A tip of the hat to TippingSprung (and Zappos)!
Following the Colbert Report interview (and this past Tuesday’s encore presentation) a number of people have asked me about the oddball products discussed during the show. (You may recall the Kool-Aid/Reebok sneakers, Playdoh cologne, NASCAR romance novel, and others.) While I wish I had them all on display in my office, the bulk of the products was graciously loaned to me by TippingSpring, a New York branding agency with an annual brand-extension survey. Working with Brandweek, TippingSprung polls thousands of marketers to determine the year’s best (PetSmart PetsHotel) and worst (Precious Moments caskets) brand extensions. And because once a year isn’t enough, they also run a great blog on brand extensions - The Brand Elastic. (Among my favorites.) Many thanks to Martyn Tipping and Robert Sprung for extending a hand!
Meanwhile, another tip of the hat to the folks at Zappos. Thanks to Sharon R. and others in the Customer Loyalty department, those lemon-yellow Kool-Aid sneakers made it NY in time for the show. In case you haven’t traveled by air recently, Zappos is the online shoe retailer advertised at the bottom of countless TSA security tubs around the country (a subject discussed here a few weeks ago).
Finally, even if you disagree with comedian Bill Hicks, the bit below is funny stuff. The opening line: “If anyone here is in advertising or marketing, kill yourself.” It gets worse from there. Enjoy. (Thanks to Mark, a regular reader, for forwarding the link.)
