Schupp Company Blog

You Could Lose Your (Puma) Pants in This Market.

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

In today’s marketing world, using as many “touchpoints” as possible to reach your consumer is the ideal.  A popular “touchpoint” these days is the iPhone.  There are apps for almost everything imaginable, and this has made the iPhone something way beyond a communication tool.  The holy grail for marketers when it comes to the iPhone is developing an app that has desirable, sticky content and is entertaining.

Puma Index screen shot

A promising example of this is the free app that Puma recently released.  Known as The Puma Index, the app keeps you up to date on the state of the financial markets (the Dow, German (DAX) and Australian (ASX) markets are covered). If your particular market is up, the attractive models (both male and female) in the app dress in layers. If the market starts spinning down, you get to see the models strip right down to their Puma Bodywear, the brand’s latest line.

This is how Puma describes it:

“Index is a cheeky web and iPhone application that tracks global stocks, but with a twist. As stocks go down, PUMA Index models shed layers of clothing, undressing all the way down to their PUMA Bodywear…and as stocks go up, the clothing comes back on. Think of it as an entertaining antidote to Wall Street woes. So now if you lose shirt, at least our models do too.”

The content is important to a lot of people on a daily basis and the entertainment value has the potential of being very viral.  To tie it back to sales, Puma will give you a 20% discount on a purchase if you show the app in a Puma store.  Obviously, any sales they get from this are gravy, as this play is about buzz and branding.  Well done.

Tags: Bodywear, Day Traders, iPhone apps, Puma Index, Stocks, Strip
Posted in Advertising, Culture, Online, Style | 1 Comment »

Lady GaGa: Polaroid’s new Creative Director

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

The 5 grammy nominee, Pop star Lady GaGa becomes Polaroid’s new Creative Director. How bizarre is this. What does this 23 year old singer actually know about technology? So far, she apparently has designed a set of “heartbeat” headphones that evoke more fashion than technology for the company. The basis of the partnership is to help Polaroid to appeal to younger demographic. Good luck.

Watch the video press release here:

Lady Gaga – New Polaroid Creative Director

Tags: interactive, marketing, news, products, trends
Posted in Advertising, Art, Culture, Style | No Comments »

Art in Advertising

Wednesday, December 30th, 2009

A recent article in Entrepreneur Magazine (Mixing Art With Commerce, January 2010) talks about how a growing number of small businesses are turning to screen-printed posters, exploiting the medium’s potent marriage of advertising and art to reach a customer demographic impervious to conventional marketing approaches.

Now in our business, posters and displays are used all the time in the on- and off-premise to help merchandise an account. And no offense to any art directors, but these well designed, glossy, price promoters don’t exactly resonate as something of value. We used to joke that we were in the business of creating beautiful landfill. However, a piece designed with the intention of being art first, brand second and promoter third might be able to flip the equation and keep our brands out of the trash heap.

Limited-edition, hand crafted works could be the answer for small brands looking to compete with their macro-competition. It’s nothing new. Fashion designers and car companies have entered stylistic marriages to promote a vision for the future of driving (Jeff Banks Creates Custom Kia Soul for UK Giveaway).  Fine artists and spirits brands have come together to inspire new drinking occasions (Bombay Sapphire Designer Glass Contest).

It just makes sense that a brand or business would embrace the equity of attainable art (most limited-edition concert posters and prints range from $20 – $50 a piece … which is why I have a huge collection of screen print and giclée art). More so, I like what it doesn’t have to say, communicating the company’s commitment to old-school virtues like authenticity and handcraftsmanship in a world where homogenization and mass production are the status quo.

If you’re unfamiliar with the screen print poster subculture, check out OMG Posters. This blog does an amazing job of keeping up with the latest releases from artists and print shops across the country, both music and non-music related. It’s also introduced me to a slew of new bands (brands), which I guess is one of the ideas behind having a poster created in the first place.

