This links to one of the most creative pieces of advertising I have ever seen, but it fails in my opinion to make the sale when the time comes. It is for the Diamond department at Penny’s. What this piece fails to do is to establish and use the principle of Ethos. The Pathos and the Logos all are there. I think this could have been easily fixed without making it any less entertaining. Let me know how you would have fixed it.
Search
Welcome
Welcome to the website of FrankLane Ltd. and the weblog of Frank Lane, Brand Entrepreneur & Creator of the Killer Brand™ Marketing Method.
-
Recent Posts
Recent Comments
- Frank Lane on Go To Fun Every Morning
- Rod Brooks on Go To Fun Every Morning
- Frank Lane on Borrowed Interest Again
- Mindy Newton on Borrowed Interest Again
- Mindy Newton on Borrowed interest that does not work
To get the ball rolling…
JC Penney’s new brand positioning is “Every Day Matters.” In the words of Mike Boylson, chief marketing officer for JCPenney, “Our new campaign will show that we are not just looking to sell merchandise, we are looking to sell an experience. By focusing on life’s little moments, we are able to show our customers how we can enhance their every day lives, helping them make each day richer and more inspiring.”
Ahh. Positive and uplifting right? I envision images of romantic candlelight dinners, pleasurable “little moments” with the children and the family golden retriever, a cozy living room filled with fun and laughter (all scenes with JC Penney product, of course). You too? So, right off the bat, I don’t think the advertisement fits very well with JC Penney’s new brand positioning.
Back to the advertisement;
1.) I didn’t find it funny. Yes, some of the “jokes” were crudely humorous but overall the it was dark, unsettling and, frankly, I didn’t enjoy watching the pain endured by unenlightened fools. I am generally not a fan of dark comedies and I wouldn’t create one to support JC Penney’s “special moments” brand positioning.
2.) How could this particular advertisement have established and used the principle of Ethos (Ethos consists of giving the audience permission to listen to you).
I would want the target audience to watch the advertisement. And that’s it. I would attract customers by showing what I have to offer and let them decide whether to watch the advertisement and, hopefully, do business with me. If the problem or opportunity doesn’t apply to the viewer, the viewer could simply “opt out” (change the channel, flip the page etc.). How?
HEADLINE along the lines of:
Do you REALLY know what your wife really wants this anniversary?
Let JC Penney show you how you can avoid the same fate of these well-meaning but unenlightened fools.
END – call to action.
JC Penney, keeping men out of the doghouse and in the penthouse since 1922. Visit JC Penney Jewelry for an anniversary gift your wife REALLY wants.
Look forward to hearing other comments and thoughts.
Ernst
The first time I saw this, I totally missed the JC Penney line at the bottom of the end of the ad. My reaction to it:
-Incredibly clever sell for jewelry, per se
-No compelling differentiation for JC Penney jewelry. More like a great trade ad. Maybe JC Penney could offer a Personal Case Analysis by female “legal consultants” who have winning experience with the Doghouse Court and can make a recommendation that is guaranteed to get you out of the Doghouse or keep you out of the Doghouse. (Also source of future business)
-Need 2 more examples of men who got out via buying jewelry to drive home the Expectation
-Need more prominent mention of JC Penney Jewelry store with relevant slogan
-May need to be shorter.
I just read Barry’s post and agree wholeheartedly with all the points he listed.
The advertisement was without a doubt very creative and I can see it might even win an advertising Clio award for the agency that created it (I believe Saatchi and Saatchi). But is the advertisement good for JC Penney?
Being a fan of Frank Lane’s book, I would like to comment on Frank’s key principles for creating a Killer Brand;
Focus: As Barry points out, the advertisement doesn’t present a differentiating and compelling reason to purchase jewelry from JC Penney.
Alignment: I would propose that the advertisement is not in alignment with JC Penney’s new “Every Day Matters” brand positioning. Frank and Barry, do you agree?
Linkage: Yes, the advertisement is creative. But no amount of creativity is going to do any good if you strike out on Focus and Alignment. Quite the opposite, creating strong linkage that is out-of -Focus and not-in-Alignment could very well cause damage to the brand.
Ernst
This piece has a classic premise (the Doghouse), is very funny and is a great starting point but there are some problems with it. First, I agree that it is dark and as such, it does not seem to fit for a company like JC Penney. I also don’t know the whole campaign – any of the motivation or planning that lead up to this ad (differentiating expectation and compelling reason, etc.). Also no tagline.
But having that said, if it had the following problems fixed, it perhaps still could work:
1) It is way too long, has too many characters and meanders.
2) It is unclear, besides a closeup of the jewelry, what the “answer” is (call to action too vague and there are other things that motivate a woman besides jewelry).
3) It is not emotionally resolved. Does either guy get out? Do they learn a lesson? There isn’t any confirmation from either wife that jewelry from JCPenny is just the perfect solution.
I would view this as a rough cut, something to pitch a concept with, and probably reshoot and really tighten it up in editing.
It reminds me of a Bud Light commercial, which are wonderful in their “telling of the joke”. Quick cuts for the set up, get to the point, then wham, the punchline, complete with a parting shot (or audio) nugget of some kind after the product shot and tagline. This ad needs to pattern itself after those, in terms of joke telling and editing.
Give me a break! Its hilarious! And oh so true unless you happened to have an enlightened husband or boyfriend. It could be shorter, maybe not such a long walk to the doghouse and I think when they showed the photo of the couple the necklace should have sparkled and maybe on the photo frame they could have had “photo from the JC Penney Jewelery dept.
Alignment does need work.
This webisode ad could be fixed by more flashback cuts to when the the older man, the mentor, give wrong gifts but also when he gives gifts she appreciates and then near the end he teaches the lesson to the vacuum cleaner gifter that the gift of fine jewlery accents other moments (every day matters) when they showed their significant others value with tasteful gifts or even moments of appreciation. Still keeping it implicit but with a call to action.
Well, I guess I’m a dope because went to JC Penney’s and purchased the necklace in the ad for my wife for Christmas. I showed the video to my wife and teenage kids (who forwarded it to all their friends) a couple of days before Christmas and we all had a great laugh. On Christmas morning, my wife opened the small box (with the attached gift tag signed by “Dual Bag”) and she was thrilled. She wore the necklace every day for a week and had a great laugh telling all her girlfriends the story. I guess the proof is in the pudding – anyone have any figures for JC Penney’s jewelry sales for the Christmas Season?