Ad agency TBWA is clearly serious about instigating a new level of conversation over ad agency compensation. As discussed in this space a few weeks ago, TBWA Chairman, Jean Marie Dru, had opined that the current compensation formula is broken. This week, Ad Age reports that the agency has appointed a Chief Compensation Officer to lead negotiations with procurement people on the client side.

Why didn’t anyone think of that before? Good idea. Tilting the balance back in favor of ad agency revenues is an urgent need of the 21st Century Information Era, notable for its global, super-abundance of creative media opportunities. Having parties on both sides that speak the same language when it comes to money and compensation is good way to start the balancing act.

Over the last year, I’ve become more interested in the psychology of decision-making.  In other words, (a) how do our basic psychological needs influence the decisions we make and (b) are there ways to adjust our communications and marketing strategies to take advantage of these needs.

The best book I’ve read on this subject is Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini.  In it, he identifies six “weapons of influence” that can be used to increase compliance with your requests.

These are extremely valuable weapons whether you are trying to convince someone to purchase your product or an convince an advocate to take action in support of your cause.

Brian Martin, the Founder and CEO of Brand Communications, expands that list to 10 in a recent issue of Advertising Age.  “Fortunately,” he writes, “when it comes to identifying what people want, we aren’t particularly complex. Direct your actions toward meeting as many as possible, and your brand will grow exponentially.”

A little “Kiss.” Call a doctor; I’m gonna be sick.

I wasn’t going to write about the Super Bowl’s advertising orgy but seeing as I tweeted throughout the game I might as well finish what I started.

Headline: The game was good. The ads were not. Period. As one of my Twitter companions pointed out: “Does god-awful sound reasonable? The most expensive dreck ever produced.”

Even the Who (looking like aging creative directors) got it up better than most of the advertisers –and they’re like a hundred years old.

The best spot by far was the lone entry from Google. Simple and lovingly produced, the product was truly a hero. Telling a story via numerous searches was as inspired as it was obvious. A small masterpiece.

My favorite campaign, by default, goes to E-Trade. Tired as those babies are, they still made me laugh. Especially the one belting out “Milk-a-what?” You had to be there.

The worst ad? Where to begin? For it’s pointless waste of tons of money I give the dubious honor to a Bridgestone TV commercial. In it, a road warrior-like clan stops a racecar demanding the driver surrender his tires or his life. The driver pushes a babe out of the car and races off. The evil clan’s leader yells: “not your wife, your life!” To coin a phrase: So funny I forgot to laugh. Reminiscent of a lousy Capital One commercial, the thing was badly cast, poorly produced and born from a concept lacking any insight into the product or human nature. That the discarded wife was ridiculously hot only added to the spot’s confused tone.

Speaking of hot babes, I could easily point to Go Daddy for second runner up as crappiest campaign of the night. But giving them a number one on this list seems like a lay-up. Besides, that’s what Go Daddy wants, isn’t it? “See,” the dirt bags at Go Daddy would say, “we riled up America again!” I won’t give them that satisfaction. And will somebody please tell Danica she’s not all that?

They’ll test well, but I also pretty much hated the work from Doritos. In one spot we discover a man inside a coffin stuffed with Doritos. He died a happy man. Get it? Lord knows eating that many Doritos will kill you…

Odd as hell: There were two ads featuring nude people (Career Builder and a car commercial whose make I’ve already forgotten) one after the other. And speaking of odd as hell redundancies, what are we to make of the midget Kiss band followed by shrunken Pittsburg Steeler, Troy Polamalu? Dwarves and nudists times two. Where else but in the Super Bowl?

The controversy over the rightwing Tim Tebow ad? The spot came and went like a gnat. No one was even listening. Yawn.

The big winner of the Super Bowl: Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints. With the Who and Google getting honorable mentions. On to March Madness.

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I know I’m not first (or that original) in lauding it but I think this is a fantastic ad.
Go Saints!

Pick which ever one you like.

Every silver lining’s got a
Touch of grey -”Touch of Grey” by The Grateful Dead 

Around 12 days ago, Ad Age published a story online about how Royal Caribbean cruise line came under “heavy fire” because they decided to continue their stops in Haiti after the devastating earthquake.  The article mentions how the cruise line stopped at a coastal Haitian village called Labadee, where it maintains a private beach.  There are two sides presented in this story:  

1) The PR professionals who are quoted in the story scold Royal Caribbean’s decision, saying that the company’s actions were insensitive after such a  tragedy.  In the end, the PR pros predict that this will result in revenue losses for Royal Caribbean. 

