Imported 2011-01-11

Bad Advertising Unsells Your Product

2011-06-22T18:42:08Z

It seems we are all engaged in the technology of advertising. Just as television changed the business in the 1950's, the Internet and Social Media will continue to revolutionize the delivery process. While we are all busy traveling at light speed to the next supernova of information, we should not forget that the basic principals of marketing have not made the same quantum shift. 100 years ago this year, David Ogilvy was born. With him came the philosophies of branding and marketing that continue to be successful today. This Oxford dropout, ex sous chef, and door-to-door salesman made an indelible mark on the advertising business. Possibly his heady work came as a result of the time Ogilvy spent working for George Gallop. David was an advocate of marketing research as the precursor to any campaign. Consider that at the age of 38, with no advertising experience he opened what was to become the largest advertising agency in the world. Silly sayings, reactionary ads and taunts at the competition were replaced with the art of building the brand. Built correctly, a brand can withstand the competition, the ravages of time–even technology. His prodigy, Ogilvy & Mather, grew to over 200 offices in 52 countries. If your interested in advertising, I would recommend you read “Ogilvy On Advertising”, study his body of work and that of his protégés. I find amazing similarities to the messages we are creating today. For example, I love the Dos XX’s campaign “The most interesting man in the world”. But as I look back into David’s book I notice a tall, trim, handsome figure of a man in a Hathaway shirt being fitted for a custom suit. For his time, the man is perfect in every way with the exception of an eye patch over his right eye. What is this pirate doing in a clothing ad? There is no explanation given. The image is not explained but the mystique is created. He is “Possibly the most interesting man to ever put on a plain white dress shirt.” Like so many of his early creations, the Hathaway man became an icon and positioned the brand above all others. David Ogilvy was a print man. As television began to dominate the media, like new media has done today, his creative contribution to the agency diminished but the strategy of branding he established is still in alive and doing well. I cannot conclude without using my favorite Ogilvy quote–one, which serves are a reminder to those consumed by the technology and not the content of the message. “Bad advertising can unsell a product”.

Is Traditional Media History?

2010-10-31T19:11:16Z

Advertising started out as a one-way conversation with the complacent millions who stared into the boob tube every night. It was a voice in the ears of commuters who hacked their way though traffic listening to the tunes of a happier time. Will they all switch to online movies and satellite radio? Advertising is going through a complete transformation. Now, instead of taking for granted that a viewer is going to be complacently subjected to your message, we also need to engage them in a two-way conversation. We need to take a more strategic approach to create messages that don't just inform, but work together to engage the audience. To some it seems the only thing that works on the younger audience is playing to their short attention span. They were raised in the world of instant everything via the net. They speak digital to their friends with their fingertips glued to the keyboard of a tiny mobile devise. They also crave entertainment and they don’t have to wait until they are home on the couch playing potato to do it. Their world is literally, in the palm of their hands. Is traditional media dead? No, but if you don’t have an online strategy you had better get one. Online will continue to occupy a larger percentage of the budget but don’t rule out traditional media out just yet. I walked into an electronics store recently and had my first tactile experience with Internet TV. Granted, the keyboard looks like you needed a master electricians license to use it but that will evolve. Even the electronically changed will be able to surf through an evening. This is the era of multi-tasking gurus who have the shortest attention spans on record. However, I just can’t see everyone surfing the net while watching a great movie and shopping on eBay. I hear the harbingers of digital truth preaching that traditional media is history. Well, maybe it is just going through a rebirth. Will we evolve to become a commercial free, pay as we go society? Is that the intent of the Internet? In the end I believe that it will be just another media we use to reach our market. To build a great brand you need more than one medium. We are living in exciting times. However, one thing will never change. Effective work is grounded in the right marketing strategy. One that works hand in glove with the right media strategy.

