fishlanguage

Is Apple the New Telegraph?

2009-11-09T19:20:00.000-08:00

This is a column on MediaPost's Video Insider that posits that what Apple has wrought on the world is just as significant as the invention of the electric telegraph.

What do you think?

I'm On It!

2009-10-13T07:51:00.000-07:00

... say Bank of America, General Electric and Levi's.

What they've done is each understands - before most advertisers - that their customers are beginning to tire of ads that refer to the economic downturn.

This morning's ADWEEK online tells the tale of a Harris Poll that confirms what the above advertisers knew intuitively (BofA produced their spots last summer, but launched them just two weeks ago).

Here's their story on nytimes.com (free access with registration).

It's Fun When Creativity Comes Alive

2009-10-08T08:47:00.000-07:00

Concepting creative is the lonely side of creativity. It's just you and a partner sweating out new ideas. But once you get your client's approval, it's suddenly a team sport. You hire a production company to be your partners in bring your ideas to life, and while production is terrifying at times, it's also a whole lot of fun.

Here's a case in point, a photo shoot for Volvo (by Morawski & Company - posted on LinkedIn) that got me remembering just how much fun it was.

Since we were talking about this on Monday...

2009-10-07T07:04:00.000-07:00

Here's some research on Twitter and other social media.

How to Find 50K Customers by Spending $0 on Paid Media

2009-10-02T20:51:00.000-07:00

I'm more than a little skeptical about this.

My wife and I were "Potential Customers" for a Prius after going to a drive-o-fair which included test drives (for each of us) and a truck trailer full of games, etc, that showed us all the reasons to buy a Prius.

Even our dog, Grace, jumped in the back of one and seemed happy with the space.

Nonetheless, after combing the alternatives, we bought a Ford Escape hybrid.

Read this and tell me what you think!

Agency of the Future?

2009-09-29T08:11:00.000-07:00

While we know that the business of advertising agencies is rapidly changing, we still don't know what it will look like. Probably there will be several different "new looks."

I hope one will be Mother.

P&G Never Misses a Marketing Opportunity

2009-09-25T07:34:00.000-07:00

Here's a pretty good example, an article in yesterday's New York Times by Andrew Adam Newman that shows how thorough the marketing process is at Proctor & Gamble when presented with an opportunity.

Dawn dish washing liquid has become the "soap of choice" by people who rescue sea birds after an oil spill. The article illustrates a case study in P&G Integrated Marketing Communications and show how each touchpoint works to re-enforce the others - the TV spot, the Facebook page, and the donation campaign.

Links all over the place. I especially liked the quack at the end of the TV spot.

It Must Be Gadget Day: this is pretty cool, too.

2009-09-24T10:47:00.000-07:00

Google is rolling out Sidewiki, "that allows people to post notes alongside Web sites that others using the same application can read."

Here it is via Online Media Daily, by Laurie Sullivan.

While We're Talking About Starbucks...

2009-09-24T10:41:00.000-07:00

... you might soon be able to pay for you're Soy Latte with your iphone.

Here's the story by Mary Walsh on Online Media Daily.

P&G: Marketing Needs to Work in the Store.

2009-09-21T10:00:00.000-07:00

When I was at Ketchum Advertising in the late 70s, and working on Safeway, we came up with a great idea and took it to our client, certain that it was a winner.

We suggested a "Paper Sale." A lot of people stock up on paper towels, toilet tissue, facial tissue and the like - we opined - and why not cut prices so that all of them could stock up while shooping at Safeway? We even pushed the envelope by suggesting that stationary, magazines anf books be included.

When the "pitch" was over, while they were very kind about it, they let us know how bad an idea it was. "That'd mean we'd have to stock a lot of paper to back the sale," said somebody.

"And all of it comes in big, huge boxes," said somebody else.

"And our backrooms don't have the space to handle all those big boxes and still be in business," said a third somebody.

"But thanks for thinking outside the box," said the boss - and everyone laughed. I think with us, not at us.

An article in today's AdAge Online begins, "If it doesn't work at the store, it's no longer a good marketing idea for Procter & Gamble Co., which increasingly is driving home this concept, known as "store back," with all its agencies, not just its so-called shopper-marketing shops."

And while it about more than store operations (per our Safeway fumble) the truth is that the shopping experience is crucial to brand performance. Here's the whole story.

Coca-Cola Still #1 Valued Brand. But...

2009-09-18T09:45:00.000-07:00

As the story says, "Consumers lost trust in brands this year as the recession deepened."

Here it is as reported by Associated Press/USA Today.

btw: Consumer trust didn't go down everywhere. Google takes the #7 spot in the order, up 25% over last year.

Starbucks: another perspective

2009-09-17T07:43:00.000-07:00

We talked about Starbucks in class on Wednesday. Here's another point of view: author Kevin Maney thinks Starbucks big mistake was when it tried to be both a special experience (the music, purple chairs, the Italian cup sizes, etc.) and convenient (one on every corner) at the same time.

A pretty interesting thesis. Get the story here.

Leno Show Backed by $10MM Campaign

2009-09-14T14:34:00.000-07:00

We talked - last week - about NBC and its desperation to save production money by "stripping" a Monday through Friday show from 10 to 11 pm starring Jay Leno.