2) Royal Carribean says that the best way to help Haiti after the earthquake is to continue to invest in the local economies.  Along with bringing travelers to local Haitian villages where they can spend money, Royal Carribean also donated a $1 million to charities after the earthquake and brought down supplies on the ship. 

After the article, the comments section at the bottom is where the conversation becomes a little more engaging.  A majority who commented say that there is no story here.  Ad Age, the PR pros, and the media that reported the story over-analyzed the situation and created something out of nothing. 

The PR pros in the Ad Age article saw a cruise line pull into a coastal village in Haiti and immediately saw it as an image crisis for the cruise line.  Royal Carribean, not being oblivious and knowing about the earthquake (like the rest of the world), made a conscious decision to continue with business as usual, and at the same time, work to help a country in need.  

The thing about our thought processes is that almost every situation we come across has shades of grey.  It seems almost impossible to discover a situation that is either black or white (Actually, whether to tun left or right seems pretty straightforward).  The Royal Carribean issue has an entire pallet of greys.  Taking the opposite approach as Royal Carribean, one of my favorite bands (moe.) was going to host a Caribbean concert series in the Dominican Republic in April.  The band decided to delay the concert series until next year out of respect to the tragedy in Haiti.  

Two organizations.  Two different responses.  Which one is right?  There are many shades of grey out there, so make sure you pick the one that fits you best.

Graphicology offers up a sneak peek of the creative for this year’s Super Bowl.

In the interest of buzzing up the buzz (buzzily!), many advertisers are either pre-releasing spots or, as with VW and Bridgestone, releasing teasers spots online to get interest up without losing the oomph of a Super Bowl unveiling.

Sluggy, you had us at “Who gives a shit where we’re going?”

At this point, the only real standout is the short VW mockumentary about Sluggy Patterson. Sure, it’s a little overly scripted, but the character is a crotchety joy to watch, impatient with the young punks behind the camera and clearly reveling in the minor celebrity of inventing Slug Bug. (And no, I won’t call it “Punch Bug.” Or even the evolved “Punch Dub.” Won’t do it.)

Plenty of advertisers are blending digital and broadcast, online and on-air, including crowdsourced contest ads from CareerBuilder.com and Doritos. Good lord, even GoDaddy, with its dumb guy’s version of softcore pornography (and that’s dumb), continues its attempts to drive a little cross-media traffic, if only of the one-handed sort.

So many of the other spots just seem to prop up the notion that strictly broadcast advertising is doomed but has little idea how to get off the hamster wheel, spinning out slightly new permutations of the same schtick. To the point where Bud Light’s “Clothes Drive” is almost nagging in its deja dude vu gags.

Completely NOT a regurgitation of the Swear Jar ad!

At least the “Casual Friday” spot for CareerBuilder.com, a superficial twin of the Bud Light spot above and one of the three finalists for their Big Game contest, offers up a few more original nude co-worker jokes, knows to keep its funny as tight as the featured unclothed bodies are not, and gives you an empathic Jason Sudeikis doppelganger to lead you through the pale, fleshy forest. Plus it’s part of a larger, smarter effort.

Though it does make us wonder…how the hell did Office Naked become the latest ad meme?

If you’re going naked, it’d better be funny.

No sneak peek at Focus on the Family’s purported controversial spot. Now if that one were crowdsourced, that’d be some entertainment.

For a more complete listing, and one-sentence creative descriptions, see Ad Age’s Super Bowl rundown.

2/3 UPDATE: Even more spots up now on Graphicology. Gotta love the fiddlin’ beaver.

Graf artist Jerry survived Haiti quake

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]]> http://donbeehler.wordpress.com/2010/01/25/commercial-celebrating-life-draws-fire-from-many-in-advertising-world/ Tue, 26 Jan 2010 02:49:56 +0000 donbeehler http://donbeehler.wordpress.com/2010/01/25/commercial-celebrating-life-draws-fire-from-many-in-advertising-world/

Judging from the Ad Age Web site comments, a Super Bowl commercial titled “Celebrate Family, Celebrate Life” is highly controversial and upsetting to many.

The 30-second spot features University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow and his mother. Tebow, the first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy, is an outspoken pro-life Christian who’s not shy about sharing his faith publicly. The spots were purchased by Focus on the Family, a favorite boogey man for those who despise traditional values.

