Why Your CPG Brand Isn’t Remarkable and What You Can Do About It

Posted by Jon Thomas, 13 Aug 2013

This post originally appeared in our August '13 issue of “Live Report from the Future of Marketing,” our monthly Post-Advertising newsletter. Subscribe for free here.

Marketing CPG products is hard. Marketing Apple products is easy. Well, not really (on both accounts), but let me explain. 

Apple products—computers, phones, music players, tablets and other digital devices—are some of the most expensive products on the market. But devoted fans come out in droves to purchase the latest editions, seeming not to mind that they’re paying a premium for the mass-produced technologies. I’m not faulting them. I’m a fanboy myself, writing this article on my MacBook Pro, which is connected to Wi-Fi with Apple Airport, with my iPhone and iPad close by. 

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Keeping Celebrities Relevant in Post Ads

Posted by Danielle Tepper, 24 Mar 2011
It’s the chicken vs. the egg of the ad industry: Does the brand help the ad or does the ad help the brand? What really makes a campaign memorable?  Is it overall concept, humor or catchy jingles? What about celebrities? Following a February 23 study by Starch Advertising Research, it is estimated that magazine ads become 15% more memorable if they involve a celebrity.
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Microsoft Is the Glue, Not the Cool

Posted by Kirk Cheyfitz, 24 Sep 2008
The Seinfeld ads for Microsoft were unbearably counterproductive, and the relief at Jerry’s absence in what MS execs are calling "phase 2" has been palpable throughout the ad world. We were all so pleased to say goodbye to the Jerry & Bill Show that I fear it has caused us to be far too welcoming to the "I'm a PC" ads that have followed.
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Everyone is a PC

Everyone’s a PC

Posted by Luke Dringoli, 19 Sep 2008
It's not the flashiest, cleverest ad, and it's interruptive and not at all entertaining, but I really like what Crispin Porter + Bogusky is doing with what everyone is calling Phase II of the $300-million Microsoft campaign. No more Jerry Seinfeld. Just a healthy dose of Foucaudian reverse discourse. Roll tape:
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Mac vs PC

Mr. Mac vs. Mr. PC: A Real World Showdown Presented in Many Acts

Posted by Luke Dringoli, 22 May 2008
Apple continues its highly successful Mac vs. PC commercial spots with three new pieces on the themes of the "glitchy" Microsoft Vista and on-campus notebook computer sales. These catchy ads—with their ambiguously facial-haired Mac guy and their unambiguous PC dork—have spawned hundreds of YouTube imitators with views adding up to tens of millions, at least. Practically everyone has seen the ads and knows now, through the magic of character and narrative, that Mac is cooler than PC. But has this campaign helped move the needle?
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