The BIG Kahuna

Give it away.

When all else fails just give your products or services away. That’s what word of mouth guru Andy Sernovitz suggests. In Andy’s latest article “Give away your buns” he suggests that when you have a product or service left over (never going to sell) that a company should just give it away to spread positive word of mouth.

Let’s look at this from a big boy branding perspective.

Andy:

*Unused hotel rooms: Use every empty suite for an upgrade or give empty rooms to families with kids

My brand perspective: Let’s say the Ritz Carlton has some unused rooms. Everyones pretty clear on the brand image the Ritz has, right? If the Ritz started giving rooms away to help spread happy thoughts do you think it could negatively affect their “luxury”, high priced image? Furthermore would non typical Ritz guests start waiting to the end to see if they can get a freebie? Are those the people the Ritz wants?

Andy:

*Car rentals: Reward someone with an unused upgrade

My brand perspective: Sure, maybe to loyal renters but once again it ultimately sends the wrong brand message. Basically you’re devaluing your product/service.

Finally Andy closes with this statement:

Give it away before you throw it away.? It’s worth a dozen referrals.

Yea, you’ll have people running around telling their friends and family to wait to the last minute so they can get it FREE as well.

Here’s a thought. Develop loyal brand ambassadors who understand the value in your product/service. They’ll run around telling everyone they know and you’ll actually get paid for it. Just my thoughts as a branding guy.

Hey, we’re still fighting hard to win this thing, please give us your vote.

Sometimes you just have to scratch your head and ask “do these people get it”? The other day I wrote a post on the financial crisis and made some bare minimum suggestions for what banks could do during a time when their customers are scared and worried.

My post was actually featured on Brand Mix (brand stategist Martin Bishop from Landor)?as one of the “6 of the best” top blog posts for the week (he’s also a “branding guru”). Then Jeffry Pilcher chimed in via my blog and then trashed me on twitter by saying this:

Quite possibly the lamest advice ever given to a financial institution from a “branding guru”: http://tinyurl.com/4zltp4 Seriously???

https://twitter.com/jpilcher

I love how he writes “branding guru”….way to make friends and influence people on your first post to their blog.

You have to check out the comments I received from Financial Branding Consultant Jeffry Pilcher. It’s really quite funny and bizare.

For the full story Click here to get a good laugh.

What do you think? Did I offer bad advice? Did Jeffry’s comments ring true? Is Jeffry playing with a full deck?

It’s been a while but Andy Sernovitz has made the branding blunder blog again, as WaMu used to say… Whoo Hoo! As you know Andy Sernovitz is a self proclaimed “word of mouth marketing guru“. Today in his post titled ” The “Great Green Marketing” Issue” he informs his readers on the right way to market using green tactics. Some snippets of his advice include:

1. Create an amazingly cool shopping bag. Something that is reusable and so cool that people will want to carry it around. For $1 you can have all of your customers become walking billboards all over town (and be happy to do it).

Yea, Andy…that makes your company instantly green. I like the amazingly cool idea as green people will only?use it if it’s “cool”? And here is the rub with me. “Green marketing” isn’t something you try to?do, it’s a conscience decision a company makes, not to help spread word of mouth or trick consumers into believing they’re green. They do it because it’s part of the brand identity and has a real true meaning. But keep telling your readers how these silly tactics (in my opinion)?will help change their brand image.

2. Remember the jelly jars you got as a kid that turned into collectible drinking glasses? No waste, lots of fun — and fantastic marketing. When you get someone collecting your packaging you get instant brand loyalty until the customer completes a set.

Obviously (in my opinion)?Andy does not even know?the basic definition of brand loyalty. But I’m pretty sure even if this simplified tactic did work a customer would NOT develop brand loyalty. I certainly don’t consider brand loyalty to be collecting a set of anything only to leave the brand after said set is collected. I like my customers coming back all the time, where I’m the ONLY choice,?hence brand loyalty. Not brand gimmick loyalty. BIG difference.

Andy doesn’t like me much. He thinks I’m out to get him, so I’m told. But it’s not true. I don’t even know Andy but when he and others advise potential marketers with these silly suggestions (in my opinion) I think it’s important to point out the branding?ramifications. And there are definitely brand image concerns if you follow advice from people who clearly don’t know branding.

