Proof That Branding Does Work

This morning while at a traffic light, Sanjay says to me, "Look Mom, American Idol on that car". After just having watched the finale, it must be fresh on his mind. I'm looking around at the cars, and I don't see it. So, I ask him to clarify... "Which car, Sanjay?". Then, suddenly I realize that he's talking about the Ford Explorer in the next lane over. Sanjay, my 3 year old that doesn't read, equates the Ford logo with American Idol. This was probably the intention of Ford marketing when they partnered with American Idol back in 2002 when it all started.

Ironically tonight I had a similar experience with Priya where a commercial she'd seen affected the way she thought about a particular product. Here's the conversation the kids and I had while getting ready for bed:

Sanjay: What is this?
Mommy: That's Mommy and Daddy's toothpaste. Wanna try some?
Sanjay: No.
Priya: Ooooh. I want to try some. I need it for my teeth because Colgate Total cleans your teeth really good.
Mommy: Really? How do you know that?
Priya: I saw it on a commercial. (proceeds to point out that her kid toothpaste is just Colgate, not Colgate Total)

This last tidbit is not about branding, but it is about a commercial and it's just too cute to be left out of this post. Sanjay on seeing a commercial for the movie E.T. says to me... "The alien is looking for a home and the boy is looking for a friend." How perceptive you are, my little Sanjay, to glean that from a 2 minute blurb about this classic movie.

Flashback to the 80's

In less than an hour we're heading out to see one of my favorite bands from the high school days... The Cure. Bartee just got turned on to them a little while back when he heard "Fascination Street" for the first time and now he's a big fan, too. We're headed to see a great band with some great friends at a great venue... Red Rocks Amphitheatre. What a night!

Looks like although The Cure hasn't been churning out much new music, they sure have been putting on a lot of shows. I haven't seen them since 1987 at the MCI Center in Washington DC. We were just teenagers and our seats weren't great, but we knew some folks who had tickets in the 9th row, so we snuck past the security guys and squeezed in that row for a few songs... it was awesome. Soon the security guards started checking tickets with flashlights, so we scampered back to our assigned seats. Tonight, I'll be content with our general admission seating while I sit there filled with nostalgia.

Robert Smith, we're on our way...