Looks like the network is as serious as a heart attack.

NY Times advertising columnist, Stuart Elliott, explains NBC's predicament and the "off channel marketing" strategy that the network hopes will make this balloon rise.

nytimes.com may require a free registration to see this article.

The Beatles: Still the Strongest Brand in Music

2009-09-14T09:42:00.000-07:00

The recent success of the game "The Beatles: Rock Band" has cast new light on the legendary quartet which seems to be as profitable as ever.

How do they do it? By managing the brand very deliberately and carefully.

Here's a column in today's AdAge online by Beth Snyder Bulik that tells the story.

Chaos? Or creative destruction?

2009-09-13T06:34:00.000-07:00

As a follow-up to yesterday's post:

Why is it that whatever things are like, good or bad, we seem to think that's the way things will be from now on. Jimmy Carter talked of a national "malaise." And recently we experienced an "illogical exuberance" that was the lemming's cliff that failed to warn us about the coming crash.

Stephan Jay Gould once wrote an essay about why Joe DiMaggio's 56 consecutive game hitting streak would (probably) never be broken. The numbers, he wrote, are always chaotic near the beginning of any undertaking - which is where Joe was in 1941 - and then they flatten out.*

So along comes Jeff Goodby and in an AdAge (maybe OpEd?) column, he says pretty much the same thing about Bob Garfield's book.

Whistling past the graveyard? Or insightful thinking.

What do you say?

*(In checking these numbers I discovered that DiMaggio, when playing with the San Francisco Seals, had a 61 game streak.)

Whining About Advertising

2009-09-11T09:37:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while somebody starts the whining again. Advertising is bad. Bad, bad , bad. Badder than bad. It's, well, pretty darn terrible.

Bob Garfield, advertising critic for AdAge, quotes Samuel Johnson who, in 1759, wrote "Advertisements are now so numerous that they are very negligently perused, and it is therefore become necessary to gain attention by magnificence of promises, and by eloquence sometimes sublime and sometimes pathetic" foreshadowing Howard Gossage's "Is Advertising Worth Saving?"

Karl Marx gave the ad business a colorful spin when he wrote "Advertising is a bloated maggot feeding on the decaying corpse of capitalism."

Vance Packard hammered pretty hard on both advertising and consumerism in the 50s with "The Hidden Persuaders," and Wired magazine asked, on the cover of its February 1994 issue, "Is Advertising Finally Dead?"

And, of course, Adbusters is always with us.

Now it's Bob Garfield himself is winge-ing, of a sort, in a new book, The Chaos Scenario.

This morning's commentary on OnlineMediaDaily's "Over the Line" feature by George Simpson decides advertising is "Unloved. But Effective."

Here's a video that promotes The Chaos Scenario:

An interesting rant.

I HATE Ads That Try to Scare Me

2009-09-09T16:23:00.000-07:00

Here's an ad by Cramer-Krassalt for National Preparedness Month "which encourages people to be ready for any kind of disaster the universe might throw our way. Even the inexplicable, gravity-defying kind." Watch this:

What cultural crap!

Read what AdFreak says about our "government's emphasis on U.S. citizens' self-preparedness seems to confirm what most Americans already know: We'd better not rely on our government for help in times of disaster." Or not.

You're in College, Who Do You Trust?

2009-09-03T10:21:00.000-07:00

The the 2009 edition of Alloy Media + Marketing's College Explorer survey says Johnson & Johnson, Sony and Apple are at the top of your "who do you trust" list.

Here's the whole story on Media Daily News.

Sound about right to you? Or not?

Why Not Merge TV and Internet?

2009-09-02T16:07:00.000-07:00

"Michael Kokernak, a 20-year television industry veteran, has spent the past 13 years researching and inventing monetization technologies for the digital spectrum."

And Mr. Kokernak also suggests the modest proposition in the above headline.

Read his rationale here.

What do you think?

PC Strikes Back!

2009-08-30T17:27:00.000-07:00

We talked in class last week about the great Mac vs. PC campaign from TBWA\Chiat\Day for Apple.

Here's a big archive of the spots starting in 2006 to today.

The New York Times this morning featured a really interesting article by Devin Leonard about Microsoft's own I'm a PC campaign (via Crispin, Porter & Bogusky), headlined "Hey, PC, Who Taught You to Fight Back?"

Note: nytimes offers free access when you register.

Yawning in class? Ouch!

2009-08-25T07:33:00.000-07:00

McDonald's, not one of my favorites, humbles me this morning with an example of how truth makes advertising work.

Here's the story in this morning's Boston Globe.

btw: when you get to the bottom of the story, the "media and advertising professor at BU" suggests that this spot may be mistaken for programming. Do you agree?

Advertising Works.

2009-08-24T08:07:00.000-07:00

Go figure.

Unilever's new CEO, Paul Polman, banks on increased advertising and marketing - and comes out smelling sweet as, if not a rose, at least like AXE Revitalizing Shower Gel.

Here's the story on this morning's adage.com.

New TV Spots for NFL via Grey

2009-08-21T09:20:00.000-07:00

Here's the first look at the campaign for the National Football League created by Grey/NY using the (up to) 1,000 frames per minute Phantom camera.

I promised I'd get them to you as soon as I found 'em. Turns out, they found me - via Creativity online.

