Carl's Jr. Teams With Rob Dyrdek to Sell Burgers

Some of you may not know Rob Dyrdek as a long time professional skateboarder, but he has become a household name for the MTV generation. First with his successful MTV show Rob and Big and now with his new show Fantasy Factory. When I first heard about this show I was skeptical and after watching the first episode my initial thought was it is even dumber than Rob and Big. But then I found myself tuning in each week anyway. Maybe it is because I am a skateboarder and am hoping to see some guest pros ride the indoor street plaza, but I am also drawn to the stupid humor. I am sure there are plenty of people out there who say they hate the show but secretly still watch it, helping boost the ratings.

No matter what people say you have to give Rob credit for his entrepreneurial skills; successful TV shows, endorsements and signature products from his skateboarding sponsors and now he is giving back to the skaters and public with his DC Shoes/Skate Plaza Foundation and his Safe Spot/Skate Spot concept. You can read all about this on their website.

As part of his push to help create more skate spots for todays youth, Rob has teamed up with Carl's Jr. on an experimental advertising and marketing campaign to help Rob raise money for more skate spots and for Carls Jr. to reach their target market, young hungry males. Other fast food chains and brands have tried to use action sports to appeal to this demographic in the past, but in this slumping economy where consumers are tightening their belts, Carl's Jr. has stepped up to the plate with an aggressive plan to target young males. The same old methods of advertising (print ads, commercials) do not cut it in this day and age and so Carl's Jr. is planning some more alternative and experimental means to advertise and generate buzz including sponsoring a skatepark in downtown LA, putting Rob's picture on its cups and being featured on Robs show Fantasy Factory. Rob has also been featured on his show in a Carl's Jr. Star costume performing stunts and the video clips have been virally spreading throughout the web and youtube like wildfire. The Carl's Jr. star logo has also been incorporated into a skate feature at the LA skate spot, providing a subtle yet constant reminder that if you are hungry after a long day of skating you need to go eat at Carl's Jr. Time will tell how successful this experimental campaign will be, but according to the article they have sold out of 3.5 million cups in a little over a month, so it must be working.




Chris Patnaude, Account Coordinator
Lunch Today: I wish I could say Carl's Jr. but I had a frozen weight watchers meal and some chips. (Maybe I will go try out the new Bourbon Burger at Carl's Jr. for supper tonight.)

Happy Birthday to Premise!

Well folks, 2009 is a big year for Premise. We've got 10 candles on our birthday cake and are looking forward to adding many more - although you'll never catch us in orthopedic shoes.

We got ourselves one (ok, several) amazing presents. A new office, an updated logo, exciting new clients...and keep your eyes peeled for our fancy new website - coming soon!

In the meantime, have a fab 2009 and keep checking the mailbox (or this blog) for your party invitation...

Lindsay, Campaign Manager
Lunch Today: lean cuisine, apple, mango iced tea

Will you be my Valentine?

Yes! Yes! I thought you'd never ask...Oh, wait...

...I mean, yeah. Sure. I guess so...

What have Hallmark and Hershey's done to us? A marketing scheme to sell candy, cards and flowers has instilled warm fuzzies in the hearts of Americans...Unless you are single. Then February 14th causes panic attacks, paranoia and sleepless nights.

As consolation, us single people get to simultaneously celebrate Singles Awareness Day (ironically, abbreviated to "SAD") and if you head over to the SAD webpage, you will find this.

Ha. Ha. Ha.

I am waiting for somebody to come up with the ultimate Valentine's Day reverse marketing idea. Like a restaurant that offers seating in odd numbers only.

-Lindsay, Campaign Manager
Lunch Today: Cheese Sandwich, Peach Snapple

p.s. I would like to thank Roger for showing the V-Day love to the whole Premise team (regardless of our Facebook relationship status). The flowers are beautiful!

Axed Obama Logos

You may say that waiting until after Obama's historical inauguration to examine some of the campaign logo options is 'a day late a dollar short'. I say nay!

Whether or not you care to acknowledge it, the 2008 Obama campaign was far and away the most successful marketing campaign in history. Only now, with it resting comfortably in the recent past can we truly examine it and recognize it's perfection. The logo was executed by the team at SenderLLC led by Sol Sender himself. I've included some quotes from Sol from an interview found here.

“We developed a lot of logos. Usually we only develop two to four, maybe five. There were fifteen, sixteen options, and we focused on three.”

Final Round:

#1:
“This masking of different photos with the O shape became an opportunity to say different things in different moments… The O could contain all these different ideas, possibilities and feelings.”




#2
“There was a lot of excitement about this. People felt this was really something new, something different. It was a kind of populist expression — everyone’s excited about Obama, people are talking… (but) it was a little too far out of the box. We felt that having a little more tradition in the mark was the smart way to go.”

#3
“For me personally, this was always the one.”


"Originally the stripes were kind of symmetrically expressed across the horizon, and as we went into final refinements we felt that giving it a little bit more dimension, a little bit more motion, ways to enter into it a little bit more for the viewer was a better way to go.”
So there it is, a glimpse into the process. Personally I think they nailed it, though I did love the first finalist with the "O" masking different photos. Finalist #2 was a bit too far out there and not quite executed very well. Especially in light of the work these guys have done for moveon.org that hits the more youthful feel. Not to mention the infamous Shepard Fairy poster. Behold the power of Graphic Design and Art to change the world! But I guess there wasn't even really much competition in that field. The McCain logo? yikes.

John Zappas, Graphic Designer
Lunch: I wish! I had some pizza yesterday. mmmm pizza.

By 2049, robots will rule the world

I was sent a link to this video by my office buddy, Jack, who also happens to be the resident marketing strategist here at Premise. I thought it was pretty interesting how quickly technology is changing everything in our world.

Take a look. A little scary...

Did You Know? Sony BMG Rome 2008

-Lindsay, Campaign Manager
Lunch Today: lean cuisine, carrots and hummus

I Like to Play with Legos

If you get the opportunity, check out the new test launch of “Digital Box” by Lego which, when held up to an in-store camera, will superimpose a rendering of the completed Lego model on top of the product box on screen. The Digital Box was designed by Metalo for Lego, and can be seen soon at select toy stores and Lego shops around the world. Now I can't wait until the technologies advance far enough for consumers to afford the version that projects a "how to" blueprint so I can create that life-sized Star Wars Death Star I've been eying up. Or better yet, a DC for kids shoe box that projects how to lace up your shoes, could be helpful at my house :)

Gregg, Partner
Breakfast of Champions: Cup of Coffee

Economic Downturn = Spam Upswing

An interesting mobile piece on how not to use sms when targeting youth or any demo for that matter from the New York Times.


Gregg Witt, Partner
Lunch: Some healthy pre-packaged pasta