An Ad Age article about the spot frames it in the context of other controversial Super Bowl ads, some of which were downright outrageous and in extremely poor taste. I guess it’s a sign of the times that celebrating life and family falls into that category.

This spot has struck quite a few nerves and received tons of publicity before it even airs. Which make for a pretty good ad, don’t you think?

http://adage.com/superbowl10/article?article_id=141581#comments

Don Beehler provides public relations consulting services to small- and medium-sized advertising agencies and businesses.

In Ad Age today, TBWA Chairman, Jean Marie Dru, adds his voice to the growing chorus of people that are eager to have a conversation about the future of ad agency compensation. It must change. Ad agencies have paid the price for years of ”apparent frivolity,” but the model today, in the grip of a procurement process that has one ambition, lowering cost, leads to a dead-end. Notes Jean Marie Dru:

“It has become fashionable for everyone to blame “procurement” for their problems. It’s an easy way for others to off-load responsibility. The real decision-making, however, lies with CEOs and marketing directors. They’re merely leaving the dirty work to procurement. Procurement execs are often given no other option than to squeeze for more so-called efficiencies, year after year. In doing so, they have created a death spiral, making it impossible to attract and compensate the talents we need to deliver the value-creating ideas our clients demand.”

The danger, of course, is that if clients don’t become part of the compensation solution ad agencies will proceed with fashioning their own out of the resources available to them. One resource stands-out: media. The money is in the media; but to benefit from that fact agencies will need to be on the receiving, not just the giving, end of media dollars. They will need to be both buyer and seller, which will surely lead to a crisis of objectivity in a business whose purpose, the late Clifford Fitzgerald of Dancer Fitzgerald Sample reportedly use to say, is “to recommend.”

In this regard, Mr. Dru makes this observation:

 ”Back when advertising agencies still bought media space, I used to remind our clients of a forgotten truth. If the agency commission paid was 10% of the total advertising costs, the work produced by this 10% is what gave the value to the 100% invested. It was a good argument to fight against too-heavy revenue reductions. Today agency-fee negotiations and media-rate discussions are separated. By considering these two activities separately, our clients have lost sight of the fact that one actually multiplies the value of the other.”

It is a very good place to start the conversation: bring back agency commission.

Before the business disappears behind a smoke screen.

We share a lot of information each day! We are going to capture some of our favorites here each day and highlight our favorite interactions each day with the hope that you’ll find great new people on twitter to connect with.

Here are some of our favorite tweets from today.

Most Popular

Battle for A Senate Seat Determined by a GOP Tweet http://ow.ly/Ys80

Justice Department: $675K Verdict For File-Sharing Is Constitutional http://ow.ly/16orUe

News

RT @mediacorpdrtv: Toyota Recalls 2.3M US Vehicleshttp://ow.ly/Z8WW

Hillary Clinton: China Should Investigate Google Attacks – http://ow.ly/ZeZV

Ad Campaigns

NAD Recommends MillerCoors Alter Taste-Protection Claims: CHICAGO (AdAge.com) — So it turns out Miller Lite’s “ne…http://ow.ly/ZbPH

Marketing, Branding & Advertising

Brands Who Want to Connect Must Cross Boundaries:http://ow.ly/ZbQ9

Super Bowl Host Stadium Gets Naming Rights Deal: CHICAGO (AdAge.com) — Here’s an unusual way to grab some Super S…http://ow.ly/ZbSI

Starbucks Quarterly Profit More Than Triples to $242 Million: http://ow.ly/ZbRr

Microsoft May Lose More of Facebook’s Advertising Businesshttp://ow.ly/ZaQm

iPhone & Android now account for 81% of US smartphone Web ads – (via @erickschonfeld @ClarkF) http://ow.ly/Zf3R

Tech

Amazon Cracks Open the Kindle http://ow.ly/ZbZE

Google Offers Higher-Res Collection of Haiti Satellite Imagery http://ow.ly/16odJH

Online Marketing, SEO, SEM, PPC

Google CEO: We’re Hugely Optimistic About the Internet -http://bit.ly/7W9BDJ

Social Media News

Facebook Breaking Ground on Our First Custom Data Center – We have come a long way from our roots in a Harvard dorm… http://ow.ly/16ogVr

Bill Gates Explodes Onto The Social Media Scene http://ow.ly/ZevB

YouTube Launches Music Video Suggestion Tool - http://ow.ly/ZeYY

Foursquare BlackBerry Client Launches to the Public – http://ow.ly/Zf0J

How to Build Conversations in Social Media Using the 3 P’s from @webworkerdaily http://ow.ly/Zc1a