Ad Campaigns Launching This Week

2009-08-20T06:30:00.000-07:00

Here's the latest from around the world.

The Gap Takes TV Budget and Tosses It To Facebook

2009-08-19T11:49:00.000-07:00

In one of the strangest strategies I've seen, The Gap will use a Facebook page as the focus of an advertising campaign headlined "Born to Fit." The campaign revolves around "a new line of denim wear to help revive its sagging brand," according to ClickZ, a blog dedicated to digital marketing.

The Gap's digital agency, AKQA/San Francisco "created an (iPhone) app called the StyleMixer that lets users mix and match outfits and interact with friends on The Gap's Facebook page," says ClickZ and "the app will also reveal undisclosed 'surprises' when near a Gap store."

The new denim line is called "1969," the year the first Gap store opened. I remember shopping that store, which in those early days sold mostly Levi's brand products. It was located fairly close to San Francisco State in an old theater building, I think, on Ocean Avenue and it was always busy. Everyone was wearing denim in 1969.

The Facebook page was launched last Thursday and, as of this writing, already has 333,038 fans. I was the most recent registrant.

Why So Few Female Creative Directors?

2009-08-18T13:28:00.000-07:00

At the AdAge "Women to Watch in Advertising" luncheon, Tiffany Kosel, CD at Crispin, Porter & Bogusky, speaks up on the above question.

It's a 3-minute AdAge, so hang around for the finish - which is true as well as funny.

Les Paul: Musician, Inventor, Brand

2009-08-17T09:57:00.000-07:00

It might seem odd to think of people as brands - but we are. Every one of us is perceived by others as an individual with a specific history, reputation and persona, which adds up to who we are recognized as and what we stand for. Tom Peters, one of my business heroes, wrote about it, "The Brand Called You," in Fast Company - but that's a topic for another post.

This one is about the legendary Les Paul, whose brand stood for excellance and innovation, and who died last week at the age of 94. I was lucky enough to have seen him perform last March 23rd at the Iridium Jazz Club in Manhattan. The pictures here were taken by my friend, Phil Kann. Phil is a copywriter from the Bay Area who's worked in NY advertising for several years.

Les Paul seemed to have a clear picture of how to become a brand, and he talked about it during his show. He was a talented and versatile guitar player - but that's not enough in the age of the individual. Someone once told him that, while playing in a band, his playing wasn't loud enough. So he spent several years developing the solid-body electric guitar. You can buy one at most stores that sell guitars, it's the Les Paul model made by Gibson, the instrument that changed the sound of music in the last half of the 20th century.

He told a story about how he used to record while on the road. He, his wife Mary Ford - the vocalist for most of his hit records - and the trio would set up and tape in any room that had interesting acoustics.

Suddenly his bass player wanted to go back to college to study physics but, Les said, he was a damn good bass player. So he fooled around with a second recording head and - viola! - multi track recording was born. Les shipped the tapes "home" so the bassman could add his part while still being a physics student.

The night we were at the show, he pulled a guy out of the audience and made him take the stage. "This man," said Les, "taught me how to make Lego robots." Turns out the man is an engineer at IBM and he travels to schools and teaches kids how to make robots, intending to get them interested in computer science. Les Paul invited him over to his house and took a robot-making lesson.

How well did Les do? "I've had a lot of bright students," said Mr. Lego Robot, "but that old guy behind the guitar is the brightest one yet."

How did "Les Paul" become a "brand" in the music world (and beyond)? Simple. He was always ahead of most everybody else and always working on a problem that needed solving. He once said, "I just do these things because there's nobody else to do them." He chose his route carefully and followed it. Most of all, he stood for something.

Here's the obituary in last Thursday's New York Times [free with registration]. Scroll down for a real treat, a nytimes.com video of Les Paul telling his own story.

"Mad Men" Returns Tonight

2009-08-16T12:44:00.000-07:00

The third season of the advertising soap opera begins tonight at 10 pm on AMC, and I hope the show rises again to the standards of Season 1. Here's some of the buzz:

AMC's official Everything Mad Men page.

USA Today chews on the marketing power of the series.

The blog, tv.com, wonders 'What the Heck is Going to Happen On Mad Men?'

Frank Rich, in this morning's NY Times, contrasts MM to Woodstock in a really interesting column titled 'Mad Men Crashes Woodstock's Birthday.' Rich suggests that the early 196o's era fictional TV show is more relavent to 2009 than is the famous music festival of 1969. I think he's right. (Free access with registration)

At any rate, I'll be watching.

MONDAY MORNING UPDATE:
This MM review from TIME magazine pretty much sums up my opinions of episode 3.1 (except I found the hat distracting).

Let me know what you think.

A Big Idea Starts With a Big Question

2009-08-12T06:26:00.000-07:00

One of the cool things about advertising is that every day you're surrounded by people who look at things differently than you. All businesses talk about "embracing diversity of opinion," but in advertising, ideas are the product and creativity is the essence of everybody's job (OK, maybe not the accountant, but that accountant needs to understand creativity in order to be effective).

The blog, Presentation Zen, has an interesting topic this morning, "10 Tips on how to think like a designer," and like any big idea it starts with a big question.

