The BIG Kahuna

Strangely enough I saw a great commercial yesterday. It came on just as I turned on the TV.

It’s for the Navy Seals:

No words, just the excitement about being a Navy Seal. Join us and you too can become an elite, “stealth” soldier. Then I went to the website Navy.com and they further supported the campaign.

I thought it was right on brand. What are your thoughts?

Tivo and DVR’s across the land are killing adverting on TV. In a recent study Tivo says that the more popular a show the greater the chance for the user to fast forward through commercials.

Here’s a tidbit from me.

I fast forward through EVERY commercial EVERY time. Period.

The only time I ever watch a TV commercial is when I’m watching “live” TV and I try never to do that.

What’s that mean to company’s purchasing TV time? That’s the question I’d pose to my Ad Agency. What are your thoughts? Do you still watch commercials?

What a day yesterday. The Obama brand took over the White House with quit a splash. I’ve never seen anything like the enthusiasm I saw yesterday. Change is here…

Then the stock market dropped over 300 points, the most in inauguration history. I guess folks investing weren’t so happy.

It’s going to be interesting to see how long this rockstar brand image lasts. I know I’m going to be holding Obama to his promises. In the past politicians usually break their promises but Obama can’t do that. He made it clear that he was the change needed so, the proof will be in the pudding.

Where do you think the Obama brand will go?

How loyal are you to the brands you adore? What does it take to make you leave a brand you love? I thought about that as I watched TV this morning. It became obvious to me that consistency and quality always need to be maintained.

This year I dropped a lot of TV shows that I really liked. I stopped watching Private Practice, Desperate Housewives and Grey’s Anatomy. I used to watch all these shows with my wife but now I find them to be goofy and unrealistic. The quality and consistency that originally made me like them has dramatically changed. Now I don’t watch them.

Brand loyalty is fragile and requires constant upkeep. Are you keeping up?

In the US Virgin Islands a small, family run business made some really great premium rum.

Eight generations of the Nelthropp family have perfected the delicate balancing, blending and aging of the rum. Cruzan is considered to be one of the ?cleanest? rums on the market based on the brand?s distinctive distillation process. Cruzan mixes high quality molasses with tropical rainwater, which, through fermentation, is turned into alcohol. The liquid is then run through a five-column distillation process that removes any unwanted elements before being stored away in handcrafted oak barrels to age. This creates distinctive tasting rum ? smooth, clean and full-bodied.

For a long time “Cruzan” rum dominated the market place. Tourists threw down their Captain Morgan and Bacardi Rum drinks with distaste. Bring on a Cruzan they screamed.

Walk into any bar in the US Virgin Islands and ask for a dark rum and Coke and it’s ASSUMED that you just ordered Cruzan and that’s what is made. That’s some pretty good stuff if you’re the Cruzan company.

A few years ago you couldn’t find Cruzan in the states. You had to come here to get your fix. Making it hard to get increased its intoxication. Hard to get stuff tastes a lot better than some old bottle out of Joe’s Spirits on the corner.

Well Cruzan just sold out to a big company called Fortune Brands. What do they do with one of the most talked about hidden jewels of rums?

Change it, of course. Smart huh?

Gone is the original (very successful) logo and bottle design. In fact the bottles appear to be smaller (less rum) and the dark rum appears to be lighter?

Here is the old logo and bottle design:

Some points of interest: At the neck there is a raised emboss of a “pirate ship” which blends with island heritage. You can also see the number 2, which means this bottle was aged for 2 years. The older the bottle the more expensive it is. It’s like a badge of honor to give someone a bottle that’s been aged for a long time.

Here’s the new logo and bottle design:

Gone is the ship and numbering system. Big mistake! The font looks Asian. Here’s what Fortune Brands had to say:

DEERFIELD, Ill.? (BUSINESS WIRE) ? Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc. [Fortune Brands, Inc. (NYSE:FO)], a global leader in premium spirits, is proud to announce the addition of Cruzan? Rum, the fifth-largest and fastest-growing rum brand in the United States, into the Beam Global family. This 250 year-old brand joins the Beam Global portfolio with a fresh logo and sleek bottle shape reflective of the Cruzan craftsmanship, premium quality and rich family tradition.

The brand sold approximately 750,000 cases of premium rum worldwide in 2007 and grew by 23 percent last year in the United States, the brand?s largest market. Cruzan is also sold in the Caribbean, Canada, Spain and the Nordic countries. Cruzan is available in the United States in 50 ml, 200 ml, 375 ml, 750 ml, 1L and 1.75L bottles.

So what do you do with a growing, successful brand? Make changes right? What do you think, did the brand need a change? Or is Fortune messing with tradition? And does anyone think they’ll put the same love and passion into the rum making process?

Now here’s something tangible. Buy a new Hyundai and if you lose your job within a year they’ll take it back.

“In this uncertain economy, we are looking for ways to reassure shoppers that Hyundai still represents the best value in the auto industry,” said John Krafcik, president and chief executive of Hyundai Motor America, the U.S. arm of the South Korea-based automaker, in a company statement.

“If you find that you cannot make your payment because of a covered life changing event, we’ll allow you to return your vehicle and walk away from your loan obligation – and in most cases we will cover most, if not all of the difference,” the carmakers Web site says.

You can read the full story here.

I like it, what do you think?

WASHINGTON (CNN) — A Muslim family removed from an airliner Thursday after passengers became concerned about their conversation say AirTran officials refused to rebook them, even after FBI investigators cleared them of wrongdoing.

Atif Irfan said federal authorities removed eight members of his extended family and a friend after passengers heard them discussing the safest place to sit and misconstrued the nature of the conversation.

Read the full story here

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had this exact conversation on a plane. But I’m a white male. I’ve never been kicked off a plane for having this conversation. I bet I could go on AirTran tomorrow and have this conversation and not be kicked off their plane.

What are your thoughts?