Stupid G Commercial

[Tokyo Slim]

Hey, look what I found:

You want some G? http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_dis...46688a420c90e6 No mention of any other products, but honestly, I think they are building to it. I can see the G-Air or G-Wear or whatever happening very easily. From this point. I guess we'll see.

 

[MetroStyles]

They are trying to be like Nike but they have failed. Nike is the only company that consistently puts out interesting, badass adverts.

 

[FiveFiveFive]

Tokyo Slim -- that's an important point. This isn't an ad strategy that Gatorade is going to use for years and years. Obviously not. The commercial poses a question without providing an answer.

The sole purpose of this commercial is to create a buildup before the unveiling of a new product, and that's exactly what's it's done. People are talking about it. I mean they're really talking about it, to the point that they're labeling others as "fools" amid heated discussions over the ad.

I can see Why's point, though. The strategy may backfire, turning people off instead of turning them on to the new product. I just don't think the commercial is annoying or offensive enough to reach that point, as Why seems to feel.

 

[Ringo]

While I totally get the fact that the point of a lot of these ads is to get people to talk about them "around the watercooler" and what not, I think I'm with why on this one, in that I think they're pretty ******. I'm certainly not a marketing guy, so my opinions may be misguided, but I don't see these ads as making anyone go out and buy gatorade... at least not enough gatorade to cover the advertising costs (I may be wrong).

In fact, I see them as the same awkward Bill Gates/Jerry Seinfeld ad campaign that MS launched. When those ads first aired, a ton of people talked about it. I remember having discussions with co-workers about how I thought they were a waste of money from an ROI perspective (despite understanding the "logic" behind it), only to hear from them that the fact that we were talking about it made it a successful ad campaign (don't think it made anyone want to go out and buy Windows or be more pro-Windows/MS, though...). Sure enough, the campaign ended as quickly as it began, because no one gave a ****.

Obviously Gatorade and Windows/MS products are two pretty different things, so this isn't an apples to apples comparison. I'm sure the "G" commercials will be more "successful," but I still don't really get some of the logic behind marketing moves like this. Maybe this is why marketing was one of my least favorites subjects in school.

 

[Tokyo Slim]

Originally Posted by Ringo

I still don't really get some of the logic behind marketing moves like this. Maybe this is why marketing was one of my least favorites subjects in school.
It works extraordinarily well sometimes. Like I pointed out earlier, see the "I'm a Mac" ads. Or McDonald's "I'm lovin it", or whatever. Its pretty ubiquitous these days... Not selling a product, but selling an idea or ethos that the company wants you to identify them with. Speaking of which, has anyone seen the McDonalds "See What We're Made Of" ads praising the QUALITY of their ingredients? As if anything there is "the best ingredients" anyone can get. (As they claim) Now THAT's a ****** commercial.

I think maybe McDonald's thinks I'm stupid.

 

[Ringo]

Originally Posted by Tokyo Slim

It works extraordinarily well sometimes. Like I pointed out earlier, see the "I'm a Mac" ads. Or McDonald's "I'm lovin it", or whatever. Its pretty ubiquitous these days... Not selling a product, but selling an idea or ethos that the company wants you to identify them with.
Not disagreeing with you... just my thoughts on certain marketing campaings in general.

I was actually going to comment on the "I'm a Mac" ads. While they can be pretty damn annoying (to me), I thought they were good in that they pointed out flaws with PC's while advertising the sexiness of apple's products, so there was an actual message there, rather than ambiguity.

That being said, I do love ads that are pretty weird/random, like the BK ads with the King (at least the ones where he is being really creepy). They don't make me want to eat BK or anything, but they're sure as hell entertaining. I also liked the original Subway 5-dollar foot long ads (with Godzilla and what not). The song was catchy, and lo and behold, they were advertising a great deal too.

 

[zeni]

Those 'I'm a Mac' ads really annoyed me. The Mac is supposed to be superior because he's a smug metrosexual asshole? And the polite 'stable' PC guy gets ridiculed? What kind of values are those to promote? That said, it definitely generated a lot of buzz, which I suppose is the point.

 

[Cary Grant]

Originally Posted by why

Except there's nothing Gatorade about it. That's the problem.



My God you're dense. The point of that ad is to sell Gatorade not prove some point about water cooler behavioral sciences.

I don't even think you know what ROI means.