"Most people do not really think about design and designers, let alone think of themselves as designers. But what, if anything, can regular people — teachers, students, business people of all types — learn from designers and from thinking like a designer?"

Creativity Top 5

2009-08-10T10:35:00.000-07:00

The early August edition.

Here's what's new.

Animal Planet Technique to Enhance NFL Players

2009-08-07T07:34:00.000-07:00

A super slow-motion camera - the same one used to show the beauty of running cheetahs on Animal Planet - is used in this season's ads in both traditional and new media for the National Football League.

Here's the story in todays advertising section at nytimes.com (free with registration).

The spots are created by Grey New York using a thousand-frames-per-second Phantom HD digital camera, built by Vision Research, that shoots video that is 10 times slower than previous NFL slo-mo film.

I chased around the 'net to see if the six initial spots are available, yet. No luck.

When they pop up in the next few days, I'll post them.

"Hey Girl, Jump On My Inertia and I'll Give You a Ride"

2009-08-05T09:33:00.000-07:00

An internship has become the Japanese Tea Ceremony of the American business world in that so many businesses use the ritualized "practice job" to evaluate people that they once would have hired on the spot.

The below came to my attention this morning (thanks, Steve Hall of AdRANTs). The 38 interns at (very good) ad agency, Crispin Porter + Bogusky in Boulder, Colorado made a rap video about being summer interns:

Here's a beta test for CP+G's "part agency website, part digital experiment." Pretty interesting.

Lay's Chips Jump On "Locally Grown" Bandwagon

2009-08-04T13:30:00.000-07:00

Here it is, an advertising installation on the ceiling of Chicago's Jackson Tunnel:

It's to remind you that your bag of Lay's Potato Chips are made from locally grown potatoes (or at least USA grown spuds).

Question: do people who eat potato chips care about where their crispy deep fried tuber flakes grow?

I don't think so.

Do you?

Here's the story on today's AdRants.

Got to love ad installations, though. Brings out-of-home alive with it's "You never saw this before" panache.

One More Thorn in Detroit's Paw

2009-08-03T08:21:00.000-07:00

Can you turn in your Clunker for a 75 mpg Vespa? No, but Piaggio Americas is doing everything a niche brand can to make the most of the current economy.

The scooter business soared last year, but took a dive in 2009. Piaggio replies with event marketing and online and print advertising.

An event in Central Park, backed with some hard sell advertising ("Vespa's Stimulus Package," "Vespanomics," "$0 down $0 payments 0% interest") that aims at revving up some sales for Piaggio Americas' best-known brand. Here's an AdAge 3 Minute Video.

How Agencies Are Getting Smart on Social Media

2009-07-31T08:44:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I know most of you know more about Social Media than I - and a lot of people in advertising - do.

Agencies are taking different routes to get up to speed. This video surveys just a few strategies, including "BBDO, (who hires) young mentors to teach all their executives how to Facebook, blog, Twitter and otherwise function and think like authentic social-media players."

Required Friday Reading

2009-07-31T06:55:00.000-07:00

MediaPost's Over the Line blog this morning was guest-written by George Simpson, who ground out a navel-gazing piece that looks dressed-up to discuss advertising ethics and the current ad climate, but seems more directed at stirring up reaction from ad people.

Oh, yeah. And drawing attention to George H. Simpson, who claims to be an "Expert in Advertising and Internet Trade Media Relations" but admits to being a PR practitioner.

The well written column's first sentence is a great quote from Randall Rothenberg, "Advertising is the makeup on the public face of capitalism.” And MediaPost calls Over The Line "A Lighthearted Look At Advertising and Media." Take both of those into consideration.

Can Michael Vick Come Back?

2009-07-30T07:30:00.000-07:00

Much has been written questioning whether QB and convicted felon, Michael Vick, will ever wear an NFL uniform again. This morning, ADWEEK assumes his return but questions whether he can ever be a credible spokesman again.

I, too, think the issue will turn on how he handles himself. Will he make PSAs against animal cruelty for the SPCA (I agree that he should stay away from PETA)? If so, can he be believable? What other community causes could he help? Will he?

Don't look for Mr. Vick to pitch Manwich, Campbell's Chunky Soup or Ford Trucks, but as David Schwab, VP of Octagon Sports Marketing says, "There are always categories that sometimes become risk-immune almost and I would [identify those as ] videogame and sneakers. That's where you see Ray Lewis, that's where you see Allen Iverson. I think those brands will watch how consumers react to him. Those consumers are typically not the pet lover...If there were going to be industries that would bring him back as an endorser, I think videogames and shoes would be the first places to look."

What's a Song Worth?

2009-07-28T07:19:00.000-07:00

Well, how much would you pay for it?

That's a question that an online music vendor is working on right now.

On Monday, The Orchard announced an agreement with Digonex Technologies Inc., described as "a company that gathers sales data, analyzes purchasing behavior and sets new prices that," according to its Web site, "hit the 'sweet spot' where consumer demand and market potential meet."

In other words, the tunes in this orchard will be priced based on how ripe you - and other buyers - think they are at the time you're shopping for digital music. Hmmm.

Here's the story from yesterdays National Public Radio program, Morning Edition. Read - or listen - here.

