Marketing with the Muppets

If you’re staring with a smile at the pictures in this blog post, then you are a prime candidate for joining me on this discussion. What makes the Muppets a popular advertising image? As today is the anniversary of Jim Henson’s death, a colleague suggested that our blog should discuss how Henson’s Muppets have been successfully used throughout the years in a number of advertising campaigns including Ford™, Pizza Hut™, Denny’s™, Post™ and many more. It’s an interesting thought. What is it about those cute little puppets that make us open our wallets in delight?

Familiarity. The Muppets are recognized worldwide. Popular television shows such as The Muppet Show, Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock were highly rated and syndicated. The Muppets were in books, on television, in the movies and on our lunchboxes. They defined a generation and more than that, they made us laugh. Whether it is subconscious or not, we trust the Muppets. If you can use your advertising icon to create a feeling of trust between your company and your customers, you will make money.

Nostalgia. We love to remember the “good ol’ days” when things were simple and fun. We fondly recall the moments when families crowded around the television and watched Kermit peak out from behind the Muppets famous red curtain or see Bert and Ernie banter on Sesame Street. When we see them on tee shirts and posters, we want to involve them in our lives once again. The 2000s are all about nostalgia. Instead of defining our generation through something new, we are looking back to the past. The sooner we realize this, the better our marketing campaigns will become.

Laughter. We are much more likely to spend money on things that bring us joy. Advertising loves to play this up. Make your customers laugh and you’ll have them focusing on your campaign and not thinking about the money that they’re about to spend. From the “manamana” song to the geriatrics shouting from their opera box, the Muppets bring a smile to our faces and convince us that they’re worth spending money on.

We can learn a lot from the Muppets about advertising tricks and how to run a successful advertising campaign. The Muppets inspired us. Not only to spend money, but to be better people and to share a laugh with friends and family. Today let us remember a man who was passionate about puppets; a man who brought us Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and a whole group of friendly, funny and sometimes sarcastic characters who we will always fondly remember.

Muppets as Advertising Icons
A photo journey of some of the Muppets advertising campaigns...

1. Kermit becomes an icon for teaching people that "dreams are possible."

2. The Swedish Chef gets his own fun cereal brand from Post™ in 1988. It is being re-released this year (2007). The box is filled with kids' games and fun facts like "does not include brocolli"

3. Miss Piggy shows that "pigging out" on Pizza is fun at Pizza Hut™.

4. Kermit shows that "being green" is an awesome feature for the new Hybrid Ford vehicles.

5. Adidas releases green shoes signed by Kermit. Enough said.

Have something you'd like to say? Leave a comment or drop me an email at kate@starmedia.ca

The TAGGING Game

Tagged – What a Fun Filled Notion!

Before I begin, I want everyone to know that with all of the things that I learn every day; the Internet always finds some new way to impress me. I know, I do impress easily, but you know… So, since this is an advertising advice blog and I’m supposed to be giving all of you advice on the advertising world, we’re going to learn something new together. Maybe this is SEO friendly. Either way, I think I’m going to enjoy it.

Tagging – what is it and how does it work? I’m not exactly sure yet and so in the effort of education and heck, a little fun I am going to play this tagging game and see what happens. If it works and we a) have fun and b) link up and form a community then I suggest it to all of you. I suggest it anyway.
I don’t want to screw up the rules (since they are important) so I copied these from cymru66 (hi Steve!) who tagged me first – check out his blog:

1. The person who was tagged will just have to make an introduction and link back to who tagged you.
2. List your five reasons as to why you blog.
3. Choose five people and tag them.
4. Drop a comment on their blog to let them know they were tagged.

Top Five Reasons Why I Blog

1. I told my boss it would be a great way to talk to small business owners about advertising
2. I love being able to write every day
3. I’m learning so much
4. It is a lot of fun
5. The sense of community really intrigues me

I’m sure there are more, but for now those were the first things that came to my mind. I think blogs and blogging are both great things. They get you thinking and discussing what you think. Open communication… there’s nothing better!

Here are My Five People to Tag
They don't know it yet, but I think they're cool.

1. eMoms at Home
2. The Crowd Roars
3. Times Eye
4. Creative Design ::
5. jphillips

Join in on the fun!

Email me if you have questions - or leave me a post!

Why Super Cala Fragilistic Expialidocious would make a terrible company name.

It is possible that this post might come up as more of a rant than an advice column, but please sift through my complaining to truly hear the real message – a long business name can ruin your advertising campaign and lose you money.

I admit that coming up with a business name is a tricky endeavor, especially when there are so many businesses out there that have probably already taken the short and catchy names like Pete’s Plumbing and The Plumb Guy, but just because someone suggested that Plumbing with Pete the Plumb Guy would be a great company name does not mean you should go with it. Here’s why…

Logos rarely if ever look good when your company has a huge business name. You should be able to manipulate the size of your logo to suit your advertising campaign and the longer your name, the bigger your logo will have to be. Imagine the cluttered-ness of your business cards. Oh my! Plus, logo designers will hate you. This I assure you of.

You will want to abbreviate your company name to something you think is cute. Our friend Pete would likely choose something like PPtPG or P3G or even P3G. The problem with this is that the name of your company brands your company. Since your name is too long for everyone to remember you will be branded as the abbreviation. Will it last for years? Simplicity is the key.

Successful advertising needs limits. I’m not saying that you should limit the amount of advertising you do, I’d be out of a job… but keep in mind that long company names result in long slogans and long taglines and long product/service names… and before you know it you have overwhelmed your advertising with incredibly long copy. On the other hand if you abbreviate your name, you run the risk of having the same abbreviation as a more popular company, or an abbreviation that just doesn’t take like SCFL Industries.

Business naming is much too important of a decision to make on your own. When deciding upon a good working title for your company, get some help! If you can’t afford to hire some advertising professionals, then choose the easy route and ask friends, family, employees what they think. Try using the business name in public and seeing what reaction you get. Corporate branding is a work in progress and shouldn’t be taken lightly. You of all people want your business to succeed, so plan plan plan before you make big decisions and, as always, research!

If you need more information on business naming, product naming or anything advertising, I’m your man… woman… feel free to drop me an email – kate@starmedia.ca

Need to talk to a professional? Call us at Starmedia toll free at 1-866-816-5646. We’d love to help!

-Kate