Don't mess with your brand: Goldenberg's Peanut Chew

The original packaging

Then some idiot decided to do this. Sales tanked.

Now Goldenberg's is almost back to its original.

One would think that as business professionals we learn from others mistakes, gain experience, get better, and avoid certain traps. Yet a story like the one of Goldenberg's Peanut Chews is only one in a long chain of fundamental fuck-ups in corporate America, where some moron decides to go against the fundamentals of marketing knowledge.

Remember the packaging redesign disaster around Tropicana Orange Juice? Or the GAP New Logo mess? Or the classic Coke / New Coke mess? Well, here is another one. Thank God someone at Goldberg's Peanut Chewing headquarter put an end to it, did some research and reverted back to where the brand was before, most importantly put the 'Goldenberg's' name back on the packaging that tells people that this is what they're looking for.

Lesson learned: Don't mess with your brand. If you're the CEO: don't let some self-proclaimed marketing specialist just go ahead and change the packaging. If you're the Marketing Manager: Don't let some agency honcho talk you into a need for a redesign - they are an agency and want you to give them money so they can keep designing. In a nutshell: All the people who were responsible for this almost disaster should have gotten fired. They have no business being in their business. End of story.

Read the whole story at nytimes.com:
After Failed Identity Change, Peanut Chews Reclaims Its Goldenberg’s Roots

All-time Classic: Audi's 'Vorsprung durch Technik' Ad Slogan

This ad slogan is now more than 40 years old, and it is one of my favorites. Created in 1971 by the iconic Sir John Hegarty, it clearly belongs in the Advertising Hall of Fame of the Top 10 Car Ad Slogans of all times (along with GMC's 'We are Professional Grade'). How did it come about? Read the story by UK's The Guardian here:

Vorsprung durch Technik – ad slogan that changed how we saw Germany

Bad Product Naming: 'Fungus Among Us'

Some things are just too good to be true. Like the above brand discovered on a recent trip to the local Gristedes Grocery store chain here in New York. It's pretty clear that what they are selling are mushrooms of various sorts, but calling it 'Fungus'? Just for the sake of having a funny sounding brand name? Who calls their brand 'Fungus Among Us'? Seriously? Last thing I remember that lived in the perceived world of above mentioned brand name was my house guest's miniature spray bottle to cure some kind of 'fungal infection'. Pretty damn sure as hell that I will not touch anything named 'Fungus'. Here a picture of his cure:

Olympic Gold II: Nike Follow Up

At the corner of 34th Street & 7th Avenue.

Just yesterday I noticed this billboard in Manhattan around Penn Station. What a brilliant follow up to their already brilliant commercial. They took the best scene of the commercial, blew it up on a 50 ft high poster, and put it in one of the busiest street corners of Manhattan. Another: +5

Olympic Gold for Nike: Find your greatness

The Olympics are over, and even though Nike wasn't one of the exclusive sponsors, they truly scored themselves a gold medal with their campaign. Remember: Anyone who doesn't fork over top dollar to the IOC, is not allowed to make any references to the '2012 Olympics' whatsoever. No mention in the copy. No showing the Olympic rings. Nothing. Nada. Niente.

So what did Nike do? They set it up with a series of 'London' signs that brilliantly gets Nike a free ride on top of all of what the Olympics are all about. I honestly don't remember anything Adidas - the official sponsor - did during the Olympics. Hence, Gold medal for Nike. And Wieden + Kennedy for making it such a wonderful commercial.

My favorite scene: The last scene, when the little boy runs his hand through his hair, and then... jumps! (0:55).

MAD SCORE: +5

Message: +1, no explanation necessary
Creative: +1, brilliant execution
Context: +1, can it get better than this?
Impact: +1, I'm pretty sure this was a home run
Intangibles: +1, because of its absolutely brilliant strategy