What's more, Digonex - which calls this scheme Dynamic Pricing - is confident that other things, including concert tickets and shoes, can be sold the same way.

MySpace Bets on Gaming for Comeback

2009-07-27T07:29:00.000-07:00

MySpace, I'm sure everyone knows, fell behind FaceBook in total users some months ago - and the gap continues to open.

What to do?

This morning Diane Mermigas, editor-at-large of MediaDailyNews, posted a column that lays out a MySpace plan to come roaring back by becoming a gaming monster-site, a plan that looks both risky and expensive.

Here's details.

The Worst TV Spot I've Seen In a While

2009-07-23T10:29:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, there was a TV show in San Francisco called Dance Party. Now, this is before I moved to San Francisco, but I'd heard of it from locals. Kathleen - my spouse - remembers it vividly. Remembered that it was on channel 5 and watched it all the time.

My friend, Dennis Rosselli - who went to Riordan - remembers that if somebody showed up to high school wearing a tie, every noontime wag would holler, "Hey, look who's going on Dance Party after school!"

So that's the background for AdGabbers critique this morning (I wonder if Steve Hall, is from the Bay Area, too?) of an unusually bad commercial. Or is it that bad?

Strategically, it's aimed at bay area boomers like Kathleen and Dennis who may never have heard of Weaver's before but would recognize Dance Party in an instant and - so the advertiser hopes - will remember the name. Might work, but not much brand building here, however.

I suspect that KOFY Channel 20 made the "retail" spot for Weaver's Coffee & Tea - which I had no knowledge of until seeing AdGabber. Not a bad media plan, though, with costs down due to the economy a local TV buy is probably pretty efficient.

Turns out John Weaver is a local aging surf dude who learned to roast coffee at Peet's, where the Starbucks guys trained.

I'll look for the brand, but hate the TV spot. I guess it might be working, already.

David Ogilvy: father of modern advertising

2009-07-22T10:42:00.000-07:00

As a young, enthusiastic advertising professional (I was still a jack-of-all-trades, headed for a couple of solid years writing copy and producing spots) I was influenced by the writing of some of the greats of so-called "modern advertising." These would eventually include Jerry Della Femina, Jay Chiat and - when I joined management, and eventually was named president of an ad agency and then proprietor of my own ad venture - Tom Peters. And, of course Howard Gossage, who some argue, is the first of the post-modern ad minds (followed by Riney, Goodby, et al).

Each of these, in different ways. helped me to understand the world of advertising but the first one I read was David Ogilvy.

Fortune editor at large Patricia Sellers reminds us today, with a "Postcard from the Pinnacles of Power," how wise Ogilvy was about the business of advertising - and about the life of the people who work in it.

Here's David Ogilvy in action (you might want to save this for sometime when you have some time - it's 55 minutes, but worth it):

I Think It Was Leo Burnett Who Said:

2009-07-20T11:10:00.000-07:00

"Nothing kills a bad product quicker than good advertising."

If that's the truly the case, then Twitter might be good advertising for movie goers... but not for some movie makers.

Part of the story, as told last Friday on National Public Radio 's All Thing's Considered, is movie fans who see the pictures early and spread "peer reviews" praising or damning the films.

Meanwhile, reuters.com blames Twitter for the quickness of this thumbs up/thumbs down networking, some of which - says Reuters' Alex Dobuzinskis - happens while viewers are still in the theater.

"Interesting fact about recessions ... they end."

2009-07-17T07:54:00.000-07:00

Or so says a line on a series of billboards funded by an anonymous East Coast donor who is disturbed by America's Chicken Little reaction to the recession. The campaign is called "Recession 101" and the space is being provided pro-bono by "members of the Outdoor Advertising Agency of America" says the post on msnbc.com. (Sidebar: a Google search for "Outdoor Advertising Agency of America" shows only references to this story. I suspect that they really mean "Outdoor Advertising Association of America.")

Meanwhile, MediaPostDaily has an article this morning that trumpets Ad Spending Confidence Rebounds, Improves For Most Major Media. The survey indicates that ad spending confidence bottomed out in the spring of 2009 and that it's on the rebound. Granted that "confidence in spending" is not the actual signing of a big check, but as "Recession 101" says, "Interesting fact about recessions ... they end."

We All Hate Some Ads: but a study shows that we don't hate all ads

2009-07-16T16:16:00.000-07:00

We've all met them. People who condemn advertising for "blighting" our TV, movie and computer screens - plus more mundane "opportunities" like radio, highway billboards, over urinals and on grocery store floors - with advertising. Or who say, "I never make a buying decision using ads because I don't pay attention to advertising." Or who theorize that "advertising makes people buy things they don't want or need."

Each one of these has an element of truth. Advertising in general has overcrowded all of our lives with ads for crap or copycat products and/or badly conceived and badly executed ads.

There's plenty to hate right there, but read on.

This, from today's adweek.com, is the top line results of a global survey that found, among other things, that "67 percent of respondents agreeing (including 14 percent agreeing 'strongly') that 'Advertising funds low-cost and free content on the Internet, TV, newspapers and other media.' Likewise, 81 percent agreed (22 percent strongly) that 'Advertising and sponsorship are important to fund sporting events, art exhibitions and cultural events.'"

Pretty interesting stuff to think about.

