Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should do something.
I was reminded of this truism recently by a news story about how Johnny Cash's children refused to allow the late singer's classic song “Ring of Fire” to be used in a commercial for a hemorrhoid-relief product.
“We would never allow the song to be demeaned like that,” Cash's daughter Rosanne Cash was quoted as saying.
Good for her. While the idea of a song with the lyrics “burns, burns, burns” is kind of a funny idea for the product in question, putting it in such a context would have ruined it forever for fans of the tune, written by Merle Kilgore and Cash's wife June Carter Cash, who also died last year.
For me personally — and probably for a lot of other folks who came of age in the 1980s — Modern English's “I Melt With You” was one of the most romantic songs of the whole New Wave music period. But that feeling was trashed when the song was used in an oft-repeated Burger King commercial. Cheeseburgers bring up a lot of things, but that lovin' feeling ain't one of them.
Kudos to the Cash family for passing up a few easy bucks and in the process preserving their musical brand.
Brand is a tricky thing, as we all know. At what point do you plunge forward into a promotion? Is less more? Or is more not enough?
In packaged goods, it seems sometimes like both of these concepts are true. Take Hershey's, for example. The company already sells chocolate in the form of bars, kisses, and, depending on the time of year, Santas, bunnies, eggs and hearts. Now, at a time when half the population is purportedly obsessed with counting carbs and calories, the company has introduced Swoops.
Swoops come in the flavors of plain chocolate, Reese's peanut butter, York mint and Almond Joy. They're thin slices and come in a container that looks exactly like the packaging for individual servings of Pringles potato chips. Why?
Good question. My husband and I both had the same reaction the first time we saw ads for the product. “Chocolate covered potato chips? No? No potato chip, just chocolate? Then why are they shaped like that?”
Perhaps if you mold it, they will come. Is this proliferation of product types diluting Hershey's spot in the marketplace? Or will the concept of candy shaped like chips lure consumers who wouldn't have otherwise shopped for a snack?
The same thing seems to be happening in the world of DVDs. Sure, for years all sorts of entertainment trivia has been released on video. But with the advent of the DVD format, all manner of slop is being pushed into the marketplace. Complete seasons of television shows that were of questionable popularity and quality when they initially aired are now up for sale. The cult audience and appeal of shows like any of the “Star Trek” series are understandable, but “Saved by the Bell?” No offense, but you can't expect me to believe that Screech is the Danny Partridge of his generation.
It's sort of like flooding a customer's virtual or real-world mailbox, isn't it? Toss enough junk in there and something is bound to catch their eye. Of course, that's the best-case scenario.
Worst case is that they get tired of wading through the dreck and just give up on searching for something new, relying on their tried and true brand. If you're the tried and true brand, hooray for you. But if you've got a product to sell, no matter how loyal your base is, you still need to keep attracting new prospects and customers to keep the coffers full.
Delta Air Lines' discount brand Song is trying to build its brand in a rather unusual way, at least for an airline. They're opening a retail store in Boston's Prudential Center. The Boston Globe reported that the store — which will only be open for two weeks — will showcase Delta's in-flight entertainment options such as video games, allow customers to buy tickets and offer samples of Song's food.
The retail concept is a nice idea, but, as Forrester Research's Harry Harteveldt told the Globe, who knows if it will sell any tickets. A good old-fashioned direct mail campaign would have been a nice idea as well, but then no one would have been able to try all that scrumptious airline fare. Gee, I wonder if they have those nifty chocolate-covered potato chips…
BETH NEGUS VIVEIROS (bethdirect@aol.com) is executive editor of Direct.
