Mulisha Marketing

Metal Mulisha MySpace

Social networking sites have created a Paradise for marketers and companies. But with almost every company participating in each social network, what makes a support site successful? Well there are a few factors which present a successful environment in interacting with customers such as richness, consistency, interactivity, and engagement.

As an individual getting ready to form a social network page for a upcoming clothing company, I began to look at pages of prominent brands in the like industry. In that search, I found one in particular that was constructed with the principles stated above.
Metal Mulisha, an extreme sports brand and "lifestyle" has developed pages within MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter. Since I am not a member of Facebook, I decided to use MySpace as my platform. My first look... a look at the imagery, colors, and design. From this, it was consistent with their primary webpage and any print media they release. The content, although a little explicit from "friends," was consistent with the attitude and imagery the brand portrays. The next look... interactivity. I was extremely surprised at the level of interactivity this brand offered - the usual photos, videos, playlists and blogs. As I explored into those areas, I found each photo, video, and blog offered areas for comments for members. On the main page, there was a section where the publisher could comment on current statuses or happenings, not to mention a Twitter App which posted the most recent comments from their Twitter account.

Although other companies offered other apps such as watch television shows they like and the such, I felt this site was most representative and had the most reach to the following population. I felt like they had a strong outreach of events and any updated news. To make sure followers remained aware of any changes or activity within their "Space" they have a section called "Activity Stream." I found this genius seeing there is so much content on the page with so many comments from followers, it would be extremely easy to miss any updated information.

Finally, the area I found most interesting and beneficial was the extent of "top friends" on their space. Almost every single top friend is a Professional Motocrosser, FMXer, or industry leader company. This reach allows followers to reach every aspect and face of the brand in one easy place, aside from their company website with bios, events, and media.

All in all, I found this company's social network sites extremely helpful to the brand in terms of the reach, interactivity, and consistency. The marketing team behind this company is definately utilizing a strong IMC approach.

A Change of Positioning?

With the gaining popularity of AT&T, especially with the addition of the iPhone to its family, Verizon felt the need to step up their "game" in order to keep a competitive edge in the cellular phone industry. In an attack against AT&T and Apple's iPhone, Verizon changed their positioning to focus first off on their competitors, then on the benefits they offered.

Verizon's first "Can you hear me now?" campaign proved extremely successful in highlighting the benefit provided by holding an account with Verizon. In 2001, Verizon positioned itself not as the low cost leader but higher quality cellular phone service. According to USAToday.com, in the first 2 years of the launch of the positioning Net Customers increased 15% and market share was gained (USAToday.com).

Now that AT&T is gaining popularity once again with the help of the iPhone, Verizon felt the need to change it's positioning once again, but this time the focus was on its competition - AT&T. This new campaign plays on AT&T's recent tag line "We've Got an App for That," with Verizon claiming "There's a Map for That." This new positioning statement suggests to the consumers, yes AT&T may have an App for everything, but how about their coverage? Within the new commercial, Verizon slams the available coverage for its new 3G service that goes along with the iPhone. But to me this makes sense, why buy a phone regardless how many apps you can get if you never get reception?

WATCH

"I've Got It All." Even for a Trash Can?

In an effort to re boost the popularity of California's Scratchers Lottery, an new advertising promotion and campaign was launched.

WATCH
(only 32 seconds)

When I first saw this commerical on TV I thought how weird a Trash Can living it up to some catchy, annoying music. But as I saw it again, I thought that this ad is actually whitty, displaying that anyone who plays has a chance, at least a second chance.

By the man throwing the scratcher away in the trash can, he is basically giving away a winning ticket from a second chance. The message behind this promotion is clear, do not throw away your non-winning scratchers because that ticket has the chance to be a winner in the near future. For this case, when the man got rid of his ticket, the trash can "won" since he held the ticket that was picked from the drawing. As result, the Trash Can was able to live up the "winning life-style."

Out of curiosity I went to the CA Lottery Scratchers page to read up more on this "Replay" Promotion. I found it interesting that all the images displayed in the commerical -- partying on the town with beautiful women, getting plastic surgery, attending top seating sporting events, fancy restaurants & jewelry -- are way to costly than the actual prize amount. With only 8 pooled drawings at $1000 each, I thought the commercial is an exaggeration on the actual winnings amounts. I also discovered that you must enter the ticket into the drawing pools with the identification numbers, in order to participate in the promotion, therefore you must have internet access and most of all, remember to insert your ticket in the game.

Overall, this promotion, along with the invention of new games, is revitalizing a dieing market for the CA Lottery. I believe this will encourage more to play the game, seeing that you have a second chance at winning, plus the second chance winnings are greater than most games offer.

What's Next for Plastic Bottles?

After last weeks post on clothing companies' effort to expand their business through social responsibility, I recalled an ad that I came across in a magazine over the summer. In this post, I would like to expand upon Billabong's efforts that I mentioned briefly in the prior posting.

When Billabong began to participate in Project Blue's campaign, they sought to impact the global environmental community through reducing the number of plastic water bottles in landfills. In order to do so, they devised a method to create board shorts out of recycled textiles and plastic. The end result... 10 plastic bottles are used to create every one pair of shorts, thus creating 100% recycled polyester boardshorts.

After the release of these shorts, along with a vivid ad campaign to match, Surfd (an online surfing magazine ) felt the need to create a review of the shorts knowing the fact that they were created from plastic. Their first thought... stiff with much rash to come (softly put). Their first impression... "really soft... If angels wear feather boardies in wave heaven then I reckon they’d feel something like this." In the end, they passed the comfort and style test demanded by the editors.


As far as the effectiveness of the print ads go, they have been creative and portrayed in the right context. The first picture portrays the message of plastic bottles floating in water, but a solution... the shorts the model has on. The second picture, shorts as one in nature with a wooden fence and much greenery. As far as publicity goes on Billabong's part, I felt that when I searched and looked over their website there was very few about their co-op with Project Blue, along with any effort on their new innovative eco collection. I feel I found more information by searching the internet and from secondary sources, than their own webpage.

All in all, I think this innovative concept of helping the environment through production is brilliant.