show you a Facebook page where a guy is showing off the new polo he bought from Abercrombie & Fitch.

I can show you a forum where people are talking about the perceived lack of training the cashiers exhibit at Sears.

I can even pull up a Myspace group where employees are talking about mistreatment from management at Kohl’s.

This information is out there. It’s freely accessable. I know where to find it and I’m not alone in that.

If you, as a major retailer, are ignoring this information, you are giving away valuable information that could help you grow your brand, increase your sales, and make the changes that you need to make in order to compete better.

If you, as a major retailer, are reading this information but not interacting with your customers on your own, then you are completely missing the point. Start a corporate blog and encourage discussion, good and bad, on your own website.

Hire an evanglist. Someone who will be the e-face of your company. Someone who will interact with your customers through blogs, forums, and social networking websites. Someone who will drive people to come to your website, to your store, strenghten your brand, and build lasting relationships with your customers.

The answers to what your consumers want are all around us. You just have to look for them and let them know that you are listening.

Other industries are already doing this and succeeding. Why the major retailers in America haven’t jumped on, I don’t know.

Related posts

• Sears. Where it begins. (4)
• Sears’ Lands End Shop (3)
• Lesson in how not to brand: Cocaine Energy Drink (2)
• Express Lane for August 6, 2008 (0)
• Cocaine energy drink pulled from shelves (1)

Is Wal-Mart the shot in the arm that VOIP technology needs?

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is adding an array of Skype phone gear to the electronics section in 1,800 stores, bringing the renegade provider of cheap calling over the Internet to a huge mainstream audience.

The dedicated Skype section will feature handsets, headsets and webcams designed to work with Skype, a provider of free and very cheap long-distance calls, including to phone numbers abroad. Wal-Mart will also sell the first prepaid cards for Skype calls to be sold in this country, the companies were announcing Monday.

The new section at more than half of Wal-Mart’s roughly 3,300 U.S. stores will feature Skype-compatible gear made by Motorola Inc., Plantronics Inc., Logitech International SA, Royal Philips Electronics NV and others.

Obviously there are huge positives in this move for Skype. The more doors that they are able to sell in, the more consumers that they are exposed to, the more their sales increase. Although Wal-Mart already offers Vonage products, increasing the VOIP offerings in the retailer will also increase aware of VOIP technology as a whole. Offering a lower cost alternative to major telephone companies, Skype could be a very good fit for the Wal-Mart demographic.

My concern is whether or not the consumer walking into Wal-Mart is going to be able to really find out what Skype and VOIP is about. I’m going to guess that in the majority of cases, they are not. It seems that product knowledge is not a trait that most retailers are pushing on their employees these days. I hope that this really isn’t the case, as Wal-Mart makes a huge push to increase their electronics offerings, but I have my doubts.

More from the Asbury Park Press / Associated Press.

Related posts

• Sears’ Lands End Shop (3)
• Wal-Mart to expand walk-in health clinics (1)
• Success and convtroversy lead to higher national profile for Rutgers (0)
• Sears. Where it begins. (4)
• Salon: The Man Behind Abercrombie & Fitch (0)

Think of Sears.

Now think of opening a book and going on a wonderful journey through the pages.

Does it make you think of shopping at Sears?

The retailer has unveiled their new marketing campaign, featuring a book theme that:

[..] suggests that shopping at Sears is like opening a book which tells a never-ending story about possibilities for life at home. It is designed both to recall the Sears heritage and to speak to customers in a way that is relevant to their needs and lifestyles today.

(More information: from Sears’ own press release, AdWeek, and BrandWeek.)

It appears that the intention of the campaign is to invoke thoughts of the retailers’ catalog beginnings.

I saw one of the commercials tonight, for their Mother’s Day sale. I’ll say this, it did catch my eye. It reminds me of recent television campaigns by Macy’s and Target, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Although I don’t know how much ELO’s “Mr Blue Sky” has to do with Sears, I do love that song.

Visually, I do like this commercial. I’ll reserve judgement on the campaign on a whole until I see more of it in action. I think there is something positive with this concept and I’d like to see it work.

Can they execute this marketing package well across print, television, and interactive media while tying this in to the in-store shopping experience?

Last year I wrote about what I saw Sears doing with the Lands End shop concept (see: Sears’ Lands End Shop). At the time I said that I wasn’t sure how exciting the stores were going to be, outside of this new area. I still feel like that today. If this new marketing campaign is successful in bringing consumers back into Sears, what are they going to see? The Sears I have been in lately haven’t been terribly exciting nor inviting.

Once through those doors, are you going to want to spend your money there?

Looking at this as the first step in a turnaround for the retailer, perhaps this is just the first piece. I think Sears has a rich heritage and it is great to see them tapping in to that. If they continue to reevaluate their core competencies and merchandising assortment, maybe they can stop the bleeding that has begun. Same store sales at Sears were down in the first quarter (source), while many other retailers enjoyed hefty gains. Although their profits were up dramatically in 2006, there is only so much bottom line the retailer can slash before things get ugly.

Is 2007 Sears’ year?

Related posts

• Retailers and Social Media - when are they going to learn? (1)
• Sears’ Lands End Shop (3)
• Express Lane for August 6, 2008 (0)
• Success and convtroversy lead to higher national profile for Rutgers (0)
• Sears + K-Mart, Year One (0)

Seriously, how can anyone think that this is a good idea:

An energy drink called Cocaine has been pulled from stores nationwide amid concerns about its name, the company that produces it said Monday.

