Schupp Company Blog

Schupp Talks Super Bowl Ads

Friday, February 26th, 2010

Every year the handsome and well-dressed man at the helm of Schupp Co. hits the media trail to open up the commentary on the advertising industry’s biggest premiere, the Super Bowl. This year, Mark Schupp worked the so-called red carpet live on KMOV Channel 4, talking about the brands that won and the brands that lost with their commercials.

Mark was immediately drawn to images of Betty White getting trucked into the mud, noting that Snickers, Doritos, Bud Light and E-Trade would make the USA Today Top 10. Of course, his ad-prowess was proven correct as America mirrored his sentiment through the USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter.

Mark also pulled the curtain back on the Bud Light brand, commenting on their new tagline and strategy.

KMOV_Mark

Additionally, Donna MacDonald VP Account Service and Jim Mayfield VP ECD at Schupp Co. made their rounds at St. Louis’s top news stations. Each talked about the super or not-so-super TV commercials that made their debuts during the 2010 Super Bowl.

KMOV_Donna

KSDK_Jim2(6-7am)

But this wasn’t the end of the insight given by the advertising experts at Schupp Co. Additional radio interviews were conducted by Mark Schupp and Anthony Simmons CD.

KTRS_Mark

KTRS_Anthony

Posted in Advertising, Culture, Television | No Comments »

All-Time Backfire?

Friday, February 26th, 2010

All Sprite wanted to do was harbor a little goodwill in the African-American community. Award a scholarship. Throw a freaking badass show with cool musical guests that featured some of the top stepping talent from colleges across the country. It was not only the perfect opportunity to appeal to their target consumer; it was the perfect chance to create a ton of viable online content (i.e. The Step Off could be a sweet multi-channel promotion with tons of legs.)

Stop. Rewind. Do you even know what stepping is? I’ve seen it live once in my life, and it’s pretty amazing.  I would never attempt even trying this because: a) I have negative rhythm, and b) I would walk away looking like I got in a slap fight with a ninja.

Most commonly found in the houses of historically African American fraternities and sororities, it draws inspiration from a ton of different places including traditional African foot dances and popular R&B groups like the Temptations and The Four Tops. Wiki defines stepping as a form of percussive dance in which the participant’s entire body is used as an instrument to produce complex rhythms and sounds through a mixture of footsteps, spoken word and handclaps.

Ok. Now that we’re all up to speed on stepping, let’s return to Sprite.

The campaign was called The Sprite Step Off. To be eligible you have to have at least three steppers from the same chapter and school, one team per chapter.  You must be 18 or over. Then there are tons of rules about what you can and can’t do and can and can’t wear. Oh, and you have to qualify in a regional qualifying round. Capiche?

The top three finishers win scholarships. Sprite wins a little piece of the hearts and minds of their consumers. Wonderful. On paper it sounds like the perfect promotion.

That was until the ladies of Zeta Tau Alpha, Epsilon chapter stepped on stage during the finals last week and stepped away with the title.

Notice anything different about this particular sorority? It’s not the sunglasses. If Captain Obvious said, ”They’re white.” You would be correct. These chicks rocked the place. The crowd loved them (can you hear the commentary of the guys who recorded the performance? They were loving it.) Who cares if they’re white?

Apparently, lots of people do.

The Sprite Facebook page has been blowing up over the past week with some colorful remarks regarding the winners. Comments run the gambit – from racial to technical critiques of the ladies’ performance.  It’s a PR NIGHTMARE for Sprite.

In an interesting turn of events, Sprite posted the following statement yesterday on the official The Step Off site. Apparently, they felt they needed to “resolve” something.

“After the competition, we conducted a post-competition review and discovered a scoring discrepancy. There is no conclusive interpretation, nor definitive resolution for the discrepancy.

Sprite is committed to upholding the honesty and integrity of the competition. Because the scoring discrepancy cannot be resolved and due to the extremely narrow margin between the first and second place winning sororities, we believe that the appropriate course of action is to name both Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Tau Chapter and Zeta Tau Alpha, Epsilon Chapter, co-first place winners of the Sprite Step Off. Accordingly, we will increase Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Tau Chapter’s scholarship prize to $100,000, consistent with first prize winnings.

Sprite Step Off was created for the primary purpose of awarding scholarships and supporting talented college students in their quest for higher education.”