Facebook to Launch Dashboard for Your Games and Apps [PIC]http://ow.ly/ZcuS

RT @HowellMarketing 10 Ways to Benefit More From Social Media in 2010 /via @valeomarketing http://ow.ly/ZbKo

Mobile Marketing & Apps

Google Has High Hopes for Display, Mobile Advertising in ‘10: NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Google turned in a strong fo…http://ow.ly/ZbPb

Sooner or Later, Facebook Will Launch Its Own Phone: Facebook easily has the brand equity to launch its own phone…http://ow.ly/ZbQK

Nat Geo Adds World Atlas App, More Coming http://ow.ly/16osUw

AdMob: Apple may break its tie with Nokia for world dominationhttp://ow.ly/Zcfq

Five Mobile Trends For 2010: Advertising is not what it was ten years ago. The past decade has seen the advent of …http://ow.ly/ZbR9

U.S. Army Gets an iPhone App -http://ow.ly/ZeTp

Videos

Video Insider: Flash: The Death Of HTML – Quick question for all you power-marketers out there: Is Fla…http://ow.ly/16odII

Here’s The Situation: Little Jersey Shore Is a Big Online Hit [VIDEO] – http://ow.ly/ZeVc

NBC Pulls Web Clips of Conan’s Most Expensive Bit Ever [VIDEO] - http://ow.ly/Zf1x

Social Good

Charities fight for piece of $5 million prize on Facebook http://ow.ly/ZaEO #socialgood #facebook

Support The Locals

RT @debjohanning: @EvansMediaGroup Yes, it’s in downtown#Lawrence. Come out for the anniversary #ltwup tweetup next week! www.ltwup.com

RT @jeffisageek: Happy Birthday to@vivid13

RT @markvanbaale RT @JennBailey Let’s do lunch! #SMCKC luncheon at WilJennys 1/27 http://bit.ly/6iTCHi

RT @thesandbar Get out of the gloomy weather and pretend it’s sunny and warm instead. $2 tropical drinks all day & night!

Hmm…

I Gave My 3 Year Old an iPhone: Have I Created a Monster?http://ow.ly/Zc3F

Just Plain Funny

RT @jeffreyhartmann: @EvansMediaGroup I still have memories of this Bill Gates story, a problem I wish I had: http://ow.ly/Zf66

Stats & Case Studies

Stats: More than 60% of North American marketers have used iPhone apps as a marketing channel - http://ow.ly/Zf2T

Stats: 36% of North American retailers say they will offer mobile coupons by the end of 2010 #eDaily http://ow.ly/Zf3n

RT Recognition for our Favorite Twitter Rockstars

Thank you to the follow for following @EvansMediaGroup and RT’ing our content.

@shannonholato @johnqcreative @StephinVegas @edwinvillafane @HowellMarketing

@PaperTrace @bettervideo @debjohanning @debdobson @vivid13 @correlationist

@laurenrubin @gpritchard @JohnnysTavernPV @sarasocialmedia @michellelamar

@skywax @foundationmedia @mediacorpdrtv

Written by: Sara Paxton, managing partner, CTO, and Social Media Officer of Evans Media Group, Kansas City’s Social Media Agency, a boutique agency located in Overland Park, KS that specializes in traditional marketing, social media marketing, online marketing, and public relations.

Very cool.  Lacrosse will get exposure on the big screen.

According to an article in Ad Age, a sports film based upon the world of lacrosse is going into production.   It’s an independent movie sponsored by Reebok to promote their 9k lacrosse line of equipment and apparel.

“Crooked Arrows” will be the first movie focused solely on lacrosse.  Lacrosse has somewhat been a niche sport.  Not as popular as baseball, basketball, football, and soccer, the movie may be the opportunity to greatly continue to expand the sport’s popularity.  (Please see previous post The Rise Of Lacrosse Named one of ESPN’s stories of the decade.)

The movie also touches on the Native American culture and roots in the game.

This could be great for lacrosse. Will “Crooked Arrows” do for lacrosse what “The Mighty Ducks” did for hockey? We’ll see…

“We know this is huge for the lacrosse community, and could bring in a whole new fan base,”  said Chad Whitman, head of Reebok’s lacrosse division.

