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brandeo weekender: chasing thirsty 35-49 year olds, the golden rule, auto insurance policies and chocolate hands for Easter

Sun, 03/16/2008 - 01:00 — anne

tips, trends & tidbits from the week of march 10th

Pepsi skewers the stereotype that digital advertising is just for young consumers.  A NYT article reports Pepsi is forsaking mainstream media for an online launch of Tava, their new, no-calorie carbonated beverage. Pepsi hopes to reach consumers 35-49 who spend significant amounts of time online checking email or searching for travel, music and food info. Lots more brands would benefit if marketers abandoned stereotypes of these older (and moneyed) online users.

Tava, inspired by “distinctive flavors enhanced with vitamins and imagination,” features exotic flavors such as Mediterranean Fiesta and Tahitian Tamure for folks who are way too sophisticated for soft drinks or water.

Start-ups and website publishers beware: Just because material is widely available on the internet and you think you’re such a small fish that no one will notice or care if you borrow it, doesn’t mean you’ll get away with it.

According to TechCrunch, tiny start-up ManagedQ was using images that belonged to Snap without Snap’s permission. So Snap disabled ManagedQ’s access to the visuals, which essentially shut ManagedQ down.

Although it’s easy to sympathize with ManagedQ, it’s just as easy to understand Snap’s actions. So, if you decide to use material from another site without permission or attribution, be warned. It could happen to you.

This is reminiscent of the trademark skirmishes that occasionally occur between mega brands and tiny companies who play off the mega brand to create a clever name/tagline/logo of their own. The big brand’s legal eagles swoop in, handling the situation with such ferocity that onlookers see the infringer as the victim. The reality is that failure to protect one’s trademark weakens one’s ownership rights so trademark owners must be vigilant.

Comscore reports that during 2007 consumers submitted online requests for 32 million auto insurance quotes and purchased a record 2 million policies. That’s a 15% increase in the number of requests and a whopping 32% increase in the number of purchases from 2006.

What Were They Thinking? Okay, so I came across these Easter cards that offer your choice of a chocolate cross or chocolate hands clasped in prayer. They’re embedded in a card containing an Easter prayer. I love chocolate but I won’t/can’t eat it in the shape of a cross, nor will I eat chocolate shaped like body parts. Chocolate bunnies, however, are acceptable.

Have a great weekend.

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