Cover-ups
IF THIS ISSUE’S Hot Creative had a theme, it would be protective coverings: from tin cans to sun block to – well, to other things. Some coverings might best be described as unmentionable.
Grooveride.com There are so many protective coverings on this mailing piece that we began to wonder if it weren’t some marketer’s idea of the layered look.
The first covering is a white cardboard box with pinwheels printed on it. Open the box and you find a square tin box with a paper seal.
Both the inside of this box and the paper seal identify the sender as www.grooveride.com. The seal also displays an image of a man rotating in a Hula-Hoop and the tease: “The shortest distance between a rut and a groove.”
The tin box contains a CD and a pamphlet. The pamphlet’s cover has the same image as the one on the seal, but the copy finally explains what Grooveride.com is: an e-commerce-enabled interactive Web site featuring car, office and music motifs. Created by Young & Laramore Interactive for Monsoon Audio Systems, Grooveride “represents a prescient collaboration between online and CD-ROM technology.”
Right.
Stripped of that pretentious, if protective, covering, what we have here is a CD-ROM with some software that prospects can download and play with offline. It provides the same (or similar) experience they would have if they just logged on to the Web site.
At least we think that’s what the CD is about. We never did get anywhere with it after the download.
The site itself is easy to navigate, but tries too hard to put the “fun” into “funky.” One page offers a graphic of five cars on a road. Copy to one side notes, “A car is a person’s sanctuary. For musical performance and personal grooming, it’s the perfect environment.” And unsafe at any speed if there’s a cell phone.
Click on a car and a comic book dialogue balloon pops up with the thoughts or comments of the driver. One wonders about a blue dress; another belligerently demands to know if anyone left food in the car.
The company claims the CD-ROM allows consumers to click on cars and cubicles for various musical experiences. Apparently, the work cubicle is as much a sanctuary as the car.
The ostensible target for this campaign is the “urban hipster,” here further defined as a Web-savvy consumer. (As if there were another type these days.) Grooveride caters to this group by including a link to the Web site of Wonderdrug, a self-proclaimed indie band.
The question here seems to be at what point targeting your audience becomes a virtual in-joke, excluding, if not turning off, any off-target prospects. For all we know, Monsoon may produce the exact set of speakers we need to upgrade our audio system. But Monsoon is too cool to care.
eSupport.com We’re not big fans of goo, even tubes of goo, and even when the goo in the tube in question is sun block. SPF 15, to be precise about what sort of protective covering is involved here. But this tube of goo has a candy cane strapped to it. Closer inspection reveals a tag with a picture of Santa in his traditional stocking cap, but with baggy shorts, running down the shore holding a surfboard over his head.
“What do candy canes and suntans have in common?” asks the other side of the tag.
All this turns out to be a promotion for eSupportNow, a company specializing in fulfillment for e-commerce direct marketers. Continuing the theme, the tag’s copy ends with “eSupportNow Wishes You a Happy Jingle Bells in June!!!”
Needless to say, we sent the candy cane home to a fellow reporter’s kids, but at least this promo has a bit of wit about it. It’s a winsome visual for the idea that summer isn’t too soon to be concerned about fulfilling winter orders.
It’s a good point, and one that just might be better than any one product or service.
Hyundai Hyundai Motor America ran a space ad in the spring that appeared in a number of men’s magazines. Highlighting the Tiburon and referring readers to either a toll-free number (1-800-826-Cars) or a Web site (www.hyundaiusa.com), the ad’s tag line is, “America’s best warranty. It covers everything important.” The letters are white on a blue square against a bigger white field.
The box with the tag line is placed toward the middle of the left-hand side. To the lower right is a red Tiburon. A set of blue dots connects the tag line to a second image located on the upper right. The image is a plastic cup from an athletic supporter.
OK, so the magazine in question is Men’s Fitness. We suppose if there’s a place for this ad, a Joe Weider publication would be it. It’s not read by too many women, who have other concerns when it comes to protective coverings. And we’re all for cups for serious sparring or kickboxing, say, or team sports like soccer or lacrosse. But to use it to try to get a point across in this ad seems dubious.
First, a cup doesn’t cover “everything important.” What about your eyes? Second, most guys find cups uncomfortable and try to avoid wearing them.
The analogy might well read that the warranty covers some important things, and never quite manages to fit you.