Hmmm…if that isn’t a make good, I don’t know what is. Thoughts? Does Sprite think that this band-aid is going to fix this? Is awarding a second “winner” really going to appease anyone? Do I even need to mention that Zeta Tau Alpha was the only white sorority in the competition? I didn’t, did I?

Personally, I agree with The Step Off host Ryan Cameron – If you can step, YOU CAN STEP.  So, step off Zeta Tau. (Yeah … I’m not tough. I just blog like I am.)

Tags: Debacle, facebook, music videos, news, popular, Sorority, Sprite, Stepping, trends
Posted in Miscellaneous | 4 Comments »

A Match Made In Monkey Heaven

Friday, February 19th, 2010

So I’m at a friend’s house for a Fat Tuesday celebration, and as I’m hovering over the pot of jambalaya I noticed something interesting on his kitchen counter. First off, he has a banana rack (not to be confused with a banana hammock) to display his fresh bananas. I found that very intriguing and very metrosexual. Secondly, the Chiquita bananas had little monkey stickers on them. What happened to the traditional, blue banana sticker that I subconsciously equate with a fresher, superior tasting banana? Oh, that sticker is on the bananas in a new video game for the Wii.

It appears as though Chiquita and Sega have teamed up for a little cross promotion. The famous blue-stickered banana will be featured in the new “Super Monkey Ball Step & Roll” game for the Nintendo Wii. In exchange, Chiquita is promoting the game release on 180 million bananas in grocery stores (and on banana racks) near you.

Pulled from an article at Cincinnati.com, the Chiquita people describe the relationship like so:

“We feel that this is a natural fit – to promote healthy and fresh snacking while exercising on a fun game,” Chiquita Brands International spokesman Ed Loyd said. “We’ll obviously be tracking any changes in volume, but the key thing for us is to build the brand.”

It seems like a “natural fit” indeed, Ed. You got my attention.

The deal, which does not involve money changing hands, follows last fall’s national TV ad campaign, Chiquita’s first in more than 20 years. In addition, the company is said to be aggressively pursuing other brand licensing deals for products such as its frozen fruit smoothie concentrate and banana bread mix.

The Chiquita presence adds to a growing list of in-game ads. Well-known titles such as EA’s Madden NFL football franchise and even the space opera “Halo 3” now routinely include in-game ads or product tie-ins.

Tags: Chiquita Bananas, Cross Promotion, food, marketing, Product Placement, products
Posted in Miscellaneous | 3 Comments »

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 »

It’s Valentine’s Day. Buy Me Something.

Friday, February 12th, 2010

Valentines Day – otherwise known as the forced day of love. Whether you’re married, in a relationship or whatever your status on Facebook says, you’ve got expectations; and that is to feel special. But it’s time to face reality people. The one and only truth about Valentine’s Day is – your partner is only being romantic because marketers are forcing them.

What? You think they came up with this idea to make you feel special on their own? Of course they didn’t. Marketers did. Someone saw a golden opportunity to make money, and they took it and your money for a ride. The next truly viable holiday after Christmas is Easter (for all you Catholics out there). And we all know the economy can’t wait until April.

So, St. Valentines Day it is! Never mind that February 14^th was actually the day a Roman priest by the name St. Valentine was beaten with clubs and later beheaded!?! Nothing says love like a good ole-fashioned clubbing.

It’s not just the forced-romance part that eats at me. It’s the romance-in-a-box part that really makes me nauseous. Not only are you being told to shower your partner with love and affection, you can simply wander down to your local card shop and someone has written you something to say. They’ve arranged your flowers. They’ve wrapped your chocolate in pink cellophane and tied it with a bow. And if that’s not enough, they will even seduce you over to the perfume counter or into your local Victoria’s Secret by promising THIS will really make her happy.

Believe me. I have nothing against greeting card companies, chocolaters, florists, Victoria’s Secret or the perfume industry (although they could stand to tone it down a little bit). I know there are plenty of people who need a card written for them, can’t make their own chocolate and have to buy underwear. My problem is creating a holiday that lets these companies exploit their purpose and makes people feel obligated to do something nice.

My husband calls it the societal dilemma. Do you bite the bullet and spend $75 on flowers so your wife can get them at work and everyone in her little work universe can fawn over her and think you’re a stud? Or do you save the money for something more important that you might both enjoy and look like an insensitive arse?