(image Cascade Pro 7 from thetotalathlete.com)

The best technological innovations of this decade in marketing and media involve the internet and social media.  But they have not been fully embraced by healthcare marketers.

Adage recently published its “Book of Tens” which is a group of lists citing the best things of the decade. In the category of Best Tech Innovations in Media and Marketing, the majority of the items are some aspect of new media.  Included in the list of the top ten are broadband penetration, search marketing, social media, iPhone, Twitter, Flash and open APIs.   That’s 7 out of the ten!

Obviously, technology is changing the way marketing is done.  It is changing the marketing landscape.  It is requiring new strategies, new methods, and new tactics. It requires a new perspective.  It engages consumers in ways never before imagined 

But the fact is we healthcare marketers are hesitant or slow adopting these new technologies. There are many reasons for this.  Some legitimate and some not so legitimate.  Healthcare marketing is rarely if ever on the cutting age.  And due to the nature of healthcare, it probably shouldn’t be out front.  But it shouldn’t be pulling up the rear either.

The die is cast. Technology will not be reversed. Social engagement as a function of marketing will not change. Healthcare marketers must embrace new technologies and use them to promote and enhance their brand.  Are we being responsive and even responsible marketers if we fail to utilize the best new technologies of the decade?  In the least, healthcare marketers need to begin to explore and learn and experiment how these new technologies can be used effectively.

Who knows what technologies will appear in the new decade?  As we enter a new one, lets make sure we take advantage of the best technologies of the last decade.

Over half of national retail advertisers embraced social media as part of their media mix for the 2009 holidays.

Just two years ago, only 4% of national retail advertisers utilized social media in their marketing strategies.  But in 2009 more than half  embraced social media.   According to a survey by BDO Seidman, of those retailers using social media, 76% are focusing on Facebook, 50% on Twitter, 14% on MySpace and 14% on YouTube.

Natalie Zmuda and Kunur Patel wrote in the December 7^th issue of Advertising Age that Facebook was the second most visited site in the US on Black Friday.  And on that day “4.3% of Facebook users and 2.3% Twitter users visited the website of a top 500 retailer immediately after perusing the social-network site.”

Some of the retailers Zmuda and Patel cited as successfully using social network sites were Best Buy, ebay, JC Penney, Toy ‘R ‘Us and Wal-Mart.  These retailers used a combination of giveaways, support for traditional advertising, customer service, charitable donations and promotion of online specials.  Amazon, Abercrombie and Fitch, Kohl’s, Old Navy and Target were listed as retailers who did not do such a great job utilizing social media.  Their various sins were lack of coordination with traditional media, lack of holiday specials, unanswered consumer complaints and unchecked pages.

This gives a microcosm of how extensive social media is used both successfully and poorly by retailers.  Lessons are abundant for healthcare marketers:

Social media is growing.  Brands are recognizing the value and benefits of engaging in social media.  Hospital marketers can learn valuable lessons.  Retailers have taught us that indeed the holidays are very social.   

This week Ad Age ran an article that was a guide to going digital for ad agencies. This article reminds me of a famous quote, “Better late than never.” Titus Livius said this in around 2,000 years ago.

When thinking about going digital, remember what these smart people said.

In the digital age that we live in today, it’s interesting that many businesses are still un-digital.  It’s especially interesting for ad agencies for two big reasons. The first is that this is an industry that’s supposed to lead in the areas of culture, commerce, creativity. All of the trends in those areas are digital… and have been digital for years.  The other reason why un-digital ad agencies are interesting is that the advertising, marketing and media industries have suffered terribly since the economy tanked. Across the board, the only sector that has shown growth in the last couple of years (and maybe in the last decade) has been related to the digital side.

So why are there still ad agencies that have yet to jump into the digital pool? It goes back something that Sir Isaac Newton said around 300 years ago. It’s called Newton’s First Law, “A body persists in a state of uniform motion or of rest unless acted upon by an external force.” In other words, some agencies won’t change unless they have to. Change is hard for everyone. But change is here and has been for a while. The external force affecting un-digital ad agencies is profitability. This reminds me of another famous quote. This one is from Claudian (around 400 AD), “Change or die.”

The Ad Age article has real good ideas for taking an agency digital with links to other smart articles on the subject. Check it out here, and don’t forget what Titus, Isaac, and Claudian said.

Google is running a one-line ad on its home page - perhaps the most valuable real estate online - for its new Nexus One mobile telephone. This is notable for the reason that Google has been single-minded in preserving its home page as a temple for its brand, which seeks to organize all the world’s information and deliver it fast and reliably.

