| What's In a Name?
There's been quite a bit of chit-chat lately on branding and corporate signatures in the business mags. Bottom line – if all consumer crap is the same, what will make you buy one similar item over another? It's on sale? Product quality? History? Shiny package? Now you're getting warmer.
Advertainment has a good home on the Web with slick Web sites and clever design putting "stickiness" ( a site's ability to keep you coming back) in the forefront. evian.com is a perfect example – with its eye-catching ad campaign complemented by flash movies, a boutique (nothing like getting your bottled water delivered right to your door) and a style section, this is lifestyle programming at its finest. Ad party photos, contests and downloads are all available while the "L'original" catch phrase lurks in the background. It's not just water – it's "old skool" water.
Another site worth looking into is the home of the big cheese, kraftdinner.com. Here you'll find recipes to enhance your love affair with the blue and yellow box, and KD horoscopes based on how you make the goods. The site prides itself on being "cheesy," so kitsch is definitely on the menu, with send-in-your-own-fromage-photos viewmaster style. Not as high falutin' as the Evian site, but still persuasive in its target market.
Both sites encourage you to sign up for e-mail listings ("wow your friends") with contests and news. I assume this is essential if you're reading Wallpaper magazine while swigging an Evian as you cook your KD on your stainless steel stove in your trendy downtown loft. Now that's an ad campaign for the masses. |