Statistical One Liners

2010-10-27T15:50:56Z

Below are some current stats compiled by Ad Age Today. I believe that data like this is often taken out of context. Casual conversation aside, it is of little value to anyone. At best ,they can form the hypothesis of an in depth study on the issue. I don’t take statistical one-liners as the Gospel. While they may make you look smart to a client or colleague they should not stand as the rational for an ad campaign. That being said, here is some food for marketing thoughts. Population • From 2000-2009, established metro areas like Chicago, Los Angeles and New York added a significant number of residents, but they accounted for less than 3%-5% increase. Houston and Dallas added both people (more than 1 million a piece) and grew almost 25% in the period • Sixty percent of Americans now live in the South and West regions. • Undergraduate business degrees are also almost evenly split between men and women. • Only one in five new households in the U.S. in 2009 were non-Hispanic whites. • Twenty-three metro areas already have more Hispanics than whites. • Twenty-four percent of births are to Hispanic moms, up 10% from 1990. • Births to white women have dropped 12%. • Among the Hispanic population, there are nine births for every death. For non-Hispanic whites, the ratio is 1-to-1. • Married couples with kids dropped below 50% of all households for the first time in 2009. • Teen births are down to just 10%, less than the number of births for women age 35 and older (14%). • There were more babies born in 2007 than ever before, but by 2010 birth rates have dropped to an all-time record low. • Four in 10 kids are born to single moms. • Millennials outnumber the boomers, and as they move into their 30s and 40s, they will drive the economy. • The number of households with no children is at an all-time high of 70.5%. Recession /Trends • There are fewer people living alone. • The recession helped lead to a striking 14% increase in non-married couples living together. • Lottery and gambling expenditures have fallen by an average of 21% per household over the recession. • In the last 15 years, the number of households watching TV in the pre-dawn hours doubled to 16%. Newscasters are beginning their broadcasts earlier and earlier. • Spending on video rentals plummeted by more than 30% during the recession. • Men tend to make more cell phone calls per day than women do. • Twenty-six percent of men make six or more cell calls a day. • Forty-three percent say they make five or fewer. • Income & Spending • The median household income in the U.S. is roughly $50,000. • The top 40% of Americans earn 75% of the money. • Married couples with kids are the biggest spenders. They had the largest household income growth over the last 30 years. • The average amount spent on video games and consoles has increased by 70% over the recession. • Women age 25-39 now make up 46% of those earning bachelors degrees in science and engineering. Need any other stats to support your marketing strategy? Want to add some trivia to your repertoire? Look up AdAgeStat on adage.com • Ad Age Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, ESRI, U.S. Center for Disease Control, Peter Francese, Joel Kotkin, Pew Research Center, Nielsen. Portions of this appeared in the Ad Age Consumer Issueertising Age: Your Online Source for Marketing and Media

The Marketing of Political Intelligence

2010-10-18T16:36:48Z

Today, the issues relevant to the majority of the people are in the hands of a select few who collect and distribute the data. The results of their “political intelligence” can be spoon fed to the media and published free of charge on the Internet. The question we should all ask ourselves is, can we believe it? Certainly you can’t argue with numbers but you can and should question the methodology. Say you hear that, 65% of the people surveyed were in favor of a certain issue. Who picked the sample to survey? Who asked the question? How did the pollster asked it? Who interpreted the data? Can data be the result of misdirection or other political strategy? It is easy to take your mind off the economy when there is a perceived danger from terrorism. It is just as easy to blame a prior administration for mistakes that you continue to make. The next time you are exposed to data from political polls, ask yourself if it is relevant and valid. There are many widely circulated "Intelligence" newsletters from special interest groups and political parties. Don’t believe them because you are fervent about an issue they put forward. Their motives and yours can be miles apart. In the case of the Internet, opinions are often gleaned from second hand information. Political players are expert in polluting the media, especially the electronic media with false information and misleading opinion. Pounding the Washington beat and listening to the political operatives is the only way to gather the real method behind this madness. No mater which candidate you choose to favor with your vote, take the time to question what they have exposed you to. Is your candidate talking about your issues or their politics? I have spent many years in marketing and advertising. We follow research supplied by reputable firms. Before we ask for an opinion, we set the method by which that information will be obtained. This is not the practice applied to most ten-second television sound bites or Internet blogs. We live in a world where information can be supplied by anyone. Take the time to question it.

Reviewing the Review Sites.

