Friday, February 18, 2011

Marcom this week: From A to zinc – 2/18/11 edition


From Pepsi’s controversial new can to a positive outlook on marketing jobs in 2011, here is a look at what made headlines this week in the integrated marketing communications industry.

Diet Pepsi Slims Down for Fashion Week
Diet Pepsi’s new “skinny” can got some rough reviews when it debuted at New York Fashion Week this week. According to PepsiCo Inc., the “tall, sassier” version of its traditional can celebrates beautiful, confident women. Pepsi, what are you trying to say? Beautiful, confident women don’t come in “traditional” sizes?

Before we hate on Pepsi, let’s look at this from another perspective. Yes, Pepsi’s positioning of the new can is a surefire way to draw negative attention. However, this new attribute does have its benefits. Skinny cans are more ladylike than wide-mouth traditional cans and add a bit of glam to the otherwise mundane activity of drinking a diet cola. We may not love the messaging, but we’re up for throwing a case of these cute cans in our fridge. We’re betting others will too, which begs the question: will this negative publicity hurt or help the brand?

Marketing Jobs on the Rise
Good news for integrated marketing grad students: marketing jobs are on the rise. According to a survey conducted by Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and the American Marketing Association, CMOs plan to hire 50 percent more marketing pros in 2011. Gains in revenue and profits are fueling the new hires, with 69 percent of respondents saying they are more optimistic about the U.S. economy, up from 26 percent the previous quarter.

Couple this news with information about the hottest hiring sectors and you should be heading down a bright career path. As CNBC reported earlier this year, industries promising the most growth include IT, healthcare, transportation and financial services. In fact, according to CareerBuilder.com, 24 percent of hiring managers report plans to hire full-time workers in 2011, up from 20 percent in 2010 and 14 percent in 2009.

Harley Debuts First Crowdsourced Ad
It’s arguable that Harley Davidson has created one of the strongest brand communities of the last century. Now, the motorcycle manufacturer has turned the creative reins over to its customers, asking them to help develop an ad campaign around Harley’s new HD1 program, which allows customers to go online and design their own bike. “No Cages” is the first crowdsourced spot to air. Inspired by Kentuckian Whit Hiler and produced by Boulder, Colo.-based Victors & Spoils, the TV ad pays homage to the freedom felt by Harley riders and owners. So which brand will jump on the crowdsourcing bandwagon next? In addition, while it seems like crowdsourcing and ad agencies are playing nicely, is this technique a threat to creative agencies?




Marcom This Week: From A to Zinc is compiled by the Vitamin IMC editorial team. They can be reached at vitaminimc@gmail.com. Miss your vitamins last week? Visit the “Marcom this Week” archive.

3 comments:

Nicole said...

If marketing jobs are on the rise, it is a sign of the economy starting to recover, which is great. It has been a tough few years for marketing graduates.

Anne said...

Re: Harley-Davidson, an interesting first try from Victors & Spoils - and even more intriguing to read the comments from the Ad Age article.

http://adage.com/article/news/harley-davidson-breaks-consumer-created-victors-spoils-ad/148873/

Wilmayxi042 said...

finally someone like me. i was inspired to watch this vid cuz this is exactly how i look c urrently and was tired of watching vids of pple who were already a size 6 wanting to be a 4.

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