Brand Central Station

You have to give the Association of National Advertisers credit, it’s not like they’re not trying.

But no matter what they seem to say or do, American advertisers don’t seem to understand the importance of minority markets to their brands’ success or profitability. There seems to be only one answer to sum up the majority of the obstacles cited by ANA members in a recent survey which attempted to divine the rationale for the dearth of marketing initiatives aimed at including minorities.

Ignorance.

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Oh well, from a rant on the need for multicultural to this little gem exploiting the US’s first African-American President a full sixty days before he’s even sworn into office.  We all know a person’s right to privacy flies out the window when he’s voted to be the next “most powerful dude on the planet” – but seriously, shouldn’t there be a law about this kind of hucksterism?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWN1Au4HNFY]

Well, at least it’s not real money.  I guess it could have been worse.  In Bermuda, monetary officials are having to explain why they allowed their engraver to change the bill of the White-tailed Tropicbird to more closely resemble that of a Red-billed Tropicbird instead.  Huh?

So they now have a “mashup” of two birds to create some kind of hybrid, megabird for their $50 bill. Next thing you know, they’ll put a Pushmi-pullyu on the $100.  Hugh Lofting would be proud.

(Bet you never thought you’d get a D.D. allusion in a marketing blog, did you?)

Hat tip to the “Make the Logo Bigger” blog for the tv spot.

Iconoculture, the leading cultural trend research company, today unveiled the top six trends that will drive consumer behavior in 2009. In a marketplace defined by economic uncertainties, shifting social mores, and an increasingly global and multicultural landscape, the values and trends identified by Iconoculture explain how consumers are likely to respond in 2009.

Subscribe to Iconoculture’s weekly newsletter by clicking here.

Iconoculture provides companies a window into consumer culture with perspectives on why consumers behave the way they do and what impact those behaviors will have on businesses.

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Think there’s confusion in the world’s financial markets?  That’s nothing compared to the world of marketing – where uncertainty, confusion and out-right panic are not out of the question.

Economic recessions are tough to understand.  For many small and mid-sized businesses, the national recession indicators manifest themselves in ways that often go unreported by the mass media.  Add to that the general sense of desperation felt by consumers and business owners and managers are often left wondering what they could have done to avoid their difficulties and at a complete loss about what to do going forward.

So, let’s try to take a step back and understand the nature of this particular recession and what options lay ahead for the small and mid-sized business when it comes to evaluating and re-loading their marketing plans for the rest of 2008 and all of 2009.  (Yeah, you heard that right – you better be thinking about a total re-boot of your marketing program starting tomorrow because the only thing you can count on in this recession is that your plans made six to ten months ago are out-of-touch with today’s economic reality.) (more…)