2010-10-11T17:31:01Z

Legitimate social media is a way for all of us to share our opinions or do some research before we decide to buy. However, can you believe what you read on review sites? Consider Astroturfing. That’s’ what happens when companies, political parties or special interest groups pay people to give positive reviews about products they have never tried. This is the dark side of social marketing. It can be worse. Are unscrupulous companies paying people to hand out negative reviews? Last week a client called me and complained of a scathing review they received on a popular site. The reviewer stated that they had arrived early and were denied entry leaving them out in cold rainy weather. It went on to say that the owner of the business actually pointed at his watch and shook his head no to emphasize it. No such event ever happened. There is no way to control what disgruntled employees or your competition may say about you. The problem is, there is also no way for your customers to know whether their negative or positive claim is legitimate. To make matters worse, there is no way to respond directly to the reviewer. It seems that more and more people are taking advise from people who post reviews on these sites and not from professionals with experience in the industry. Even if they know the person giving the review, they may notknow the circumstances. Social Media is about having a two-way conversation. So where is the platform for retort? People are not stupid. Those sites not policing themselves will soon find that they risk losing credibility with their audience. The fact that some companies could use social media to create a false buzz should cause us all to be very carful about who’s reviews we are reading.

Welcome to Walmart. Where are we?

2010-03-08T20:39:16Z

As if some great God of marketing was saying to the Walmart happy face " Wipe that grin off your chin " the nations retail giant reported the first down quarter in recent history. Walmart is finding itself squeezed in by higher-end retailers, and deep discounters and they are losing share. Despite Walmarts huge ad campaign " Save Money. Live Better. They have been focusing on higher margins. There are only three ways to do that– in simple terms raise prices, lower cost or both. Have you ever negotiated a deal in Bentonville? I have. It is meant to be a humiliating experience for potential newcomers The kingdom Sam Walton built is hard to penetrate. Even when you've breached the castle gates, you are thrown into a giant bullpen full of cheap folding chairs and tables with a thousand or so other Walmart wana-be's You are pitted against your fellow suppliers with little concern for your health as their supplier. As a representative of several clients I can tell you that even after your first order supplying Walmart is a tough road to go down. Possibly this is just sour grapes. It's also possible that Walmart's hammer handed methodology is passe. Most probably is to blame recent downturn has more to do with the wrong positioning. . The later is more likely . Costco, Family Dollar and Dollar Tree are up as much as 2% and Walmart has swung from a 2.8 % increase in 2008 to a -2.0% at the end of 2009, a 5% negative swing. While at the same time Target did the opposite swinging from -3.3% to +.05% and KMart dug out from a 5.8% loss to a 1.7% gain. I would take a quick study of this reeling giant and note that in tough times it is important to stick to your core values. Sure the competition is tough but that is no reason to change a strategy that is working.

Skinput: Your body is a touch screen

2010-03-05T00:12:23Z

As the song says "Your body is a wonderland". Soon you will be able to wonder all over the Internet, listen to music, make a call by touching parts of your body. I don't want to go any further than that…use your imagination. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and Microsoft’s have coined the term "Skinput". Skinput uses a bio-acoustic sensing and a pico-projector to turn your arm (or any other part of your body) into a display or as they term it " input devise" Imagine playing Tetris on your tummy, or dialing a friend on your deltoids. I must say, this may place us one step closer to becoming part of the machines we invented. Well, if you can project anything from your iPhone or computer onto your skin the applications for advertising will soon follow. Will those shirtless college boys at football games be selling their bodies to beer companies? Will this turn attractive women into billboards for Bikinis? We've all seen that person who has a tiny wireless phone headset walking around talking to thin air. First, I really don't need to hear their conversation. Second, I give such folks a wide berth, just in case. Now imagining how we will distinguish a person banging on their body to change tunes on their MP3, from a masochist. How will we tell the difference between someone playing Bloody Warfare II from a junkie in detox? Yes, your body is a wonderland. I wonder what they will do to it next? As for me, If the cost per exposure (no pun intended) is right. We might take a look at it. To watch a video by the inventors :In http://bit.ly/diPCZi To read more http://bit.ly/aA0lDa

