Apple Pay Gets Rolling Via Bank Partners

I'm a big fan of how Apple has started promoting Apple Pay.

Apple itself has yet to run any televised commercials for the service.  Instead, Apple has been partnering with the largest credit card issuers to promote the product for them.  In fact, Apple recently claiming that Pay is supported by credit cards representing roughly 90% of U.S. purchase volume.

Recently banks such as Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Chase, and Capital One have all aired commercials promoting Apple Pay . . .

Capital One:



Wells Fargo:



Bank of America:



While all of these advertisements are done by different banks, Apple has done a great job to partner with each to make them all feel relatively consistent and delivering on the same message.  Apple's influence is also clear in showcasing the product in use.  Since the launch of the iPhone, Apple has hands down had the best product demos of any TV commercials.

More importantly, the launch strategy of handing over the product promotion to business partners is successful because it accomplishes three key goals:

1. Helps generate a tremendous amount of product awareness
2. Simplifies the notion of mobile payments by making it just an extension of an existing credit or debit card
3. Creates credibility by linking the new technology with the financial institutions that consumers already trust for their banking needs

Now all Apple has to do is continue to enroll more retailers and start pumping out more iPhones.

Bud Light Recycles Coke's Label Campaign

A few years ago, Coke launched its "Share a Coke" campaign first overseas and then in the US over the past summer where the brand put the 250 most popular American teen names and other millennial sayings on its labels.

Now it looks like Bud Light is taking a page out of Coca-Cola's playbook.  As part of its "Perfect Beer For Whatever Happens", Bud Light is launching new bottle labels featuring over 100 different varying messages.



Each label touts Bud Light is the "perfect beer for ... ". 

For example:

• "the perfect beer for when you're eating breakfast meats outside of breakfast hours"
• "the perfect beer for forming a one-person conga line"
• "the perfect beer for leaving your comfort zone in another time zone"
• "the perfect beer for taking off the blindfold and showing that piñata who's boss"
• "the perfect beer for tuning up the old air guitar"

The messages are suppose to help position the brand around inspiring spontaneous fun. And while the messages are fun enough, they do not have the same compelling call to purchase as consumers seeing their names on a bottle or labels such as "BFF,” “Star,” “Bestie,” “Legend,” “Grillmaster,” “Buddy” and “Wingman” like Coke featured. 

Additionally, the messaging in at least one of the accompany TV advertisements fails to hit home on this core benefit because it over complicates its message by trying to communicate too many things...



The area of the campaign that has the most promise is where the brand will customize beer bottle labels sold at sporting events and concerts that allow some drinkers the chance to win random, on-the-spot prizes, such as backstage passes or other real-time rewards.

Using the beer labels as a ticket for entry into a contest or a treasure hunt is clever and I believe will be compelling enough to drive consumers at the events to purchase.  The biggest question is how much scale can Bud Light generate with event based programs and will it be enough to generate sufficient social buzz to drive a noticeable lift in sales?  The other question is why didn't the brand aim bigger?  It seems like the brand could replicate this strategy on a much large scale with a McDonald's like Monopoly game where the notion of spontaneous fun can support itself organically.