Another BMW Biter Flop

And surprise, it's also from FORD.

" Far from bettering the brilliant and engaging Web films pioneered in 2001 by BMW, Ford's (F) struggling luxury division has produced a textbook for how not to use the Internet."
--

Business 2.0

The (Un)Lucky Ones

Visit MeetTheLuckyOnes.com and you get thrown to a subpage of the Mercury website that is just another clone of BMW Films, but without any apparent connection to the brand.

Admittedly, I haven't seen explored all of these mini serial Royal Tannenbaum/ I Heart Huckabee's movies, but I can't imagine I'm alone in turning away after trying to comprehend the idea.

Are audiences ready for branded entertainment? Yes. Are they interested in compelling content that might be selling them something? Yes. Will they beat down your door just because you put a crap load of money into quirky webisodes? Let's see.

Subservient Crazy

Adrants.com featured a link to this Subservient Chicken inspired site: Ask-Crystal.com

Hey the technology is fun. Great play factor, but it begs the question: Does this sell product? The BK site did support the "Have it Your Way" concept and bring it alive in a new way. But does it change your perspective of the brand and drive you to purchase?

Will every ad agency jump on the CP+B bandwagon and create their own version of Subservient Chicken? Are brand managers simply going to approve these ideas because they see a meal ticket cloaked in cool online gizmos?

First Post -- The Last of the Brands

The Decline of Brands in Wired Mag

"Over time, certain brands came to connote quality. They did provide a measure of insurance - which in turn made firms less innovative and less rigorous...That sense of protection is eroding in industry after industry, and instead of a consumer economy in which success is determined in large part by name, it's now being determined by performance. The aristocracy of brand is dead. Long live the meritocracy of product."

Great article. Scary article. Appropriate for our first posting. What happens when the role of brands changes? How will the promotions world keep up -- especially since it hasn't really kept up with the rise of branding.

I think the agency to succeed in the future will be one that sells innovation -- even over ideas and certainly over tactics.

Stay tuned.