The Most Interesting Man in the World
Slate gives the Dos Equis ads a B+. I think they deserve an A not because I think I could EASILY replace the main character as The Most Interesting Man in the World, but because it works. For brands, I think it’s (more) important to build a lifestyle, culture and feeling around your brand, not constantly shouting the brand’s name. In the adds, the gentleman simply states, “I don’t always drink beer, but when I do, I drink Dos Equis”. That’s not a typical statement for a brand to approve, but the subtlety with the reference combined with the other elements of the commercials (bench-pressing Asian women, splashing down in a space capsule, performing trick billiards shots for turbaned companions) create an aura around Dos Equis.
To tie to that, this morning I read this article that shows the power of some of the social media tools brands can play with to help build this aura.
At first blush, Tumblr, described as a “blogging platform,” which aggregates online content on a particular theme (like, say, skateboarding), doesn’t seem to have an obvious marketing application. But IBM, EMI and Universal Music have all discovered that creating a tumbleblog (a term that preceded the two-year-old Tumblr’s existence) is a good way to help control the message online, reward fans and, in IBM’s case, position oneself as a thought leader on a given topic.
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Marketers can provide such links via blogs, but Tumblr makes it easier to aggregate content like news articles and video. Like Twitter, you can also “follow” a tumbleblog you like. Users can also hit a “like” button or reblog the post onto their own Tumblr page, making the blog items more viral. Adam Christensen, social media manager for IBM, said the idea is to drive online conversation. “It certainly raises awareness for the kinds of things that IBM is working on,” he said. “We don’t want it to be just about IBM, and Tumblr gives us a holistic view.”
Tags: advertising, branding, currentblend, marketing, social media