MURKETING

Annals of totally inappropriate brand loyalty

Who would do this? Do you understand what a tattoo is?

Anyway: A particularly sad image from a Radar Online photo gallery called “Bad Tattoos,” which is very funny, and connected to a book called No Regrets. Via BB.

You bought it you break it: In action

The previously noted Fragile Salt And Pepper set demonstrated in this short video on Core77.

I do like the idea of breaking something. I mean of breaking something that’s supposed to be broken.

I could see this product being a smash. Ahahahahahahahahaha!

Dead brands Q&A

If you happen to have clicked through the link in the entry below about the “what’s a dead brand worth?” story where I mentioned I’d be responding to reader questions, you may have perused those 178 queries and wonder why I haven’t answered any. In fact I have. But you have to follow a different link to see the things I chose to answer and the answers I gave. That, if you’re curious, is here.

Flickr Interlude

John Deere #6, originally uploaded by Dshalock the Libertarian Emperor.

In The New York Times Magzine: The Taser C2

SHOCK VALUE:
The Kleenex of stun guns brands balances sleek gadgetry with “take-down power.”

This week in Consumed, a look at the newest and most consumer-friendly version of … the Taser.

That would be “the Taser C2 Personal Protector, a model that is, if not exactly kinder and gentler, then at least more innocent-looking. Also: it’s available in pink and in a leopard print.”

Why the new form factor for the device?

“We finally listened to the customer,” Taser’s Steve Tuttle says. The customer was not comfortable carrying something that would cause people to dive under tables yelling, “Gun!” if you took it out in a restaurant. The customer liked sleek gizmos, and vibrant, fashionable colors. The customer wanted something light and small enough to put in a handbag. Of course, the customer still wanted to propel tiny electrodes up to 15 feet, affecting “the sensory and motor functions” (as the company Web site puts it) of whomever they strike, with “incredible takedown power.”

Read the column in the May 18, 2008 issue of The New York Times Magazine, or here.

Consumed archive is here, and FAQ is here. Consumed Facebook page is here.

In The New York Times Magazine: What Is A Dead Brand Worth?

In addition to Consumed, I have a feature story in the May 18, 2008, issue of The New York Times Magazine. It’s about brands and memory — and a company that’s trying to build (or rebuild) businesses out of nothing more than what’s in our heads.

I’m pretty happy with how it turned out, and I hope you give it a look. You can read it online now, right here.

As always, I would love to know what you think. Usually I entertain questions and criticisms and comments here. But for this story, the Times Mag will have me answering questions on its site. I’m telling you about this a little early, before most mag readers will be aware of it, so I hope you’ll go over there and post. My answers will begin appearing there on Monday.

Here’s one bit from the story:

By and large, examinations of successful branding tend to focus on names like Harley-Davidson, Apple, or Converse, which have developed “cult” followings. Such cases are misleading, though, because they are not typical of most of what we buy. A great deal of what happens in the consumer marketplace does not involve brands with zealous loyalists. What determines whether a brand lives or dies (or can even come back to life) is usually a quieter process that has more to do with mental shortcuts and assumptions and memories — and all the imperfections that come along with each of those things.

There’s also some interesting stuff about memory research, the licensing business, commercial Americana, brands and the brain, and so on. Check it out.

Thingdown: You Buy It, You Break It … and more….

Time for another fortnightly Weekend Thingdown. This isn’t a list of stuff to buy. It’s just a list of stuff that’s interesting. Continues after the jump.

“Fragile” Salt and Pepper Set, Via Coudal

Please continue…

Flickr Interlude

Yoga at the Mall, originally uploaded by andy54321.

AntiFriday

I’ll be honest: Slim pickings this week in dissent, critiques, and backlashing. Here’s all I can offer you.

1. A Christian group (“The Resistance”) is calling for a boycott of Starbucks on the theory that its logo is offensive. Significant? Uh, well, no. But I like the reverse-anti tone of the Starbucks Gossip item on the subject: “Christian group doesn’t have anything better to do than protest Starbucks’ logo.”

