I live. I ride. I am. and I sound like Apple.

Every time I come by the campaign "I live. I ride. I am." I always imagine a new iPod at the endframe.

I live. I ride. I am. ---- Is this Apple?

Nope, it's actually for Jeep. [crowd goes: "WHUUUUT?"]




I guess I'm just a big advocate against unoriginality. At Myspace I was the only one who spoke up against the CEO's decision to copy the framework of Facebook, for the sake of originality and identity. Same for Jeep, why use such a popular phrase word when it is so deeply connected to another consumer brand? I think any company should be careful using "i" to start a short phrase, especially when repeating it 3 times. I like the ad's idea, but the tagline just seems quite...unoriginal.

I wonder how it's helping/hurting Jeep's bottom line.


---
Update - 7/3/10

So I was wrong. Arguing against an idea for the sake of originality and identity is an argument too weak when put against the reality of profits and loss.

I ran into an article about the position of MySpace in China recently. They are declining speedily and the group is disintegrating. A line struck me --- The CEO of MySpace, Luo Chuan, resigned after he proposed to copy the Facebook interface and was rejected by the North American office. He saw something in the Chinese market that the NA officers did not. In North America, creativity and originality is the golden eye of a product. However, in China, as Luo saw, originality did not matter so much. What mattered was that the Chinese population liked a product, got used to it, and is less willing to open their minds to trying new products that perform the same function. Also, unlike the NA market, Chinese people have less need for the "music" function and "meeting strangers" positioning of MySpace. Perhaps if MySpace had adapted a Facebook-like positioning in China, it may be survived.

Another lesson learned.

Rethink Possible

Rethink Possible. The new AT&T campaign that diverges from the Map-for-that battle with Verizon and towards branding. I LIKE!

This ad especially.

Butterfly Effect - small differences in the initial condition of a dynamical system may produce large variations in the long term behavior of the system. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_effect]

Every choice, every step you take, is changing the outcome of your life. Thinking back -- if my uncle hadn't started his own company, his company wouldn't have been sold to Microsoft, he wouldn't have known the CEO of Myspace, who then wouldn't have allowed me to be the first intern at Myspace, and I wouldn't have become interested in marketing, and this blog will not exist.

This is how things happen - in sequence. AT&T uses a simple idea that speaks to everyone, making them think. Everything that is possible is comprised of a billion mini steps prior... the question is, how does this improve AT&T's brand image?

Overall, I think "Rethink Possible" is a little blurry... I think AT&T/BBDO needs to think of a clearer tag line to explain the concept and relate it to the company. For example, "Rethink Possible -- AT&T redefines possible".

Great campaign though, much much better than Map-for-that. :)




-nanz