Ad recipe targets young
ADVERTISING | Boston Market spots serve up 'relevant' pitch, with side of corny
In August of last year, McDonald's, looking to focus on its core fast-food operations, sold the Boston Market restaurant chain to Sun Capital Partners. That firm, we've been informed, has set about trying to make the familiar restaurant brand "more relevant" in today's competitive restaurant market.
From Sun Capital's perspective, "relevant" evidently means positioning BM to appeal to a decidedly younger demographic. This month the chain debuts a new television ad campaign from CCT Advertising/Denver featuring twins named James and Anthony who spar with each other on camera about a variety of issues relating to money and Boston Market menu items.
In one spot, for instance, Anthony wants to borrow $27 from James to pay him back for a Boston Market meal and $20 Anthony borrowed from James. Yeah, the attempts at humor in the work are just that corny, but at least the young male performers display a lot of pleasing screen presence and a winning way in delivering their lines -- no matter how silly they may be.
Fully sated diners exiting with doggy bags in hand must be a common sight at Morton's.
Why else would the steakhouse chain go to all the trouble of doing two major outdoor executions in the Chicago area that suggest a lot of canine pets would indeed be pleased to know their owners dined at Morton's?
Of course, owners don't always wind up feeding the contents of doggy bags to their dogs. Much of the time, the owners surely devour the contents themselves.
But at least the outdoor executions play well to dog owners, while reminding would-be visitors to Morton's that they are likely to leave loaded with leftover food. Good news to get out there in a recession.
Two young Chicago ad executives -- Ferro Boyd of Bep Interactive and Chris Bailey of Bagby and Co. -- will compete as a team in the cyber category in the prestigious 2008 Young Lions Cannes competition next month in Cannes, France. The two ad men will have 24 hours to create an innovative digital ad for a yet-to-be-disclosed charitable organization.
Zapwater Communications/Chicago has been retained to handle media relations, event management and opening logistics for le Dress, Chicago's first dress-only boutique set to open this month in the Wicker Park neighborhood.
Gayle Novak has been promoted to director of client services at Slack Barshinger/Chicago. She replaces Steve Johnson, who left the agency at the end of April.
The Patton Group/Chicago has been retained to handle regional public relations and marketing for Cartier. The agency, headed by Jill Katz and Lara Shipp Shiffman, will focus on introducing the new Cartier boutique manager Cynthia Fiske to the Chicago market.
Discover Card is launching a new ad campaign this week that will focus on helping consumers spend smarter, manage debt better and save more. The ads will also talk about the Paydown Planner, a Discover Card tool that helps customers pay down their balances by finding the right payment options to reach their financial goals.
Starcom USA/Chicago has tapped Kathy Kline to head its consumer content planning practice. She will report to Starcom USA President and Chief Strategy Officer Steven Buerger.
