Pushing the Envelope: I’m Tired!

Next week, the world will find out which candidate got the honor of being “The Apprentice,” Donald Trump’s new right hand man. Or, more accurately, right hand woman, since the two finalists are female for the first time ever in the history of the reality series.

But who really cares? That wasn’t the really interesting contest. The important competition was the branding exercises during and between commercial breaks. The show has been a brand-placement-palooza, as companies lined up to have the apprentice-wannabes work on a project for their firm.

Did any of these resonate with viewers in the long term? As a service to you, gentle readers, my better half and I watched the entire season and gauged our own retention of what we viewed.

Before writing this, I jotted down all the names of the brands I could remember from the show. Forget about being fired — I’m tired! While several names from the show immediately came to mind, I had to wrack my brain — and do a Web search — to come up with others.

Unilever’s Dove jumped to the top of the list for being one of the few brands to add in a direct marketing component and collect names for future promotions. Dove used “The Apprentice” as a springboard to introduce a new line of Cool Moisture cucumber and green tea bath products. Contestants created commercials for the product, and then Dove premiered its own spot for the body wash immediately after.

Viewers were invited to go online and register to receive a free sample and coupon. The sample arrived in a box branded with the show’s logo to remind recipients why they were receiving the package. A few weeks later, the message was reinforced, when I received another sample, this time for a new line of Dove hair styling products. I’m not sure if this was a follow-up to the “Apprentice” mailing or from another offer I had registered for in the past, but it still worked to remind me of the Trump-sanctioned effort.

Nescafe’s Taster’s Choice also used their air time to smartly collect names for their database, again offering samples, coupons and recipes for hot and cold instant coffee drinks. The single servings were cutely packaged, and again, the show’s logo figured prominently in the mailing piece to tie it together for consumers.

One of my neighbors is probably thinking The Donald stiffed him on this one though: When I finally got around to opening my mail piece to look at it for this article, I found that not only was my address card in there, but one for someone I don’t know several blocks away as well.

For an expanded version of this column, see the June issue of Direct magazine.