The Limits of Great Marketing?

Back in 1996 the savvy folks American Savings Education Council (AESC) created Choosetosave.org in an attempt to educate consumers on the importance of raising personal savings and the problems with overextending credit.

They picked up a great domain name, built a website with lots of free tools, and even developed a whole super hero-themed story-line - "Savings Man" protecting consumers from the evils of "Credit Card Man" and "Sub-Prime-mate". Great idea, great execution, but it wasn't enough.

In the third quarter of 2005 America's savings rate actually went negative at minus .75%...

In a recent profile on PBS NewsHour, the founder was asked why, and he indicted that for every dime they spent on this program, far more powerful forces were arrayed against them, spending literally millions to convince Americans to take out another credit card, buy a bigger house, etc..

And so it goes: sometimes great marketing simply isn't enough. You need to know what competition you are up against, and either have the budget to combat it effectively or find a better way to get your message out. Personally, I think they could have done better with a hard core viral campaign - the videos are finally now on YouTube.

Of course, sometimes it's just a matter of timing. And SavingsMan's time may have just arrived: in Q4 2008 America's savings rate hit almost hit 3%.

- JPL

Bullish on America's Next Generation...

For all the talk of our 47 year old, post-baby boom President heralding change, I actually think its a much younger generation - those in college today and just out of it - that will re-invigorate America and the world.

Three things I have seen in the past week gave me great confidence that America has not completely lost its mojo and that this up and coming generation is poised to unleash the next great phase of global growth:

1.) TerraCycle - The amazing business that I visited and wrote about last week which was founded by a 20 year old Princeton dropout and turns garbage into products. It's not only revolutionized the way we look at garbage, but could become the GE of eco-capitalism in just a matter of years - proving that you can make huge profits, and benefit the planet.

2.) My Old Fraternity - When I left Hobart in 1990 my fraternity - Phi Sigma Kappa - was in deep decline. A few years later it was banned from campus and lost its charter. Then about 3 years ago, a team of industrious freshman reached out to the dispersed botherhood of house alumni in search of support and a history on which to re-charter the house. Today it's back in operation and appearantly the most popular house on campus. The key? They've run it like a business, building a viral campus-wide brand backed by posters, slogans and creative t-shirts, supported by unique fundraising events, smart networking parties ("slip-n-slide" parties), and a diverse array of brothers that defies the traditional Hobart Fraternity clique that was based on which sport you played.

3.) Today's Tom Friedman Column in the NY Times - in which he relays the story of two recent Yale grads he meets in New Delhi who tour the Indian countryside in a solar powered car promoting the Indian Youth Climate Network, or IYCN, which connects young climate leaders in India and spreads awareness of all the clean, green energy innovation taking place there today.

These kids are different than I was at that age for sure. They are less motivated by money than by doing what's right. But they are also deadly serious and incredibly focused about their mission. And they seem to be competely free of the social and business mores and constraints of previous generations. Maybe it's all the natural outcome of the first generation to have grown up with the internet and a truly open and fast moving market of ideas. But whatever it is, it's got me bullish on America again and thinking that whatever happens in this economic winter of discontent, just beyond it lies a spring of renewal driven by a new generation of innovators.

JPL

Doghouse - Sheer Genius

Talk about innovative long-form advertising!  This probably cost JC Penny$250K to produce and they will get millions of dollars of free advertising and viral expose as a result.  Hollywood may be struggling, advertising may be down, the economy may be sinking, but as long as their is broadband and some damn good creativity out there, at least we'll have this kind of stuff to look forward to...    

Even better, they built whole interactive site around it too...

JPL