Consumers of Molson Light Question Light Questions

The Molson "Answer Honestly" campaign must be considered a success. Some of the questions are of high enough quality to spark debates among their consumers. It adds a little something to the experience and can also work as a bit of an ice breaker. The Chief Marketing Officer, Peter Nowlan, took the program a step further by adding the questions to the Molson Light line but may have gotten a little too cute for his own good.

He added the questions but made them "lighter" to go with the lighter product. Below is a list of some examples:

To have regular potato chips with lunch tomorrow -OR- To have ruffled chips with lunch tomorrow?
To drive on a slightly cloudy day during non-rush hour -OR- To drive in sleet, hail, and windy conditions during rush hour when you are already running late?
To sleep eight hours a day - OR - To not sleep for a week straight?
To have front row tickets to an event -OR- To have upper deck seats, in the last row, behind a pillar?

As you can see it is pretty easy to pick one of the choices, except for the chips I am still thinking about that one. Mr. Nowlan gave two reasons for the new set of questions for Molson Light. The light questions keep the branding consistent with the product. He stressed the importance of consistence. Secondly, the profit margin is much tighter on the light product so, "We really like to steer consumers away from it." When asked why they even have it the line if it is not profitable he ended the interview. But when you think about it taste pretty much the same and I'm not sure what I'm having for lunch tomorrow, perhaps a dip will get in the mix, so I'd go ruffles.

Rainbows and Lame Bows

The Gang and FOX Team Up

Always Sunny In Philadelphia stars Rob McElhenney, Glenn Howerton, and Charlie Kelly will have their new series Boldy Going Nowhere air on FOX. While the three will not be able to appear regularly in the show due they will be making occasional guest appearances. Which should be interesting since the show will be set in a spaceship. Always Sunny continues to roll on FX and season 5 is underway, however, the impending show’s influence on Always Sunny can already be seen.

In the first episode there is a storyline involving a house in which the gang begins chanting, “House. House. House.” FOX’s hit show House, which debuted in 2004, had its own season debut coming up just four days later. Is it coincidence? Probably.

Nationals Considered Trading Strasburg to Yankees

Reports are streaming out of Washington that the Nationals were approached by the Yankees in regard to the availability of Stephen Strasburg in mid-July.

Phil Hughes was mentioned as the player going to the Nationals. Hughes has been bouncing between the Yankees rotation, bullpen, and Scranton Wilkes-Barre (AAA affiliate). The one time prospect that New York was unwilling to trade to land Johan Santana has found some success this year in the pen. With veterans CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Andy Pettitte and youngster Joba Chamberlain locked in the staff there is only one spot open. And the Yankees were looking to place Strasburg in the spot, since he has a higher ceiling than Hughes (cathedral ceiling?). The Yankees were likely going to be able to skip Strasburg in the rotation going forward this season to limit his innings and could have used him a setup man to Rivera in the postseason. This move could have paid huge dividends both this year and going forward (buy some shares of it).

Because of the Yankees position in the standings (AL East leaders) and the country (New York…) the Yankees stood to make more off of Strasburg than the Nationals. Yankee Strasburg jerseys would have began to fly off the shelves as even an ERA between 4.25 and 4.50, if Strasburg struggled to harness his blazing fastball and curveball, would have been good enough to pile up more wins in New York than an ERA in the low 3.00’s would in DC. It is essentially a foregone conclusion that Strasburg will have over one strikeout a season. And power sells on both sides in baseball. If Strasburg flames out the Yanks would be able to write it off. The Nationals will take years to dig out if that happens. The Nationals are trying to save the face of the franchise, which is what made the Yankees offer so interesting.

The Yankees offered Phil Hughes, 10 wins in the 2010 season and 15 wins in the 2011 season. The point of the game is to win and Yanks were willing to give the Nats a bit of a head start at their expense. Part of the thinking is that long term Strasburg would be worth more in terms of both wins and money in New York than the 25 they would be giving up. If the Nationals were to take such a trade they would only have needed to go .500 to have a reasonable chance at making the playoffs. Negotiations hit a bit of a snag when the Nationals realized that they may be better off without the 10 wins in 2010 when the team figures to be uncompetitive. Why finish fourth in the division when you can finish fifth? The Yankees added in 12 more wins for the 2012 season based on the qualifier that Strasburg had at least 35 career wins going into the 2012 season. The Nationals asked the Yankees to keep their 2010 wins and make the 2012 wins a base condition. The Yankees agreed.

So why didn’t it happen? One may think it was because the Nationals were unable to come to terms with Strasburg before the July 31st non-waiver deadline. But if the Yankees were going to be paying the salary it would not have been an issue. What happened was the commissioner’s office told the two clubs that they could not trade wins. Selig found it rather troubling the Yankees thought that it was even a possibility but was less surprised with the Nationals. They are still learning.

Nicorette Announces New Products

Nicorette has a few more products announced to aid smokers in their attempt to quit. Nicorette has been selling mint flavored gum to ease smokers off of the nicotine they have been receiving from cigarettes for years. As smoking laws tighten pushing smokers out of workplaces, homes, and restaurants more and more smokers are looking to quit. It has become an expensive inconvenience. One that Nicorette plans to cash in on.