2. Wal-Mart opening thwarted in Chicago: Wal-Mart got the word from city officials last month that Mayor Richard Daley doesn’t want to risk a messy showdown with unions over Wal-Mart—like the big-box store battle of 2006—while Chicago is still in the running as a host city for the 2016 Olympics, according to people familiar with the matter,” says The Chicago Tribune. Via Wake Up Wal-Mart.

3. The Orlando Sentinal comes out against “Bus Radio, the prerecorded music-and-advertising programming being broadcast to students,” in Seminole County, Florida. I guess it plays on the bus. Isn’t weird that we live in a time when someone has to editorialize against an advertising medium tied directly to the school system? No? Okay, I’ll take your word for it.

4. Too Much Packaging Material. Via Treehugger.

That’s all folks.  Hopefully next week will be more pessimistic. I’m optimistic!

Hipster embrace of Obama reaches logical conclusion

Finally! Obama kicks!

I assume this long since made the rounds and I missed it, but just saw and felt compelled to note.

Earlier: Let Them Eat Font; 4/13/08 Consumed on Obama as muse.

[Thanks: Mark!]

In other news of Montreal murketing…

Following this recent post about brand-made street art in Montreal, got a note from Zeke about another example of murketing in that lovely city. Montreal City Weblog says:

Many folks have no doubt noticed the postering campaign up and down the Main, urging that it be renamed for Lucien Rivard, a colourful Quebec bandit of the 1950s and 60s. Turns out it’s a viral marketing stunt to promote an upcoming film…

More here at Spacing Montréal.

Another fine example of murketing, not unlike one noted here: This is a form of commercial persuasion you cannot “TiVo out,” because it’s not on your TV set. It’s in your life.

[PS: Memo to Zeke: Was gonna link here but … Let me know if you have another request, I will honor it.]

Flickr Interlude

Old Navy – San Francisco, originally uploaded by miaanne27

Coffee, free books, and the likeminded…

Do you live in one of the cities marked on the map above?

Are you a fan of PSFK and/or Noah Brier? Or, far less likely, of my work?

You might consider attending this Friday’s Likemind meeting. Likemind is a recurring coffee get together of “people like you” in a large number of cities. Details about where and when to show up in all these various cities is here. And the thing is:

Likemind coffee morning takes place this Friday [May 16] around the world. As a special treat for those of you in North America, Rob Walker & Random House were kind enough to supply early copies of Rob’s new book “Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy & Who We Are” (until the books run out). Coffee in the US and Canada is also paid for by Random House (until the money runs out).

A little more here and here.

I’m certainly interested in and excited by the general idea of all these people getting and maybe starting conversations about the book — and before the pub date, no less. Lots of cities there, so I hope some of you can and will take advantage.

Is this post shameless self-promotion? Of course it is. Guess what? I think it’s a good book, and I think everybody should read it.

Scandalous!

New: Links to reviews of, references to, and riffs off Buying In here.

— > Reminder: First four chapters & discount advance ordering offer at ReadBuyingIn.com.

Kindle quiz: Should there be a Kindle version of Buying In?

A friend of Murketing, and a fan of the Kindle, has asked me if there will be a version of Buying In for that device. The answer is I have no idea, but I’m guessing that if there were plans for that my publisher would have to told me.

And before I ask my publisher about this, I want to gauge whether anybody else has any interest in the format. I don’t have a Kindle, although I understand the appeal in an abstract way (I think).

So I ask you: Anybody interested in this format? Please reply in the comments, not to me directly. If there’s much response, I’ll bring it to the publisher’s attention.

If there isn’t, then I won’t.

Thanks as always.

Can hatred of Crocs sell more Crocs?

When I wrote about Crocs in Consumed (July 15, 2007), I suggested that the fact that many people hate Crocs was probably seen as a plus for those who wore Crocs (“maverick cachet,” etc.). Some, including the person I spoke with at the company, insisted that this was not so.

However, Crocs hatred is now apparently the brand’s new selling point, if this new commercial is any indication. Maybe the brand should’ve simply hired I Hate Crocs.

Via AdFreak.