Altyrian View

I just watched the new Folger’s Advertisement that’s playing on the Internet. In it, a crowd of yellow glowing idiots (are they dead spirits?) sing and annoy the inhabitants of a seaside town until - surprise! - those inhabitants drink their coffee. A couple of sips of (you guessed it) Folgers and the townspeople actually tap their fingers along with the singing idiots. Message: drink your coffee and you’ll love mornings.

Heather Green over at BusinessWeek Online describes the spot as “disturbing.” In her blog she posts the Folger’s pitch for the ad. I’m with Heather - I find the ad disturbing as well, considering that the ad’s song includes the line “You can sleep when you are dead.” But, even more than disturbing to me is the horrible lack of strategy behind this ad. At our agency we drink lots and lots of coffee, and we actually drink Folger’s. I love the taste of Folger’s but I really hate this ad.

Come on Folger’s, did you think to ask the question “What’s this ad going to do for our brand?” From where I’m sitting this ad makes your brand silly, annoying and unlikeable. Don’t insult your customers with glowing yellow idiots (singing or otherwise) and don’t remind your customers that someday they’ll be dead. Your product is coffee - COFFEE!  Maybe you should keep your product AND your market in mind next time.

Broadcasted on Apr. 28, 2006

Today’s interview is with Larry Hill, President of Altyris Advertising, and Dan Robinette, Creative Director for Altyris Advertising. Hill and Robinette discuss the changes in how creativity is applied throughout the advertising and marketing process, rather than the types of creativity.

• Creativity now not only includes design concepts (font, layout, and color) but rather the areas of problem solving and market penetration.

• Creative strategies are key to a successful advertising, marketing, or public relations exercise. They include developing the strategy around the consumer, product, and/or market.

• One approach for a successful creative strategy is to hold creative sessions. In order to expand originality you need to bring everyone into the creative process from accountants, to copywriters, to art directors, to designers. This is very helpful in exploring and creating new ideas and methods that could break through your market.

Listen to the full broadcast on our iTunes Podcast Marketing Watch.

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