I guess we should have gotten into the yard sign business after all. Who would have guessed it be an annuity?

You might recall that a few months back I contributed a post on the name change from Brink’s to Broadview and how it struck so many people as odd that such a great security name as Brink’s was being thrown under the bus. Lots of folks commented from a marketing perspective that it didn’t seem to make much sense. As it turned out the need for the name change was not driven by marketing but by Finance and Legal. When the home security business as spun off, a provision of the agreement allowed the new entity to be called Brink’s for only a short period of time.

Naming by focus group

Even with the contractual need to change, the Broadview name seemed to be one created by a few focus groups: kind of bland, not offensive, but not compelling. And the $120 million to be spent in support of the new name over two years as reported by Ad Age seemed  a bit excessive. Anyway, just when we were getting used to the Broadview Security name we find the company is now being sold to TYCO … and its name will be changed to ADT. It might be a good idea to forget about the window decals and yard signs for customers this time around. Perhaps an erasable white board would be more appropriate. The customer can just write the name of whomever is sending them a bill each month and hang it on the front door.

Oh, one more thing. If anyone can explain the flood of Broadview TV ads that have been running in the last few weeks, drop me a comment. Must have forgotten to drop the cancellation paperwork in the mail.

Later.

Lots of fibs get told during the mating dance that precedes an acquisition and the rumors that swirl through the media after the closing. “Budgets will remain unaffected” and “Nothing substantial will change” are among the most popular. Such was the case with InBev’s acquisition of Anheuser-Busch. But when sport marketing accounts for almost $250 million in spending, one has to be a bit naive to believe that the budget axe wasn’t going to strike. Even as senior managers expressed optimism that budgets wouldn’t be cut and might even increased you got the feeling that someone was drinking the Kool-Aid.

Interesting Twists, Turns, and Topspin Lobs

Beginning in December reports surfaced that a lot of the promise-makers were departing the company and sponsorships were being pulled. One of the earliest budget casualties was Kenny Bernstein’s NHRA team. The Budweiser King was the longest running sponsorship in motorsports at over 30 years. Some stadium signage began to disappear too. But just when we were expecting news of more reductions, Anheuser-Busch InBev announces a new sports marketing effort. Matthew Futterman writing in Monday’s Wall Street Journal tells us that the company’s US unit is betting that the next game to sweep the country is ping pong. That’s right, ping pong. I’m not so sure I am buying into that just yet. The price was probably right (cheap?) and its easy to label it a grass roots effort in advance of explosive growth. When you start shopping the right hand side of the menu, you can wind up in some pretty unexpected (or bizarre) places.

Your thoughts? I’ll be in the basement clearing the Holiday giftwrap and decorations off the ping pong table. Knew I didn’t throw it out for a reason!