How to spoil a great branding effort

I like the Telus brand. I also like the cute animals they use to push their "Future is Friendly" messaging.

As a frequent movie-goer, I also love that Telus has partnered up with Cineplex to bring us Telus Tuesdays, where guests receive admission, regular popcorn and regular drink for about half price.

To help promote the Telus brand in association with this great offer, a microsite was launched with all of the info including a cast of characters and branded popcorn bags. At first glance, I was pretty impressed with this campaign, both from a consumer's perspective and in terms of the strategic partnership created between Telus and Cineplex...

...then I grabbed my seat inside the theatre.

Before your movie starts, Cineplex typically shows 5 or 6 ads (before the trailers) and I've noticed that they often coincide with the expected demographic for the film about to be screened. This is a great revenue stream for Cineplex and a great way for advertisers to reach a captive audience within their demographic.

As I sat there watching the screen, anxious for my film to start I saw ads for WIND Mobile, Rogers Wireless AND Bell Mobility!

I have no idea what Telus is spending in order to present the Telus Tuesday combo, but someone really dropped the ball when not one, but THREE major competitors all had ads displayed in the theatre prior to the start of the film.

Sure, Telus had the last ad before the trailers hit the screen, but it blows my mind that they didn't arrange some sort of exclusivity agreement to prohibit competitor's ads from being shown on Tuesday nights.

One sure-fire way to spoil a great branding campaign is to fail to protect your efforts from the competition. I congratulate Telus for a fantastic promotion but they lose points for overlooking some pretty important details.

10 Worst Ads of 2009

BNET has posted it's top 10 worst ads of 2009. This year's selections range from a cheating Mrs. Claus to a cell phone customer gabbing about her STD.

My personal fave is #10 - the furniture store that offers goods for both black and white people! Glad to see that race relations are at an all time high in North Carolina!

CLICK HERE to check them out!

Viral success...but has it built a brand?

Once again, OfficeMax has released the ElfYourself greeting card builder and the social networking sites are flooding with everyone's hilarious creations.

ElfYourself is a simple, yet brilliant tool that lets you upload the faces of up to five friends into an interface. The photos become the faces of a bunch of elves. It then spits out a "greeting card" where your elves dance around the screen to a disco version of a holiday song - complete with disco dance floor, funky moves and camera angles. The ElfYourself is sure to get a chuckle from anyone who sees it. At the end of the sequence, you are given the opportunity to click and purchase holiday gifts (mugs, shirts, etc.) with your elf's face on i t from Office Max.

The ElfYourself site was launched back in 2006 by OfficeMax and reappears every holiday season with much anticipation and exponential usage - as a recurring "viral" website, it is probably one of, if not the most successful (in my opinion).

After a drop off in popularity last year, the added integration into Facebook and Twitter has caused a resurgence. OfficeMax's agency, Tribal DDB, also organized a flash mob of elves in New York to generate additional hype.

My question of course is - has it helped to build the OfficeMax brand; and more importantly, does it generate sales?

OfficeMax does provide a call to action to buy swag after watching the greeting card. The creator can also purchase a copy of the card for $4.99 to keep beyond the holidays.

I've searched the 'net trying to find out, but a Google search returns articles with lots of stats on views / hits but nothing about sales or monetization.

OfficeMax has hit a homerun with their fun take on the traditional e-card but I am dying to know what it cost them to launch/promote and if it has had any real impact on business... and more importantly, does it really matter in this case? Maybe OfficeMax just wants to spread some holiday cheer!

You know you need PR when...

If you've been reading the Toronto Star lately, then you;re probably aware of the ongoing pouring-in of stories from readers experiencing billing issues with the foreign-owned Toll Highway.

Originally planned as a bypass route through Toronto, the 407 was leased by the province to a private group in 1999 for $3.1 billion over a 99 year term. The highway currently has an estimated value of over $10 billion.

As much as I would love to rant about the government's very poor decision to sell the 407, I'll do my best to stay on topic.

According to the 407 ETR website, a motorist enters a contract with 407 ETR as soon as they get on the highway. Terms and conditions are automatically accepted even though the only way to read them is either on their website before your trip or on the back of an invoice.

The Star began an investigation of the 407's billing practices after a number of readers wrote to complain about receiving unexpected bills or bills with a great deal of interest attached to them. The 407 has so far been uncooperative in responding to complaints.

In this morning's paper, the 407's owners sent out a message to consumers who questioned their billing practices: Don't drive on our highway.

I am not a Public Relations expert, but I think that perhaps the 407 needs to reconsider their statement.

I drive on the 407. There are times when I find it faster and more convenient and under those circumstances, I don't mind paying a few dollars for the convenience.

That said, there is always an alternate route, and many people will put a priority on pride over a shorter commute.

The problems with the 407 are largely a direct result of the province's decision to sell and will likely get worse should the parent company not consider a more friendly approach (or failing that, some form of government intervention).

I've been fortunate not to have any billing issues with the 407 (other than my issues with the cost in general) but based on their recent comments, I am strongly considering using alternative routes.

In the interim, the 407 needs to address these billing issues and start working on a plan to regain consumer confidence. If anyone over there wants to give me a call, I can recommend a few great PR agencies.