A line or two does not do much to undermine the sanctity of Google’s home page. It does not necessarily pervert the sense of mission. But these small cracks have a way of letting water in that eventually erodes foundations. Accordingly, I’m not sure I’d be as enthusiastic as Spark Partners analyst, Adam Hartung, was in the story about the event in MediaPost. Said Mr. Hartung:

“The company [Google] has something that almost seems like a religious idol. This ad demonstrates that Google is willing to change that and attack a sacred cow to step the company forward…And that’s a very good sign for investors.”

Google has plenty of irons in the fire trying to take the company forward, some of which approach science fiction. It’s tether to reality has always been its home page. Adam Hartung’s exortation to let go of sacred cows is the very sort of temptation in which the broader analyst community so often and so dangerously trades – whatever the business sector. It is a sell-your-soul kind of temptation. And it is never good for investors in the long run. 

Al Ries has practical things to say along these lines in an Ad Age piece yesterday. Google investors should read-up.

How Fast is the move to Social Media. It’s moving very fast.

AUTOMOTIVE Media Dollars are on the move.  Here’s a portion of a great article from Ad Age.  The big obstacle will be the addiction to traditional automotive advertising.  Why?  It’s what dealers know.  It’s like comfort food.   This is a good read!

Auto marketers face a big task in the coming year: how to stretch their marketing dollars and how to master digital media.
Borrell Associates projects that overall new-vehicle ad spending in 2010 will rise to $19.2 billion, but that’s coming off a year when it projects spending, when fully tallied for 2009, will be down 17%. “Nobody expects auto advertising spending to come back to where it was before, at least not in 2010,” said Mary Collins, president-CEO of Media Financial Management Association, a trade group of financial people in the media industry.

A lot of the outlay will go toward unmeasured media. Ms. Collins said that Ford Motor Co.’s Jim Farley, group VP-global marketing, told a conference that the automaker plans to spend half its 2010 ad budget on “experiential” and online marketing, because 75% of new-vehicle buyers now shop online. Jeff Schuster, an exec director at consultant J.D. Power and Associates, also expects a much bigger march into social media by automakers.

Still, it’s a learning curve for an industry accustomed to big TV blitzes. “I still believe the industry is too addicted to television (advertising),” said Michael Jackson, a partner in SarkissianMason, New York, and former VP-marketing and advertising at GM.

http://adage.com/article?article_id=141222

It’s time to really evaluate your media plan.  Do you have any money planned for Social Media.  I encourage you to take this step.  You don’t want to play catch up in this arena.  Plus, really look at your digital plan and how your Social Media plan will complement it.  NOTE: You don’t want to get out of traditional media but you do need to build a competitive multi-media plan.  It’s really not an option any longer!  It’s a must do!  

The Ad Age staff compiled a list of challenges and pitfalls awaiting the advertising industry as it turns the corner into 2010 and the start of a new decade. Editors gave the issue of agency compensation and the role of client procurement officers prominence as the first entry on the list. Quoting Mediabrands CFO, Tara Comonte, from her remarks at the American Advertising Federation’s Hall of Achievement Awards, Ad Age summarized the issue: “Procurement wants to pay less than enough. And it will be self-destruction.”

It is an issue that deserves to be at the top of the list. The issue of agency compensation must be addressed if the industry is going to be able to afford to keep pace with the rapid advances in new media in a way that provides maximum benefit to marketers.

In that regard, further down the Ad Age list was what to look for in Digital Marketing. “In short”, says Ad Age,

“marketing on the web has not been about creating demand so much as reacting to it by delivering the right ad to the right person when they indicate they want it. This has been a boon for Google (and has given birth to 400 ad networks), and represents the best thinking of largely West Coast technologists. But it is increasingly disastrous to content industries that are watching offline revenue erode and finding no equivalent revenue stream online.”

It remains a mystery (sort of) why the media value of the Internet can be so obvious and so invisible at the same time. Ad Age reports that delivering the right ad to people when they indicate they want it has been a “boon for Google.” Yes, but this is not the invention of West Coast technologists, nor the impetus of 400 ad networks. Google’s success is tied to rules cavemen (whose primitive work got us on the right track with media as much as with the uses of fire and raw materials, we might say) understood: the right message in the right place reaches people predisposed to what you are trying to sell them. Ug.