Mobile Ads About to Live Up to Potential

2009-07-15T07:37:00.000-07:00

I had lunch Monday with a former student who works in mobile-handset advertising. The conversation, naturally, turned to business and how powerful that medium could eventually be.

This morning forbes.com has a story by Laurie Burkitt headlined Commercials On The Go that underscores our chat with some hard data, some history of the business and how mobile media is starting to work with TV networks.

btw: my former student, now a very busy mobile media professional, is looking for interns. If you'd like to get in on the proverbial ground floor, let me know and I'll send you the details.

Could You Live Without Facebook?

2009-07-14T07:28:00.000-07:00

While I find Facebook a very convenient way to stay in touch, I probably could live without it.

Though, in fact, I don't really use Social Media as much as I might.

Here's a report on a study from this morning's OnlineMedia Daily that shows Facebook is America's favorite with 78 million regular users - and that 71% of us say we "can't live without it."

To put this study (by Anderson Analytics) in another perspective, here's media critic Joseph Jaffe on more practical aspects of new media, it's use or misuse as a selling tool and thinking critically about research in general:

10,000 Lakes and a Number of Pretty Good Ad Agencies

2009-07-13T07:59:00.000-07:00

The advertising community in Minneapolis has just launched a campaign to lure ad folks to "The Land of 10,000 Lakes."

Stuart Elliott tells the story of MinneADpolis in today's nytimes.com.

I have deep roots in Minnesota. Ancestors on my mother's side homesteaded on the prairie in Stearns County in 1848. Samuel Manon Clayton, my grandfather's grandfather, served with distinction in the 4th Minnesota Infantry Volunteers in the Civil war. My paternal great-grandfather, an immigrant from Bavaria, opened a meat market in St. Paul in 1886.

It seems I've got cousins all over the state.

Is it San Francisco? No, not quite. But it is a solid ad center, second only in the midwest to Chicago. Fallon, one of the great creative agencies, was founded in Minneapolis. Carmichael Lynch and Campbell Mithun made advertising history there, too.

Here's the web site. And here's the MinneADpolis YouTube channel.

When you go looking for a career in advertising, MinneADpolis should be on your prospecting list.

Why the Internet Should Be Accredited As An Institution of Higher Learning

2009-07-12T12:16:00.000-07:00

I present for your information and edification my new favorite education site, thanks to AdRants.

My old favorite sinks - but not too deeply - to Number 2.

The Dead Poet Wants You to Wear Levi's

2009-07-05T07:34:00.000-07:00

Levi Strauss & Company launches a major new campaign Wednesday (via Wieden & Kennedy, Portland) according to New York Times advertising critic, Stuart Elliott, who writes, "The campaign, which begins Wednesday, will include commercials on television, online and in movie theaters; print advertisements; outdoor and transit signs and posters; social media sites like Facebook; event marketing; and a contest on a section of the brand’s own Web site." (NYTimes offers free access with registration.)

The "anthem" TV spot features audio that is from an 1890s Edison-made wax cylinder thought to be 19th century American poet Walt Whitman reciting his poem, America.

The website loads pretty slow, or at least it did this morning, so have patience.

You might also like to read what Creative Review has to say.

What do you think of this campaign - especially if you're the target!

Hooray for the R/W/B!

2009-07-04T05:56:00.000-07:00

(Some of this is from my blog of last 4th of July; the 2009 edition adds a few new thoughts and a couple of videos.)

One of my favorite movies - and my favorite to watch today - is 1776, closely adapted from the Broadway musical of the same name. My inner history geek warns you to not take it too much as literal history (hey, it's a musical)! But much of the dialog between John Adams and his wife Abigail is lifted from their letters to each other during the period. And lots of the dialog of other characters - including Jefferson - is quoted from correspondence, too, much of it from later years as 1776 was remembered.

Here's my favorite number from the show, Ben Franklin (Howard Da Silva), Thomas Jefferson (Ken Howard) and John Adams (William Daniels) are in the hallway outside of the Continental Congress meeting room as the Declaration of Independance is read for the first time - and the three are already making myths for the new United States:

One musical number, Cool, Cool Considerate Men, is a slap at conservative southern-colony representatives - most of them astride vast land holdings and considerable family fortunes - who balked at signing, or even debating, the Declaration. When the play was presented at the Nixon White House, legend has it that the President asked composer Sherman Edwards to cut the number from the show. According to that legend, Edwards refused.

What seems pretty certain, however, was that when the play became film, then still-President Nixon asked old California friend and movie magnate Jack Warner to delete the offending tune. Warner, who produced the movie, complied.

The film was released without the offending song and the eventual VHS version was that one.

Years later, when the DVD was compiled, several scenes were reinstated, including CCCM. Here it is. See what you think of it:

I'm sure that's the version that'll be on TV tonight. It's scheduled to be shown on cable channel TCM (commercial-free, I believe) at 7:15pm PDT.

Or rent from Netflix.

Sidebar: In the year 1776, Benjamin Franklin had recently returned from five years in England where he'd been appealing to Parliament to reverse oppressive taxes and/or grant Parliamentary representation to the American colonies which, he was sure, would rebel if these considerations were not made. Frustrated in his attempts, he returned to America, became a member of the Congress and, well, you know the rest.