Clegg Ivey, a partner in Redux Beverages LLC of Las Vegas, Nevada, said the company plans to sell the drink under a new name for now.

The Food and Drug Administration issued a warning letter last month that said Redux was illegally marketing the drink as a street drug alternative and a dietary supplement. May 4 was the deadline for the company to respond.

More from CNN.

Before this, I’ve never heard of this drink before. But looking at the website (DrinkCocaine.com), I’m glad I never saw it. In the ever-growing, ever-crowded field of energy drinks, this is just poorly thought out branding in a horrible attempt to be edgy.

With the company being forced to market the product under a new name, what is the angle going to be? The Wikipedia entry for the drink says that the company claims that the drink is 350% stronger than other energy drinks. Start over and build a brand about that. My guess is that the new name isn’t going to help much.

Distinguish your product from your competitors. Build the brand around that. Don’t build the brand about hype or a gimmicky name.

Related posts

• Lesson in how not to brand: Cocaine Energy Drink (2)
• Retailers and Social Media - when are they going to learn? (1)
• Success and convtroversy lead to higher national profile for Rutgers (0)
• Sears. Where it begins. (4)
• Sears’ Lands End Shop (3)

Wal-Mart has launched themselves into the forefront of the national health care debate by announcing that they’re expanding the available locations of walk-in in-store health clinics. On top of the 100 that they currently offer, Wal-Mart plans to open up an additional 400 locations in three years, with up to 2,000 additional locations in seven years (more info via Blogging Stocks).

Currently, the retailer operates walk-in health clinics in stores located in 12 states throughout the South and Mid-West (source). These clinics “offer essential preventative and routine health services for a standard set of common health aliments and screening needs that can be performed without urgent or emergency care” (source).

I support this move and think that it is a good move for the retailer, for several reasons.

The first, is the good will nature of the deal. They’re offering an affordable healthcare alternative for people in areas that may not otherwise be able to afford it. I’ve seen a lot of these walk-in health clinics open up in my area lately and have used them myself in instances where my regular doctor was not available. I like this blog, written by Dr. Bill Crounse, which argues about the positive benefits of these types of walk-in clinics.

This move also brings in money, with little risk to the retailer, since they are renting out the space for the walk-in clinics, and not actually providing the service.

Last, I see this as another way for Wal-Mart to keep people coming back and keep them at Wal-Mart. Dubious as it may be, this is another way the retailer can provide something for everyone. After your get checked out at the clinic, customers will shop for groceries while their prescription is being filled at the Pharmacy.

Typically, I’m not a very pro-Wal-Mart guy, but I do like this announcement.

Related posts

• Success and convtroversy lead to higher national profile for Rutgers (0)
• Retailers See Mixed Results in June (0)
• Express Lane for August 6, 2008 (0)
• Can Wal-Mart boost VOIP and Skype? (1)
• Wal-Mart’s Urban Tale (0)

When I graduated from high school and made the decision to go to Rutgers University, I know that it was somewhat looked down upon by some of my classmates and my peers. In the mid-90’s, Rutgers University did not have the kind of prestige within the state of New Jersey that it deserved. In fact, it did not have the kind of prestige within it’s own state that it did nationally. Some people looked down upon Rutgers as being just a state school and did not think that a school 20 or 40 minutes away could offer a great education.

Although I did not complete my education at Rutgers, I still have strong ties to the school and the New Brunswick community. I always thought that it was a fantastic school with a great program. Like many people around here, I have been very excited and proud to watch the sports program do so well in the national spotlight lately.

And, of course, the comments made by Don Imus this week have again thrown Rutgers into the national spotlight.

But how do you measure the success of all of this? How do you quantify “increased national recognition”?

As the Associated Press reports (see: Rutgers Sports Teams Undergo Renaissance), enrollment applications are up, alumni donations are up, and, to tie this in to this blog, sales of Rutgers apparel is up:

Last year, Rutgers received a record number of applications, more than 40,000. This year’s applications are running 7 percent ahead of that.

And through January 2007, donations to the Rutgers Foundation are up a whopping 35 percent over the same period last year, school officials said.

Rutgers is relatively selective for a big state university. It accepts about 60 percent of the students who apply, and more than half of those it admits were in the top 10 percent of their high school classes.

Meanwhile, the university’s “R” logo is popping up in more places as school pride grows throughout the Garden State and elsewhere. Marybeth Schmutz, assistant director of the university’s trademark licensing department, said sales of Rutgers merchandise are up more than 30 percent in the last year.

“You can’t walk into a Kohl’s or a Target or Modell’s without seeing Rutgers stuff,” she said. “We are getting new designs sent to us by people interested in selling Rutgers products every single day. It’s huge for us, and it’s still growing.”

Good news for Rutgers, even in the trying times. With a high quality recruiting class for Rutgers football, I foresee the sports teams only continuing to do well in the near future. Higher profile translates into more money for the school. I see this as only a good thing.

Related posts

• Wal-Mart to expand walk-in health clinics (1)
• Sears. Where it begins. (4)
• Sears’ Lands End Shop (3)
• Sears + K-Mart, Year One (0)
• Salon: The Man Behind Abercrombie & Fitch (0)