Caffeinated Without the Jitters

This is Ri-DQ-lous

2011-04-16T10:14:00.000-07:00

So a little confusion occurred while watching the latest DQ commercial with rainbows on fire and bunnies that shave you. At first I thought Old Spice replaced Isaiah Mustafa as their awesome brand ambassador. Then at the conclusion of the DQ commercial when they mentioned the mini blizzard, I thought so are they trying to be the Old Spice of ice cream chains? Thought the grill and chill concept and their one of a kind blizzards had already made them one of a kind. I cried copycat after the commercial ran and should have left it with their guitar that sounds like dolphins.

At least the new logo doesn’t look like a blood bank

2011-01-26T15:49:00.000-08:00

As brands desire to keep their appearance fresh with a new logo, tagline, etc., Starbucks has decided to take the step in that direction. I wouldn’t say it was the wrong direction, but I won’t say it is the right direction either. My only concern as a consumer is, I am worried about their explanation of the new logo; the removal of “Starbucks Coffee” is thinking beyond coffee. The problem I am concerned is, I’m afraid they’ll lose their focus on coffee again.

In the past, Starbucks had stop grinding whole beans in their stores to save time and get fresh pots brewed in a timely manner. Trading off for express service in exchange for quality, the coffee didn’t taste the same and Starbucks didn’t smell much like a coffee shop anymore. The aesthetics of the smells and performance of the barista were gone and it was part of the experience that made going to a Starbucks comforting. Quality assurance wasn’t great in many of their stores. Many of my friends and co-workers complained a lot about things like they had more ice than coffee flavor in their frappicinos, their latte tasted like hot choco or espressos not being made the way an espresso should be. Many failed product expansions such as sandwiches and other drinks proved Starbuck was trying to be everything to everyone.

Fortunately their Via instant coffee line has been very successful. I was one of the naysayers thinking “Why are they doing this?” and thought going into the instant coffee venture was branding suicide. As it turned out, it was the most successful product launches in company history. Starbucks did their homework and invested a lot of R&D into the product for many years. Importantly this was marketed the right way with aggressive sampling in stores or supermarkets and positioned to where Starbucks wouldn’t lose any value in their name.

I’m a very big supporter of local coffee places, that’s if I can find one and deliver a quality product, but in my part of suburbia a Starbucks is very accessible. There are five in a five mile radius of where I live and I’m happy drinking their Pike’s Place blend or most of their bold pick of the month. It would be sad to see what they were founded on diminish.

2010 – Good year for Train

2011-01-17T15:51:00.000-08:00

It seemed like every other commercial break I would hear “Hey, Soul Sister” and it would be an ad for a zoo or a refrigerator or maybe even tampons. First radio play was very aggressive with this song and now commercials, I couldn't get away from the song. Train was able to squeeze in another song just before the year ended for the Coca Cola Christmas commercials with Santa shaking a snow globe and who would have guessed, they played "Shake Up Christmas".

Putting songs on commercials will help artists not depend on record sales and tours being the big chunk of revenue. Plus you have to retire someday, why not build your fund now.

I feel it is starting to be overkill and I hope brands find another song to toot. Train isn't your only option, especially "Hey, Soul Sister"

Here I am 2011 - Please Make This Year Better

2011-01-11T13:50:00.000-08:00

From reading my title, 2010 didn't exactly seem like it was a picnic, it was like multiple awkward dinners. The one bright spot about 2010, was I married my college sweetheart and my best friend, Megan in September. I am very excited to start the new year with her and doing my best to start things off on the right foot. I am now pursuing a new path in the advertising industry. In my work experience in the account side of the ad world, I would eventually find I wanted to be a copywriter, but felt I was never able to do it. I thought maybe I didn't major in the right thing, or I should have started my career as a jr. writer instead of an account coordinator. Luckily with some support from friends and family and being told I can create a way to make this happen for me, gave me the fuel I needed to learn how to become a better writer and chase after something I would look forward to waking up every day too. I have also been participating in a new diet with my wife which is reducing or hardly having any refined sugars and flour. I have a little more than my wife, but by cutting it at least in half has made a difference in how I feel. I feel like I have even more energy later in the day and feel more "well-balanced" if that makes sense. I have more to come sports fans. Your sincerest tootles, Jason

Idiot Proof Bartending

2010-12-12T08:56:00.000-08:00

Good thing about these Disaronno commercials with the charming bartender teaching you how to make a drink with Disaronno and 1 ingredient, is hopefully not only it will educate people on what Disaronno is since it is still very exotic to most people in the states, but also if you know someone who makes drinks that taste way off (like putting Wild Turkey in margaritas) hopefully this will give them a crash course in beginners bartending.

