Reef's subliminal buzz
There’s a great article in Brandweek this week, about the Best and Worst Marketing Ideas of the year. One that really surprised me was Reef’s.
From about a year, they have been commercializing sandals with a special feature... a bottle opener on the heel!!! Moreover, the funny thing is they don’t mention this “feature” anywhere. Not in the ads, not even in the packaging.
They left to consumers’ imagination the issue of wondering why there was a small metal piece in their sandals and what they could use it for... think about it, and the amount of buzz it must have generated! Would you have the courage to say to your friends, “hey, I have a bottle opener in my shoes; I can open your beer!” Obviously, it is there just for fun and to generate confusion and discussion, because who on earth would use a shoe, which is in contact with the dirty ground, to open something you put in your mouth!”
As I said, striking...you can see the sandals (and opinions of some users!) in these blogs
http://www.popgadget.net/2006/06/reef_fanning_sa.php
http://www.7nights.com/asterisk/archives05/2005/06/reef-fanning-bottle-opener-sandals
-Lorena Roque
posted by Brand007 @ 9:10 PM
2 Comments:
I actually saw these in the store and thought they were pretty cool. I could definitely imagine my friends and I at the beach opening coronas with my sandals during a fun filled day. However, I didn't purchase them because 1) I already had a pair of reef sandals 2) they were a bit impractical. Does anyone really need a bottle opener on the bottom of their sandals? I wasn't able to find any sales figures on these particular sandals, but I'm sure it won't hurt the reputation of their company or their products. I have also seen bottle openers on belt buckles, which does seem a little more practical.
-Adam Herzog
i agree with adam. i feel if someone were to say "oh hey let me get that....WITH MY SHOE" i would wholeheartedly agree. It is a fun aspect to the shoe, and even if it doesn't actually get used it's very cohesive with the brand identity of funloving and carefree - because if you're truly carefree, c'mon - you don't care where that shoe has been as long as it opens your beer.
sara barr
Post a Comment
<< Home