Honda rides with Disney and HS3

Teenager to Mom: "Hey, as a reward for getting good grades, being such a great kid and having a perfect driving record, I think I deserve a really nice graduation gift. Like a car."
Mom: "Oh. What did you have in mind?"
Teenager: "A minivan. Pleeeease mommy?"

We've all seen Honda's clever Odyssey TV ad campaign that's been going on for a few years now-- hippie graphics, funky music and all. I assume I'm in the target audience as a Gen X mother with 2 kids who loathes the idea of a minivan but finds the Odyssey an attractive option, since it's not really a "minivan" per se, at least not in terms of its brand identity.

Now Honda is attracting a younger audience with its partnership as the exclusive automotive partner to Disney Pictures' High School Musical 3: Senior Year. According to Tuesday's Media Post article:

"Honda's co-branded campaign for the film, which opens Oct. 24-- includes TV spots, radio, print, and online elements. The film also features a raft of Honda vehicles, including a Honda Odyssey minivan driven by Gabriella's mother, Mrs. Montez; a pink S2000 coupe driven by Sharpay, a Pilot compact crossover and a Civic Hybrid.

The effort will include a cross-branded 30-second TV spot for the Odyssey that will run on cable networks and network shows in October, and a branded spot on the Disney Channel. One spot shows the minivan "driving" through the animated world of a Wildcats senior yearbook. A co-branded site, www.Disney.com/RidewiththeWildcats lets visitors watch videos and play a thematically related driving game.

Tom Peyton, senior advertising manager at American Honda Motor, says Honda is reprising a role it had in "High School Musical Two." "We started with Disney a few years ago when we became a partner of Disney Land," he tells Marketing Daily. "That gave us inroads to talk on other projects."

He said that while other Honda vehicles are spotlighted in "HS3," "it is primarily about Odyssey. We're trying to reach families; these are the right households for us to talk to."

And that's precisely the point. Honda and other automobile makers know that kids, tweens and teens have a huge influence over major purchases, especially the family automobile.

One other very important note: This may or may not come as a surprise, but the High School Musical franchise's core fans aren't teens. They're tweens and kids, some as young as 4 and 5. (I know this because my almost 6 year-old daughter and her friends are obsessed with all things HSM). This is the the audience that will think this whole branding and media blitz is cool. They also think (unlike the teenagers I know) that minivans are pretty cool too.

So much attention about moi! The Muppets get the Hannnah Montana treatment

Miss Miss Piggy? I sure do. But guess what-- The New York Times reported yesterday (Fuzzy Renaissance, September 21, 2008) that not only is Miss Piggy coming out of cold storage, she and the rest of her Muppet Pals are getting the "Hanna Montana treatment, being blasted into every pop-culture nook and cranny that the company owns or can dream up."

For starters there are the specials on Disney Channel in which Muppets interact with High School Musical and Jonas Brothers stars. Then there are the viral videos on YouTube and the NBC Christmas special. And don't miss the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Muppets float or "Nightline" political interviews. And of course there's plenty of merchandise: Muppet clothing at Urban Outfitters and Limited Too stores; Muppet-theme stuffed animals and tote bags at Macy’s; and a Muppet boutique at the New York flagship of F. A. O. Schwarz.

"We think there is a Muppet gene in everybody,” Lylle Breier, a Disney executive who is the new general manager of Muppets Studio told the Times. Still, she has a few challenges. Ms. Breier also said that recent focus groups indicated that some children could not even identify Kermit and Miss Piggy, much less ancillary characters like Fozzie Bear and Gonzo the Great.

It's really too bad. Since Jim Henson's death in 1990, his children have taken over the reigns to the family business but the Muppet characters have stagnated under changing ownership. Disney aquired the "Classic Muppets" in 2004; Children's Television Workshop owns the "Sesame Street" Muppets.

The article reports that while "Disney estimated three years ago that the Muppets would be generating about $300 million a year in merchandising sales by now, retail analysts say the total for 2008 will be closer to $50 million."

Dick Cook, chairman of Walt Disney Studios (and Ms. Breier’s boss) told the Times: “Developing the kind of high-quality entertainment we have planned for the global relaunch of the Muppets takes time,” he said. “We want to be very, very careful that whatever we do is in the spirit of the Muppets and that we are enhancing the brand."

I couldn't agree more. While it certainly appears that Disney will leveraging every ounce of marketing muscle to bring the Muppets back to center stage, what isn't so clear is how they'll keep the Muppet magic intact in doing so. Time will tell. Kermit and Miss Piggy were originally created to entertain adults with clever and irreverant humor; Disney's strategy appears to be one where they simultaneously attract nostalgic older generations as well as the 6-12 year-old tween market. I wonder what Jim Henson would think about all of this. Or, more appropriately, what would Miss Piggy do?

