You Sleep When You Die

When you deliver actual, insight-driven value to the consumer that means the consumer delivers loyalty and positive word-of-mouth in return. Delivering only a discount, though, means the consumer has no loyalty, and no reason to buy your brand again, once someone offers a deeper discount.

It is a national disgrace that 1100 students are homeless in Seminole County. That should not be happening. An eight-year-old girl shouldn’t have to go on national television and talk about being stuck in her car with her mom, her dad, two dogs, and a cat, praying that the family can somehow come up with enough money to get into a cheap hotel. One-quarter of our country’s kids should not be living in poverty. But they are. If you were moved, as I was, by the 60 Minutes report, I have two challenges for you.

Here’s an experiment for anyone paying serious dollars to a US advertising agency.
1) Print out this blog and take it to your next meeting with your agency; circle the previous paragraph.
2) Ask your agency representative to read that sentence out loud.
3) Ask whether he or she agrees.
4) Take cover, because unless you are working with Zimmerman, the odds are that you are about to be overwhelmed by a tidal wave of bullshit.

My point here is not necessarily that you ought to order a Papa John’s pizza tonight (even though that’s a great idea.) My point is that some companies are thriving, even in the midst of a double-dip recession. And some companies definitely aren’t. Papa John’s is one of those companies that is.

Take a look at a recent Nissan spot, one that I was particularly proud of. It uses gentle humor to hit two powerful “hot button” issues: the rising gas prices we are all facing these days … and the Nissan line’s impressive record of fuel economy.