Producing a “green” shopping bag is not going to help move your brand forward. All it’s really going to do is make you look like a green hypocrite if you’re not fully committed to being green. And that’s all part of your brand identity. In my opinion these gimmicky tactics that Andy recommends could really work against most companies brand identity. Don’t do them unless it leverages your brand identity.

Remember, a word of mouth marketing company will always promote (sell) what they do best. They can’t help it, otherwise they don’t make sales. If you’re looking for a marketing company to help support your efforts try and find one that doesn’t have any bias against specific tactics. A word of mouth marketing?company will obviously promote word of mouth and most likely will not understand the branding strategy.

Shares of Washington Mutual aka WAMU?are down 80%, Whoo Hoo or should I say Oh NO! If you remember I wrote about them here and here on their PATHETIC attempt at branding. Their Whoo Hoo campaign is useless and serves no purpose for their branding efforts. I still see them on TV and I wonder why? Soon they will become another victim of the mortgage crisis.

Let’s not forget what WAMU said just over a year ago:

?We want to become an iconic brand that people love,? said WaMu CMO Genevieve Smith, in a statement. ?Through ongoing brand tacking, we know we always outperform our peers when it comes to being emotionally relevant to people. [The new campaign] gives us a unique opportunity to talk about who we are.??

?The campaign creative taps into that [?Whoo hoo!?] experience and the enthusiasm of WaMu?s employees,? said Rob Schwartz, executive creative director for TBWA/Chiat/Day, in a statement.?

Here’s what Forbes has to say.

Maybe it’s time to rethink your “brand tacking” a bit?

What say you Kahunas?

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I just saw the band Heart a few weeks ago backing up Journey in Boston. Heart?has been pretty washed up as a band for about 20 years now. But there in the news whining about the Republican Party playing their song “Barracuda” (a song they made in the 70′s)?during the convention. Read the story here.

Why do these bands complain that a group, any group, is playing their music in front of say 40 million people? 40 Million?people haven’t heard that song in the last 30 freakin years. Their thinking is so ridiculous and shortsighted. Especially since they’re trying to make a comeback.

Here’s what Ann Wilson of Heart had to say:

“Sarah Palin’s views and values in NO WAY represent us as American women. We ask that our song ‘Barracuda’ no longer be used to promote her image…[It] was written in the late ’70s as a scathing rant against the soulless, corporate nature of the music business, particularly for women…There’s irony in Republican strategists’ choice to make use of it there.”

It’s a freakin song people? You don’t have to agree with a party or their beliefs. The song means something to them, you should be proud that they connected with it. And you just missed an opportunity to sell a lot?of downloads. Imagine if they just sat back and did nothing? Downloads of Barracuda could have skyrocketed? Politics has nothing to do with record sales folks, nothing.

When?Heart sold the record did?they say everyone but Republicans could buy it? I think not.

Here’s another great post on the subject.

Good luck with the comeback. You just pissed off half of the country!

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It’s my first, I popped my blogging cherry. Andy Sernovitz has banned me from posting on his blog?site Damn! I Wish I’d Thought Of That!. Not only did he ban me but he reported me as a spammer. That’s so uncool. And simply not true. We all know what a spammer is and leaving comments that are different than your opinion is not spamming.

Sorry Andy that in my opinion I find you to be?a charlatan.

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But now you’re a coward as well.

Many people think Andy is a word of mouth genius…I find him to be more of a?smoke and mirrors, marketing gimmick kind of guy. Of course that’s just my humble opinion.

Apparently he didn’t like my opinions of him:

Andy Sernovitz Wants You To Let Him Steal Your Logo?

Marketing Gimmicks Vs Branding Strategy

Can You Build A Brand Around Gimmicks?

High Point University – Hot Tubs and Ice Cream

Andy Sernovitz Branding and Word of Mouth Marketing

Hence I’m banned from learning about how a handwritten smile on a receipt is great word of mouth or like his post today where putting out cookies and candy at a Fantastic Sam’s “makes the difference”.

My day is ruined, I’m banned by Andy Sernovitz.

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I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Don’t do your own TV advertising. Period.

Here’s a local Boston?company called Sullivan Tire. Their strategy is partnering with the Boston?Red Sox to do TV commercials. First they have their owner Paul Sullivan?(at least I think he’s the owner) who appears in all the spots. I know this is painful (in my humble opinion)?but watch this all the way through.

