Breakfast at Denny's

Would Audrey Hepburn have gone this morning?

Today was give America a free breakfast - sponsored by Denny's. Here in Salt Lake at 7:15 this morning the wait was 40 minutes, the service great, and the experience interesting. Talking to people in the restaurant and checking out Denny's on Twitter provides a wealth of insight.

1. Something novel will spread like wildfire, even if it is announced on the Super Bowl. Proof that a 'big seed' marketing approach works.
2. It isn't about the pure economics of the offer - a $6 meal where the only choice is 'how would you like your eggs?' isn't exactly the best sale ever announced. But thousands of people went.
   
3. The staff at my location exhibited pride in executing what has to be an 'atypical' shift. I don't know what announcements, training, etc. they got - but they pulled it off.
4. It almost turned into a social event. I think they could have taken the opportunity to get people seated together to fill tables (like Europe). There were two people at a 6-top; should have been used to start conversations.
   

Emulsifier Needed for Marketing

What's the right recipe for social networks and advertising?

Several articles this week on the lack of effectiveness of advertising in social networks; here's one on eMarketer. These articles raise the question: can advertising and social networks mix? It seems like they're oil and vinegar.

I'm a fan of vinaigrette and here's a simple recipe that I use that is a bit out of the ordinary since it is equal parts oil and vinegar rather than the traditional ratio of 3:1.

3 T Olive Oil
3 T Balsamic Vinegar
1 t Dijon-style mustard
1 t Kosher salt

Oil and vinegar don't normally mix, but the secret ingredient - mustard - does something to create a smooth and harmonious mixture that doesn't separate.

Why don't oil and vinegar blend?

The molecules involved aren't designed to attach to one another because one is charged (water) and one isn't (oil). As a result they each much prefer their own community and they band together. So, if their physical properties are incompatible with one another how do emulsifiers work? They broker a truce by fitting in within both communities - usually they are a wrapper around one of the ingredients to make the mixture more compatible. In a vinaigrette the charged water molecules (Balsamic vinegar) are wrapped by the mustard to eliminate the polarity. The result is a nice salad dressing.

So, if social networks and advertising are oil and vinegar, what's the emulsifier?

Advertising is charged. The worst offenders, or those with the highest charge, are likely the direct response ads goading you to do something now. Social network advertising should not entice to you leave the the community, what's the point of that?

Marketers have a message that they'd like to circulate easily among a social network, just like Balsamic vinegar in EVOO. They need to think like a mustard and wrap them in something that is much more compatible with the non-charged social network environment. Messages should be delivered as content with relevance and even amusement so that it stays within the community and adds to the overall experience.

If the acidic nature of advertising isn't smoothed over, it will end up in isolated pools off to the side being completely ignored.

Marketing Duality

Is something I see content or an ad?

The lines between content and advertising are so blurred that it is much like physics where light behaves as both a particle and a wave. Okay, the concepts of particle and wave don't apply with really small things like those found in quantum physics but when viewed from those terms things behave strangely.

It seems that marketing is moving toward a duality where something we see is both content and advertising. At the scale of TV or even print magazines, it is relatively easy to separate the two concepts. One is used to financially support the other - everybody knows how the game is played.

But what happens when the unit of consumption is very small -- a search result, a blog entry, a posted video, a mobile message? At what point do 'content' and 'advertising' lose their meaning?

The rush to monetize ever-smaller pieces of content may reach a limit where uncertainty creeps into the equation and we're left in search of a completely new explanation and business model. If there are no direct costs of producing content, why do we need advertising?

For a variation of this topic see Steve Smith's post on the impact of mobile messaging on branding.

Lombardi or Augie Trophy

Are the going to rename Superbowl the trophy?

It seems that the folks at Anheuser-Bush have the formula down pat; according to most polls this morning their spots ranked atop the Superbowl list. Different sites listed different ones as the 'best' --- "Classroom" which is all about getting the product name in the minds of the listener; "Rock Paper Scissors" sets up the audience for a laugh when one of the 'fellers' fighting over the last beer uses a real rock at the end of the challenge - although paper trumps rock in the game. "Crabs" worshiping a cooler on the beach didn't quite have the anthropomorphic punch line that I'd like to have seen.

Losers have to be King Pharmaceuticals for their strange "Heart" portrayal and GM for the suicidal "Robot." (Short Circuit it wasn't.)

The best part is that they're all over the Internet.