• by John Gaffney , July 31, 2002

Is That A Cell Phone In Your Pocket?: There’s nothing new about the Sony Ericsson cell phone campaign that has taken shots for being “deceptive” in a Wall Street Journal article. But the argument over aggressive guerilla marketing is as hot as ever. What Sony Ericsson plans to do is launch its new mobile phone/digital camera through buzz marketing. One tactic, just so you get full flavor, involves sending attractive women to trendy nightspots who will engage strangers in conversation when suddenly, “oops, that’s my cell phone.” That’s followed by showing the poor guy a digital photo of her friend on the phone’s screen. Like I said, it ain’t new. Last summer Vespa scooters did something very similar with models on scooters in LA. Electronic Arts also did something similar with a spy-based online game. The issue is, is it fair marketing? I say it is fair, just once. No way you can pull this type of effort off more than once. In fact if too many brands try buzz marketing efforts it at the same time, it will backfire. Is it good advertising? Again, I say yes, but you can’t overwork it. Advertising is about establishing an emotional connection with consumers. Testing new ways to establish that connection makes the industry grow.

The Importance Of Being Patient:I know Kmart is in a tough spot, but they change their advertising direction at an unhealthy rate. In the spring they announced an intelligent repositioning to go after the multicultural market. Now were getting Joe Boxer as evidence of the great brands the retailer still stocks. I think a more concentrated message, like the multicultural one, is the better play. They just need to let it play.

Miller Time: I worked with Jon Miller in a former life, and if he gets the AOL gig, as has been reported, I think you will see a decided turn toward the sports and entertainment business both for ad revenue and for subscription revenue. Miller cut his teeth at the NBA and learned a lot from David Stern. Not a bad role model.