We can all agree that well thought-out and strategic marketing is an incredible way to reach your consumers, without having to directly put your product in their hands. In turn, the marketing influence from a product plays a significant role in the consumer’s path to purchase. However, some marketing approaches, when broken down, can be borderline deceitful in nature – particularly in the food world. Too often, companies manipulate the consumer into thinking unhealthy products are the better choice in comparison to healthy counterparts.

In related news, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is cracking down on companies that push out distorted information through strict regulation of unnecessary ingredients in food products – specifically, sodium. The FDA recently proposed to give manufactures two years to cut sodium levels in their products.

This is putting a lot of heat on the companies beloved for their salty snacks.

Believe it or not, PepsiCo Inc. is the largest U.S. maker of salty snacks. While many love to open up a bag of Lay’s potato chips, do they know how much sodium is in one bag? And what about those new “baked” potato chips? They are supposedly much healthier, right? With 135mgs of sodium compared to 170mgs in the classic recipe, you can be the judge. Is Americans’ lack of understanding of nutritional information like sodium content influenced by aggressive and misleading marketing campaigns from the brands?

We acknowledge that some marketing campaigns are brilliant, whether or not the product is as nutritious as advertised. Big companies like PepsiCo Inc. are experts at integrating their products into everyday culture with their seemingly endless advertising budgets and bold moves. Recently, PepsiCo Inc. focused their primary advertising on celebrity endorsers. Celebrity endorsers play a huge role of promoting products into the culture because they stand as influential figures for various demographics of Americans.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

McDonald’s, arguably one of the world’s most well-known food companies, is also exceptional at threading their products into the world. How? Their marketing campaigns are direct and straight to the point. Take a look at the ad below. Nothing explicitly alludes to a healthy product. However, when you take the time to dissect the food, you can see that they are hiding the true nature of their product. McDonalds is directly saying that a perfect potato is a French fry. A medium French fry at McDonalds has about 200mgs of salt in it, while a regular Idaho potato has 0mgs of salt. McDonalds is a perfect example of how a marketing campaign can distract consumers without being outwardly deceptive.

To contrast, there are companies that are attempting to stay on the right track when it comes to what they put in their food and how they market to consumers. Chipotle has been spotlighted in the news recently in regards to a series of consumers getting sick from their food. As a result, they are now currently promoting what is actually inside their food. Unlike some other big name brands, Chipotle is one of the only fast food companies to take genetically modified foods off its menu. A big change like this is what the FDA is looking for from everyone in the coming years.

 

This is hardly the first time major companies have omitted certain truths regarding the nutritional value of their products; however, it is fairly recent that people have begun to demand radical transparency. As things like clean eating and health awareness become more and more appreciated, companies that use and promote healthy ingredients in their marketing campaigns are the ones that Americans will trust.

As Election Day quickly approaches, the Presidential campaign of 2016 is in full force and one main question remains: amid all the digital and media chatter, which of the candidates will come out on top in the race for the President of the United States? It is a political boxing ring, everyone throwing punches in order to emerge the winner. In honor of election season, we’ve decided to take a closer look at the different marketing strategies and tactics employed by each of the leading Republican and Democratic candidates. Below are some of the best and worst qualities of each of their campaigns.

Republican candidate Donald Trump

Best campaign approach: Know your audience, know your brand.

­

For Trump, the biggest initial challenge was finding a way to compete against the large pool of qualified and experienced Republican candidates. Let’s not forget – this is not a man who has any problem gaining attention in the media. Despite initial doubts, he has certainly proven that marketing himself is not his weakness.

Trump knows his audience, his brand, and his followers’ personality. He appeals and designs his presence to a very specific crowd of voters, ones who have now firmly taken his side in the race. His statements, often regarded as bold and unapologetic, certainly don’t appeal to everyone; however, he has pinpointed his target market and addresses their primary concerns in a relevant way.

(As a side note, Trump does most of his campaigning on Twitter. He is known for having anywhere from 1-4 bold, strong statements PER TWEET. Each tweet reaching 9.01M followers.)

