Daily Links for 21.07.2010 - International Marketing, Outrage & Pepsi Nostalgia

Pepsi Remakes 'Diner' Spot

I love the original Pepsi/Coke diner spot from years ago. It's easily worked its way into the nostalgic lexicon of treasured childhood advertising. This is why I didn't think I'd like the update that much, as I expected it to be rather derivative. That being said, I love the new twist on the old setup. Without spoiling it, it seems to fit the brand well. One could claim that the brand values of Pepsi Max (an incremental improvement over traditional Pepsi for those that want to avoid calories), deserves an incremental update over traditional existing ad content.

Letter from China: Pardon Me, Would You Have Any Pabst Blue Ribbon? Following along the lines of the global marketing trend in several of my recent links, I love the story of how a brand like Pabst Blue Ribbon transforms itself across cultures. Going to uni & growing up in the US, I knew the Pabst brand already meant different things to blue collar workers, college students & hipsters, but within the US, only the image changed. As shown in the NY article, price point seems to rapidly change as well once enough space has elapsed to prevent information asymmetry. I love the fact that seemingly downmarket beer made since 1844 in Milwaukee, saved from possible termination by a hipster renaissance of ironic consumption, can run as a premium product in different markets. Now if I can just get my hands on one of the upmarket versions. Vaseline Issues "Skin-Whitening" App for Facebook - Tech Talk - CBS News I know this has been out for a few days now, but the story touches on an interesting issue about cultural relativism in global marketing. Just as with the KFC Australia ad earlier this year (Google 'KFC Racist Ad' and you should find the story relatively easily), when localized marketing and values are placed on a global stage, we find that misunderstandings can occur. Skin color is always a touchy issue, but vanity products do exist in every culture, representing social norms & values. The challenge, both for society and marketers is how to dance the fine line between localized relevance and (if relevant) global scale. Guide to Foursquare Badges I know my links may be a little Geo-location heavy lately, but I thought this was an interesting entry detailing almost all of the conceivable badges you can earn on Foursquare. Badges as virtual incentives are an interesting concept, so seeing the breadth of how they have been applied so far is rather interesting.