MURKETING

Business of rap

This WFMU’s Beware of the Blog post asks: “who’s got the best rapper for their corporate video?,” and links to three soul-crushing examples of rapping in training films and so on, attributed to Microsoft, Wendy’s, and the Software Publishing Association. Each is depressing for different reasons, and I couldn’t finish any of them. But still.

Regarding menthols

Radar Online has an interesting look at why menthol cigarettes are popular with African-American smokers. An excerpt:

By the 1960s, magazines like Ebony and Jet were packed with cigarette advertisements that featured African-American models and referenced black culture, like Lorillard’s “Newport is a whole new bag of menthol smoking” (after James Brown’s “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag”) and R.J. Reynold’s “Different Smokes for Different Folks” (a nod to a Sly Stone hit) campaign for Salem Extra. Some of the ads seemed almost progressive, encouraging the era’s burgeoning black middle class to “Come Up to the Kool Taste,” and promising them that smoking a Kool was “Like riding a Rolls Royce.”

To make further inroads, the tobacco companies loudly supported the Civil Rights Movement and later made regular and significant contributions to organizations like the NAACP, the United Negro College Fund, and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. By the early ’80s, when a young Kool G Rap (neé Nathaniel Wilson) was growing up in Queens, mentholated cigarettes had become so ingrained in the black community they were widely considered the Official Cigarettes of Black Folks….

The rest is here.

Prada ideas

In the WSJ today, there’s an interview with Miuccia Prada, on the subject of why so many women are “squeamish about fashion.” Prada claims that at one time she thought fashion was “stupid” but eventually changed her mind.

Ms. Prada has come to terms with her profession only of late. “I’ve recently re-evaluated my job,” she said. “I’ve realized that fashion is a very powerful instrument that…allows you to transmit ideas and shape opinion.” ….

Ms. Prada doesn’t have a signature style, like Tom Ford’s dripping-in-sex-appeal look or Valentino Garavani’s Oscar-night elegance. But her attitude is clear: I think therefore I wear.

That’s why she scoffs at those who fall victim to logos instead of developing their own styles. “Buying a $5,000 handbag just because it’s a status symbol is a sign of weakness,” Ms. Prada said. “Daring to wear something different takes effort. And being elegant isn’t easy. You have to study it, like cuisine, music and art.”

Well, a couple of things. I’ve read this point before, that fashion can “transmit ideas.” I wish the interviewer would have asked what seems like the obvious follow-up question: Like what?

At one point there’s some discussion of ideas about beauty (“I want to reintroduce the concept of beauty — a new sense of beauty”), which is fine, but is that it?

I’m prepared to accept that beauty is a reasonable thing about which to have ideas. But the implication that there’s some kind of intellectual bravery in this, and that somehow beauty is a concept that society just doesn’t think about enough, strikes me as absurd. But I guess the whole premise of the interview strikes me as absurd. I don’t see a big crisis out there in fashion being underrated, and not being focused on enough. As you go through your day today, see if anything makes you think, “Wow, this society is just way too focused on science, economic policy, and civic engagement. People really should spend more time thinking about fashion.” See how often it strikes you that fashion is really underrated.
To be clear, I’m not attacking anybody for thinking about fashion. What I’m questioning is whether, say, Prada fans are some kind of embattled underdogs who need defending.

Finally, I’m amused by Prada’s comment that: “Buying a $5,000 handbag just because it’s a status symbol is a sign of weakness.” Keep that in mind next time you’re spending $5,000 on a Prada handbag (or perhaps buying a brand-new Prada phone). Make sure you’re not doing it because you’re a brand weakling. Make sure you’re doing it because of how hard you’re thinking.

5950 X 10061 = ?

Jeff Staple posted some images of a new brand-collaboration limited-edition product the other day. New collaborations are a dime a dozen, but this one interested me because of the collaborators: New Era, and Timberland. Usually, one big mainstream brand collaborates with a brand-underground-type brand (see this old column on an Alife/Levi’s project, or this one about New Era collaborating with Gabriel Urist, under the auspices of Jeff Staple, in fact), swapping financial resources for downtown cachet.