Most ad networks evolved differently. Most pay very little regard to placement if they are paying regard to anything more than price. Those that invoke any targeting do so almost exclusively on the basis of person, not place; and not time, either, though some would argue that ”in-market” means “right time” as much as “right person.” That may be the best thinking of West Coast technologists. Hunters and gatherers, however, think differently. They fish where the fish are.

Ug. 

Google has successfully leveraged all of  the Internet’s power beginning with place, which has been the thing most responsible for the boon. One person has learned that lesson well-enough: Tim Armstrong. Hence the new and improved, comes-in-a-resealable-package, add-water-and-stir,  instant content formula of Aol. Will it work? Not like Google. It’s instant after the fact, which is an instant too late. But, the heart is in the right place: content. Place. Audience pre-disposition here (an operative word) and now (another operative word). They are both on sale, online  (you’re probably already buying them, thanks to Google) and available – as Ad Age says – in “millions of tight niches.”

The millions of niches part, of course, has been the distraction. New media is a vast place and the buying industry has been ill-equipped to navigate it.  The digital market, therefore, has a very clear stake in the future of ad agency compensation (see above). If the industry wants the Internet to emerge as a boon for itself and not just Google it must figure out how to reward planners and buyers for the work that goes into harvesting the power that Google has harvested - deliberately and transparently, not passively or non-transparently through third-parties, or by trying to find escape routes around the media nexus of person, place and time.

Maybe it’s not so simple that even a caveman could do it today. But it’s still pretty simple.

Madison & Vine’s list of the past year’s best branded entertainment deals. In true Ad Age fashion, handy stats on impressions, dollar values and viewers are included where known.

I particularly like the Ikea efforts.

IKEAs Easy to Assemble

AND

From racked – their five best retail stunts of the year – full of photos for you to reference.

According to Advertising Age’s recent monitoring of viral videos for public campaigns, Evian’s dancing baby commercial has been viewed over 2 million times in the last week, a 79% hike over the previous week. Other notable viral videos include Victoria’s Secret’s popular ad produced by Michael Bay (985,000+ views this week), and GAP’s recent commercial for its “Ready for Holiday Cheer” campaign (586,000+ views this week).

As anybody with an email account knows, videos go “viral” online when they are widely passed around and viewed during a short period of time. For advertisers, viral videos are yet another way to reach certain kinds of consumers. One question has long been asked, though: What kinds of videos go viral? What characteristics do these videos often share? Pete Cashmore, the founder and CEO of Mashable, which is a popular blog about social media, recently argued that there are some clear commonalities for viral videos in general: they are usually “cute,” humorous, and/or extremely emotional, and in many cases focus on something novel.

To see a few of this week’s viral video ads, including those for Evian and Victoria’s Secret, view the following videos:

Discussion Questions:

1.  After viewing the ads above, what might be some other common characteristics of viral videos?

2.  Why has the Evian advertisement (see above) been so successful?

3.  Why has the Victoria’s Secret ad produced by Michael Bay been so successful?

4.  What audience demographics do viral videos target?

Oh Mother London, you are so clever.

Via Creativity

The practicality of the shopping season is seen in the results of a new survey that showed that coupons are the number one influencer in holiday shopping, followed by word-of-mouth, advertising inserts, broadcast TV, newspaper and direct mail.

The survey was conducted by Big Research on behalf of the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association, as they sought to understand what was inspiring shoppers to select a particular store.

However, the Ad Age article seems to indicate that only one media is involved in inspiring a consumer (read Mom) and that the human brain works in a very rational and logical way to make decisions.  The article also implies that likability of an ad is not important in the purchase decision process.

While I think the actual findings of the study have merit, the interpretation does not take into count the complex retail world we live in today.  Take for example my quest (Mom) to buy a purse for my daughter for Christmas.  She asked for a specific type of purse, one that she cannot afford.  The purse is from a brand name that creates a very distinct luxury image for itself in a variety of high fashion magazines, focusing on new styles for each season.  My daughter and I know and love the brand, and read the magazines regularly. Her friends love the brand and talk about it with a passion that men cannot understand.   Her request for the purse sent me to a variety of favorite Internet sites since the brand is not sold in Nashville.  I shopped several online sites I am known to frequent – Amazon, Nordstrom, Bluefly and Zappos.  I often see online and offline advertising for these sites, follow social media for the sites and receive e-mail advertising.  The site from which I chose to purchase had a sale on the bag and free shipping, which they had communicated in an e-mail on exactly the same day.