I told him to save his $50 bucks, and write me a letter. HOWEVER, even though I don’t want him to do something romantic JUST because it’s a holiday, I really don’t want to be the girl who doesn’t get anything from her husband because he thinks man-made holidays are overrated.  I mean it is Valentine’s Day after all. You have to buy me something.

Tags: Gifts, Hallmark, Love, Married, Romance, Special, Valentine's Day, Victoria's Secret
Posted in Culture, Water Cooler | 1 Comment »

Google Enters The Social Media Octagon

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

Like millions of other Gmail users, this week I saw the introduction of Google’s newest media venture Buzz. It works pretty much just like Twitter, only through your Gmail account. Google says, “Buzz is a new way to share updates, photos, videos and more, and start conversations about the things you find interesting.” And lucky for all of us, we’re already set up to follow the people we email and chat with the most.

You can feed your Buzz updates from Facebook and Twitter, but not visa versa. So your tweets can be sent out to your Buzz followers, but you won’t be able to see updates of those you follow on Twitter through Buzz. There’s only one-way sharing across these platforms. So for all of those who were caught in the MySpace-Facebook transition, you might be updating two accounts simultaneously. This is truly genius on Google’s part. They use the current quick-update darling to fuel content (and followers) for their growing monster, essentially sucking the lifeblood right out of Twitter.

So the question looms, can Google overtake the ever-expanding Twittersphere? Or is this an effort to keep up and remain relevant? Google does have an ace in the hole. They’re Google. The have the users. They have the search engine. They have the eyes of the world on them every second of the day.

So much like my dormant MySpace page from 2003, how will my Twitter account survive as more and more users login to post on Buzz? You can’t ignore them. And you can’t deny Google. I have a feeling I’ll keep both going for a while, using Twitter as my main point of entry. But as the Buzz following slowly overtakes the Twitter followers in numbers and likely sort/search options, I’ll have no choice but to leave Twitter in the nest and make the complete transition over to Buzz.

Goodbye, Twitter. This is Google’s world now.

Tags: Buzz, Google, social media, Twitter, World Domination
Posted in Culture, Online, Water Cooler | No Comments »

The Schupper Bowl

Monday, February 1st, 2010

As I’m sure everyone is aware, Super Bowl is a registered trademark of the NFL, as is Super Sunday. So unless companies want to buck up and pay for the rights to say Super Bowl in their ads, they have to call it something else … I’m not even sure I’m allowed to write it.

Most advertisers go with The Big Game: as in, “Great Deals for the Big Game” or “Tackle Your Big Game Spread!” It’s a good demonstration of ambush marketing and really, really much cheaper than saying Super you-know-what. And while this treatment is generally accepted and even overused, a couple of years ago the NFL actually tried to copyright the Big Game. Luckily they were unable, as the annual California-Stanford football game has been called the Big Game since around 1900. Nice try, NFL.

But, should the organizers of the Cal-Stanford game ever decide to go copyright crazy, what would we cheap and lowly advertisers be left with? Here are some alternatives:

The Big One
That’s what then NFL commish Pete Rozelle originally wanted to call The Big Game. If it sounds like a cheesy TV-movie about a devastating earthquake, that’s because it is.

The Super Big Game
Why not? It’s the biggest, big-game out there.

El Juego Gigante
Like the multiculturalism? Don’t like the Telemundo name.

The World Bowl
Nope. Turns out that was the championship game of the NFL Europe. What, you didn’t watch?

The Big Bowl
Isn’t that the dish your wife makes you get out of the cabinet and empty a bag of potato chips into?

Yearly Pigskin Battle
Probably too generic. It could refer to any game involving a prolate spheroid made out of pigskin.

Oh, what to call this glorious day of boozing on the Lord’s Day? It’s basically a nationwide … hell, it’s worldwide … Sunday Funday. Wait a minute. Is it that simple? Can we replace a clichéd term with one that is quickly on its way there??? Don’t see why not.

So, I hope you found a “Great Deal for Ultimate Sunday Funday®” or were able to “Tackle Your Ultimate Sunday Funday® Spread.” And if you’ve got any other good suggestions, I’d like to hear them. Then I will take and trademark or copyright them.

* Ultimate Sunday Funday is a registered trademark of Dru Jacobs, Inc.

Posted in Advertising, Culture, Water Cooler | No Comments »