The Snuggie phenomenon

From an article I just saw over at AdAge:
Marketing’s New Red-Hot Seller: Humble Snuggie
That’s right.
The blanket with sleeves is one of the hottest selling items these days. Selling more than 4 million units in the past three months, Snuggies has made just under $40 million in retail sales.
There’s even reports of customers swamping stockers and [...]

Just add sleeves!

Have you seen it yet?
Someone created “Snuggies.” The blankets with… sleeves.
Complete with an incredibly cheesy infomercial. Check it:

But when I watch this, I can’t help but have mixed feelings. Honestly, a fair part of me admires the simplicity of the idea. It reminds me of the classic Homer Simpson line after [...]

The lessons in lyrics

I’m listening to some random music and realized that there’s some potentially significant nuggets of wisdom that could really apply to marketing.
I’m not here to misrepresent an artists intentions, but the best stories are the ones that we can apply to ourselves. Here’s what I mean:
Modest Mouse: Missed the Boat — “…our ideas held no [...]

Hyundai reminds us that boring doesn’t sell and that safe is still very risky

Ad Age is reporting that Hyundai is parting ways with its agency.
A major reason? The disappointing launch of their high-end Genesis, backed by an $80 million campaign which included two Superbowl spots.
Hoping to move about 2,000 models a month, the automaker has sold a total of a little more than 1,800 since the launch.
I could end this post with [...]

Night Ranger and the power of saying what we’re all thinking

So last night I rocked out to a concert of two bands older than I am.
Night Ranger opened for Foreigner, and to put it into perspective, Night Ranger’s Sister Christian and I both turned 24 this year. Even better: Foreigner’s tour is sponsored by AARP.
And here’s the thing with any classic rock concert: We were [...]

Talking about beer

I’m a bit frustrated here…
I was going to share some great copy with the world here, but I can’t find a copy of it online anywhere.
It comes from Schell’s. They’ve been brewing beer up in New Ulm, Minnesota for about 150 years and today represent the second oldest American brewery, behind only Pennsylvania’s Yuengling. I [...]

Rebel copywriting

Harley Davidson has long been one of my favorite brands.
It’s not that they make the most reliable bikes (they don’t) and it’s not that they are ‘American made’ (a lot of the parts are foreign, which – ironically – has improved reliability).
A really easy reason to like Harley is because they’re brilliant at branding.
The brilliance [...]

Telling your story through your copy

Seth Godin says the best marketing tells a story.
I agree. The best marketing tells a genuine, unique story and lives it every day.
A fundamental of telling your story is your copywriting. With more noise than ever before, we have no time nor patience for average stories.
We require a refreshing, dynamic voice that offers an immediate [...]