Windows Phone - Don't know if it will sell phones, but it spoke to me.

2010-11-19T08:00:00.000-08:00

One of my biggest pet peeves was and still is littering. As mobile phones evolved and there are at least 30 different things you can do on a cell phone besides talking. I bet if you spoke to a high school kid right now about how cell phones used to be, they probably didn't think that the only feature cell phones had were just call someone and that was it. This leads me to my new pet peeve and that is when people let their cell phones take over their life and then things happen like car accidents, a stranger finding a compelling reason to sit in my lap, or watching a man walk in to a woman's bathroom and the list goes on. When I saw this commerical, I felt it really connected to me as that person who says "REALLY!". It has brought too many interruptions when I had meetings with someone, catching up with an old friend I hadn't seen in years or a certain realtive of mine and made me feel if I can put my mobile phone on hold for you, I would hope you would do the same for me. Treat people how you would like to be treated.

Maybe Kansas City isn't such a sad sports town after all

2010-07-09T18:43:00.000-07:00

Judging from the title of this entry a certain person from Akron, Ohio might be mentioned. With Cleveland's disappointment with Lebron James leaving home as well as the glimpse of hope to the city of one day winning a championship for a basketball team that was once a joke in the NBA is gone. It really made me think about how much people say Kansas City is a depressing sports town. The Royals and Chiefs aren't exactly playoff contending teams, but however the not as mainstream teams such as the Kansas City Wizards who have won an MLS Cup in 2000, Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in 2004 and generally make the playoffs the majority of their time as a franchise. The Kansas City T-Bones won the 2008 Northern League Championship. The latest Kansas City team, the Missouri Mavericks made the playoffs their first year as a franchise and had a very slow start and went to the second round. The Kansas City Explorers, the World Tennis Tour team just won the 2010 WTT Championship so another championship tallied to this city. I know some of those teams I just mentioned aren't the most alluring, but at the same time we should appreciate we are doing well in other areas. After all soccer didn't get its sexy until the World Cup, the recession made minor league baseball a better source of family entertainment and in every major city has it's pockets of tennis enthusiasts. Life isn't bad here at all.

Big 12 Concerns

2010-06-13T08:35:00.000-07:00

With Colorado and Nebraska leaving the Big 12 and Texas a a few other schools being invited to the Pac 10 how could a conference so dominant fall apart? Speculation of conference shifts and more money? I would say yes there is money involved, since it seems like money does a lot of talking in collegiate athletics (cough...BCS). I would assume the Big 12 is probably one of the wealthiest conferences with generous alumni as well as a conference that has schools that have great traditions as well as schools that have a presence in their respective sports. As a Kansas Citian this can also hurt us since a lot of Big 12 events have taken place in Kansas City and those are things that we hope help our city's debt. Plus with the alumni base of Mizzou, Kansas, K-State, Iowa State, Nebraska that reside in Kansas City, the Big 12 was the perfect conference and even having the chance to watch exciting teams such as Texas or Oklahoma coming here. I even remembered Oklahoma helping out the Kansas City economy seeing the town not painted in Chiefs red, but OU red. As a Texas fan it made me a feel a little uneasy, but at the same time I was grateful that OU fans are willing to stop at Kansas City to see their team play. I am concerned about this being a case of fixing something that isn't broken. I would hope that the Big 12 could find 2 more members to replace the ones who have departed and could possibly salvage something great, but would have to get use to the change. I suggest we go for Illinois and Iowa (Make the Big Ten with actual 10 members and the Big 12 the Big 12 again), plus Illinois already has a rivalry with Mizzou and Iowa has the in state rivalry with Iowa State. Now they can battle it out in the conference. I also thought of the possible Southwest Conference Rivalry reunion of having Arkansas in the Big 12 and grabbing TCU on the way since the Mountain West just acquired Boise State. Maybe some might argue with last years Fiesta Bowl battle between the two schools as well as the Poinsettia Bowl in 2008 can begin a new conference rivalry between the 2. TCU's recent dominance I believe would fit in the Big 12. This is just my plea to save the Big 12.