Worst campaign approach: Prioritizing pride rather than consumer trust

One immense problem in Trump’s marketing efforts is his inability to take responsibly for his failures. As of now, he has a large and strong political following. However, we predict that if he continues to pass blame onto outside sources rather than on himself for personal blunders, his consumer trust will be in jeopardy.

For example, he claims that it is not his fault when rallies for his campaign become dangerous and violent. According to him, he simply speaks the words that others are thinking and that while he is vocal about the controversy, he is not the instigator of the result. The flaw in this is that he wants both the credit for starting a conversation, but no blame for when that same conversation spirals into an out-of-control movement. This approach can cause even the most reliable of brands to lose consumer trust..

 

Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton

Best campaign approach: Personalized messaging to audience

Hillary’s marketing efforts have recently been compared to those of Taylor Swift in that she regularly finds ways to relate to her fans and followers through strategic and personable social media tactics. For example, she started a Pinterest for “granddaughter gift ideas, hairstyle inspiration, favorite moments, and some other things.” This conveys to the public a representation of her as an everyday woman. It focuses less on her political image and more on the relatable side of her life. This makes her brand more appealing on a variety of levels, rather than unattainable.

So what’s the marketing lesson learned here? It pays to treat each customer and client on a highly individualized and attentive level. This will make your brand or product accessible to a wide range of people. 

Worst campaign approach: Poorly conceived visual branding

Among other things, Clinton has most notably fallen victim to logo critics. After the launch of her new logo, it was remarked that it does not invoke a sense of progression or fluidity – which is essentially the entire foundation of her campaign. Some say it looks amateurish. Others say it is pure plagiarism. And there are those who go as far to claim that the two equally sized vertical bars with a line through the middle represent the Twin Towers. When developing a brand identity, it is crucial to keep in mind your underlying message and how this would translate visually to a very critical public.

Here is the original:

Here are the negative connotations that come along with this logo:

This presidential election is certainly among the most unpredictable in history, and has invoked many a-conversation. As the race wraps up, we will keep our PR goggles on to examine the successes and failures of these two candidates. We will watch, wait, and participate as each candidate works vigorously to attain one of the most influential political positions in the world.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 2, 2016

JOSH CAPLAN JOINS CERCONE BROWN AS CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER

BOSTON, MA – (May 2, 2016) – Cercone Brown Company (CBC), an experiential marketing, PR and advertising agency, has bulked up its creative muscle by hiring copywriter and creative director powerhouse Josh Caplan. From Cannes and One Show, and premiere agencies from coast to coast, Josh brings the Agency a seasoned creative capability to the agencies non-traditional campaigns.

“An award-winning creative master, Josh brings an exciting new perspective to our team” says Len Cercone, co-founder and Partner at CBC. “Josh has an extraordinary ability to find a real, human truth in each brand’s story and express it in an unexpected, beautiful and entertaining way that engages consumers and inspires them to act.”

In his new role at CBC, Josh will help enhance the agency’s ability to create imprints for its mission brands. As more and more creative campaigns are deployed across earned media channels, Josh’s talent to connect in a instant both emotionally and logically is invaluable for CBC’s roster of mission brands, including Plum Organics, Stonewall Kitchen, Garnet Hill, Rockport and others.

Josh started his career as a copywriter for J. Walter Thompson Worldwide in New York, quickly advancing to senior copywriter at Arnold Worldwide in Boston and on to RPA in Santa Monica. In the 15 years that followed, Josh took opportunities to freelance as both a copywriter and creative director and work in-house at MNB and Digitas, receiving local, national and international recognition along the way including: the Grand Prix at Cannes, One Show, Communication Arts, Andy, Obie, Effie, London International Awards, ABC’s “World’s Greatest Commercials,” and more.

When Josh is not at CBC, he enjoys paddle boarding on the ocean with his wife and playing hockey on the pond with his two young boys (in fact, he’s a former professional hockey player.)

“I believe it’s not the media that matters, it’s the idea,” said Josh Caplan. “Throughout my career as a copywriter and creative director, I’ve generated big ideas that build brands and deliver real results. And I’ve done it in every media. What I’m looking forward to most at CBC is helping to create full experiences that will bring mission brand’s messages to life in a way that people get, that touch people in such a holistic way that they want to live that way as a result.”

