ADVERTISING people are often accused of being brazen and obvious. Do you remember the cult following for Hal Todd's live commercials on his Night Owl Theatre? And the grandissimo, Franco Cozzo, spruiking his Neapolitan bedroom suites.
And Singo's ''Where do you get it?'' I still don't know where you get it or even what it was, but it worked well enough for Singo to buy a Roller. But subtlety can also do the job.
I am reminded of this each time I go to my wardrobe to select a shirt. The first thing I notice every morning is a City Hatter's coat hanger. You know the place - the hat shop underneath the clocks at Flinders Street station. It's been there since 1910 and somehow survived two world wars, the Great Depression, numerous recessions, and the GFC - not to mention the massive changes in male headwear fashion over a hundred years.
Back in the 1940s and 1950s there would have been 70,000 felt hats and flat caps at the MCG for the grand final. But the spring racing carnival is still a boom time for City Hatters, thank goodness, and I always think of it as the place for a hat in Melbourne, thanks to that coat hanger in my wardrobe.
However, I have an admission to make. The coat hanger was actually nicked from the store by an old mate of mine. ''Souvenired,'' says Charlie. Well, what self-respecting product wouldn't want to be souvenired?
Charlie, as we know, has got a keen eye for value. While at the grand final lunch in the MCC dining room last Saturday, he spied a very impressive engraved silver wine stopper on the table.
As the urbane and popular MCC president Paul Sheahan welcomed everyone, Charlie slipped the stopper into his pocket. I'm not sure why he wanted it - he never leaves anything in a bottle for later on - however the occasion and the obvious quality of the product got the better of him.
As he was leaving, the eagle-eyed boss of the MCG, Stephen Gough, sidled up to our mate and pointed out there was no need for him to be so clandestine - the silver stoppers were a gift.
This seemed to take the fun out of it for Charlie, so he thanked Stephen for the gift, and his encouraging words, and promptly snaffled his neighbour's wine stopper before scarpering to his standing-room ticket position.
He might be a bit of a scrooge, but it does make a point about how marketing can be subtle and effective.
Think of the branding that has taken place over the years through ''souveniring''. Louise has still got the beer stein she stuffed up her jumper at the 1970 Munich Oktoberfest. She couldn't remember the taste of the beer the next morning, but 40 years later she recalls Lowenbrau whenever she goes to the kitchen dresser.
And then there's a dear departed member of our industry who, I am told, always drank his white wine from a Qantas business class wine glass that he became attached to on a long flight. His socialising was extensive and he should have been on a product placement fee. Perhaps he was!
But successful souveniring can also recover costs. A few years ago most smart hotels started billing people for their branded bathrobes that were going missing in large numbers.
There is no doubt that big, brazen and obvious TV campaigns can do the job, but there are also plenty of other ways of getting a brand to become a treasured item of the family home.
Harold Mitchell is the executive chairman of Mitchell Communication Group.
