Take It Face To Face

I was sitting around the kitchen table with my mom and her girlfriends showing them some funny you tube videos I had seen, when one of them told me to type in “where’s the beef.” This was a commercial for Wendy’s in 1984. It features three elderly women examining an exaggeratedly large hamburger bun with a miniature beef patty, and one of the women looks around in confusion shouting “where’s the beef.”

When I got into work today at FaceTime Strategy, my boss and I were exchanging thoughts on some interesting marketing campaigns we have seen around Washington, DC. We got to talking about Frank’s RedHot, and after listening to their radio ad, I noticed that Frank’s RedHot slogan spoken by an elderly woman, “I put that **** on everything,” had a strikingly similar approach to getting the audience’s attention as Wendy’s.

It’s been 25 years since Wendy’s infamous slogan and now Frank’s RedHot has taken their campaign in the same direction; having seemingly sweet and innocent elderly ladies shouting out the company’s catch phrase.

Have any of you seen either of these two campaigns?

Cynopsis.com delivered a news story today about the announcement of an integrated partnership between TiVo and YouTube which speaks greatly to the on-going development of digital media, or Interactive media, as the interface of choice for delivering content direct to consumers in an interactive and exciting format. I for one am thrilled at the prospect of perusing the vast library of YouTube video via TiVo while my online-news addict husband browses the web (thereby eliminating my ability to view YouTube videos online using our computer).

It is no secret that YouTube has proven to be an incredible platform for companies, organizations, and others to reach consumers, particularly when a video goes viral. Of course, going viral is strategic and doesn’t always just happen - though it has (most everyone has seen the Mentos/Diet Coke experiment video filmed then delivered to the masses online via YouTube, which has been replicated dozens of times and drawn more brand attention to Mentos than could have possibly been imagined). I dub that accidental advertising gone wild!

Either way, this joint venture will allow companies to consider adding brand content to YouTube video as a much less costly alternative to traditional television and radio spots, while still having the benefit of having the content delivered on a broadcast TV (i.e., TiVo) platform. If I can see the dollar signs, I know others can too.

Other cool ramifications include extending marketing reach to smaller companies who don’t have budgets for more costly television and radio spots. YouTube/TiVo will definitely allow these companies to reach a broad range of consumers, delivering valuable brand information and content, that they might otherwise have not had the ability to reach. By choosing to utilize the social video network YouTube provides, companies can save money and gain a greater public presence.

Given that recently many media news sites have speculated that traditional media platforms for marketing and advertising are not recession proof, it is expected that expenditures for those platforms will decline. So far, the only channel that has proven to be recession-proof is digital media. In fact, the use of digital media as a way to reach consumers is one of the only marketing and advertising formats that will continue to see vast growth in a declining economy. When such a campaign is designed by creative experts who specialize in digital media, and when that campaign is implemented strategically, companies will see more bang for their buck - $$$$$. Who doesn’t want that during a recession???