 

About Cercone Brown Company

Founded in 2001, with offices in Boston and New York, we work with brands on a mission; whether it’s helping people experience the thrill of the great outdoors, enjoy the world’s best tasting tomatoes, or living cancer free. Cercone Brown produces entertaining TV spots, smart digital strategies and innovative apps, buzz-worthy PR and social media campaigns, branded entertainment, as well as build and run live events. Bottom line, Cercone Brown can and will do whatever it takes to help our clients achieve their mission.

###

 

In recent years, some of the world’s biggest tech companies have been unveiling ways for consumers to interact with their products. Apple jumped out of the gate first with Siri, the queen of facilitating our laziness (and we wouldn’t have it any other way).

To expand on this concept, Microsoft recently unleashed its newest bot to the Twitter world. However, this bot isn’t ordering pizza or giving directions to the closest gas station; this AI powered chatbot, called “Tay,” is meant solely for entertainment purposes. It is designed to be a virtual friend for millennials, with behaviors influenced by the web chatter of 18-24 year olds, and some language help from a few improv comedians.

While this seemed like a great idea that could really improve Microsoft’s interaction with the millennial market… the opposite happened. As a result of some kind of shortcoming on Microsoft’s part, Tay’s tweets turned sour really quickly. On her first day in the Twitter universe, Tay started sending out some very racist and hateful tweets (we won’t go into detail on this oh-so-PG forum, but you can find out more here).

As a result, Microsoft quickly shut Tay down to make adjustments. But, lo and behold, it didn’t end there. After a week of silence, Tay was accidentally reactivated and went on another short-lived tirade. This time, instead of racism, Tay turned to referencing drugs and alcohol (once again, look here for more – and don’t shoot the messenger). To kill her off again, Microsoft chose to switch the account to private.

Microsoft is still trying to figure out how to fix this egregious mistake. To begin to explain what went wrong and apologize for Tay’s offensive tweets, Microsoft published this post to their blog. They claim that the problems were a result of “a critical oversight” that “a coordinated attack by a subset of people exploited.” Ooph.

 Hopefully Microsoft can use its learning experience to fix this PR disaster and reprogram Tay in a way that allows the tech giant to take her out of virtual time-out. According to this Adweek article, chatbots are expected to be a billion dollar industry. If Microsoft can find a way to get it right, then this invention could launch companies into a whole new level of direct interaction with consumers.

We like the way that sounds! But we’ll let the big guys figure out the kinks before we dip our toes into that Taynted wade pool.

 

 

 

 

Since its launch in 2011, Snapchat has created a phenomenon in the social media world that has brought people together in the “snap” of a moment. With its ongoing success, Snapchat has evolved into a social media platform that is not only beneficial for communication among its users, but, as we discussed in last week’s blog,,brands, as well.

Like other social media platforms, using Snapchat as a form of branding is a gamble. Brands cannot possibly know how well their content will perform among target audiences, and it’s hard to measure numerical success with limited metrics provided by the platform. On the bright side, if given the right attention and execution, Snapchat could prove to be extremely successful in connecting with young (target) snappers

For example, Frozen yogurt chain 16 Handles used Snapchat to bring coupons to their loyal fans. The campaign premise was simple: snap a picture of yourself enjoying a cup of their frozen yogurt and you’d receive a coupon for anywhere from 16 to 100 percent off. This was effective in both initiating repeat business and loyalists, and generating lots of organic brand and product promotion. [Source]

Below are a couple of tips for incorporating Snapchat into your next branding initiative. With these, and the tips from last week, we’d say you’re set to snap into gear and surveil your successive Snapchat stardom.

Know the Application and its Users

As self-explanatory as it may be, knowing the ins and outs of any application will only prove to be more beneficial when using it. Knowing the limits of Snapchat will allow your brand to test the waters and use it to the brand’s advantage. In addition, knowing the kind of people that use it, how they use it, and when they use it will all play a role in the success of your company’s approaches.

Embrace the Short Amount of Time

With only 10 seconds of possible screen time, it’s smart to know how to efficiently connect with your consumers. The small amount of time allows for brands to let people peek into the brand’s overall aesthetic like mentioned above; it can be used to promote the introduction of products and services, or can simply be used for brand/consumer engagement.

[Source]