Is this good for the NHL playoffs? What kind of stupid sports media question is that.

2010-05-15T12:10:00.000-07:00

As you can see this is my first blog in months and I have a lot of new things to share. With the Stanley Cup Finals going under way and the Montreal Canadiens have upset the defending champions, the Pittsburgh Penguins and now Philadelphia defeated Montreal. The questions I saw after this was "Is this good for the NHL?" OF COURSE IT IS! I'm sorry the Crosby vs. Ovechkin dramtic rematch in the playoffs is not going to happen this year, but upsets are what make playoffs exciting. This exciting and not know what will happen next is one of the reasons why filling out brackets for March Madness has been a phenomoeon. People bitch and bitch about dynastys and having someone that hasn't been in the playoff picture in quite sometime is a great way of showing. Who would of thought the last seeded teams in the eastern conference would fight it out at the Eastern Conference Finals?

I congratulate the Philadephia Flyers and the Chicago Blackhawks for winning their conference championships and making the Stanley Cup Finals. This is the reason why the Stanley Cup Playoffs are still exciting.

The home of the Missouri Mavericks......is about an 8 minute drive

2010-01-05T20:39:00.000-08:00

I am quite surprised that I haven't blogged about this yet, even when it was first mentioned in the Kansas City Star that Independence was to have a CHL team and they were having a contest of the name, colors, logo, etc. Of course I was very excited about it, but also did my best to not be as hopefully and give myself a feeling of "don't get too attached" since hockey teams seem to leave Kansas City. I could only hope the CHL and the Mavericks learned from the mistakes and also saw what previous teams here didn't do.

I have now added Missouri Mavericks paraphernalia in my hockey collection and I now own 2 hoodies, 2 t-shirts, a cap, a souvenir puck and cup (a drinking one not an athletic one). I've gone to 5 games to date and I believe 3 were sold out but the other nights we're still almost a full house. The team management has done a very good job getting the Mavericks marketed through public relations efforts and advertising through many mediums and channels. In one day I could recall on my way to work seeing a commercial on Fox 4 News in the morning, Weather Channel's local on the 8's ticker and heard them mentioned on 2 radio stations.

Their website was very easy to find and navigate as well, but I'm still waiting for the Fan Shop online instead of just going to the Mavericks Pro Shop at the Independence Ice Arena. At least they understood the importance of having a optimized website and getting game day and promotional information out to fans or people interested in seeing the Mavericks. Other than that I am very happy the Mavericks and the CHL gave hockey fans in Kansas City what we've been longing for.

It's like the Subway diet, but it's Taco Bell

2010-01-02T10:50:00.001-08:00

I saw the commercial for the Taco Bell Drive Thru diet which is a "healthier option" of a fast food diet. For some reason I couldn't stop laughing at this since Taco Bell to me was known as the place that opened late and if you've been drinking late at night and needed "forth meal", Taco Bell was the place to go. There was even commercials that featured late night parties and people picking up Taco Bell. I can understand for the most part how this diet can work if done the correct way, but you have to read a lot of the fine print on the bottom of the commericals and there is a lot of it. Even on the Fast Food report cards on nutrition ratings, I believe Taco Bell actually received a B-. But for some reason I can see this going wrong and people ordering what is above or something more destructive.

Ummm...yeah nothing like the commercial at all

2009-12-23T11:05:00.001-08:00

This doesn't look like anything that would be related to the Vizio Flat Panel TV commercial. Song sounds cool when it gets to the chorus.

Glad to see you back.

