Under normal circumstances, I would have probably zoomed right past both of these ads. They are about as ordinary as can be, and trust me, the copy you can’t read here does nothing to salvage them. But what caught my eye is that both of these are brands that rose to prominence on the backs of quite extarordinary advertising campaigns.
Timberland was just an obscure brand of deck shoes when Ally & Gargano got its hands on it in the 80s. (My “no naming names” policy doesn’t apply to agencies that have gone to that big conference room in the sky.) And Sony–remember “The One And Only”–was ably helped by advertising done by Doyle, Dane, Bernbach (an agency that is still around as a cufflink monogram, DDB, but bears little resemblance to its former self).
Alas, with current advertising as ordinary as this, we can only assume management has moved into the “milking” phase. Essentially draining every last drop of equity and goodwill built up during the years of extraordinary advertising. But this is, at best, a short-term strategy. Sooner or later, without the benefit of good care and feeding, ole Bessie will run dry.
In fact, judging from the miserable state of Sony’s business these days–especially in the area it once dominated, consumer electronics–one might argue that not only is the cow out of milk, but the barn’s on fire. Timberand’s fiscal condition I can’t address, but with advertising like this I’d suggest the proper heading in the Yellow Pages under which to find it might be “funeral homes.”
0 Responses to “Out Of Milk”