But here we have two mainstream brands collaborating with each other. Granted, both brands have unusual relationships with the hipster (or trend-setting, or whatever, you know what I mean) consumer. Each has “authentic” “street” “credibilty” etc. etc. But still, it’s pretty unusual for something like this to happen, and I’m not quite sure what to make of it.

What’s next, an Adidas X Nike sneaker?

Local news

One of the things that’s really different about living in Savannah is that it’s not unusual to see uniformed soldiers — at the grocery store, the Best Buy, in the next car over on the street, whatever — just going about their off-hours business. There are big military bases nearby, and as a result the war is very much covered as a local story in the newspaper here, which has been running stories almost every day about members of the 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Benning. The 3rd ID, as they call it, was actually part of the initial invasion of Iraq, and is the first Army division to go for a third tour of duty there. That’s what’s happening right now.

The other night we watched a PBS show called When Parents Are Deployed (basically about how young miltary families deal with explaining to the childredn what’s going on) and I don’t think that’s something we would have done before the move. It’s not like we were unaware of the war, or the sacrifices military people make, or we didn’t have opinions about it all before. But it’s interesting how much more tangible it all is here.

In this morning’s paper, there were interviews with a few family members of re-deploying troops, openly wondering what was the point of it all when it would end. I’ve read articles like that before, of course, and you probably have, too.

Possiblly it’s weird for me to bring all this up here, since I don’t have an obvious point, and it’s totally “off topic.” But I guess that is the point. I spend so much of my professional life dwelling in a world where nobody really acknowledges that, you know, there’s a war going on. So I just wanted to acknoweldge it. If America made up of multiple mainstreams now, maybe we’re sort of living in a different one than we used to.

Pillow fighting

Well, other people often know about this sort of thing long before I do, but:

The Pillow Fight League (PFL) leads the way as the most exciting and innovative new wave in sports entertainment. Featuring strong female combatants, the PFL is engaged in the unprecedented whip-action attack of pillow fighting. Not just for the slumber-party sleepover anymore, these women are serious brawlers – armed with beauty, brains and a nasty disposition.

They’re on tour now, and it almost goes without saying that the opening matches are in Williamsburg. The multimedia clips, blog, Myspace link, and merchandise you’re looking for are all here. I like the logo.

Department of department-store fandom

This NYT article today looks at Chicago “superfans” of the department store Marshall Field’s, who are upset over its “demise” since its corporate parent was bought by Federated Department Stores (best known as the owner of Macy’s).

The most fervent, and the most vocal, of the believers are determined to send Macy’s and its little red stars packing. The arrival of Macy’s, they say, wiped out a landmark store founded by a retail giant who was also a benefactor to many of the city’s cultural and educational institutions.

Fueled by a mix of nostalgia and civic pride, 60,000 or so people signed an online petition last year urging executives at Federated — which in 2005 bought out Marshall Field’s parent, the May Company — to keep the name Marshall Field’s for all the stores.

Some Field’s loyalists have printed T-shirts, sweatshirts, lapel stickers and bumper stickers reading “Boycott Macy’s” and “Forever Marshall Field’s.”

Cursory Googling indicates that this has been going on for a while, and I can’t quite tell whether it’s really a big deal or just a handful of noisy zealots. Either way, it’s always interesting to come across retail loyalty that extends quite this far. Clearly in this case, there’s a kind of regional issue going on, with Marshall Field apparently serving as an icon of Chicago. (And Macy’s representing the annoying New York City.) This site is pretty explicit about the landmarkiness of the store: “For over 150 years, Marshall Field’s defined Chicago as an international city.” That’s quite a claim! And remember they aren’t knocking down a building, so this isn’t about architecture. It’s about a retail brand. And about the “Chicago-style quality” the store had, according to this person, anyway.
Is there a more modern retail palace today that people will eventually feel that kind of attachment to? Will people in Minneapolis get emotional about the Mall of America some day?

Oh goodie

I guess I missed the Golden Globes. I hope all your favorite stars won, or whatever. Anyway, a company called Backstage Creations that I dealt with indirectly in Consumed a while back sent me a press release about what was going into the stars’ “goodie bags” this year, and while I think this sort of thing gets reported in the entertainment press, I pass along the full list (well, I cut out the travel and spa packages) below.

