OK! So, I am going to speak about how one of my guilty pleasures happened to intersect with THE WORST EVER product placement in a TV show. Kodak wins what can only be deemed the "Antithesis effect" award for what transpired on the USA television show The Apprentice.  Just to be clear, The Apprentice is not my guilty pleasure - it's Gene Simmons. I happened to catch his show Family Jewels on A&E once and for the first time I got a glimpse into the mind of what can only be deemed an experiential marketing genius.

I'm sure that it sounds totally odd being that he used to be the tongue-wagging member of the rock band KISS.  However, even if you look back at KISS what you really see is a finely crafted experiential marketing machine.  A band that was so different than anything else in the marketplace - it was very appealing to a lot of people. To this day, KISS merchandise flies off of the shelves.  Anyway, just wanted to give a little background.

Enter this weekend - 10 inches of falling snow - one hotel room - nothing on TV.  I happened to be channel surfing when I saw Gene and noticed that he wasn't on his show, but another one - The Apprentice.  It just so happened that it was an episode in which the teams were tasked to sell the new Kodak ink printer.  What could be cooler than that? They had to construct a live marketing campaign - front to back - that they felt would effectively communicate the Kodak message and also sell the printers.  It was at this point that the snow and the fact that I was stuck in the hotel no longer bothered me - I was now in experiential marketing heaven.

Both teams met with top Kodak execs to get the download about the product etc.  The executives were so excited that they were starting an "ink revolution" - or something like that.  Kodak made it pretty clear that they were trying to ditch the old, stodgy brand that they currently have by starting this "revolution".  I hope your following me thus far because this is where it gets good.  

The two teams immediately began to take different paths.  One team came up with a tagline that was pathetic, but it was something like "The ink revolution it's a knockout".  Please don't quote me on that, but it was something that weak.   They then started constructing their artwork for their Airstream trailer with imagery of fighters that had been knocked-out.  Honestly, it was hilarious to see how ugly their campaign was going to get.

Gene's team really was put in the position of having to listen to Gene - why? - because that's how Gene operates.  Gene immediately began to take an extremely broad brand vision statement by asserting, "It's a Kodak world - Welcome".  Essentially, he was putting Kodak on top, and he was going to demonstrate that Kodak was back and better than ever with their new product lines. The use of the word welcome was also key in his strategy because it opened the door for everyone to enter this new Kodak World - a point that he clearly stated.

As the show unfolded the teams began to execute on their strategy.  Gene's team was flawless as the other team spilled coffee on their computer, and was then was forced to hack together an event set.  Gene's team was showing the new Kodak world, while the other team was screaming 1/2 off ink printers etc etc. - it was quite embarrassing.  What better way to launch the new revolutionary Kodak brand than by screaming 50% off - ouch!

It was pretty clear to me Gene's team had won - without question.  However, when they sat down in the board room a very different story unfolded.  The Kodak execs thought that the other team was more on message than Gene's team, and that they had hands down done a better job.  It was at that point Gene Simmons really became one of my heroes.

"I sell emotion," Gene said, "We were making this a Kodak world, and everybody was welcome".  He then went into a pretty profound explanation of why he was right and why the Kodak execs were wrong.  And well….I have to tell you - he was right on target.  It wasn't even a competition really, yet his team lost.  Gene, in typical fashion, stood his ground until he basically got himself fired because he wasn't going to be moved off his position.

In the end the Kodak execs picked the team of hacks that were screaming discounted pricing to start their "ink revolution" when Gene was thinking both short and long term.  The man was right - not only that - his idea was an epic foundation from which to build an entire campaign to change the perception of the Kodak brand.  The Kodak execs failed to see that……I guess that's why they are where they are at the bottom of barrel.

***As a side note, Gene happens to run an uber successful branding consultancy .  The man is very smart - too smart for Kodak I guess.  

Kodak simply demonstrated why they are Kodak. 

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