Five years after the event, Katrina still defines New Orleans in many ways. BUT ... life goes on, the city is recovering, people have come back and rebuilt homes and businesses. Today, you can go through some areas of the city and get the impression this Katrina thing was all Hollywood. It wasn't, let me assure you.
You can ride through other areas and discover not a lot has changed since the storm, except much of the damage is gone, picked up by FEMA, replaced by green space in the place of the death-gray left by the receding flood waters.
Down here in New Orleans, late August is a painful time, as the subject of Katrina invariably comes up in conversations, even though we suffer from "Katrina Fatigue" just as much as the rest of you do. As much as we would like it to go away, it won't, because it is etched into the soul of those of us who call this area home. But we get over the annual Katrina Funk by about the second week of September.
Since the State of Louisiana gives generous tax credits for movies made in the state, Louisiana, especially New Orleans, has become "Hollywood South". It is fairly common to have your neighborhood, your business, or your commute affected by a hoard of movie vans and blocked streets. We work around the inconvenience, because it brings revenue to the state, and it is kind of cool, actually.
Going back as far as I can remember, I can't recall any movie made in or about New Orleans being even remotely accurate in its depiction of the local culture. (Danzel Washington's Deja Vu made right after Katrina came close in a passing fashion.) That was true until HBO launched Treme, a series about post-Katrina New Orleans.
It received fair viewership outside of the local area, but here it has god-like status for those who have seen it and know the local culture. Treme has done a great job of nailing New Orleans and is worth watching. And the music is great! The first season is concluded, and a second season has been ordered. I have included a trailer for your viewing but be warned - STRONG LANGUAGE.
And then comes BP, attempting to top Katrina. That turned out to be not nearly as bad as we all thought. Do you realize just how large the Gulf of Mexico is? And did you know that ALL the spilled oil would not fill the Super Dome but about one seventh?! Did you know the Gulf floor naturally oozes about a super tanker of oil per year? Did you know the Gulf has natural microbes that feast on that oil? This has been like Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner rolled together for them! They can't even find the oil out there now! The worst seems to be over and I, for one, am eating whatever seafood I can get - and it tastes great. Had some boiled shrimp and blue crabs last Friday and a fried shrimp poboy Sunday!
The Gulf Coast is still in business. My family took our July vacation in Destin, Florida and enjoyed emerald green water and sugar sand beaches with only an occasional BP beachcomber passing by and looking bored.
New Orleans is not still flooded from Katrina, and the Gulf is not covered by a giant oil slick! We are open for business. There are actually more restaurants open now than before the storm, including just about all of the old favorites and several new ones destined for "old favorite" status.
Oh, and how 'bout dem Saints?!
So, come on down, have some seafood, drink some coffee, have a bignet and laissez les bon temps rouler!
Medea Vodka, an upscale vodka out of Holland, has introduced a striking new package that includes a programmable LED display on the bottle. You can create up to six personal messages with as many as 255 characters in each to play on the bottle.
And if you can't figure out how to use it, here are the handy programming instructions with a suggested application.
I haven't used Old Spice since I was a teenager (yes, a long time ago and another galaxy), but these commercials just might make me try it again. Not because of the messages, but because they are so darn well done!
Monday morning and New Orleans is recovering from an all night party. Many schools and business are closed or experiencing high absenteeism.
I predicted a win for the Saints by 7 and missed by a half. They clearly showed they have what it takes to be world champions. In the second half of the game you saw the powerhouse Saints with their mojo back. It was an impressive performance.
The Super Bowl commercials were not as good as in years past but there were a few winners. if you want to see them all, Ad Age has them up for your viewing pleasure.
No, not the Super Bowl (but it is that as well). I mean the 2010 Winter Olympics!
And what does that have to do with advertising you ask?
Ever pay much attention to the "uniforms" of the different nations? Here are a few interesting ones to refresh your memory.
But this year Ralph Lauren designed them for the Americans. Remember how small the little polo player logo is on your RL shirt. Check it out now!
I guess Ralph really wants everyone to know who designed it? Or maybe every U.S. Olympic Team member is actually on the U.S. polo team? Including the winter team?
I sure hope they don't flip their collars up like that! Who decided that was cool? It isn't!
This ad was stolen from the AdGabber web site, where Steve Hall touts it as a having a powerful message, and I have to agree. This ranks as one of the most effective commercials I have ever seen. It reaches the heart with the message and drives it home in a memorable - and actionable fashion. Enjoy.
Someone said yell at a dog and they will come back, but yell at a cat and that will be the last time you see it. That doesn’t work; I have yelled and they keep coming back!
I have been trying to get pet-free since my last dog died a few years ago. Only had one mean-as-hell, very old, inside cat left to go. Since then, the mean-as-hell, very old, inside cat is still alive, and getting older and meaner, plus I have managed to add three chickens and four feral cats to the program. That is down from six feral cats, so I guess we count that as progress?
The original six started out as kittens dropped in my yard by a neighbor’s cat. That got whittled down to two when one disappeared, two moved in with neighbors down the street, and another disappeared right after I had him fixed and spent $80 on him to help his poor eyesight. (Didn’t like my choice of frames?)
Two left! Then a homeless female shows up at the food dish followed by a very skinny, three-legged male. I don’t know how he lost his lower rear leg, but he gets along fairly well without it.
I am a sucker for animals, especially for things like skinny, three-legged, feral cats! In particular, the vocal ones who speak to me, and he is a talker! Took a while but I have tamed him, and he has become a very affectionate little cat, and putting on weight.
What is this all about? (You knew this was leading somewhere?)
The lesson my cat story can teach us is this: the things that touch our hearts are the things we will spend our time and money on. What that means is customers must care about the brand, because those customers spend their time and money on what they are passionate about. I am not suggesting you cut off a leg to gain sympathy, but unless the customer develops some kind of emotional connection to your brand, it isn’t really their brand. And if it isn’t really theirs, another brand can come along that gets them to care, and it will become their brand.
I didn’t want these cats, but they have become mine because they made me care. That is easy for animals to do, I know, but brands can do this also. Two classic examples of brands that really pull this off are Harley Davidson and Apple. The question is how do we establish that emotional connection? And I am not suggesting it is easy.
HD and Apple have relationships with their customers and always have. There is a bond there. They listened when others were telling. And they responded to what they heard. Social media is a tool that brands can use to develop better hearing. Some brands are using this new tool and discovering new things about themselves and their customers. And some are trying to use it but failing, because they are still telling and not listening. Are you listening or telling? Shut up, listen – then respond.
As you can see from the links above, I have written about businesses prospering in a down economy. Those that do prosper are the ones who don't pull in their marketing efforts but see the weak economy as a chance to steal market share.