Most of what was on the list was either stuff that’s very obvious, or that I’d never heard of — like high-end baby products and so on, which I asume are following the well-trod path of getting their wares into the hands of celebrities, and then riding the free publicity in US Weekly and so on. Even Christopher Moltisanti has grasped the unpleasantness of wildly successful rich people getting all the latest cool stuff for free (and if you’ve seen that episode of The Sopranos, you already know what he did about it), so I won’t dwell on that.

The most surprising thing on the list: Lladro figures. That seems kind of weird. Next time you’re at Chloë Sevigny’s house, ask to see her Lladro collection. Anyway, the list follows (the language is the press release’s, not mine). You see anything interesting, you let me know. Please continue…

Holiday

St. Louis / Flickr photo by urbanreviewstl.com

Basically, I worked today. But to acknowledge the holiday somehow or other, I’ll link to Urban Review STL, which has a five-part look MLK Drive in St. Louis. Many of the issues explored are the same in other cities. (None of this is really within the purview of Murketing.com, but as an example, his caption for the above image: “In the triangle formed by MLK, Page and Grand are these fine old warehouses and a gas station (behind these buildings). It would be nice to see these renovated into retail & housing but I’m afraid a lack of vision and leadership in this area will lead to their demolition for something suburban.”)

Some of you know, because I’ve mentioned it before, that I have a little side Flickr project called MLK BLVD. (Explanation here.) Below, if you choose to proceed, are a few highlight images from that project, which is ongoing, seeks your help and participation, and will (I hope) get more attention from me in 2007. Please continue…

Biker Chic

In Consumed: Timbuk2: A blue-collar profession attains hipster status — and so does its paraphernalia.

To be a bike messenger, a former member of that profession explains in the documentary “Pedal,” is to be part of a “whole different culture.” The messenger feels free, envied and looked down on all at once. “Bike messengers fall into the realm of outlaw,” he explains. It’s not clear exactly when people delivering things by way of a bike came to be thought of as a “culture,” but in recent years it has become clear that this image is widespread and probably marketable….

Continue reading at the NYT site via this no-registration-required link.

Additional links: Peter Sutherland; Mash SF.

“Death threats and hate mail:” More pizza politics

The previously mentioned Pizza Patrón pesos stunt continues to attract attention. In fact, the 59-location chain has “been hit with death threats and hate mail,” according to this A.P. story.

Pizza Patrón spokesman Andy Gamm said the company is just trying to sell more pizza to its customers, 60 percent of whom are Hispanic. But the move has drawn some heated reaction.

“This is the United States of America, not the United States of Mexico,” one e-mail read. “Quit catering to the damn illegal Mexicans,” demanded another.

The version of the story published in the Fort Worth Star Telegram has some quotes from a store manager in nearby Arlington, who says he’s from “a lot of people, calling in English — not in Spanish — cursing at me, and just saying a lot of racial stuff.” But he also says: “Even bad publicity is really good publicity, when you’re mentioning a pizza place that two weeks ago no one knew about.”

What I want to know is, does Pizza Patrón’s Hispanic-customer focus simply translate to a location strategy? Did it simply locate in places that, say, Pizza Hut hadn’t — either because the Pizza Hut number-crunchers overlooked them, or didn’t think that Hispanics liked pizza? Or do they compete with Pizza Hut on price? Or, is the menu tweaked in some Hispanic-friendly way that makes it different than Pizza Hut?

And by extension, are there chains of burger places and Chinese restaurants and KFC alternatives “serving the Hispanic community”? Or does this model only work for pizza for some reason?

I checked with a longtime Friend of Murketing, Fort Worth-based Chow, Baby, whose coverage of area restaurants is a highlight of the Fort Worth Weekly. Chow, Baby hadn’t eaten at Pizza Patrón lately, but recalled the fare as “decent chain pizza,” although not with any memorable Hispanic accent. And also:

Chow, Baby’s position would be that as a restaurant critic it doesn’t take a public stand on political immigration issues, but as a food lover it wishes more people would come here and open little taquerias. So whatever supports that, Chow, Baby supports. Also it has tons of leftover pesos from its last “fact-finding mission” to southern Mexico, so this sounds like a great idea.

