Virgin Active Says Leave the Cleavage to the Girls. We Say Leave the Moobs in London.

We’ve had Carrot Mobs, Grand Central Freezes and now — Moob Men. Recently, a dedicated team of men with man boobs — aka moobs –mobbed London and nearby cities, with the mission of raising awareness of obesity and encouraging the British public to get in shape. Virgin Active’s viral campaign highlights part of the body that many feel embarrassed about, such as bingo wings, wobbly bellies and muffin tops . The buzzy slogan “Love your good bits, lose your bad bits”, aims to persuade people to start exercising and get the body fit ‘the old-fashioned way.’ That is, with sweat, not surgery.

Celebrities who have been ridiculed for their man boobs include Simon Cowell, Tony Blair, and ex Monkey Davy Jones.

If the campaign is as viral as other WOM winners, American men may suddenly start obsessing about their bingo wings and muffin tops. Lord only knows Wall Street needs to worry about something other than the stock market. NASDAQ? Housing Starts? Muffins Tops? No contest.

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Social Media for Small Business: Dell’s New Facebook Community.

A couple of years ago when I was covering CES for MediaPost, my prized press pass landed me in the front row for Michael Dell’s keynote speech. As serendipity would have it, Mr. Dell wound up sitting next to me as he waited to take center stage. I couldn’t help but notice how nervous he was. You couldn’t blame him; the company was doing its damnest to recover from Dell Hell.

And recover they did. In his talk, Michael Dell managed to convince this skeptic and former Dell user that his company had turned customer-centric. From Idea Storm to carbon offsetting programs, Dell was power-listening to its users. And today, there’s more proof that this company is really getting it. Here’s the announcement from the WOM website:

Dell has joined with Facebook to launch a community and guide series called ‘Social Media for Small Business’ intended to provide SMB customers with insight on how they can leverage social media to expand their business. The community has been created as a Facebook Page and includes:

• Guides on how to use blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, “crowdsourcing” and other social media channels to cost-effectively reach and serve the “Connected Era;”
• “Screencast” introductions to social-media tools like Technorati, Netvibes and WordPress;
• A discussion board to spark conversation and idea sharing;
• A best-practice forum that features a different SMB weekly;
• SMB deals and news from Dell Small and Medium Business.

 
When I heard about Dell’s latest savvy customer-centric move, I was so impressed, I zipped over to order myself a new Dell desktop and discovered yet another shrewd user-friendly move: Dell offers a downgrade’ to XP on its Vista computers, if the buyer chooses.

Guru’s Note: Kudos to financial innovators like Visa and FiServ for reaching out to customers via social media. It’s way past time for marketers to adopt the ’share, not sell’ mantra that most of the Web 2.0 world has long accepted. The Visa Business Network has partnered with Facebook, offering a content rich Facebook page for small business plus $100 ad credit to get started. And who couldn’t love them for their Signature VISA VIP Tent (and matching VIP toilets) at the recent Outside Lands Festival in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park?

Fiserv’s MyMoney program, which initially is being sold only to credit unions, lets members of participating institutions view account balances and transaction histories and transfer funds online without leaving their Facebook page. This application is so highly regarded that it won The Banker magazine’s 2008 Retail Award for Online Innovation. Ain’t it grand when our major corporations are doing something for us, the small businesses of the world, rather than whooping it up at the St. Regis Spa, courtesy of our bail-out bucks?

Reviving A Sixties Icon: Schlitz, The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous Is Back.

I’m from Milwaukee, so I oughta know . . .   Oops.  That jingle actually belongs to Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer, not Schlitz.   But these days, who knows?  The Pabst Brewing Company now owns Schlitz.  The company is bringing back the Schlitz  “Classic 1960’s Formula”, which was last widely used more than 30 years ago.

Target for the icon is guys who remember the sixties fondly, recalling it as an era when ‘values mattered.’ Aside from tapping into the original recipe, this revived brew also brings back the famous “Brown Glass” dating back to 1912 and revolutionary in its time, plus old-school attitude. New advertising suggests that drinkers go back to a time when “the cars were cooler, the athletes didn’t cheat, and the beer was better.” Check it all out on the new website.

This ‘more full bodied taste’ brew, once beloved by everybody’s Packer-Backer grandfather, will be officially launched Tuesday in Milwaukee at Libiamo’s.  The restaurant is in the heart of Schlitz Park, the office park created out of the old Schlitz brewery.

Questions remain about the comeback: Can an old brand be dusted off, spiffed up for a new era and given a second chance? Can it successfully emerge from a long sleepy 30 year hibernation? Typically, when these retro-brandings have been accomplished, marketers go after a new target — rather than merely try to re-up the old one. Think VW’s rebirth of sentimental cult favorite, the Beetle, which relaunched in the late 90’s. Think Apple, which has reinvented itself repeatedly. Think another Milwaukee icon and comeback company, Harley Davidson, which also touts a unique heritage and a rabidly loyal fan base, including a solid 75% of customers with a penchant for repeat purchases. But the company never bet solely on its existing users, no matter how its HOGs grew, nor by standing still in terms of product development. Instead, Harley rebuilt its brands by letting them evolve; by creating products based on heritage but adding new contemporary twists aimed at being more compelling and relevant to a modern audience.

Harley also smartly used one of the primary attributes of any fan base, particularly a cult favorite like the Harley Owners Group: their love of talking about the Harley experience. Long before we marketers blithely began tossing around jargon –customer experience, experiential marketing, meaningful marketing –Harley was encouraging word-of-mouth. It worked.

Does anybody know if Pabst/Schlitz is working on a WOM campaign or using social marketing tools to reach potential new users? Hope so –because targeting just guys who remember the sixties might be a touch dicey. As they say, ‘if you can remember the sixties, you probably weren’t there.’

 

Oops! WOM Beats The Pundits Again. Sex and The City Glams Its Way To A $55 Million Opening.

Hollywood pundits underestimated the massive femme power of the SATC franchise, with many predicting opening box office in the typical chick-flick realm of $20-30 million. Some wisely hedged it on higher, but always with the disclaimer that their usual methodologies were not jibing with word-of-mouth.

Therein lies the issue with traditional research tools — Word of Mouth, particularly in the realm of female fashionistas and passionistas, wields power like nothing else.

In Santa Monica, the SATC showings at Mann’s theater were sold-out from 6 until midnight Friday night.  Thanks to a savvy friend, we were lucky enough to sneak in at six, beating the line of giggling girlfriends — some in their Carrie-best — that snaked around the block.

Inside, it was a blend of focus group, pep rally and the annual Nordstrom spring sale. The target-specific satisfaction was palpable.

Reviews. Schmooz. It’s all about the shoes.