In ‘Trust Me,’ a Fake Agency Really Promotes

A Fake Ad Agency and Real Products

New York Times, January 21, 2009 — Beginning on Monday, the TNT cable channel hopes to add Rothman Greene & Mohr to those ranks as it introduces a weekly series, “Trust Me,” about a Chicago agency that competes against nonfictional firms like Leo Burnett and DDB. In another realistic wrinkle, actual products are being written into the scripts of episodes — including some, like the Dove line of hair care products sold by Unilever, that are also sponsors of the series.

Marketers Target Men's Hair as Promising Frontier†

Unilever Launches Axe Line of Products Following P&G's Debut of Gillette's; Campaigns Make Appeal to Male Vanity

Wall Street Journal, December 1, 2008 — Guys, you're having a bad hair day. Every day.

That's the message Unilever is sending with the launch of its first Axe line of hair products for men. The Axe line, best known for male body sprays that claim to help guys get the girl, now promises "girl-approved hair" with the use of shampoos, conditioner and styling products due to hit U.S. store shelves Monday

Marketers Take a Softer Tack to Reach Uneasy Consumers†

Wall Street Journal, November 5, 2008 — The roller-coaster stock market and plunging housing prices have left many consumers afraid. In response, marketers are adopting a softer approach to peddling their wares, playing up comforting images in their ads and focusing on family and the warmth and safety of home.

The Contribution Revolution: Letting Volunteers Build Your Business†

Intuit’s cofounder challenges traditional companies to follow the lead of internet superstars—and of innovative peers such as Honda, Procter & Gamble, and Hyatt—in tapping the contributions of countle

Harvard Business Review, October 1, 2008 — Earlier this year, I spent an intense half-day closeted in a room with the top 70 executives at Intuit. Our aim was to come up with ways that people outside the company could volunteer their time, energy, and expertise to make life better for our customers. Sound odd? Well, if you’re not conducting an exercise like that at your organization, you risk missing the boat on a sea change that’s transforming business.

Every day, millions of people make all kinds of voluntary contributions to companies—from informed opinions to computing resources—that create tremendous value for those firms’ customers and, consequently, for their shareholders. When I first encountered this idea, several years ago, it struck me as unfathomable: Volunteerism was for... continue reading

Cliche No More: CMO Club Gets Colorful New Member†

Unilever's Simon Clift on Stengel, Torture Tests and Marketing's Filet Mignon

Advertising Age, June 30, 2008 — Simon Clift has been Unilever's chief marketing officer for more than two years, but he freely admits he only really began doing the job a couple of months ago, thanks to a corporate restructuring that has had him drop his line-management duties as president of personal care.

As full-time CMO, Mr. Clift is getting in touch with his touch points, as some of his peers might say. But he just couldn't resist a mocking drift into CMO speak during an interview in the Carlton Hotel during the International Advertising Festival at Cannes last week as he bandied about terms like "challenges" and "new-media environment." He stopped, smirked and then added: "Oh my God! I've become a cliche."

How to Win the Hearts and Minds of Hispanic Customers

Marketing Profs, June 17, 2008 — With the Hispanic population in the US expected to surpass white non-Hispanic inhabitants by2030, marketers are scrambling for ways to tap into growing spending power while generating oyalty to their brands.

The challenge they face is to move beyond simply pushing established products or services.

Success requires a consumer-centric approach that hinges on offerings that are relevant to the target population.

For Unilever, P&G, No Good Deed Is Going Unpunished†

Damned if You Do: Cause Efforts Become Ammo for the Critics

Advertising Age, May 5, 2008 — Greg Allgood, who directs Procter & Gamble Co.'s Children's Safe Drinking Water program, recently has spent a lot of time demonstrating Pur's purification packets for developing countries that turn disgusting, brown water crystal clear. On one TV appearance last week, he accidentally took a swig from the dirty "before" water instead of the treated water in a clip that made the rounds to "Countdown" on MSNBC.

It's symbolic of the downside companies in the forefront of ethical marketing have faced in recent weeks: No good deed goes entirely unpunished; high-profile stances on social causes can have unintended consequences; and the water is getting pretty murky as "ethical marketing" encourages consumers and activists to delve into corporate policies in... continue reading

K-C, Unilever Turn Down TV to Ramp Up ROI†

Giants Pare Spots, Add New-Media Approaches in Push for Efficiency

Advertising Age, February 25, 2008 — As proof that it's spending its marketing dollars wisely, Kimberly-Clark Chairman-CEO Thomas Falk told analysts last week that the company expects to spend only 46% of its marketing budget on TV this year, down from 60% in 2004.

If you looked two or three years ago, out of our top six consumer brands, TV would have ranked as the most popular channel for all six," Mr. Falk told attendees at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York last week. "Today, TV might be ranked as the best channel for only three of those brands."

Package-goods titan Unilever also is out to prove it can spend more effectively, in part by using TV more cannily.

Dove Viral Draws Heat From Critics†

Bloggers, Others: How Can Marketer of Axe Attack the Beauty Industry's Ad Values?

Advertising Age, November 26, 2007 — When you unleash an "Onslaught" on YouTube, watch out for the counterattack.

Dove's viral video attack on beauty advertising has produced a surprisingly strong and enduring blowback against Unilever from activists, newspaper op-ed writers, bloggers and videographers who see it as hypocritical coming from the same company that markets Axe.