Did the brand advertising or the sale and free shipping cause me to buy the bag?  Well, both did.  Without the brand advertising I would not have been aware of the brand and been predisposed to a purchase.  Without the need (Christmas Birthday Daughter), I would not have sought out retailers that sold the bag.  And without the sale and free shipping, I might have chosen another online retailer.

Research on advertising typically focuses on the last step remembered in the purchase cycle.  In this case, a coupon or incentive is the last thing many remember as they try to be smart in their purchases.

And my purchase?  It was delivered free of charge, two days after I bought it online.  And it’s under the tree now.

Ski resort marketing used to require long lead times due to print advertising schedules.  Not so much anymore.  Rob Katz, CEO of Vail Ski Resorts explains how the economy – and the shorter decision making cycle among their visitors has quickly changed the way they’re marketing.  If you’re not using social media marketing in your business now, spend the 9 minutes here to watch this video from Advertising Age (video from Ad Age is below).  The changes in consumer behavior that he talks about are not unique to the ski industry.  They apply to almost every industry.  Would your company benefit more from video?  Building relationships with your customers? Quicker, more personal communication tools?  Thought so.  Apply what he’s saying to your business and industry.

And stick with this video until the end … the analogy from a scene in the movie Braveheart is excellent … and spot on!

Author: Tom Flynn III
www.lessingflynn.com
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Last week, Ad Age posted a terrific article by B.L. Ochman, entitled: “Two Questions Every Marketer Should Ask Its Social-Media Agency”. The first question focused on whether or not agencies could “walk the walk” on social media. This point caused a minor explosion on the comment board as people debated whether or not an agency’s social media presence was an indication that they understood social media and could properly execute it for a client. One side of the discussion insisted that if an agency could not build a massive Twitter following, or a Facebook page teeming with fans, for itself, it could not possibly be able to build these types of programs for you – the client.

I tend to disagree.

To explain why, I’d like to use my favourite TV spots as an example. “Mac vs. PC”, I think, is one of the most clever campaigns in a very long time. Simple, memorable, iconic and funny, these ads are some of the best on television. Do you know who made them? No, not Apple! And yes, if you’re in the business, or follow the business, you’ll absolutely know who makes them. If not, you probably have no idea. Which is exactly what a good agency does! They make their clients look great while staying hidden away, out of the spotlight.

If TBWA\ (the agency that created the spots) had created a similar series of spots for itself would you be impressed? Perhaps for a minute, but then you’d start to wonder when they found the time to write, direct and produce these spots and who’s dime had financed them!

Does the lack of a creative portfolio of TBWA\-centred TV spots indicate that TBWA\ can’t produce quality TV spots for their clients? I’m sure you’ll agree that the answer is a resounding “no!”

So in the world of social media, what does an agency need to prove its chops? In my opinion, it’s all about the individuals. Whether you’re working with a massive multi-national or an up-and-coming digital shop, you should be able to find each and every member of their digital team on multiple social media channels. Your Account Manager should be on Facebook and Twitter. Your Creative Director should have an active LinkedIn account and maybe be the Mayor of something-or-other on Foursquare. Even the President should be active across some of these channels, as an agency cannot be committed to social media if they’re not actively involved.

A perfect example of this is Engine Digital, in Vancouver. Engine’s focus is on digital strategies and their presence in social media gives me confidence that they know exactly what they’re doing. Yes, Engine has a Twitter feed (@EngineDigital), but it’s the Engineers that are the most interesting to follow. All three partners (@_RichardRae, @MrStephenBeck, @kungfun) are on Twitter and are engaging their respective followers. They’re not simply pumping out company press releases, they have built real relationships with a wide-range of different people in the Twitterverse and know exactly how Twitter: The Tool works.

To be clear, none of these people have a million followers. Bloated follower-counts are not impressive. What you need to be looking for here are the aforementioned quality relationships within their networks. My previous post looks at some of these ideas in more detail, if you’re interested.

If you’d like a more clear example of the kind of dedication I’m talking about, how about a fictional one? Remember in Mad Men when they started the Television Department and Harry Crane just kind of took it over? That’s what I’d expect from the people working my social media account. The fictional agency, Sterling Cooper, had never had a TV Department, so no one really knew exactly what to do with it. Harry Crane watched TV 24-hours a day so he could see what spots were on, when they were coming on, what they were before and what they were after. He realized that to run a TV Department, he would need to know all that he could about TV and how it worked. Social media requires the exact same level of dedication.