God gave us problems so we'd have something to solve. Here are some marketing cases showing how we did.

1. Turnarounds
The following brands needed a push in
the opposite direction.
Iconic Branding. allen@allenSkay.com
ALLEN KAY

2. "an endangered species.”
Halston had discontinued his couture
clothing line. He introduced “Halston II” at
J.C. Penney. Out of favor with department
stores, the once market leader now had a
10 year old fragrance that was rapidly losing
market share to new, major entries such as
Giorgio and Obsession.
hen Peter Zegras took over as
Vice President and General
Manager of Halston Fragrances
he referred to the brand as
W
HALSTON
IRRESISTIBLE

3. We created a “naughty but nice” campaign
using powerful visuals and minimal copy.
The declining sales trend was reversed.
Following a loss of 5.4%, Halston sales
increased 7% the following year, and rose
10% more the year after.
Net change over the two year period
was 22.4%.

4. YR 1 YR 2 YR 3
-5.4
0
Sales Change
vs.Prior Years
+7
%
+10
Plummeting Halston Fragrance sales
reversed and rose net 22.4%.

7. Followtheleaders.
avin came to Korey Kay at the height
of its low. Headlines blared huge
losses and plant closings. Dealers were
defecting.
Customers were cancelling orders.
Awareness was down to 4%. (When asked,
most people thought Savin made coffee.)
To make matters worse, Savin had to
compete with major copier makers such as
Xerox and Canon.
The former Xerox Senior Vice President of
Marketing, and a former client of the Korey
Kay team, was hired by Savin to turn the
brand around. And he promptly hired us.
S

8. ...American Airlines landed a fleet of Savins.
...Honda drove away with a fleet of Savins.
...the U.S. Navy sailed off with a fleet of Savins
Our objective was to convince dealers
and potential customers that Savin was alive
and well, and had a bright future.
Our strategy was to build credibility.
Quickly.
Unusually executed testimonials from
industry leaders such as American Airlines,
Honda and the U.S. Navy were created.
(Would organizations like them place large
orders from a company one step away from
extinction?)
We felt the “news” should be in a news
environment and were the first agency to
buy 15 second commercials in network
newsbreaks—with sponsorship billboards to
reinforce the perception of size and stability.
Three months into the campaign, pre/post
research showed brand awareness rose nearly
300%. But more important, Savin as “an
alternative to the big boys” increased from
zero to 6%. Sales rebounded and a looming
chapter 11 was averted.

9. Brand
Recall
Well
Priced
Alternative
to Xerox
Available
Post
Pre
0
Advertising Awareness
Unaided
% 5040302010
43
5
16
0
0
8
6
12
Savin went from near extinction to
regaining viability.

10. embers Only was a victim of its
own success.
Its classic racing jacket caused
it to become the largest men’s outerwear
manufacturer in the country. But also
caused competitors to copy it, resulting in
Members Only losing a dangerous amount
of market share.
To firmly establish Members Only as the
leader, we took the high ground.
M

11. Drugs don’t just kill addicts.
Ignoring traditional fashion advertising, we
identified Members Only with the most
critical issue facing Americans: Drug abuse.
And allocated Member Only’s entire $6
million budget to that cause. (The president
of Members Only declared war on drugs
before the President of the United States.)
As a result, Members Only received
approximately $6 million worth of national
publicity before the first commercial even
aired. And received $25 million worth of
measured media, for free.
Store presidents who previously “weren’t
in” were now calling Members Only to see
how they could get involved on a local level.
In a study conducted by an independent
research firm, Members Only top-of-mind
awareness increased 40% from 1984
when sales were at a peak.
During the first wave of anti-drug
advertising, Members Only’s dollar
share gained 4 points from September to
December. A 16% increase.
Overall sales have been up 20% a year
since the anti-drug campaign began.

12. ConsumerReaction
toAnti-Drug Advertising
DuringPre Korey Kay
Sept. Dec.
Top-Of-MindAwareness
Unaided
%
%
ShareofMarket
%
VeryEffective
82
Other Opinions
18
25
29
Korey Kay’s anti-drug campaign for
Members Only took the high ground,
and regained ground for this previously
declining brand.
15
21