I may have piqued Chow, Baby’s curiousity on this matter enough to convince it to go spend those pesos and write it up. (After all, maybe it was scoping out the best pizza options in southern Mexico when it acquired them.) If so, I’ll pass that along when the time comes.

Questionable branding strategy of the day

Meth Coffee: “Mental clarity! Mind-altering euphoria! Nail your ass to the chair with Meth Coffee, a smooth, rich roast supercharged with maximum caffeine and dusted with yerba mate.”

Noted: “CONTAINS NO ACTUAL METHAMPHETAMINES.”

Great.

[Via NRN Food Service Blog.]

The anti-democratization of luxury

Everybody’s heard about the democratization of luxury, etc. etc. An interesting counter-narrative to this conventional wisdom could be written by someone, on the subject of how luxury resists democratization, and it might include a section on Tiffany’s.

In an article on Tiffany’s yestersday, The Wall Street Journal told the story of a silver charm bracelet, priced at around $100, that was introduced in 1997, “to address the then-emerging trend toward affordable luxury.” The bracelet was “a sensation.” That was good news for Tiffany’s. For a while.

Within a few years, the company’s managers became “concerned about the crowds in Tiffany’s suburban stores.” Company research found that “Tiffany’s brand was becoming too closely associated with inexpensive silver jewelry.”

So they started raising prices on the bracelets, first to $175. People kept by buying them.

This in and of itself is pretty interesting. Tiffany’s seems to have enjoyed amazing pricing power — as far as I can tell, that boost amounted to pure profit, and there was no improvement to the product, but people were buying anyway.

By 2004 the price was up to $250, and sales finallly died off. (Interesting to speculate how much of that was actually price-related and how much had to do with a fad running its course.) That, it seems, was Tiffany’s real goal: getting rid of the affordable-luxury riffraff, to protect their not-so-affordable luxury image. The Journal‘s Ellen Byron writes:

At its flagship New York store, Tiffany began inviting its best customers to observe artisans creating one-of-a-kind jewelry in its storied seventh-floor workshop, which is closed to the public.

Now, Tiffany can boast that its biggest sales growth in the U.S. came from sales and transactions over $20,000 and over $50,000. In the most recent quarter, sales in stores open at least a year grew 4% over the year before, with the newly renovated New York flagship posting a gain of 13%.

Still, as the piece notes, Tiffany’s challenge isn’t over, as it continues to walk a line between expanding (it’s up to 64 stores in the U.S.) and still seeming exclusive. Here’s a link to the whole article, but you have to be a subscriber for it to work — and in that case you’ve probably already read it.

More evidence

Theme Magazine has a sort of history of streetwear, from Stussy and PNB Nation era through more recently becoming “a Wall Street Journal-approved phenomenon.”

“Wall Street Journal-approved”? The Wall Street Journal gets credit for being the Big Media Bad Guy? What did they run, like a little box on five cool T’s you can buy now? Come on! Can’t I even get respect as the mainstream old dude who ruined everything? How about disrespect?

All right, forget it.

Anyway, interesting read if you want a crash course.

The politics of pizza

A pizza chain called Pizza Patrón, with 59 locations in Texas, California, Arizona, Nevada, and Colorado, recently announced that it would accept pesos. Clearly it’s a bit of a publicity stunt, although a guy speaking for the chain told Reuters that “for us it makes sense. Our stores are located in predominately Hispanic communities and so the majority of our customers are Hispanic.” Lots of the chain’s customers, he added, travel back and forth to Mexico a lot, so they might have pesos in their pockets.

Well. You can sort of guess the next part:

Against the backdrop of rising anti-Hispanic tensions as America grapples with an estimated 10 to 12 million illegal immigrants, there are some who do not regard it as a harmless marketing gimmick.

“This is America, we speak English and our currency is the U.S. dollar. I will no longer visit your restaurant due to your demonstrated inability to assimilate into the culture of this country,” said one irate former customer in an e-mail sent to Pizza Patron on Monday morning.

I’ll let you draw your conclusions about the American-ness of paying for pizza in $USD, vs. the American-ness of a pizza chain that boasts that it serves “Hispanic communities the highest quality pizza at the lowest possible price.”

Anybody out there tried this place? I sure like the logo.