Sometimes marketers get too cute and too smart in their ads, camouflaging their intended message behind innuendo, indirection, and allusion, or hiding it behind veils of comedy or artistry. The result is generally an ad that wins awards in the minds of those limited number of people in the know, but misses the mark with the mass audiences of people who were truly the target of the ad. If the intent was to deliver the desired message to a given audience size, the marketer, in essence, paid for many more effective impressions than actually occurred.

As an example, Advertising Age has an article on Caribou Coffee’s new TV ad, taking aim at Starbucks. The ad has marionettes sitting in a mall, acting like fake, snobbish people. When they see someone with a Caribou coffee, one asks, “Why don’t we ever get Caribou Coffee?” and the other responds, “Because we’re not real.” According to the ad’s creator, in addition to emphasizing that Caribou Coffee uses real ingredients, the ad conveys the message that they have a “real genuine vibe – it’s what separates them from their competitors” (i.e., the snobs at Starbucks).

Of the pool of people who think of Starbucks afficionados as snobbish, “unreal” people, how many of them would get the implied dig at Starbucks? And if they really did have something against Starbucks, might not they be more interested in turning towards McDonald’s or Dunkin’ Donuts instead instead of towards another “specialty coffee and espresso retailer” (as Caribou writes about themselves in their Wikipedia entry)? So, the audience who actually gets the intended message is a tiny fraction of the overall viewing audience.

Moreover, with that dig at Starbucks undelivered, what message remains in the head of the viewers – that this gourmet coffee shop uses real ingredients? (Like the other specialty coffee shop doesn’t?) If Caribou truly decided to stake out their brand position as the down-to-earth shop that sells gourmet coffees, they might not have effectively delivered that message.

That’s not to say that the spot is a failure. It might become successful if there are enough messages out there that clearly emphasize their brand position. That would allow the subtlety of this message to be more easily inferred by larger audiences.

Domus is a full-service marketing communications agency based in Philadelphia. We define sound brand positions and effectively communicate them using the available mixes of media, technology, and social trends, as appropriate. For more information, please visit our web site at http://www.domusinc.com.

Microsoft consistently scores well in its overall internet marketing efforts. It’s regularly has one or two videos in the top-10 viewing lists; it gets wide-ranging online news coverage; and it has large social networking interaction. But a close look at their traditional advertising campaigns shows where they are lacking.

Often, brand management’s marketing intentions are hidden on the internet because there are so many things going on at once and so many of them are outside of the control of them. However, in the offline world, where marketers have total control over their message and its distribution, their strategies and tactics become much more transparent.

And that’s where we see Microsoft’s strengths and weaknesses. Let’s look at three of their current campaigns.

• Bing – I actually like this campaign a lot. It stakes out a brand position for Bing vs. Google – Bing is a “Decision Engine”, not a search engine. And it tries to make the claim that there is too much clutter in results pages with search as we know it, but not so with Bing. Microsoft has a number of hurdles to overcome with their product vs. Google and with Google’s overall presence, but at least they have focused their product design and their marketing effort around a grounded brand position.
• Windows 7 – I don’t know what to say about this. What is their brand position? What is their message? People are PCs? People designed Windows 7 while showering? (And of course, who can forget those memorable Windows 7 launch parties that they promoted?) Contrast their ads to Apple’s. Enough said.
• Xbox – For a company locked in a major battle for supremacy in the gaming console business, Microsoft has been relatively quiet on this front. Their gaming division is finally profitable and they have a great product, especially with their Xbox Live service. I would think that now’s the time to ramp up their efforts. No effort is sometimes worse than bad effort.

Domus is a classically trained marketing agency with an innovative and technological focus. For more information, visit our web site at http://www.domusinc.com.

Every time I see Cadillac’s commercial for their 2010 SRX crossover, I wince. They come so close with this one, but they still can’t seem to clearly stake out their brand position.

First, the commercial starts with a picture of the SRX – a nice car, but it’s a crossover. If Cadillac is trying to reclaim the luxury automobile market top brand position, it’s hard to do so with a car segment that evokes imagery of sport, utility, and fun. These are areas that fit more with Chevy’s brand position (or GMC’s) than Cadillac’s. (That’s not to say that a luxury brand can’t have a crossover – Lexus has one – but it’s easier when you’re at the top.)

Next, the music, imagery, and wording (re-envisioned, reorganized, reactivated, reignite) are all more evocative of upbeat fun and styling. This would seem to be a brand position that Buick should occupy.

Finally, the ad ends with the line, “The Cadillac of crossovers.” So, at the end of the ad, GM finally tries to position the car at the top of the luxury market. But by this point, it has spread its message across three brand positions.

GM has a great opportunity to turn itself around. It finally has an excellent line-up of cars. It just needs to solidify its brands in their correct positions in consumers’ minds.

Domus is a full-service marketing communications agency based in Philadelphia. For more, please visit our web site at http://www.domusinc.com.

Starbucks is launching a major marketing campaign for its new instant coffee, Via. A major part of the roll out is a huge taste test throughout their 7,500 cafes in the US and Canada.

One possible problem with this introduction, though, is how it impacts the Starbucks brand position. Starbucks became successful by selling an experience and an image. Otherwise, why pay so much money for a product that can be gotten elsewhere for much less? Now, though, Starbucks is starting a huge campaign to convince people that they can’t taste the difference between a fresh-brewed coffee in one of their cafes and some powder added to hot water. The more successful the campaign, the more Starbucks will convince people that there is no need to return to their cafes.

Domus, Inc. is a marketing consulting firm based in Philadelphia. Please visit our web site at http://www.domusinc.com for more.