Ant Hill Marketing

The Hood to Coast Relay is reputed to be one of the premier running events of its kind in the country. Twelve thousand runners come from nearly every corner of the U.S. and many countries around the world.  They pile in two thousand large vehicles and set out on a quest to cover 197 miles as fast as their bodies will let them.  And, to a person, they will call it one of the most fun things they have done in their lives.

I’ve run the race more than a dozen years myself and can easily say it is one of the highlights of my year. And I have always thought very highly of the management and organization of the event.  It is truly a feat to pull this off.  But the staff does not do it alone. Each team is required to provide three volunteers to man the 36 exchange points along the course at all hours of the day and night. It takes a lot of dedication for a person to get up at 2:00 a.m., drive to the middle of the Coast Range, and direct hundreds of vans and thousands of people who are sleep deprived and reaching their limits.  And for their efforts, each volunteer gets a t-shirt that just lets people know “I helped pull off one of the greatest running events around”.

The 2009 Hood To Coast volunteer t-shirt

That’s why I was more than a little disappointed in organization’s response to an obvious mistake on the volunteer t-shirts printed for this year’s event.  As reported in The Oregonian, the bright orange t-shirt proudly declares the person wearing it is a “Race Offical” rather than “Official”. It’s an honest, if not unbelievable, mistake. And our whole running team got a chuckle out of passing around the news.  But, at our final race preparation meeting last night, all we could talk about was the dismissive response of Robert Foote, Hood to Coast Relay president, who shrugged off the mistake and said it “is pretty irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.”  What does that say about the Hood-to-Coast brand?  And how must the sponsors whose logos appear under the mispelled word feel?

I can understand and sympathize with the complexity of running an event like this.  It is a huge undertaking and, yes, a t-shirt misprint must seem like a small gaffe.  But, the dismissive public comment and failure to correct the mistake indicate leadership that fails to recognize the difficulty teams have in providing volunteers and the sacrifice those people make to help pull this event off. It also sends a message to event sponsors that the organization might not be as professional as it appears.

The only possible rationale for the decision I can think of is that it was too late to reprint the shirts once the mistake was discovered or the staff felt that the extra cost would take away from the donations that will be made to the American Cancer Society, the beneficiary of the event.  If either of those is the case, just say that rather than trying to dismiss the mistake as insignificant.

It is a lesson for all organizations (and people) that make mistakes, because we all do.  Own up to it.  Correct it. And stay true to your brand. Certainly the main event sponsor, Nike, understands this. And I hope the Hood To Coast staff has spent the last few days figuring out how they can quickly reprint the t-shirts for the 3,000+ volunteers who will be setting their alarm clocks, grabbing a coffee, and heading out to a place they’ve never heard of — all in the name of fun.

Photo courtesy of www.portlandground.com

I love Portland. We’re not the city that never sleeps. We’re not the windy city. And, we’re not filled with tinsel, bleached hair and botox. But, we are overshadowed by other cities, especially when it comes to creative – and that’s a shame (or a sham depending on how you look at it). Creativity thrives here in our fair City of Roses (regardless of what Fast Company thinks). And with more than 1,500 companies, large and small, in the creative services industry, we contribute a fair share of professional services business revenue and jobs. Yet for some reason, we’re afraid to toot the horn let alone blow a low whistle (a little music once in a while is okay people). Maybe we think we’re great but need proof. Or we’re overly modest. Either way, consider this:

1. Creative services industry employs roughly 15,000 people in Portland
2. We have 344 designers per 100K residents – more than LA and Austin (according to Bureau of Labor Stats ‘08 in Greater Portland Prosperity 2009)
3. The creative vitality here (based on the National Creative Vitality Index - yes there is such a thing) is more than twice the national baseline
4. Portland is among one of the most innovative cities, ranked 6 by Forbes for most patents, and 6th for both entrepreneurship and small business (Creative Capacity Project)
5. Creative industries generate nearly $2 billion and a payroll of nearly $1 billion annually (that’s no chump change) (Creative Capacity Project)
6. More than half of Oregon’s creative firms are concentrated in Portland (Creative Capacity Project)

Portland is a great place to be – to live and work. But we know that already. Even though we’re pushing through a rough spot and our state has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country, we don’t have the brain drain other cities are facing. In fact, we’ve got some brain gain going on. More people are moving here from out-of-state than to our western compatriots (that’d be Seattle, Albuquerque, Austin, San Diego, Denver, San Jose, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Sacremento). The region is a magnet for all kinds of talented professionals – a chunk of them in the the creative industry and they’d rather be here than someplace else. Some get the entrepreneurial bug. It’s quite catchy here. Some freelance for local agencies or work directly with clients and supplement with other jobs. Baristas or bartenders are common, but more often they are artists, writers and musicians. Perhaps this is why Forbes dubbed Portland one of the best metro areas in which to ride out the recession. The great coffee, local microbrews, top notch wineries, and growing spirit distillers are definitely a bonus. And innovation abounds (the coffee, beer, wine, and spirits help) with the booming food scene, developing clean/green tech industry, the variety of arts and yes, our creative services industry. There’s no doubt the quality of life here is a big pull for newbies and the anchor for those of us here.  But to keep all this quiet, to simply sit idle hoping the great creative work gets noticed, isn’t the best strategy to help grow an industry sector. We all want good clients whether they reside here locally or in other regions – and other regions are touting their creative (some quite loudly).

