Take Our Post Superbowl Ad Challenge

Click here to take our survey

So do you think the cost of advertising in the Superbowl is worth it?

Want to know what impact you could get for that kind of spending elsewhere? Or 1/100th of it?

The Brand is Dead. Long Live the Brand.

No, this isn't a hi-falutin' discourse on the state of the brand today.

But it is a shout out for the value of dead brands.  And what can be done with them in the right hands.

In our green, recycling way, we've been interested for a long time in dead or tarnished brands, and how great marketers (like these guyshere), can bring them back to life.

While we haven't acted on this yet, we'd like to.  

We appreciate what Brad Hittle and team did for Pabst and now Schlitz.  Not dead brands, but stale as 30 year old beer, and, yet, he revived 'em with smart positioning, packaging, and promotion.

And we marveled at this odd auction last fall in New York:

http://adage.com/article?article_id=147556

One random rep in attendance signed over a cashier's check for about $2000 and ran off with the rights to failed, but hallowed, old magazine brand, Collier's.

So, if you see a brand you want to revive, we're big fans of fixer-uppers...and would be happy to help.  

"Murph, we're gettin' the brand back together!"

Tech Tracks on the Ski Slopes

We're always looking for cool new convergence ideas, and this is definitely one:  Epic Mix.

http://www.snow.com/epicmix/home.aspx?cmpid=ET900094&et_rid=100512035

Simply stated, they've put RFID (trackable chips) on ski passes.

And they've leveraged it larger than a winter storm in International Falls.

So what does this hi-tech tracker enable?

Track your progress throughout the day. 

See you entire day's run online before hitting the apres ski.

Even earn various 'pins', awards for hitting milestones slopewise.

Most importantly, find your friends at any time on any slope.  

Lord knows we could use that last feature, Mr. Hey-Slow-Up-on-the-Mogul-Run!!!!

The intro video for Epic Mix needs a better editor -- like lift lines, the shorter, the better, in video demo-land.  But apart from that, we're diggin' this development.

And as long as the chip survives Epic Mixes of downhill spills, bring it on!