Olympic Fun

For the past week I have been completely enthralled with the Olympics.  It is funny, because in the days leading up to the games I was not really all that excited about them.   With the exception of 3 nights of synchronized diving, (Seriously… this should be a 30 second highlight reel, not 3 nights of prime time.) I have been fairly captivated.

Like me, many people have been closely following these Beijing Games.  I will certainly remember the opening ceremony, Michael Phelps and his domination, and I am sure the coming week of games will deliver more momorable moments.

Still one of my favorite Olympic moments was not an actual moment at all, but rather a spoof delivered courtesy of Saturday Night Live.  I remember when this aired.  It cracked me up then, and still does today.  Phil Hartman might just be the most underrated comedian of all time.  Check it out.

High Five

The wired how to wiki is awesome.  You can learn how to do just about everything on this site.  Among this month’s featured “how to’s” is “how to throw the perfect high five.” The article is short, funny, and valuable if you are looking to improve your ability to slap some skin.  It features basic high five instructions, and alternative versions of high fives including “The Todd” - named for the notorious high-fiving, freaky character from the brilliant show Scrubs.   They even include this highlight clip from YouTube featuring the best of The Todd.

Just below that is a high five described as the “21 Jump Street.”  The picture makes me laugh, as it shows the rediculous huddle high five from that rediculous late 80’s show.  I actually remember people doing things like that, which is scary.  Better yet, they have the Top Gun high five too.  Oh, the 80’s…

Anyway, do yourself a favor and bookmark the wired how to wiki, or better yet subscribe to the feed and get updates as they appear.  Hive five to that!

High-Five - Wired How-To Wiki

Worth 1,000 Words

Who said church marketing sucks? I saw this sign outside of a church in Cincinnati today, and of course had to go back and snap a picture… and of course had to share it with you. Now, either this church is taking a REALLY different approach to attracting new parishioners, or they need to get some better letters for their display sign.

Great News Chad!

I know a certain connoisseur of Red Wine - also a frequent visitor to this site - who will be delighted to read this article in the NY Times. According to this, he might now be the healthiest member of my extended family. Who knew? The article states that Red Wine has numerous health benefits, including reversing, or at least slowing, the aging process. Bacchus is smiling upon you. If only coffee and beer did the same, I would be close to immortal now.

New Hints Seen That Red Wine May Slow Aging - NYTimes.com

If I Was in Charge of Rolling Rock…

Week 2 in my series of “If I was in charge.” I discovered that it is more difficult than I thought to pick a company. Inspiration comes from many sources, and tonight, it happens to come “from the glass lined tanks of Old Latrobe.” - Rolling Rock.

So, if I was in Charge of Rolling Rock, the first thing I would do would be to continue to play up the mysterious 33 on the back of the bottle by creating a Twitter type of microblog on the web site. It would ask you to tell your Rolling Rock story, or just share a comment using only 33 words. This would be fun to do, and might create some interesting tales about Rolling Rock.

Here is mine.

I drank my first Rolling Rock in Springfield, Ohio in 1992. My second one had a lemon in it. Delicious. I love the story of 33. Very mysterious. Painted label. Great summer beer.

Now, I would then continue to reposition the brand to be more “Yellow Springs, Ohio” or “Athens, Ohio” and I would redesign the web site to reflect that.  It would be much less branded and contrived, and much more down to earth.  I would make the content far more user driven, and I would find ways to get people involved in the brand.  I would get someone like Trey Anastasio to play a private show at the brewery - inviting loyal consumers to attend and chronicle the experience.   Sticking with the music idea, I might pick a few small target markets, like Dayton, and invest in supporting the local music scene.  I would include bands from these cities in the event with  Trey, using them as opening acts.  I would create a community and then engage them.

So, if you were in charge of Rolling Rock, what would be the first thing you would do? If the answer is drink free beer, than what is the second thing?

People Protest Starbucks, Story Misses Point…

As reported in this story by the DBJ, there is a group of consumers upset with Starbucks.  As the story outlines, the group is angry about the new logo that adorns Starbucks’ coffee cups.  What is omitted from the story is the reason for the logo change.  So, I thought I would take a few sentences to fill you in on the reason behind the switch.

A few weeks back Starbucks introduced a new brew called Pike Place Roast.  This brew is designed to be more similar to the coffee that was served in the original location in Seattle decades ago.  It is actually quite good coffee, and it is brewed fresh every 1/2 hour.  Clearly this was done in response to the high rankings that McDonald’s received in blind coffee taste tests done last year.  Starbucks did not fare so well in the same tests and has made a move to get back to what the company does best - brew good coffee.

The logo mentioned in the article, the one a small group of people are upset about, was introduced to coincide with the release of Pike’s Place Roast.  This logo is actually the original Starbucks’ logo.  Its use is symbolic of the company’s commitment to a return to its roots.  For a great article about the complete history of the logo, check out this blog post from author of the book Tribal Knowledge and the blog Brand Autopsy, John Moore.