Among the top reasons to quit smoking heath concern and peer-pressure consistently rank near the top. The peer pressure aspect can help as this can provide the smoker with support but it can also backfire. “I have tried to quit dozens of times with no success,” stated Missouri smoker Jeff Adams. “My friends have heard me claim that I would not be buying any more packs so many times that they have kind of given up on me. Now whenever I try to quit I don’t want to let them down. It kind of stresses me out….so I light up.”

Nicorette has plans to help smokers like Jeff. They will be introducing a seventh flavor of their gum: Cigarette. The idea is that while they are reducing the nicotine in their system the customer’s friends, family, and co-workers would be unaware of the change. In tandem with this release Nicorette will release their first cigarette-type product. It will essentially be just the shell without any of the addictive properties. However, as this item will need to be smoked it still is not the best health decision. Nicorette executives argue that if smoking their Nico-Ciggarettes for 12 – 20 weeks can lead to the customer to stop smoking all together that it is worth it, as they are, “no any worse than the regular ones.” When using the two items together nobody will be aware that you are even trying to quit. Although some friends will be a little off put by your sudden resistance to let them “bum a cig.” Nicorette goes so far for the customer that they will even charge the same rate for the Nico-Ciggarettes that the tobacco companies are charging for theirs so that others don’t suddenly become aware of the increase in spending money. Of course the math doesn’t really work out since the customer will be buying the gum as well. Also the name Nico-Ciggarettes is somewhat misleading as there is no nicotine in the product. Must be a poorly thought-out branding move…

After a few months on the products the addiction to nicotine should be over and the two items can be dropped. But Nicorette is releasing one more product and this is the one that has shareholders really exciting. It’s a cigarette flavored gum. Really it is a cigarette scented gum the taste is closer to mint, a bad mint. There is no nicotine in the gum it is just a standard chewing gum. The demand for this product is expected to come from former smokers that are not willing to give up their daily smoke breaks. “I stopped smoking and then realized that I was working at my desk for an additional hour or so a day. And that time really starts to add up,” exclaimed one Nebraskan female that did not wish to be identified. This new product would allow individuals just like Susan McCoy to continue to harvest the benefits of being a smoker without any of the drawbacks. People that have never smoked are even expected to give the product a whirl. If it really hits big those Nico-Ciggarettes may even start selling to this segment.

For those that are on a tighter budget though smoking may make more sense as it will be considerably less expensive in the short term.

Coca-Cola: The Accidental Marketing Genius

Coke was already a (the?) giant in the soft drink game when RC Cola apparently beat them to the punch. In 1964 it was RC Cola, not Coke, not Pepsi, that became the first soft drink to be offered in all-aluminum cans. But Coke would strike back. The easy move to offer their product in a similar container was a no-brainer. But Coke went a step further when their marketing department had research that showed that symmetry was aesthetically pleasing to the human eye. The Greeks had used this principle thousands of years ago in their architecture. The end result was 12 12oz cans which would become known as the 12-pack.

Unfortunately for Coke this was not symmetrical but rather repetition. At the time repetition was a fairly new, unknown, and risky play in the marketing game. Coke, a solid company that just needed to retain market share, had inadvertently made a huge gamble. Pepsi executives rejoiced as they thought this would lead the Coke Empire to crumble. At the very least Pepsi expected to take over as the market leader. But this didn’t happen, instead the 12-packs flew off the shelves.

The American Marketing Association (AMA) took note. Never before had a large company taken “such an incredible risk….with almost nothing to gain.” Coke went on to become a household name in households that came into existence after 1964 and remained a household name in existing ones. The AMA thanked Coke for the research that they had inadvertently conducted by donating one million dollars towards the marketing budget. That money allowed Coke to get the word out on a little-known brand named Sprite. It was Coke’s answer to 7-Up.

As we know the Sprite experiment also went well for Coke. Afterwards it was decided that Coke should quit while they were ahead. They have made no major moves to reposition themselves since the late 1960’s. Coke certainly has not had any snafus (major or minor) in recent memory.

The Electric Car Will Save the Day

After a recent suggestion of mine to open a gas station was shot down I got to thinking about how I could prove that I was right. But I was wrong, so I'll prove that instead.

My original thought was to open a gas station after one of those highway signs that indicates XX amount of miles until the next gas station (or better yet XXX amount of miles). I am not sure if they would relocate the sign so that we would be noted as the last gas station or if it would come as a pleasant surprise to the motorists passing through. The main argument it seemed is that a gas station is too reliant on gas. What if another form of energy is developed that is friendlier to the environment and/or cheaper? Well our gas station could be in a lot of trouble depending on how the mini-golf on the roof is doing.

Perhaps the electric car will catch on. Because of the amount of people using this different breed of cars my guess is that there will be a greater need for garages for maintenance and repair. So gas stations should okay for a while as long as they can work on cars. Here is where things get interesting. How do you charge an electric car battery? I assume it is much like an I-Pod. You simply plug the car using a USB cord into a computer. To keep the computer dry though most people will need garages so anybody that doesn't have one will need to have an addition to their home built. With real estate struggling construction of new homes has been sliding. So this would allow the construction companies to get back in the game.

Since the majority of people do not have their computers in the garage computers could become a hot item at electronic stores. The retail sector should see a boost. Not to mention that all the current cars will be replaced by their electric counterparts. And from there everything else should just pretty much get fixed. You know what they say: "If construction and retail is growing then America is a-glowing!"