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Look I’m not trying to be mean or hurtful (and these are just my opinions)?but don’t do your own TV commercials. Read what this blog had to say. The spots are just horrible and they’re absolutely useless. There’s no real call to action or even a reason to watch.? I know they stroke the egos of owners but beyond that it’s a big waste of money.

Invest in building your brand identity?and then developing tactics to leverage that identity. Then you have a differentiator, a reason for people to CHOOSE you over others. Not a reason to laugh at you.

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I am a technology freak. When DirecTV came out I was one of the first to subscribe. I was with DirecTV for many, many years. Most of them without complaint. I became a DirecTV brand ambassador, referring them to anyone that would listen.

When HD came out a few years back I wanted in. DirecTV was slow to react but as soon as they did I asked for a new HD box. After 4 attempts to get a box working I was forced to cancel my service and I moved to cable.

When I called DirecTV to cancel I was informed I’d have to pay a cancellation fee. I said I would not. The scripted customer service person explained that my contract was not up and it would cost me $300 to breakaway from DirecTV. I informed the (I can’t say anything other than what’s written in front of me) customer service person that I had been one of the ORIGINAL customers and that I had been with them for like 8 years. Furthermore the reason for me leaving was because their product wouldn’t work.

Her response? Stay or pay the $300. I wrote a letter to the President and I was allowed to leave without paying. But many people don’t have that pit bull attitude, read about the problems here.

The company maintains it is “careful to disclose to customers all relevant terms and conditions of their agreement with DirecTV.” But based on the amount of complaints on the issue it’s not clear their message is getting through. More than 20,000 customers filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau – www.bbb.org – over the past three years, many on the same issues.

Let’s look at it from a branding perspective. This is yet another case of a big company making a policy that works against the brand and the brand promise. Instead of charging customers upfront for installation (the transparent, honest thing to do) they wait for customers to want to leave them and then hit them over the head with a cancellation fee.

Now we know why they don’t charge upfront (heavens forbid they lose a sale) but what they inherently do to leaving customers is loose them forever. Leave us and we whack you! Of course it’s all in the fine print so that legally they’re covered. But no one remembers 4 years later when something changes (like products that don’t work or bad service).

It’s sad that companies make these horrible?policies not even considering the branding implications. In my opinion it’s just pure and simple greed. In most cases subscribers are with them for many years (all the while DirecTV collects the monthly bill) before they choose to leave. They’ve made their money so why?add insult to injury for people who want to leave?

So consider this before making a decision to buy DirecTV. This will absolutely become your problem if you decide to leave them.? Read more about it here.

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Sometimes I just can’t wait for the daily comics. Today I got a BIG chuckle when I read that Baskin Robbins?(a childhood favorite of mine) will be selling chocolate fondue, cheesecake on a stick, caramel ginger apple crisp, and ice cream cake by the slice. Read the full story here.

Wow, I bet the kids can’t wait to dig into that fondue huh? This is in-line with Dunkin Donuts (who owns Baskin) and their recent food strategy that my friend Jonathan Salem Baskin wrote about a few weeks ago. For a very funny read on that click here.

Here’s what the “guru’s” at Baskin had to say:

“It’s part ice cream experience, dessert theater, and test kitchen all rolled into one,” said Ken Kimmel, Baskin-Robbins’ vice president of the Cafe 31 concept. The Cafe 31 launch is the latest effort by executives at the country’s second-largest frozen dessert chain to revitalize the brand.

“The mix-in concept of chains like MaggieMoo’s and Cold Stone really changed the ice cream business, giving customers customization, interaction, and theater,” said Dennis Lombardi, executive vice president of food service strategies at WD Partners in Ohio. “Baskin-Robbins is finally introducing theater to its brand. Baskin has needed to create more of an experience in the store, and by offering cake by the slice and sundae stations, it is attempting to leap frog the mix-in shops.”

Wow, dessert theatre, how nice

Look here’s what’s screwy about this. These Baskin people have lost serious focus on their brand. I don’t and will never go to Baskin Robbins for a slice of cheesecake. By offering more products they just water down their brand. What’s next, fat free cheesecake? Focus, focus, focus.

Cold Stone offers and engaging experience based on seriously remarkable product.?Baskin’s Ice Cream is NO where as good as Cold Stone’s. They sell to different targets (Baskin is more family friendly?and Cold Stone is premium). Here’s what Cold Stone had to say:

Cold Stone spokeswoman Anne Christenson said: “We’re flattered that others recognize that these attributes enhance the ice cream experience; however, we feel it is a combination of our interactive and entertaining environment paired with our fresh, made-to-order creations that set us apart.”