2009-10-16T15:41:00.000-07:00

I missed these How to speak Austrailian commericals and with so many new pop culture terms since I've last seen a Foster's Commerical, it was about time to see some more.

The Kansas City Wizards...the beginning of a following

2009-08-26T20:07:00.000-07:00

As a proud Wizards fan and probably my favorite Kansas City team besides the new Missouri Mavericks who will begin their inaugural season on October this year, I'm really pleased to hear more buzz about the Kansas City Wizards on major radio stations, Kansas City Pitch, Ink and the Kansas City Star covering them more on a regular basis. To even sweeten the deal they'll be playing in a new stadium with business park and mini shopping district which will actually be closer to me compared to where they are now at Community America Ballpark in Kansas City, Kansas. Hope the new stadium and redeveloped area once known as Bannister Mall (What is this history people speak of there on why it needed to be preserved). Hopefully it'll give people a reason to come there as well as making an effort to clean Kansas City. There are even people that were more the Chiefs and Royals fans that I know have been curious about going to a Wizards game and when they do, they normally want to come back for more. This is the team Kansas City needs to pay attention to. When the Chiefs and Royals have frustrated us, at least the majority of the time when the Wizards have been in the MLS they've made the playoffs. They won the MLS Cup in 2000 and Lamar Hunt US Open Cup in 2004. There is a playoff contending team in Kansas City (well not sure about this year, but at least they have been) and after all it is the world's game.

Style of the Golden Age

2009-07-16T16:59:00.000-07:00

Skinny ties, grey or light suits and even the three martini lunch have been catching on again. Mad Men is a great example of making the Golden Age of Advertising very stylish. Forget smartphones, social networking, or even a computer, they made the agency life look very stylish and I'm sure sending things to the client weren't as convienent as email during that era. Little did I know the Mad Men style craze crept to me very slowly. I noticed one day when I was at Macy's I started to look at grey suits or as I dubbed "The Donald Draper" suit and even though I am not fond of the skinny tie, until I saw how it all went together.

Banana Republic is having a Mad Men promotion with their new suit line and I believe women's wear which is one campaign I've seen that's stand out for them and good for them since their flagship brand is in the middle of an identity crisis in my opinion but it can also show respect and appreciation for the Golden Age...well except I'm glad we can't smoke in office buildings, there are sexual harassment policies and women can do more than just be secretaries.

I inspire to be him

2009-06-07T10:20:00.000-07:00

Another angle in beer advertising is what I would like to think as a little corny, not too humorous but enough to gain my attention, but a somewhat interesting story. What I mean is the Dos Equis Most Interesting Man commercials. When I saw these I thought it was pretty funny and that it was a joke, but when I recall beer advertisments in a past couple years I think it's either extreme humor (Bud Light, Miller Lite) or sexiness (Stella Artois, Heniken Light, Becks) and even a simple story like Sam Adams.

This one is a little bit different from what I've been able to recall. The funny thing about the Dos Equis one is even though it seem a little corny, I found it a litte humorous and the "Interesting Man" kind of a cool guy. I even thought, it would be pretty cool to be like that guy when I'm his age and just to have an awkward moment just to see how it feels instead of having an awkard moment because I have no choice.

DTV Conversion is coming near you

2009-01-08T19:52:00.001-08:00

I have a bad feeling a lot of this is happening right now.

Reads

2008-12-01T18:51:00.000-08:00

With this time of year since no one except me is one for doing stuff outside I might as well stay in and I have done what I can to keep with the times by reading.

I'll thank Dr. Harmon from CMSU (now the University of Central Missouri) for telling all his students to read and you'll be better informed (professionally and socially)and have something good to talk about. Not to mention it is enjoyable this time of year since not many people are outdoorsy like myself this time of year.

I have found it beneficial to read many of the back issues of AdAge at my work's library as well as a few good books such as:

The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding - By: Al Ries and Laura Ries

Advertising Strategy Creative Tactics from the Outside/In - By: Tom Altstel and Jean Grow

and from my personal library

Buy-ology by Martin Lindstrom (I'm in the first few pages but so far so good)

I am looking for a good fiction novel to read so I can do something else besides reading about my day job. Maybe a Redwall book?