Franklin was also probably the wealthiest man in America at the time. His fortune, essentially due to his ad-supported publishing enterprises, is the reason why he is considered by some historians as "America's first advertising man."

Printers Dance Outshines Network, Wins Award

2009-07-03T07:22:00.000-07:00

D&AD (originally founded as British Design and Art Direction) is an English organization dedicated to representing "the global creative, design and advertising communities. Since 1962, D&AD has set industry standards, educated and inspired the next generation and, more recently, has demonstrated the impact of creativity and innovation on enhancing business performance," says their website.

They also have an initiative to support "New Creatives" and advertising students.

Steve Hall of advertising blog AdRants calls our attention to the fact that a couple of ad aspirants named Matt Robinson and Tom Wigglesworth won a D&AD Student Award for this HP spot:

Note Steve's end comment, "The only thing that's a bit unclear? The work is actually for HP Workstations and not the printers."

What's in a Name?

2009-07-02T07:12:00.000-07:00

I have one of those names that people want to know about. When I first went to school in Dayton's Bluff - the old German neighborhood in St. Paul, MN, where my family kept Pabst, Inc., a grocery store - kids on the Sacred Heart school playground asked "are you from the store down the block?"

Yeah, that was us.

Of course I knew about Pabst Blue Ribbon, too, since they sponsored the Wednesday and Friday night (boxing) fights on the new medium of TV. Even though we were in no known way connected to those Milwaukee Pabsts.

It occurs to me now that those fight nights on content-hungry black and white early television might have been the first reality shows!

So, when we moved to Arizona I wasn't surprised that the Blue Ribbon connotation lingered on.

As the PBR brand shrunk (it was merged into the Heileman Old Style family in the 90s), store clerks approving my checks would nonetheless remark, "Didn't that used to be a big beer in the Midwest?"

Yeah, it was, if you were middle aged as well as Midwestern. Because in the early 21st century the brand was revived (out of sight) by marketing to 21-somethings who went to clubs catering to local indi-bands, cheap beer and a semi-boho culture.

A brilliant strategy, really: recreate a brand by refusing to acknowledge that it is a brand.

My students in the 1990's, when I began to teach at USF, called me Professor Pabst. By the turn of the 20th century - as email became common - I was GP, my signature on all electronic communications.

Since about 2004, as PBR grew to prominence in the college underground, I became Pabst. (Also Pabst to many of my faculty friends, though this is probably more due to an archaic old-school type camaraderie in which "chums" call each other by our surnames.)

Now, the moniker transmogrifies before my very eyes. For last week in an "ugly dog" contest at California's Marin-Sonoma Fair, the contest was won (or lost, depending how you keep score in such an event) by a boxer-mix with an underbite named Pabst.

It stings a little, but I'll get over it.

It's still an easier name to explain than Hitler. Or Rin-tin-tin.

Storytellers Never Go Hungry

2009-07-01T07:20:00.000-07:00

In many ways, "pitching" is at the core of advertising, persuading clients to see things like their customers do, or persuading media outlets and publishers to make their product more flexible in order to reach more customers.* It's a process called rhetoric, and it's all about communicating (called, in the ad world, "selling") ideas.

The cornerstone of the process is in knowing how to communicate in a way that engages your target audience and expresses your ideas in a way that all can understand.

I came across an article last week in which an anthropologist hypothesized that, in the hard times of the Ice Age, humans were threatened with extinction because nothing was as it was before. Due to climate change, animals no longer migrated as before, crops could no longer be counted on to mature in the same places and times. The result was humans had to adapt, to literally change the way their brain operated and one of these adaptations was the development of a more sophisticated language - a modern language, if you will.

And with language comes story telling, one of the most powerful ways we communicate.

Here's a how-to from this morning's businessweek.com called "Let Me Tell You a Story."

If you're a fan of Mad Men, you've seen this kind of pitching, especially the Kodak pitch in the final episode of season one - "The Wheel."

My favorite Mad Men pitch.

* and many, many more

TV's Road to Become Interactive Steers Twitter-ward

2009-06-30T05:44:00.000-07:00

Not so long ago, television tried to become a player on Second Life. Anybody here still on 2ndL? Why do I always get the same hands?

And the fantasy world of Second Life wasn't TV's only failure at interactivity. Why?

Andrew Wellenstein, from the Hollywood Reporter appeared on NPR's All Things Considered yesterday afternoon and suggested, "Perhaps there's some fundamental disconnect between the passive experience of watching TV and the interactive nature of the Internet."

Here's where to hear the whole story.

Join LinkedIn or a Frat/Sorority?

2009-06-29T05:25:00.000-07:00

This morning's economist.com answers that Social Media "is booming, but they have not supplanted more traditional business networks."

Read this.

Spike Lee on Creativity

2009-06-26T12:59:00.000-07:00

Film maker Spike Lee, who launched his own ad agency called "Spike DDB," in 1996, is at the same time a sharp critical analyst of the advertising business.

He was recently interviewed on creativity at the Cannes International Advertising Festival and said - among other things - "they better start hiring some of these young people quick before they start their own agency and put 'em out of business." Here's the video highlights of that interview.

Here's a blog entry, written from Cannes, in which Lee asks the question, "With user-generated content, who needs ad agencies?"

