Cause Marketing Rachael Ray's Dog Food Line

Rachael Ray, the TV personality and chef, and now, brand, is so cute that I’m not sure that if I met her in person that I could stop myself from pinching the cheeks on her face.

I admire her life story, which while not exactly hardscrabble, nonetheless demonstrates unusual determination and hard work. Good for her and all her success. She earned it. I can also commend her as a generous philanthropis t.

If one word signifies her brand it’s the first word of the copy in the ad to the left; ‘Simple.’ She made her name and reputation with 30-minute meals. When she cooks she measures nothing, and her recipes are almost insouciant. She cooks like an Italian grandmother, only her dimples are a whole lot cuter.

But when you become a brand and your brand is ‘Simple’ with a capital-S it’s easy to take simple pretty seriously. That’s what’s wrong with this ad for her line of dog food that benefits animal welfare groups including the North Shore Animal League and the ASPCA.

Good on her.

But just look at this double-truck ad from this September 6, 2010 issue of People magazine. The ad is roughly 15.4 inches by 10.4 inches, most of which is given over to white space. I know how art directors get all googly-eyed over ‘negative space,’ but white space doesn’t sell to anybody besides art directors.

No dog owner is going to buy a bag of either Just 6 or Nutrish because the sparseness of the ad seems to perfectly reflect Rachael Ray’s Simple aesthetic…unless they’re art directors.

Are we really expected to get all our visual cues that this is Rachael Ray’s dog food line from her smallish picture on the bag of Nutrish and her signature in the right side panel? Where’s the back story that explains why she’s offering dog food in the first place? I’m a casual fan and I know Rachael Ray is a dog lover, but shouldn’t there be some kind of account that says that when she looked at the current dog food offerings she found them wanting?

The cause overlay is a huge part of the sales appeal, so why is the explanatory logo so small? Why isn’t there at least a partial explanation in this ad of who the benefiting charities are? ‘Rachael’s Rescues’ is so active sounding you could easily assume that her charity is out saving animals, rather than funding charities that do the actual work.

The Nutrish website makes it clear that Nutrish is a kind of Newman's Own, only benefiting animal welfare agencies. Companies like Nutrish and Newman's Own are sometimes called 'all benefits companies.' So where’s the clear explanation of that ‘Rachael’s proceeds help animals in need’ actually means that all profits from Nutrish goes to animal welfare groups?

The ad could certainly do all this and still say Simple.

Batting Your Eyelashes at Prescription Drug Cause Marketing

I’m a little chary about making sweeping pronouncements, but I believe I've just seen the first cause marketing promotion in the U.S. involving a prescription drug. The drug is from Allergan and it’s called Latisse , “the first and only FDA-approved prescription treatment for inadequate or not enough eyelashes.” The medical name for this condition is hypotrichosis. Latisse is lifestyle drug the way Viagra or Propecia are. That is, no one’s going to die (except, perhaps, of embarrassment) if their erectile dysfunction or male pattern baldness or thin eyelashes go untreated. Which means the positioning for a product like Latisse is a little tricky. Allergan could have gone with the sexy route as with Viagra or Cialis and showed lovely women batting their new longer, thicker, darker eyelashes. But I’ll bet that approach didn’t test well with women. (I’m reminded of a joke about the Cialis ads from a comedian whose name I can’t recall. He said, “Hey if my erection lasts longer than ...

Cause Marketing: The All Packaging Edition

One way to activate a cause marketing campaign when the sponsor sells a physical product is on the packaging. I started my career in cause marketing on the charity side and I can tell you that back in the day we were thrilled to get a logo on pack of a consumer packaged good (CPG) or even just a mention. Since then, there’s been a welcome evolution of what sponsors are willing and able to do with their packaging in order to activate their cause sponsorships. That said, even today some sponsors don’t seem to have gotten the memo that when it comes to explaining your cause campaign, more really is more, even on something as small as a can or bottle. The savviest sponsors realize that their only guaranteed means of reaching actual customers with a cause marketing message is by putting it on packaging. And the reach and frequency of the media on packaging for certain high-volume CPG items is almost certainly greater than radio, print or outdoor advertising, and, in many cases, TV. More to ...

Chili’s and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

I was in Chili’s today and I ordered their “Triple-Dipper,” a three appetizer combo. While I waited for the food, I noticed another kind of combo. Chili’s is doing a full-featured cause-related marketing campaign for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. There was a four-sided laminated table tent outlining the campaign on the table. When the waitress brought the drinks she slapped down Chili’s trademark square paper beverage coasters and on them was a call to action for an element of the campaign called ‘Create-A-Pepper,’ a kind of paper icon campaign. The wait staff was all attired in black shirts co-branded with Chili’s and St. Jude. The Create-A-Pepper paper icon could be found in a stack behind the hostess area. The Peppers are outlines of Chili’s iconic logo meant to be colored. I paid $1 for mine, but they would have taken $5, $10, or more. The crayons, too, were co-branded with the ‘Create-A-Pepper’ and St. Jude’s logos. There’s also creatapepper.com, a microsite, but again wi...

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