Schupp Company Blog

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 »

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 »

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 »

I Have a Hunch…

Tuesday, August 4th, 2009

The other day I was sitting at my desk and I heard a grumble… My stomach… Looking at the clock, it was well past Noon, so I started to ponder what to have for lunch. If you’re like me and know downtown St. Louis, there aren’t many exciting choices, especially if you been to all three in the last week. I then remembered a site I came across recently that could possibly help me decide what to do – hunch.com

What the hell is Hunch, you ask?  The brainchild of Flickr co-founder Caterina Fake and partners Chris Dixon and Tom Pinckney (co-founders of SiteAdvisor and grads of Harvard and MIT), it’s a decision-making site, customized for you.  By asking a few questions when you log on (around 10 or so) Hunch gets to know you, and provides an answer – or a hunch, I guess.

Hunch is basically a personalized recommendation engine. But rather than, say, track your purchase history the way Amazon does, Hunch uses a combination of your answers to personal questions and topics, plus community feedback. The wisdom of crowds gets coupled with your own quirks to help you make decisions.

I had played with the site a bit before now, but I hadn’t actually tried with a clear goal in mind.  So here goes:

It’s not bootcamp day, so I’ll be a little indulgent…

Spicy?  Sure!  Why not…

Um…  No.

I really don’t care…  I’m just really hungry!

Seafood?  Does this count?

Yes…  I’ll be at my desk, uh, working…

Lasagna!?!?  Sounds good, but seems a little heavy for lunch.  The site did give me a total of 24 “hunches”, including Thai, bacon & eggs, a burrito and PBJ.  The list was ranked based on how I answered the questions above.  Pretty cool.

If you’re not happy with suggested “hunches”, you can help improve the site by adding your own or editing already published topics after you’ve “played” at least five topics.  Upon creating a new topic, other Hunch users can vote on how good or complete it is, and anyone can add questions and results to it. Hunch’s staff reviews the submissions before adding them to the library.

While Hunch does cover a plethora of topics (over 4,000, with more added everyday), I probably would not use it to make “real” decisions.  If you have 30 extra seconds to kill, maybe you’d use Hunch instead of doing a quick Google search.  More than anything, it’s fun. Give it a try…
Now…  only if Jimmy John’s served Lasagna…

Tags: food, interactive, popular, trends
Posted in Culture, Online, Water Cooler | No Comments »

Wired MetaPuzzle

Thursday, July 23rd, 2009

I stumbled upon this article a while back and though my patience to figure it out was short-lived, I think it’s one of the most interesting puzzles I’ve ever seen. Not only is the concept fascinating (who thinks of this stuff, much less, is able to solve it?!?), but it has ties to one of my favorite shows, Lost, as one of its creators, J.J. Abrams, was a guest editor for the May issue of Wired and contributed to this puzzle’s inception.

A hidden metapuzzle threads through the pages of this month’s issue of Wired magazine, which is built around the theme of magic and mystery…Below the surface of the May issue lurk 15 puzzles, all of which combine into a giant metapuzzle, created for Wired.

Tags: interactive, popular, science-fiction, Television
Posted in Culture, Television | No Comments »

Don’t Sweat It

Tuesday, July 21st, 2009

Perspiration:  A salty, watery fluid secreted by the sweat glands of the skin, especially when very warm as a result of strenuous exertion (dictionary.com).  Well I’m surely not participating in any strenuous exertion in the physical sense at the moment, yet I am drenched in my own sweat. As I sat in my office today with a small oscillating fan as my only means of “air conditioning,” I pondered what to write about for this blog entry.

Just before heading to an afternoon meeting, I stood up and slowly peeled the skirt off my legs, waving it in front of the fan in an effort not to look like I just wet myself.  Then it dawned on me…

None of us really likes to sweat.  I mean, let’s face it. Sweating is unpleasant. It makes you feel sticky and disgusting, and it often causes people to smell bad.  I hope no one forgot their deodorant today!

Regardless of how it makes us feel, sweating is essential to good health.  According to Wikipedia.com, “sweating is primarily a means of thermoregulation.”  In plain English, sweating keeps your insides cool.  When we sweat, we also release many of the toxins that settle in our body from the greasy hamburger we just scarfed down at lunch, or from the beer we drank last night.

I find it interesting that, although sweating is essential for everyday human survival, most people cannot tolerate it in ordinary daily situations. As we pull ourselves through the 8+ hour workday with no air conditioning, the fact that we have sweat rolling down our backs and foreheads seems to overtake our will to complete the PowerPoint presentation due to the client in less than two hours.  Even in non-work related scenarios, like a Cardinal’s baseball game or a BBQ with friends for instance, we do not happily welcome the drops of water that accumulate in every crack and crevice of our body.

Unfortunately, when you are hot, your body will react naturally.  Just like a dog pants to cool itself down, sweating is the body’s natural reaction to avoid overheating.

On the flip side, it’s amazing how we welcome the sweat when partaking in physical exercise.  I teach group fitness classes at Club Fitness in the evenings after work.  It amazes me how sweat becomes almost a status symbol at the gym. The harder you sweat, the harder you are working. It sounds crazy, but it really is true, and not only with those guys you see grunting while attempting to bench press a whopping 350 lbs.

When it comes to group fitness classes, it’s a great disappointment to the instructor if they don’t see their students breaking a sweat. We do all we can to provide the best workout possible, and the only physical evidence of the students’ hard work is the amount of perspiration dripping down their faces.  I will admit, when I finish teaching a class, I consistently find myself making remarks about my drenched appearance, which is as if I have just jumped out of a swimming pool.  And when I look around and see others who may not be sweating as hard, I wonder if I delivered the workout they came for.

As a fitness instructor, I strive to provide not only a great workout for my students, but also a fun and safe environment. Although sweating is important, I never hesitate to offer a break for water, and I always encourage my students to rehydrate any time they feel is necessary. Over sweating can be very dangerous in that it can cause dehydration and dizziness, among many other things. The same goes for other aspects of physical activity. It is important to be conscious of how all elements of exercise can affect your body.  In the coming months, I will share with you some fitness tips and ways to incorporate physical activity into your daily routine at work or at home. In the meantime, don’t sweat the small stuff.

Tags: popular, work
Posted in Culture, Recreaction, Water Cooler | No Comments »

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 »