So what do you Kahuna’s think? What’s the scoop?

Laura Ries (branding expert)?has changed her?blog name to Ries’ Pieces. Ah, huh?

This is the first thought that came to my mind when I saw the new name:

Here’s a snippet of why she made the name change:

Last week it occurred to me what the perfect name would be. Ries? Pieces. Pieces is a great triple entendre that describes my blog posts, TV appearances as well as the correct pronunciation of my name.

Now I must say that I’m a big fan of Laura but this name change is weird to me. What’s her brand identity or positioning? Certainly not the fact that she’s a triple threat. And doesn’t it seem juvenile? Help me out here, am I off?

Read about it here

I wrote several blog articles on Magellan GPS. None of them were flattering based on my personal experience with them.

In?this article (written in September 2007):

Nelson Chan – Magellan GPS Navigation – Not A CEO Concerned With Branding we had 836 visits to the page and counting and 39 comments. Just do a search in Google for “Nelson Chan – Magellan GPS Navigation”.

Here is the quick Google result: http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLG,GGLG:2006-18,GGLG:en&q=Nelson+Chan+%2d+Magellan+GPS+Navigation

As you can see if you put the CEOs name and company name our article comes up #1 and #2 in Google (even ahead of Magellan). That’s pretty powerful word of mouth-NEGATIVE.

So you would think that someone at Magellan would be concerned with this and reach out. Nothing. Not even a whisper. They stay silent hoping it will go away. But it won’t go away, ever.

When will companies learn that blogs are here to stay and people now have a voice. A voice that will never go away because of search engines. This article is still ranked #1 and it’s been almost a year.

Blogs can be a brand killer to a company that does not live up to their brand promise, like Magellan. Instead of remaining quite why not reach out and try to communicate with customers? If they had emailed me and asked what they could do to resolve the problem maybe I wouldn’t have continued writing on them.

If you find someone is writing about you in?a negative way reach out to them and try to resolve the issues. Comment on their blog and see what you can do to resolve the concerns.

Look at a negative review or blog post as an opportunity to win over a new friend. Don’t let your silence become deafening.

WASHINGTON – Comcast Corp. plans to slow Internet service to its heaviest users during periods of congestion, after regulators ordered the company to devise a new method for managing its Web traffic. The top Internet speeds for targeted customers will be reduced for periods lasting 10 to 20 minutes, keeping service to other users flowing, Mitch Bowling, Comcast’s senior vice president and general manager of online services, said yesterday. Read more here.

What? But Comcast is all about super fast?speed right? That’s what their advertising says:

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Other people (like customers) see Comcast like this:

Will Comcast keep making TV commercials touting their speed when they will be SLOWING customers down?

What? Stop and Shop has changed its logo. Apparently the red “stop” icon was no longer up-to-date. Here’s the old (strong) logo to the?new (WTF)?logo:

Let’s just start with what’s wrong with the new logo:

1. What does it represent? Sure the agency that designed it knows but how will Mrs. Smith know?

2. It’s a 4 PMS logo. 4…4…4. I wonder how much additional cost that will be based on the size of the organization.

3. How does the name “Stop & Shop” now work with the new logo? The old logo was easy and dare I say “memorable”. The red dot meant, ah, er… stop and the green dot meant, you got it…. shop. What do the new slivers of pie mean? Or is that a plant? What the F is it?

Here’s what Bowl of Fruit had to say:

?Customers talked and we listened,? Andrea Astrachan, consumer advisor at Stop & Shop, said in a news release. ?The new look shows customers that we?re making changes and committed to providing great food and meal solutions at low prices everyday.? Gone are the red and green traffic lights that served as the company’s symbol since it opened in 1914 In their place: a yellow bowl with three colorful halves that can be interpreted as bowls of fruit, bread or ingredients, the company’s spokesperson said.

See the full article here. In the article they talk about making things easier but how does this much more complicated and forgetful logo do that?

Here’s another big company just reacting to changing times the wrong way. The logo was not the issue. BIG branding blunder by grocery store giant Stop & Shop. Or should I say Fruit and Bread?

Provincetown (P-Town)?in Cape Cod Massachusetts is known for its gay community. For over 30 years Gays have been celebrating their summers in Provincetown. Provincetown’s brand?identity is that it’s gay friendly, gay owned and run?and has been way?ahead of the curve for a very long time.