Working With Client Schizophrenia

2010-03-02T21:14:00Z

Agencies are being asked to lower media cost and achieve better results with smaller budgets. It makes sense to every CEO and CFO with slumping sales– a down market should be a media buyers market. The media doesn't seem to be getting that message. Networks may be reducing production cost with reality shows but have you priced an episode of Survivor lately? Ad infinitum, the standard unit of measurement for television has been CPM or cost per thousand exposures. The problem is that we accept the ratings systems without question and utilize them to prove a buy effective. Enter the Internet, social marketing trends and young people twiddling their thumbs across keyboards of PDA's and Gameboys. Fellow marketers, you are now in the land of the brave and are attempting to invade the home of the “I want it all for FREE”. Is Generation Y watching your commercials? Y-no, say certain statistics. It seems a large percentage of You Tube Boobs click away from ads before, during and especially after your marketing offerings. Yet, clients demand that agencies tap this revenue stream with the same withering budget. Marc Goldstein, CEO of Group M at a recent 4A’s conference called it client "schizophrenia". These are difficult times. We need to be as cost effective as possible. Since we are being put to the task should we not begin to question our old benchmarks and determine the validity of the new ones as well? Marc Goldstein’s remarks can be viewed at : http://bit.ly/

Swallow this in :30 sec.

2010-02-26T17:04:10Z

Cadbury Australia and hundreds potential reality show contestants deserve kudos. Together they developed a homespun recipe for a user-generated campaign that seems to have stimulated the appetite of chocolate lovers down under. Cadbury’s website, http://www.itsnopicnic.tv challenged webcams users to whip up a batch of commercials. The filmmaker must show someone consuming a nut filled, caramel dipped, chocolate covered Picnic bar in 30 seconds. It’s real people doing real things with large candy bars. Are these people nuts? Not exactly. True, the visual content is predictably banal but it is rescued by witty commentary from an voice over announcer that Cadburys added in post. Of course they filtered the audio to fit that “ hip real thing” feel. I knew there had to be professional employed at some point. Possibly we can all keep our jobs a bit longer. According to Adweek this UGC produced over 200 ads. Who has time to watch 200 ads? Future film gurus and people who just want to see themselves on TV. Is that a lot of candy bars? Sure they say, "it’s a viral thing." The late, great Andy Warhol said everyone has his or her “15 minutes of fame.” Andy my boy, the world is moving a little faster today. The Internet has cut it down to: 30 seconds. Frankly I hope the quality of the production improves. Although it is effective, I find this technique a bit hard to swallow.

Site Less Social More

2010-02-24T18:10:39Z

In the midst of rebuilding our out-of-date site, I came across something social media strategist, Paul Gillin wrote, “Welcome to the site-less web." http://bit.ly/cLlLA8 After spending all day weaving researched key words into the usual puffery found on ad agency sites, I read this on his blog. “The big change in the landscape is that information no longer needs to have a homepage in order to reach an audience. Facebook kicked off this trend when it created a service that was so popular that some brands found it was more desirable to use Facebook as a homepage than their branded websites." After a bout with denial, I came to realize he was right. Mr. Gillin has placed his finger on the pulse of the living communication. In fact, I believe he is capable of open-heart surgery on the subject. Still, it can be a struggle to convince some clients that any marketing effort should speak to the "digitally adept" in concert with the traditional one way communications thrown at couch potatoes. Actually these two media work quite well with one another. Or maybe we should wait to see how Pepsi does with their $10 million investment in the refresh campaign? No,let's not. I think they know what they are doing. The truth is that web can be it's own worst enemy. It presents clients with so many choices, such fragmentation of audience, such micro targeting, it is just begging for excuses not to go there. Social Media changed everything and some clients fear the change. The truth is, it not rocket science. It is just another tool in the toolbox. One thing we have learned about any business we represent is that their audience will not stand still for very long. Those targets move and today they are moving at the speed of their web connection. So site less and be more social is the order of the day. Who knows what tomorrow may bring? Mr. Gillin also pointed out that blogs are becoming ”almost irrelevant". With that thought, I’ll sign off and tweet this.