In a world with over a million ads being directed at you each year (of the 5,000+ ads you are exposed to on a daily basis, fewer than 250 will get your attention and less than 50 of those will snag your perception) even the most successful companies can have a hard time breaking through the clutter. Often even the Top Brands that have the most buzz about their brands (sometimes the buzz for their brand is greater than the buzz for their product/services) begin to feel stagnant at the tail end of a brand’s lifecycle.
This year, we have seen some interesting activity with Coca-Cola (2009’s number 3 world brand) with the launching of “Open Happiness” by Wieden & Kennedy. (Thanks, Smith & Jones, for sharing)
Bob Garfield has some interesting commentary on this campaign,
“The very best things about the “Open Happiness” ads are holdovers from the previous “Coke Side of Life” campaign.”
Lastly, although it is a rumored April Fool’s gag BRANDNEW has an interesting post on Dunkin Donuts’ re-branding to celebrate their 60th birthday. The post illustrates a move from Hill Holliday’s “America Runs On Dunkin'” slogan developed in 2006, to bring on Matt Stevens to re-introducing Dunkie, the 1950’s icon and branding with a throw-back homage. Personally, I love seeing the NFL teams playing with their throwback uniforms, and I like the look of this “new branding” for the 60th anniversary. Would it make sense as a “long-term” solution? No, but it would be a nice excuse to change it for a year, then re-introduce a new brand to help cut through the coffee clutter.