My wife and I love to spend a weekend in P-Town every summer. They have awesome restaurants, shows, eclectic art studios and shops and most of all the people are amazingly gay (and I mean happy). Happy people make for a happy, stress-free weekend. It’s kind of been a little secret that straight folks like to head to P-Town. And that was charming, but alas that’s been ruined.

Who ruined it? Of course The Provincetown Chamber of Commerce. Because focusing on a niche market wasn’t good enough for them. They want to be known for everything. And for everyone, like Disney World.

Here’s what they had to say:

“Provincetown needs every kind of visitor we can capture,” said Candy Collins-Boden, executive director of the Provincetown Chamber of Commerce. “The Internet has opened up the world wide, and we’re competing with everyone now.”

Every kind of visitor they can capture huh? What a great way to ruin a great brand! This is by far the biggest branding mistake any organization can make.

And this is what they’ve done:

In recent campaigns, Provincetown has depicted itself as anything but gay. Ads in regional media outlets tout Provincetown as being “one tank away” to draw New Englanders who feel strapped by the moribund economy and high gasoline prices. With the dollar weak, the town is marketing itself in Europe as a place where vacationers can get a great value. It has advertised itself in Audubon magazine as an ecotourism destination, and has promoted its galleries and art scene in arts magazines. It has solicited cruise ship lines to make Provincetown a port of call. A Boston-based public relations firm is steering travel writers to subjects such as the Pilgrims’ initial Provincetown landing (well before Plymouth), rare species of birds in the area, and the town’s green museum.

Read the full story here

Bummer, because in the long run this will eventually erode their core target audience and gay people will go somewhere else. Why? Because that’s their spot. That was part of the charm of P-Town. Many people didn’t go to P-Town because of that, which was cool with us because we got to share that little gem without haters.

Here’s a quote from one visitor:

“It’s changed drastically here and not for the good,” said Alan Robertson, a loyal Provincetown visitor since 1977. “It used to be that you could walk down the street holding hands with a man and you felt safe. Now you feel gawked at.”

We’re headed to P-Town for Carnival next week. Hopefully we won’t be over run by?sreaming kids in strollers!

If P-Town becomes the next Hyannis we’ll never go back (and we NEVER go to Hyannis). The last thing I want to do is hang out with 5 million kids looking to play mini golf.

Please P-Town, don’t ruin a good thing!

Until it bites you on the ass.

Let’s see, so far in two days we’ve learned the Chinese used computer generated “fireworks” to make the opening ceremony look better on TV…

Then?pulled a Milli Vanilli by using a “cuter” girl to lip sync for the non “cute girl”. Sad.

The Chinese have spent somewhere around 50 Million for the perfect brand image. Imagine all that money going down the drain because they just couldn’t be honest.

What are your thoughts? Okay to fake it for the good of the show?

Verizon is part of a union. Not the type of union that takes pride in providing good service, the type that wants more, more, more. They’re going to strike.

I’m obviously not a fan of Unions. But none the less here’s my take on Verizon and their branding. They suck. The end.

A big part of the reason they suck are their union employee’s that don’t give a rats ass as to the service they provide. Have you called and been put on hold for over 20 minutes? I have. Have you been hung up on?when you complain? I have. Have you scheduled service only to find out they were never coming that day? I have.

Verizon sucks. Their employee’s don’t care or have any commitment to the customer. They do however REALLY care about the health care benefits and pay they receive. If I were Verizon I would make the Union take responsibility for the end product they provide. Why not write in to the new package?something that says:

Customer service level to be over 90% approval?or there is a reduction in pay or bonus. Then those lazy Union people who take cigarette breaks every 15 minutes might actually care about their work?

Maybe then instead of on hold for 20 minutes I’d be on hold for 1 minute. Verizon, please, please make good service part of the new package. I beg of you.

Okay folks, here’s your chance to really make fun of me, Mr. Kahuna.

On April 8th I bought tickets through Ticketmaster to see Poison, Dokken and Sebastian Bach (formerly of Skid Row). Yea, damn it, I love hair bands and the 80′s!