Tags: Advertising, marketing, people, popular, trends
Posted in Advertising, Art, Culture, Style | 1 Comment »

Skateboard Graphics Retrospective

Friday, August 14th, 2009

I’ll never forget the day I bought my first “real” skateboard. Standing across the counter at a local skate shop staring at the wall-to-wall spread of colorful wooden planks. Which board would replace my worn out Variflex? My requirements for my new skateboard purchase were pretty simple…it had to look kick ass. At the time, skateboard graphics were just starting to leave the conservative world and manufactures were beginning to realize that technological innovations in skate deck design were not as viable of a marketing ploy as the graphic on the underside. Kids didn’t really care if a board had a concave surface or a steeper tail. Young skaters needed a way to identify with their personal hero’s, or at least immortalize them in any way possible. Personality was punk and punk was attitude. As a pro skater, the place to personify that attitude was with the graphics on the underside of your own pro model.

$35 and 5 minutes later, my first “real“ skateboard became a Schmitt Stix, John Lucero X2 or “Behind the Bars” model. At the time, Lucero was not a world-renowned rider, but the X2 was his first pro model released under the new up and coming Schmitt Stix label. Besides a few snap shots in Thrasher Magazine and the occasional print ad, even though he was already a legend amongst his peers, I barely knew who John Lucero was.

What appealed to my 13 year old mid-western mind was the cool factor of the illustrated graphic on the bottom of his skateboard. The twisted demented jester graphic pried at my hell bent desire to break out of my suburban confines and unleash the fury of my youth upon the world…or at least the neighborhood.

Fast forward to present day…

These days, skateboards are all basically the same shape and size. They closely resemble the early freestyle type deck and it’s no wonder why. The actual tricks have elevated to a level of sophistication that have surpassed segregation from the original methods of style and performance: freestyle, street and vert.

Skate deck artwork has taken a turn as well. Today still, Like Lucero, riders themselves translate their own personality into signature graphics. But, the board as a canvas has come full circle. Art board companies have spawned and the amount of new school vs. old school collector decks have multiplied with the advent of commissioned artwork by world famous artists, fashionable skate deck only designers and the ability to turn the skateboard itself into a political statement.

New Skateboard Graphics written by J. Namdev Hardisty and published by Mark Batty Publisher is a diverse catalog spanning just over a decade and containing over 400 full color illustrations across 145 pages. With a reflective foreword by Michael Leon, rider interviews and an unbiased peek across numerous brands, anyone who has been a fan of skate culture artwork will enjoy the rich visual stimulation this book delivers.

Skateboarding may not be the only industry to have made a complete transition through artistic influence, but reviewing its history through mediums like this book is something I enjoy, and who knows, maybe some day a few of the decks I’ve designed will make it into volume 2.

Tags: marketing, products, sports, trends
Posted in Art, Culture, Miscellaneous, Recreaction, Style | 3 Comments »

Satan’s Products, Made With 100% Pure Evil.

Wednesday, August 12th, 2009

Have you ever been out and about, whether it’s shopping, driving, at a bar or anywhere, and seen a product that just infuriates you. Something that just makes your blood boil and put’s you in a bad mood for a few seconds until it’s gone. I think there are products out there that Satan himself has created just to piss people off.

My list:

1. PT Cruisers – I hate this car, every time I see one I want to smash into it. Why would any one buy this awful piece of shit and actually want to be seen in it. I don’t know what it is about that car, but damn it’s just makes me angry every time I see one.
   
   
   
2. Ed Hardy and Affliction T-shirts – I might never want to go back to Vegas just for that one reason. Those stupid shirts are everywhere and I can’t believe anyone would wear that crap and pay that much money for that garbage. Those shirts are not a good style and they are actually a very easy way to tell the world that you are a douchbag.
   
3. Crocs – Seriously, what the fuck. They’re ok for kids, I get that. But if you are an adult wearing those things, you’ve told the world that you’ve given up.

And actually it’s not just limited to products, Satan has also created people that are just wrong and need to go away. I’m talking about you Lindsay Lohan, Jon Gosselin, Spencer and Heidi, Larry the Cable Guy, Rosie O’Donnell, and John Mayer.

Feel free to add to the list of Satan’s products/people.