The article in the business journal does a nice job of describing why the protesters are upset, but forgot to mention the reason why the company made the switch.  For those thinking of joining the protest, don’t waste  your time.  The old logo is just part of an eight week promotion, which is winding down.  Do not fear.  The family friendly mermaid will be back in only a matter of days.  Just when you start to kick that caffeine addiction, all will be back to normal.

Revealing new Starbucks mermaid logo gets mixed reviews - Dayton Business Journal:

GetMidwest Campaign Facing Global Competition?

I saw on Esrati.com today that the Dayton Development Coalition launched their GetMidwest.com website. In my humble opinion, all sides have now voiced their respective opinions on the merits and shortcomings of this campaign, and it seems as if there is not much more to say about it. In spite of my creative differences, I will certainly “get behind it” by freely telling people about the quality of life in Dayton and the surrounding area - something I already do regularly. The site does look very nice. There are beautiful photographs, maps, industry information, and all kinds of interesting facts about Dayton, Ohio and the Miami Valley.

There are a few concerns though….

Google Get Midwest, and you get a bunch of blogs, mine included, questioning it. Uhhhh.. that’s not so good. Same results if you include Dayton in the Query.

Of greater concern is the threat of global competition with Get MIdwest posed by this breaking news…

GetMideast - The Tehran Region: “We Think of Everything… For You”

Based on the reports that I am getting from my sources on the ground, the campaign is focused on how the Tehran Region, led by government officials, is proactively coming together through investing heavily in the growing industry of the nuclear technology industry cluster - for peaceful means only of course.

I hope that no one will mix this up with our campaign. We are a totally different direction. Midwest!

Of Even More Concern is This Campaign….

GetMedieval: “We Get Even…A Pair of Pliers and a Blowtorch”

Well, at least we didn’t pick that one…

I hope the people at the DDC have a sense of humor, and I do sincerely hope the Get Midwest campaign is successful. Southwestern Ohio is a great place, with a lot to offer. The cost of living is low, the weather is nice (most of the time), there is little traffic to speak of, clean water, plenty of entertainment, creative thinkers, innovative businesses, and amazing and friendly people everywhere.

If you were looking for the DDC site and came across mine, know that I think Dayton is wonderful. And if you are out there thinking should I or shouldn’t I “Get MIdwest,” the answer is yes. Yes, you probably should.

Have you heard of similar campaigns? If so, please do share. Best that we know now.

Drunken caveman craves Cassano’s

Well the Dayton Daily News is front runner for my favorite headline of the week with the story “Drunken Caveman Craves Cassano’s.” In a previous post here on davidebowman.com, I mentioned the amazing varieties of pizza available here in Dayton. Apparently, Cassano’s, which is a thin-crust, “Dayton style” pizza is a favorite amongst the drunken cavemen in town. This story in the DDN tells the story of a local man who was arrested for being intoxicated and demanding pizza in a caveman style voice. They should try using that in their next ad campaign. I can just picture that caveman from the insurance commercials all liquored up, demanding pizza in the wee hours of the morning - only to be carried out by the police while belligerently screaming “don’t you know who I am?” “I’m the caveman.” “I had a show on TV for 2 weeks.” “Me hungry…” They could get Cookie monster in on the follow up spot. Oh, if only… Check out the story for yourself.

Drunken caveman craves Cassano’s

This is Your Sewer.. on Drugs

Are people in your neighborhood using Cocaine? Meth? LSD? Flintstone Vitamins? Scharffen-Berger Chocolate? Soon, you may be able to have a better idea as to whether your neighbors are truly crazy or just good old fashioned junkies, loaded up on barbiturates. “How?” you ask. Well, it seems as thought scientists in Oregon are now drug testing raw sewage. They can run tests to determine if the waste from an area contains high levels of “intoxicated waste.” One of the ideas behind this is that if the levels of a particular drug found in the sewer system show up or go up in a specific part of town, the police could then step up patrols and change tactics for better drug enforcement. According to the story, individuals can not be tied back to the drug use with this technology - so it would serve just as a general indicator for patterns of drug use. Not sure how I feel about somebody testing sewage for drugs, but I am glad I chose marketing. Many would probably disagree with me on that one. Since hearing this story, I can’t help but sing the musical number below from Scrubs. Looks like they need a new verse.

Everything comes down to poo.  Below is the NPR story that led to this awful post.

A Communal Drug Test via the Sewer : NPR

Hot Stock Tip!

I am no stock market analyst, but If this story from the BBC proves to be true, it would be wise to purchase these stocks now:

• Luxotica (Lens Crafters)

• Kimberly Clark (Kleenex)

• KAO Brands (Jergens)

Do you think any of these companies have had meetings to discuss the implications of this on their marketing? How funny or maybe creepy would that be to listen in on? I love the internet.