Obsessive Branding Disorder

I saw this re-run tonight of the Colbert Report, that originally aired on the 4th. Lucas Conley is the guest, promoting his book "Obsessive Branding Disorder". They have an entertaining convo about different brands slapping their names on irrelevant products. Honestly, I was entertained, thanks to my friend Stephen for derailing Conley's messages a lot, but I wish he'd given him a chance to explain his thoughts better. I don't think anyone in the audience got the point either, having product placement constantly thrown into the interview.

Basically by companies carelessly throwing their identity around, it weakens their brand.

Here's the video:



Have you guys seen any of these blasphemous products? I recently saw Crayola brand juices at the grocery store, that, you guessed it, look like crayons. Mmm wax juice.

If the video doesn't work, click here and find the August 4th episode, then you have to wait until like 3 other segments play first.

Marketing for a You Tube Generation

I find it interesting that it has become increasingly more popular for companies to look for new ideas from the very audiences they are advertising to. The popularity of reality television has created a feeling on the part of the audience to participate in shaping brand campaigns and products they'll be using.

A recent example is Crest and thier campaign for a tagline for their line of whitening espressions toothpaste. They've created a You Tube contest where people can submit a clip where they perform their best tagline and the top pics will go on to an Americal Idol like final competition. People gobble this stuff up and Crest's marketing firm has essentially created a campaign that creates itself, which keeps costs down and builds a stonger relationship between the public and the product brand.

Check out the article.

Do you think this type of marketing is a good idea?