Anyway I like the really good seats so I bought the VIP tickets. This is the package that is included:

The name of the package is, um, er…

Ride The Wind

?????????????????? ticket located in the first 10 Rows from the stage

?????????????????? Exclusive Poison T-shirt

?????????????????? Copy of the new Poison DVD

?????????????????? Exclusive Poison Bandana

?????????????????? Set of official Poison guitar picks

?????????????????? Ticket package BONUS! Two lucky fans will be upgraded to the Poison “I Want Action” package

My wife and I were really excited about the Poison Bandanas!

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But we did get right up front and that was the goal. Anyways… the merchandise for the Ride The Wind Package was to be received by moi 4-6 weeks after the order date. The concert is Thursday August 7th. Today is Wednesday August 6th…. bubkis.

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I called last week and was told it was shipped on July 25th (some 3 1/2 months after the order) and I was to receive IN TIME for the show. Nope, nada.

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What a way to treat one of 30 people who will be attending this show! I hate Ticketmaster.

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Please feel free to comment below, I have broad shoulders.

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Disney’s profits are down, so they raised prices….the end.

Read about it here. What?should Disney do? Here’s what I would have done.

1. Not raise prices during a recession. Raise them all you want, people have less disposable income! Make them $5000 per ticket, we ain’t coming.

2. Be creative. Offer different money generating services to those who have bought the already grossly overpriced tickets.

3. If you are set on price increases spread them out in a lot of different places.?$1 increase in parking, .50 increase for a hot dog, etc.

4. Whatever you do do not say what your spokesman said:

Disney parks spokeswoman Lisa Haines said the price change reflects the entertainment value the company provides to customers.

Wow, can I have another helping of bull crap please! The price increase represents Disney’s arrogance and stupidity.

Rant over.

I hate flying. I’m what you’d call an “anxious” flyer.?In other?words I need at least 5 drinks to walk on a plane. But JetBlue changed all that for me. Comfortable seats with TV’s, great service and all the snacks I could eat. Genius, I say, genius.

Now they’ve hopped on board with the other airlines by charging $7 for a pillow and blanket. Read that crap here. Man, they really squandered an opportunity. Just be honest.

Instead of the bull crap their PR people are pushing (read the pile of stinking lies below):

“Replacing our old, recycled pillows and blankets with this state-of-the-art, high quality take-home kit is an eco conscious, health conscious and customer conscious decision,” said Brett Muney, JetBlue’s general manager for product development. “We are constantly seeking ways to enhance the in-flight experience for our customers.”

They could have spun it this way:

As everyone knows fuel prices are hitting everyone extremely hard. At JetBlue we’ve tried very hard to keep our level of pricing competitive but there just comes a time when we have to stop losing money and pass on some of the increases in fuel cost. Rather than pass an all out price increase we’ve decided to do something beneficial to our service and product.

JetBlue will be replacing our old, recycled pillows and blankets with this state-of-the-art, high quality take-home kit is an eco conscious, health conscious and customer conscious package,” said Brett Muney, JetBlue’s general manager for product development. “We are constantly seeking ways to enhance the in-flight experience for our customers.”

The cost of the new pillows and blankets will be $7. In effort to once again be different JetBlue has partnered with Bed, Bath and Beyond and will supply a $5 coupon in each kit.

Thank you for your patronage. JetBlue.

That’s what I want to see JetBlue. Not a big pile of crappy lies.

Just received this unsolicited email:

Hi Scott,

I hope you’re doing well.

Thought you and your readers might enjoy this video clip of Gary Busey, a pitchman for Boston-based GotVMail’s virtual phone system, talking about saving Grizzly bears that’s spreading virally.

Erik Arvidson

GotVMail Communications, LLC

197 First Ave., Suite 200

Needham, MA 02494

617.395.5700, ext. 721

800.820.8210, ext. 721

erik.arvidson@gotvmail.com

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Now here’s my take.

First, if you’re going to send me an email to look at something and write on it give me some details on you and your company. Like why GotVMail is using demented, whacked, weird?Gary Busey as your spokesman? Is the answer because he’s cheap?

I’ve seen these videos and I actually feel sorry for Gary Busey. But why in god’s name does GotVMail want to be associated with him? How does that leverage what their brand identity is (whatever that is)? Doing videos that “spread virally” are only good if they tell the story of the brand in some way. These videos are just cheesy eye candy that people laugh at. But not in a good way.

Erik, I’m being completely honest with you and since I don’t know you please take this as constructive criticism. It’s just my opinion of course.

Darn, there goes another blog reader! Does anyone disagree with my assessment?