"Positioning" takes on a whole new meaning when it comes to prophylactic brands.

Now the company that created an ad featuring condom-balloon animals getting frisky is making a change to focus on the magic rather than the mechanics.

Durex’s latest ad, released this week in the UK (where the brand is synonymous with "condom"), is part of its Love Sex Durex global shift to marketing “sexual enhancement products,” not just condoms.Continue reading...

Most car manufacturers these days are probably hoping that Americans will stop saving and start consuming. Smart USA, however, is boldly moving in a different direction.

Better known internationally, the distributor of the smart fourtwo electric car manufacturer hopes to build brand awareness by taking Americans to task for overconsumption with this opening shot on its Facebook page: “Smart is against dumb, mindless consumption, are you?” Talk about a loaded question. Who would possibly want to answer no?

Other points in smart’s US manifesto include: “Dumb thinks 12MPG is A-OK” (ouch!) and “Let’s take the junk out of our collective trunk.” Smart is planning on rolling out the campaign (or “social media initiative,” as smart prefers to call it) in coming weeks with street teams, events and social media content. The brand is also looking for examples of dumb, mindless overconsumption to include in an upcoming video.

It’s a brave line that smart is drawing; the brand is banking on the fact that the people who agree with smart’s “Against Dumb” manifesto (not, it seems, a swipe at Diesel's Be Stupid campaign) will also put its 41-MPG vehicles in the “smart” category and not the “dumb” one. And it’s probably a good bet.Continue reading...

In America, Brylcreem is probably most associated with its classic “A little dab'll do ya!” jingle, but in the U.K., the venerable hairstyling-products brand is strengthening its long association with the world of sports.

Brylcreem is launching a limited-edition cricket-themed pack to coincide with the start of this winter's Ashes Test series in Australia. That’s cricket, the OTHER ballgame that uses a bat — not the musically-inclined insect. And for those Yanks not familiar with the Ashes, it’s a series played between England and Australia, one of international cricket's most celebrated rivalries and a high-profile, sponsor-saturated event.Continue reading...

Budweiser is launching biggest US-wide promotion with "Grab some Buds," a free sample campaign that starts Monday.

Geared at the under-30 crowd (and over-21, of course) demographic that may have been swigging PBR and other brands in recent years, the try-a-Bud effort will be capped by the Budweiser National Happy Hour on Sept. 21, where samples will be distributed in bars and restaurants across America.

The move is clearly aimed at reviving "a brand that's lost mojo," as USA Today notes, and which has stayed static, staying at #30 for the second year in a row on Interbrand's Best Global Brands ranking. With sales down 9% last year and this year, according to figures from Beverage Marketing Corp., the campaign is a bid to turn around its fortunes.

"Grab some Buds" will naturally focus on Facebook, where Budweiser is a veteran at rallying fans and already gives away (virtual) samples. As part of this new campaign outreach, it's turning virtual gifts actual by giving Facebookers turning 22 or older a free Bud on their birthdays.

As marketing campaigns go, freebies are a tried and true way to acquaint (or reacquaint) consumers with a branded product.

And at least Bud's buzz-building isn't as desperate as KFC's new college marketing push: the feminist-angering slapping of its "Double Down" logo on female co-eds' buns, which Abe Sauer says puts a whole new spin on the phrase "brand ambassador."

To promote its heavy on the puns and chicken sandwich, the Double Down, KFC is looking for a few brand ambassadors. Yes, there is also a pun to be had in the kind of ambassadors KFC is looking for.

While many continue to laugh at both KFC's sandwich and its latest promotion, it's nothing short of fantasstic — by which we mean, of course, embarrassing.

In explaining KFC's latest marketing campaign, there really isn't any way to outdo the headline on KFC's press release, which reads: "GLUTEUS AD MAXIMUS: KFC PLACES DOUBLE DOWN™ ADS ON THE BACKSIDES OF SWEAT PANTS WORN BY COLLEGE CO-EDS."

Yes, to the horror of the National Organization for Women, KFC will be marketing the Double Down by recruiting comely college co-eds to serve as "human billboards."Continue reading...

Now that GMAC Financial is established as Ally, with its campaign featuring kids-as-bank-customers confronted by an untrustworthy adult (representing, of course, other banks) firmly entrenched in the US, Ally feels it's time to grow up.

Its new series of spots banishes the kids, with a new campaign unrolling today featuring kid-like adults discussing "the wacky ways" they love Ally.

The attention-getting kids-based campaign "did a nice job of successfully informing customers we’re a different bank," said Ally CMO Sanjay Gupta to the New York Times. "But now that we established that,” he added, the goal is to focus more on what Ally offers: “innovative products, no hidden fees, being able to talk to an actual person."Continue reading...

Dish Network's new marketing campaign promotes its high-definition programming offering. The rival to DirecTV, US cable operators and telco TV offerings from AT&T and Verizon, Dish is wooing HD-hungry consumers: namely, football fans (now that NFL season is underway), moms (who may control the purse-strings) and movie-lovers of all ages.

Last week Nissan unveiled its first spot for its 2011 Nissan Leaf electric vehicle, featuring Aggie the acting polar bear. Here's a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the commercial.