Tags: people, popular, products, trends
Posted in Culture, Miscellaneous, Style, Water Cooler | No Comments »

The Economist: Thinking Space

Thursday, July 16th, 2009

Where do Economist readers go to think? Unique spaces featured in this interesting interactive piece recently launched by the Economist. The website showcases spaces where their readers go to think, create and connect ideas. From fashion designer Andrea Llosa to Spotify founder Daniel Ek. Nice work by AMV BBDO and Hi-Res.

Tags: Advertising, interactive, marketing, photography
Posted in Advertising, Art, Culture, Style | 1 Comment »

What’s in a name?

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

Emma, Isabella, Emily, Madison, and Ava.
These were the top five baby names for girls in 2008. Take note moms- and dads-to-be: should you choose one of these names, your kid will have one of the most common names among her peers for the rest of her life. Emma will be known as Emma “M” in her classes so as not to confuse here with Emma “W.” Madison will have slumber parties with Madison R. and Madison G. And don’t try act like someone “stole your baby name.” It didn’t happen. You willfully chose one of the most popular names of the decade. A quick online trip the Social Security Administration’s Web site will tell you this.
Unfortunately, Web sites like this weren’t available to my parents when they were readying the nursery. They chose my name, Sara, not because it was popular, but because they liked it – It was a tribute to my Mother Sally and my aunt Sandra; it can be pronounced in both English and in Spanish, which was important to my Puerto Rican father and grandmother; and it means Princess, which, interestingly became a somewhat of a self-fulfilling prophecy in terms of my adolescent and teenage behavior. But regardless of whether it was an “appropriate” name, at times I feel it’s quite the albatross. You see, in 1980 the name “Sarah” went from being a somewhat popular name, to one of the five most popular names for girls. And it remained there for a decade. There were at least 20 “Sarahs” in my graduating class. There were close to 10 “Sarahs” in my sorority pledge class. And now, I work with a close friend, Sarah – only one, surprisingly.

Now, since she and I are on the same account team we share a lot of the same contacts in terms of client and agency partners; and, despite not looking even remotely similar, apparently we sound exactly alike on the phone, which has caused a fair share of confusion amongst those we work with closely. What’s really funny – or just odd if you ask me and Sarah – is that people will meet one of us and then subsequently meet the other for the first time, and think we’ve already met. Again, we look absolutely NOTHING alike. It’s gotten to the point where – when meeting new clients or agency folk – we now introduce the other even when not physically present in an effort to dissipate the inevitable and uncanny scenarios that tend to befall us: e.g., hi, I’m Sara – I’m one of the TWO Sarah’s that work on MillerCoors business. People know us collectively as the “Sarah’s” but we’re legitimately two different people… you’ll see.
Even with this disclaimer, people still get confused. And, while it’s not that big a deal, it makes us both wonder if our same name – one that was super popular when we were all growing up – somehow makes us less memorable. Had we been named something different, something less popular, like Helen, Ruth or Dorothy*or maybe something just more unique like Angelina or Famke, perhaps there wouldn’t be so much mix-up.

So now I ponder: if parents of newborns approached the naming process in much the same way a brand manager does when naming new products, there likely wouldn’t be droves of Emmas and Avas teeming in suburban pre-schools. Of course, one can’t copyright or trademark a human’s first name as far as I know. It’s strange though: People love to give celebrities a hard time over their name choices, usually because they’re pretty out there, but Apple, Zuma and Shiloh’s parents all seemed to understand that naming their kid something original might behoove them later in life (granted, many would argue that by virtue of simply being the daughter of “Brangelina” will get you those memorability points regardless of your moniker).
As marketers, we know it’s important to be strategic with our communication and make sure the message is memorable and effective. With this in mind, a person who’s got the whole package: personality, charm and wit, but a ubiquitous first name, might ultimately wind up being forgettable – kinda like that commercial I saw for that really, really cool new car…it was a 9-5…or a 9-6… or a 9-3…something; ugh! There’s just so many, I can’t remember…but it was cool.

I’m naming my kid Rhubarb.

* Helen, Ruth, and Dorothy were among the top 5 names for girls in 1909.

Tags: baby, marketing, names, networking, popular, trends
Posted in Culture, Style | No Comments »