Future Department - The Next Issue

Just finished reading the The Next Issue and it was filled with some truly great quotes.  If you aren’t familiar with The Next Issue, it is a new monthly magazine put out by the Future Department.  The magazine includes some killer commentary from thoughtleaders in a variety of industries.  Here are a couple of my favorite quotes that really echo what the industry is facing (more after the break):

“Creating traditional advertising was easy.  You were doing the same thing over and over again.  Now, if you’re doing it right, you’re making it up fresh each time.  And the mix of skills you work with changes every time.” - Vinny Warren, The Escape Pod

Being like Dad isn’t a bad thing

I’ve been a huge fan of the new Canadian Club campaign ever since it broke a few months ago.  According to the latest article from AdAge, it appears I’m not the only one.  The campaign, under the tagline of “Damn Right Your Dad Drank It” has helped Canadian Club reverse one of the longest declines in the spirit industry.  From the article, “case volume of Canadian Club in food, drug and liquor stores rose 4.4% in the 13 weeks ending March 8.”  This is after case shipments went from 3.9 million in 1980 to 1.5 million in 1995 and further down to 1.3 million last year.

In my eyes, the success of this campaign shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that knows Gen Y/Millenials.  For younger consumers (ie the 21 to 30 set this campaign goes after), being like your dad isn’t a bad thing.  Family is more important to this generation of consumers than ever before and dad is a role model, not an old guy.  In fact, doing something your father did isn’t a bad thing, especially when you think about your dad as a cool young guy that enjoyed life.  Canadian Club got it right on this one with their new generation of consumers.