Playing it REALLY safe

The marketers at Post cereals are sure not swinging for the fences. With their launch of "Just Bunches" , they have created a line extension of their Honey Bunches line, virtually assuring high cannibalization and minimal incrementality. Furthermore, their execution does not appear to be very good as noted in the linked testimonial from a Honey Bunches brand addict :http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/260-12042008-1632309.html.

With limited R&D resources, slotting dollars that compete for space in a crowded category, and as a distraction to operations, the sales force and the marketing team in general, this launch seems like an overly safe play that will not gain any meaningful business. However, it will give the illusion of in-market innovation inside the company. Too often the internal appearance of what you are doing for the customer trumps the reality of the scarce innovation we consumer see. This is one of the most insidious diseases that affect brand managers today, and will continue to be so until companies adjust their cultures to demand true consumer innovation.

Tone Deaf

With the country (and the world) undergoing a deep and painful recession, some advertisers seem clueless about the tone they need to strike in their advertising. Case in point is the dramatic contrast in TV ads for Lexus and Honda. Lexus continues to rely on the old (and incredible decadent) formula of a $50,000 car as a gift, wrapped in a bow in the driveway as snow falls outside a McMansion (that is probably upside down mortgage-wise nowadays). What are they thinking! The days of reaching for cheap financing to underwrite a life of conspicuous consumption are over. For many families this is not "a December to Remember" (their tag line in prior years). Contrast this with Honda's ad portraying two 30 somethings leaving the city to visit a friend in the country: "it will be good to see him again" she says, to which he answers "he will freak out". They arrive to his home, he comes out and hugs them. End of ad. Weird ad, not compelling, but respectful of the more sober tone in the country. Lexus: get a clue.