With respect- in this case I don't think you get it. It is NOT to sell Gatroade. It's to establish a new tone for a new sub-brand, a low carb drink under the Gatorade brand.

In time the ads will become more direct, after the "unveil".

 

[Douglas]

Originally Posted by FiveFiveFive

Douglas, hope you don't take offense to this, but if you're trying to establish credibility by telling us you have an advertising background, I don't think that holds much water if you're attempting to discredit a company that produced one of the most memorable, effective ad campaigns of the 90s (Be Like Mike).

In that sense, based on credibility, I think I'd trust the folks at Gatorade to know what they're doing more than you or anyone else on this forum.

Oh gosh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize that any criticism of Gatorade (or their advertising agency) was off limits, forever, as a result of an ad they did a decade and a half ago. My bad.

 

[why]

Originally Posted by Cary Grant

With respect- in this case I don't think you get it. It is NOT to sell Gatroade. It' to establish a new tone for a new sub-brand, a low crab drink under the Gatorade brand.

In time the ads will become more direct, after the "unveil".

All ads are ultimately to sell what's being advertised. Stop being dense.

Originally Posted by FiveFiveFive

If you're trying to tell me the company has no say in what their advertisements say and how they're conveyed, I can tell you that you're dead wrong. Believe me. I watch "Mad Men."

No, I'm not trying to tell you that. You're putting words in my mouth because you don't have the slightest clue what I'm talking about.

 

[Douglas]

Originally Posted by Tokyo Slim

What if I define it in dollars and sense of G sold? Why do you keep insisting that this ad is about selling Gatorade when it clearly directly isn't? Any more than I'm a Mac and I'm a PC is about specifically selling black MacBook Pro's, anyways.

Gatorade, as a company, has a raison d'existence, and that is to sell Gatorade. I insist that ads are about selling Gatorade because people don't pay for ads. Branding is a tool used to sell Gatorade - not the other way around. The only people who make their money on ethereal and unmeasurable assertions about brand (and again, this is a brand that is not yet even associated with a product!) are the folks at the agency.

 

[Tokyo Slim]

Originally Posted by Douglas

Gatorade, as a company, has a raison d'existence, and that is to sell Gatorade. I insist that ads are about selling Gatorade because people don't pay for ads. Branding is a tool used to sell Gatorade - not the other way around.
Well if you want to look at it that way, then I suppose no company should advertise. Because if people don't pay for ads, Ads don't mean much. Tell Apple that they are doing it wrong. (I've been saying that for years!) Tell Nike and McDonalds and half a dozen other companies they are doing it wrong. Don't tell me. In a couple months there will likely be no Gatorade, only G. So what then will the raison d'existence of the company be? Will it still be to sell Gatorade? That seems a little silly.

 

[why]

 

[Douglas]

Oh jeez, you're being intentionally dense. I'm saying that the purpose of a brand is not to build a brand. The purpose of a brand is to support the sales of the product. The brand is not an end to itself - it is a means to another end. And if the brand is not associated strongly enough with the product, then it serves no purpose. And if the branding creates negative associations, then it serves less than no purpose. That is my opinion of the G ads: I see the commercial and I react negatively to it and I am now less likely to buy G when I do see it, because I will think of these stupid ads and the silly hyperbolic language in it. Other people might not even ever realize what the ads are about and therefore never get any branding effect from it. Perhaps still others will respond to the "reveal" ads that are probably coming... but will their response have been amplified by the mystery of the originals? It is my position that not enough people will be piqued, or more interested in the G brand because of these commercials than they would have been with more conventional advertising to justify the enormous expense of paying Usain Bolt, Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, and others to convey such an ambiguous message in such a prime media slot.

I'm obviously not saying companies shouldn't advertise; if you get that from reading all my posts then you suffer from a truly spectacular lack of reading comprehension.

 

[fredfred]

The mac and mcdonalds ads Tokyo Slim mentions bear no relation to this "G" ad. The mac and Mcdonald ads do the branding thing, but they also drive product sales. Mcdonald's commercials show the food. It looks good (well, to many people). That helps drive sales. The Mac commercials addresses specific mac vs PC issues, which is nothing but a pure sales pitch. Those commercials also promote the "brand".

And if Gatorade dissappears... if they throw away one of the best known brand names on the planet... well, they'll get what they deserve. Don't think it could happen? They were stupid enough to put out the silly "G" ad... which cost a ton.... and they'll get nothing of value for it.

It's not the first time people have made stupid decisions.