Remembering those who touched our lives
These past few weeks have brought news of quite a few passings, but the one that touched me most was the one I heard of last night - the passing of Oscar Mayer. Compared to the coverage given to some of those who passed recently, coverage of his death was a blip, yet his legacy and his company's consumer marketing savvy have had a profound impact on American culture.
For full disclosure, back in the early 90s, I can *this* close to becoming a "Hotdogger" and driving the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile. There are thousands of applicants each year, and I made it to the round of 36 that are flown to Madison, but I didn't quite cut the mustard and was not one of the 12 chosen to drive the 32 foot long hot dog.
What impressed me then, and what impresses me still today is how Oscar Mayer has the pulse on its brand identity and what its brand means to consumers. The Weinermobiles have become iconic, but they also represent 12 full-time brand ambassadors who are getting the pulse of the consumer in ad hoc focus groups every day, reinforcing the brand identity and helping keep it prominent. If you asked, I bet the jingle could still be sung by hundreds of millions of people today.
Luckily, for consumer and consumer technology companies today, they don't need to spend millions to interact with their customers. Social media is allowing them to have deeper, more direct and greater interactions with their customers. For companies without the budget enjoyed by the Weinermobile, this is a very good thing.
But for just a minute, I would like to observe a moment of silence, for a co-founder of one of the leading, innovative consumer brands. RIP, Oscar Mayer.
Posted by Mark McClennan on July 9, 2009 at 8:50 AM
