Heretical Ideas Win…Desperate Strategy Sinks Ships!

When I saw the ad for the third time last night, I immediately made it a top priority to feature it on this week’s Blog.

More about that ad in a minute…

Earlier in the evening, on ABC Nightly News, they interviewed the flight crew that landed the plane on the Hudson.

One of the flight attendants told the story that as soon as the plane hit the water, a passenger got up and dashed to the back of the plane and opened up the back escape hatch. Unfortunately, the tail was underwater and opening it up started to flood the plane.

Fortunately, the flight attendant was able to get the passenger under control and re-routed them to the wing exits where the passenger was shortly thereafter rescued by one of the local ferryboats.

What a great illustration of how desperation can sink a ship…or in this case, a plane!

The brand that is the “star” of that ad running last night is about as desperate in its quest to survive as the person on the Hudson…

To be even more exact… the marketing and ad team client-side and the ad agency that produced the ad are probably hyperventilating even now as they watch the IV feeder tubes dry up.

The ad compares the Escalade to the MINI Cooper S.

Need I say more?

Here is what Justin Berkowitz, one of our fellow bloggers posted about the ad…

“Did the ad agency really know who the potential buyers of Escalades are? Apparently an ad man was envisioning a fiscally-conscious, sensibly green guy sitting in front of his high-def set and having an epiphany.”

And here is more posted from some of the other bloggers…

“I want the 30 seconds of my life back that I wasted watching this commercial.”

“Wow. Thanks for setting me straight GM. What was I thinking? I’m definitely buying one of those giant hybrid trucks!”

“This last desperate attempt by their ad agency to jump start sales of these nearly extinct and overpriced dinosaurs is comical at best.”

“It seems that GM and their ad agency are trying hard to throw anything at the wall and see what sticks…or doesn’t.”

“Comparing GM to MINI Coopers is like comparing something really cool to a thug.”

“How many MINI owners do they think also have these big SUV pimp-mobiles in their consideration mix.”

“Watching this commercial is like looking at a chain-smoking, overweight, cancer-ridden guy living his last days fantasizing that he’s Superman while he sucks on his oxygen tank… oh yeah… and the agency that produced it is his dog that obeys every rule clinging to his side.”

Okay.

In ideation sessions that we facilitate for clients…we do an exercise we call “Dogma-Heresy” in which we look at how competitive brands are being presented and advertised and then put together a list of the similarities – or the dogma – that they are all doing.

We then have participants jot down ideas, thoughts and approaches that others in the industry would find heretical.

As a facilitator…my primary task is to squelch the critiques and negative commentary and let the ideas flow.

The exercise actually generates some great ideas.

Innovative ideas are great. Desperation strategy is something totally different.

Innovative thinking flows best when participants build off of what others share versus critique, dictate and command.

Go online and Google GM and MINI and you can see more of what others think about this last breath attempt to save a dying brand.

Then go look in the mirror and if you have any inkling of doing something similar to GM and their ad agency, call us at 404.245.9378 and we’ll set up the intervention ideation session that can save you from the fall!