Love your veggies (and get $15K for doing so)

Marketing to kids can sometimes be controversial, especially when it involves stuff that Americans tend to consume a lot of: junk food, violent video games or toys from China. This is why I was so pleased to come across the Love Your Veggies™ campaign. This is no grass-roots, mom-in-the kitchen kind of promotion (can't you tell already by the trademarked slogan?) If you go to the Love Your Veggies™ grant site you will learn:

"The Love Your Veggies™ grant program is sponsored by the makers of Hidden Valley® Salad Dressings in partnership with the School Nutrition Foundation and supported by Produce for Better Health Foundation. The campaign aims to increase access to – and consumption of – fresh fruits and vegetables in elementary schools across the country at a time when schools are required by federal mandate to strengthen nutrition and exercise programs as part of local wellness policies. "

Ah, it makes me salivate for carrot sticks just reading about how great this program is for our kids and our schools. Between now and November 7, 2008, elementary schools can apply for a $15,000 grant to be used towards fresh produce, kitchen equipment, program staffing, nutrition education supplies or food safety training. Details on how to apply are listed here.

But here's the bigger question: How will this translate into sales for Hidden Valley salad dressings? I've yet to witness a child in a supermarket whining for any type of condiment or salad dressing, let alone a specific brand of salad dressing, but maybe I just haven't been paying close enough attention.

This is a case of what we marketers call "long-term investment" marketing. The entire campaign came about after a 2006 study by the University of California Expanded Food and Nutrition Program found that children consumed 23 percent more vegetables when paired with "a moderate amount of ranch dressing." I'd have to see what "moderate" means but my guess is that the benefits of eating 23 percent more vegetables outweighs the extra fat and calories of the dressing. Just a guess though.

The folks at Hidden Valley Ranch are smart marketers. They recognized an urgent need in the marketplace (healthier food in schools), took a product not currently marketed to children (ranch dressing), backed it up with a clever study, obtained some credible partners (School Nutrition Foundation and Produce for Better Health Foundation) and voila-- they've got a promotion that they'll be reaping benefits from for years to come. Everyone already knows (especially the soft drink and junk food companies) that if you can market to kids in schools, you're likely to have them hooked for life.

It's also worth noting that this promotion likely didn't make much of a dent in Hidden Valley Ranch's marketing budget (or for Clorox-- the parent company for Hidden Valley salad dressings, Glad sandwich bags, Kingsford charcoal and Fresh Scoop cat litter). They're only offering ten $15,000 grants.

Messy branding, messy diapers

Yesterday was my 16 month-old son's first day at preschool. I am grateful to have him enrolled in a great program where he'll be learning new skills and interacting with a fun group of kids and talented staff. They really know what they're doing, I kept telling myself after tears were shed at the morning dropoff and I started feeling guilty about leaving him. He's in good hands, I thought.

So imagine my surprise when I dropped his pants that afternoon and discovered that the good hands of his preschool teacher had arranged a backward-facing wedgie. My daughter and I nearly fell out of our chairs. While it was certainly reminiscent of SNL's "Huggies Thong" sketch, I still have to ask, how hard is it to change a diaper? Apparently, not so easy. Wiki How lists a full page of step-by-step diapering tips, as do most parenting advice websites. Now, when I was using cloth diapers with my firstborn, such tips were incredibly useful. But disposables? C'mon. Cartoon characters go in the front and the velcro tabs are in the back-- just hook 'em around to the front and you're done. How can someone with a college degree not be able to figure this out? Except that since yesterday's incident (and there have been others, including extended family members who I have previously labeled as being completely clueless due to their lack of diapering skills) I now think it's a branding problem. Take a close look at these photos of my son's lower half. Notice anything (other than his gorgeous little body?) Cartoon characters are everywhere on the front and back (or back and front.) Overzealous licensing deals are creating product usibility problems. In other words, too much cartoon crap on the outside of the diaper leads to.... uncontained crap. We don't need to see Elmo and friends on the front and back of every diaper. It's too confusing. Millions of us have already been trained that cartoon characters go on the front. Period. Now, I hail the brands like Seventh Generation that are cartoon- and chemical-free, I just wish they were less expensive and survived through the night. Pampers, Huggies, Luvs: hear me out on this. Please limit the characters to the front only. Either that or come up with some clever hello/goodbye or number 1/number 2 metaphors to use instead. That would give us parents more of a chuckle than a backwards-facing overflowing diaper.