Doritos – What Are They Thinking?
As Bill Simmons wrote recently on ESPN.com, sports teams really need to hire a "common sense" manager who can make decisions for a team when it looks like they are going off the deep end. As I continue to read the sports marketing practices of large corporations, I believe some of them need to hire a "common sense" manager as well. This person can sit in on meetings and when they hear an idea that is "just a little too out there," they can voice their opinion. See below:
According to Promo Magazine, "Yesterday Doritos launched a contest for consumers to create a 30-second spot to air during Super Bowl XLI on Feb. 4, 2007. The winning ad will air unaltered and untagged during the game. It's the only spot that Doritos will air during the Super Bowl, and its first appearance during the game since 2001. (No word yet on Frito-Lay's other brands' ad plans for the game.) Entrants submit their videos online, from Oct. 2 through Dec. 1; Frito-Lay will pick five finalists to post at Doritos.com in January for a public vote. The top vote getter wins the airtime."
Um…let me get this straight. Doritos is going to pay close to THREE MILLION dollars for a 30-second ad to let some consumer create a commercial to be aired during the Super Bowl. The ad will be unaltered and untagged so there is no guarantee that Doritos’ messaging will be correct. The company will not be able to target a select audience with this commercial. The television viewership is close to a billion people. I don’t think a company should be testing out an idea of this magnitude during the big game.
At the 50,000 foot level, this is an extremely interesting idea. Maybe though, a company should try it out during the MLB playoffs, football postseason or the MLB World Series, but not the Super Bowl. This ad is either going to raise their brand ten fold or be a plane that flies straight into the ground.
I disagree with this marketing plan if they plan to air the ad during the most important sporting event of the year.
posted by Milne @ 3:28 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
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Here's the thing: They've already increased their brand with this announcement (You're pontificating about it on your blog, aren't you?). And yes, just the fact that we're talking about it does not positive press make, BUT some people would argue that ANY press is good press, right? In any case, my video will be a rehash of the Ally Landry commercial, where instead of it being a hot chick snatching the dorito from mid-air...it will be George Bush snatching our first amendment rights from mid-air.
What are they thinking? How about, "our marketing team sucks." Whatever the fans come up with, it will be 100 times more interesting than rehashed footage from an 8-year-old Godzilla movie.
Wow - everyone's hating on Doritos. Isn't Hags right though - this whole gimmick is a gimmick?
Bob's also right, maybe they're just lazy. "Just get some other schmuck to do it for us"
Seriously though - I now have a craving for some Doritos...
I disagree with Hags on this one. A small, no-name company might be psyched with this media coverage. Doritos is a known brand with a positive Q rating (or whatever the name is for rating consumer brands). They receive enough press at the moment
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