13. hen the Playboy Hotel & Casino
opened in Atlantic City everyone was
betting it wouldn't make it.
First of all, it's casino was on three levels.
Eachspace looking exactly the same. Booooooring.
Plus, no one ever knew what level they were on.
Lots of bewildered husbands and wives.
Second, and even more devastating, Playboy
was the only casino in Atlantic City that had no
parking lot.
We began with a branding campaign
that positioned Playboy as the only civilized hotel
in town. A commercial showed a hordes of
Cro-Magnons taking over a garish casino, which
was pretty much the perception at the time.
At the end of the spot, two cavemen meander
into an elegant restaurant a the Playboy. Looking
around, one says to the other, "Ya like it?"
"I hate it!" his friend replies. Clubs in hand, they
turn and leave.
During that period Playboy achieved the second
highest trial with the second lowest budget. The
Golden Nugget was first on both scores.
W

14. When the Playboy license expired, the
Pritzker organization changed the name to
Atlantis Casino Hotel.
The property's two maor problems remained.
To solve the casino dilemma, we talked
we talked about each level having a different
theme appealing to a different segment.
1st level, a iverboat motif for slot players.
2nd level Asian decor for table players. And the
top level, a club-like Salon Privé for the high
rollers.
At first it was thought this wouldn't beallowed
as the three levels was positioned as one casino.
Only one casino per hotel was permitted. But
somehow the rules bent and the three different
atmospheres appeared.
The tag lie became, "Atlantis Casino Hotel.
The only place with three places to play." To
encourage people to stay in the hotel, the
commercials suggested, "You don't have to
play around."
To attack the parking problem, we
proposed turning Atlantic City into one giant
parking lot for the Atlantis. We created a
promotion called We created a promotion called
"Park there. Play here." People just had to bring to
their parking stub to Atlantis and they got $50
worth of perks for free. The lines ran up and down
the boardwalk.
And a big loser became a winner.

15. ituation: Honda’s national and
New York market share were slipping.
slipping. (National at 7%. New York
at 6.2%.)
We needed to create a campaign for
the Tri-State Honda dealers that would a)
build store traffic b) increase sales and
c) gain share in the New York market, without
reducing the perceived value of the brand.
Research showed that the quality of the
car was the key to Honda’s success.
It also revealed that most people
don't like shopping for a car because they
consider car salesmen pushy, high pressure
and hard sell (29% of respondents said
they’d rather go to the dentist than a
car dealer).
S

16. “Those Hondas must be very good cars.”
“I’ll take it.”
Combining these pieces of knowledge,
we developed the following strategy:
“Convince customers that Honda dealers
are special because they make shopping
for a car a pleasant experience.”
We wanted the commercials to
communicate that Honda salespeople aren’t
pushy, high-pressure or hard-sell. They
don’t have to be. They sell Honda,“The
car that sells itself.”
That gave birth to “Danny,” the hapless
salesman that never gets to show his stuff.
Right after the campaign broke,
Honda’s declining share in the New York
market reversed sharply, and over a
seven-year period climbed to 73% higher
than their national share.
This impressive performance was
achieved without the use of image-eroding
discounts, rebates or clearance sales.

17. 7.0
YR 1 YR 2 YR 3 YR 4 YR 5 YR 5 YR 5
6.8
6.2
8.0
ShareOfMarket
MetroNYvs.National
NationalShare
NewYorkMetroShare
Source:R.L.PolkRegistrations
7.6
8.1
10.5
9.0
6.0
%
6.1
6.5
12.6
7.3
11.6
Honda’s share in the New York market
more than doubled, growing to 73% higher
than Honda’s National share.

18. YR 1 YR 2 YR 3 YR 4 YR 5
14.1
8.0
15.2
Metro New York Shareof Voice
4.2
7.3
4.9
6.8
13.2
%
9.9
Toyota
Honda
Source:LNA
9.3
Toyota outspent Honda in this market by
a three to two ratio, yet...

19. Honda gained market share in the New
York area at Toyota’s expense.
YR 1 YR 2 YR 3 YR 4 YR 5 YR 6
15.6
10.1
14.6
Metro New York Share of Market
Toyota
Honda
14.4
12.4 12.6
14.2
15.0
10.9
%
11.0
12.2
12.7
Source:R.L.PolkRegistrations

20. ounded in 1982 by Lois Korey and
Allen Kay as “The Agency for Entrepreneurs,”
Korey Kay & Partners earned its reputation
Our credo was "Outsmart not Outspend."
Our claim to fame putting companies on the map,
then all over it.
Virgin Atlantic Airways, Wynn Resorts, Comedy
Central, Celebrity Cruises, Stuart Weitzman and
the MTA are among them.
After spending 32 years growing his company
Allen decided it was time to become independent
and concentrate fully on helping other courageous
people grow theirs.
Fas a successful, creatively-driven New York-based
advertising agency.
ALLEN KAY
Iconic Branding. allen@allenSkay.com
allenSkay.com