So, what makes Portland such a great creative place? I posed this question (on Twitter) to fellow Portlanders and here’s a short list of what they said:

Portland is a great creative city because there are no rules. @DanFellini

Because Portlanders are real people. The lack of restriction and openness promotes a more creative and less stifled spirit. @massagepdx

It’s not that I don’t play well with others; I just want to choose where, when and with whom I play. [It's the] PDX attitude. @LogoMotives

Despite local chagrin, the influx of creatives from all over the country converging here brings broad perspective. @Metroknow

I have mixed feelings about it as a creative city. It’s like a college graduate: full of potential. Now it needs to find its way. @swestbrook

PDXers are curious and not too self-obsessed. Our lives are generally balanced and we leave room for non-work projects. We’re generally tolerant and open to new ideas=innovation. We’re risk takers and revel in a good fail-as-learning experience. @thisKat

Portland creativity=cuz we have twice the creative fuel with half the financial pressure. @vizeboogie

Because in PDX, there is life other than work, and that drives us to be more creative and inspired. @KevMurphy

We are passionate about living. We are free spirits. We celebrate…our ability to listen to ideas that we might not hold dear to ourselves. We live our lives out loud. @dtboyd

It’s this last point, living out loud, that strikes home.  Portland should take pride in our creative abilities and capabilities and not be afraid to shout them to the world.

In the words of Target: Our mission is to be the preferred shopping destination by delivering outstanding value and an exceptional guest experience by consistently fulfilling our Expect More. Pay Less. brand promise. No doubt in my mind: they do deliver on this promise. Shopping the store this weekend for two advertised items, neither were in stock at the store we visited. Did they let us walk away unsatisfied? No way. A cashier went so far as to shut down her register to go check on the item we wanted; not finding it, she used her hand-held to find another store that had it in stock. And at the second store, a sales associate hiked from his register to a back-store aisle and then hiked back to his station and spent 10 minutes on the phone for us finding a second item we wanted at another store and making sure it was held for us. Granted, we had to do a bit of unanticipated driving around, but these two employees went way out of their way to make sure we came away satisfied with our Target shopping experience. It’s one thing for a store to say it will deliver on its brand; it’s another for each employee we encountered to do it willingly and happily. That’s brand done right. High five to Target.

Granted, this is a little tongue-in-cheek, but I thought I’d get GM off on the right foot with this whole “restructuring” thing.

How can GM show US taxpayers they are a changed company? Well, designing smart, compelling automobiles is a place to start. But, the most obvious way is to update that tired, old logo. Knowing they are a bit short of cash at the moment, I put together a few concepts for them – for free. (Attention GM: if you like what you see, we should talk.)

And what is a new logo without some meaning behind it? Seeing as how the US government now owns 60% of the auto manufacturer, the mark should reflect the same.

New GM Logo: Concept 1

Seeing as how General Motors is now technically a stimulus project, Concept 1 gives a nod to the Recovery.gov logo. The 40/60 split creates a nice forward arrow motif, showing GM is headed in the right direction.

New GM Logo : Concept 2

The second concept uses the familiar “GM Box” as the blue field on the American flag. Giving the entire mark a forward looking perspective should align the company’s perceived new mission with the new mark.

I really do hope GM can get back on track. They are synonomous with America, baseball, and apple pie – all things I’m a fan of – and things I don’t want to go away anytime soon. That and they owe us about $50 billion smackers.

So, which one works the best? I look forward to the debate.

I hate to admit it, but one of my favorite reality shows on TV is TLC’s Jon & Kate plus 8 (mostly because the kids are so dang cute). I have watched this show since it aired a few years back and it has evolved and changed as it has gained popularity. Recently, I have noticed more and more brands are latching on to the show’s success and strategically (and sometimes not so strategically) using product placements in the  show to boost their own brand recognition. Sometimes the placements are seamless and go unnoticed (at least by the average audience member)…and sometimes it stands out like a sore thumb. Many people have blogged about their frustration lately.
In a recent episode, Jon and Kate got new washers for their new home. One of their conversations went something like this:

Kate: “I just love our new washer and dryer from Whirlpool! They look so beautiful sitting side-by-side in the laundry room.”
Jon: “Yeah…aren’t those the Duets?”
Kate: “They sure are, Jon! We had some in our old house and after that amazing experience, I knew the Whirlpool Duets were the ONLY washer and dryer I’d put in the new house!”

You can’t really blame Jon & Kate for accepting these offers—but it does seem to tarnish the authenticity of the show and even the “Jon & Kate” brand. I have to wonder, when it is so obvious that a brand has paid/donated to be participating on a show, if it actually detracts from the brand image rather than help it. And Whirlpool isn’t the only brand that’s fumbled when it comes to product placements. Allstate and Play-doh also made awkward appearances on the show.

Speaking of tarnishing the Jon & Kate brand, in the past few weeks there has been a lot of press around suspicions that Jon has been having an affair (superficial posted confirmation on their blog of the alleged affair). This leaves me wondering…what will these brands do that have so closely tied themselves with the Jon & Kate brand?

Now I’m not saying that product placements aren’t a smart idea. I just think they have to be done extremely well in order to pull them off. The success of brands in the future really lie in their ability to be authentic. People are able to see through the marketing crap and want to see real people interacting with the brand. But I think people can also see through a bad product placement.
There are good product placements out there. However they are usually hard to spot. When a product placement is done well, it shouldn’t be obvious. It should feel just normal. Brand Channel has a list of 2008 brand cameo product placement awards.

I will leave you with one last horrible product placement to ponder. This one was on the VH1 Best Week Ever blog.

It definitely made me laugh.