Got an answer?

Marketing Strategy: Get Out of Town!

2009-06-25T07:01:00.000-07:00

As the travel industry shrinks - like many other businesses in this economy - marketing strategies are going farther than ever.

Here's a story from today's New York Times that recaps three of the most clever ideas [free registration].

Two Brands, One Message

2009-06-24T06:56:00.000-07:00

DDB West has created a set of TV spots that have " the same creative theme, music, look and feel for all," but which support two distinct brands - Wells Fargo or Wachovia. And some are said to trumpet Wells Fargo and Wachovia, which may constitute a third brand.

Here's the story in this morning's MarketingDaily, a MediaPost publication.

Is this the end of the Stagecoach, possibly one of the strongest corporate images in marketing? I doubt it. In the first spot following the acquisition of Wachovia, DDB cast a shadow of the famous Wells Concord Coach on both Eastern and Western landmarks.

Here's that spot:

Who Likes Advertising?

2009-06-23T07:59:00.000-07:00

If you're in the 18 to 34 Demographic, research says you do!

Here's the results of a Harris Poll as seen this morning on AdAge online.

Any ideas why?

Creepy King Tough Competitor, But Not Fast Enough

2009-06-22T07:43:00.000-07:00

Burger King's advertising - from the almost-always-brilliant Crispin, Porter + Bogusky - gets a lot of attention, but isn't closing in on the category leaders.

Here's the story on this morning's AdAge online.

Why doesn't good advertising always equate to more business?

Alert: Twitter Users

2009-06-22T07:11:00.000-07:00

It was bound to happen, Twitter carries a fake invitation that carries a worm.

Details here.

'Interactive TV' Raises Its Head. Again.

2009-06-19T07:45:00.000-07:00

I got my first advertising job in 1973, when cable TV was only in rural areas where an on-air signal couldn't reach. "CATV," now recognized as "Cable TV," was actually an acronym for "Community Antenna Television," and wasn't taken too seriously as a main-stream advertising medium.

Nonetheless, there was much speculation that, when cable came to the cities, it would would be a whole new game. The game was a little late in starting, however.

By the 80s, cable channels - especially MTV and CNN - made ad agencies take notice. When broadcasting met the computer age in the 90s, more of the promise of the medium came to life and broadcasters and ad people started to talk about the distant dream of "interactive television."

Now with all TV digitized in the US, interactive TV is, at least technically, a reality. See the story on this morning's MediaPost TV Board.

Student Campaign Identifies "Stupid Drink:" Wins National Competition

2009-06-18T07:53:00.000-07:00

I was at the American Advertising Annual Conference two weeks ago - acting as an "official" at the National Student Advertising Competition - and saw the winning campaign.

A good concept, a great presention and a solid execution from the Syracuse University team put them on top.

This morning's MediaDailyNews has the wrap-up story.

MySpace Sheds 30% of Workers

2009-06-17T06:23:00.000-07:00

Last week, I had lunch with a former student of mine who has worked with a subsidiary of MySpace for a couple of years. She told me that rumors were flying that big cutbacks were on the way.

She was right, the News Corp. owned division will - as Gavin O'Malley of Online Media Daily wrote today - drop the axe on 30% of its workers.

When I know, I'll let you know if my student is one of them.

Ad People Pull Together in Tough Times

2009-06-15T14:22:00.000-07:00

When I was in New York in late March, I attended two advertising events that strained in different directions as if they were Dr. Doolittles pushmepullyous.

The first was held at a beautiful glassed-in meeting room at the New York Times that honored the 2009 inductees to American Advertising Association's Hall of Fame. This first event was a reception in a beautiful setting (the sun was setting slowly over Manhattan in winter and the renzo Piano glass box that is the NYT headquarters never looked better). I got nice wine and canapes plus a chance to meet and talk with some of 2009's - as well as past HoF - honorees.

These are all people who've been good for advertising and who advertising has been extremely good to (read $).

After 90 minutes among the elite I hailed a cab and went further downtown for an event in an Irish-themed bar on 3rd Avenue sponsored by AdAge "honoring" ad people who had been laid off in the current economic downturn. It was called "This Sucks... Let's Play." The bar was not quite as photogenic as NYT, nor was the event as festive.

These are all people who've been good to Advertising but who advertising has NOT been extremely good to, but had provided a good living, until recently.

I talked to several people who'd been let go before for economic reasons and many of them expressed a desire to finally leave the business and get into something "more stable." A bottom-line loss to the business of advertising.

I knew I'd blog about this sooner or later but didn't really know how to resolve my own conflicts with the two events.

Then, this morning I saw - or rather heard - a resolution. NPR's Morning Edition featured a segment titled "Ad Agency Finds 2 for 1 Deal in Downturn."

As the story states, "Ariel Horn, who runs The Horn Corp., a Manhattan ad agency, has found both a way to help the numerous unemployed ad workers in New York, and a new business model."

Yes, I believe this is what I was looking for.

This may be the business model advertising needs now!

Comments appreciated!

Raising Temperatures With Viral Marketing

2009-06-15T07:30:00.000-07:00

Here's a pretty good example of the much-talked-about but misunderstood genre of "viral marketing."

One time Oakland A's batboy Stanley Burrell, known professionally as MC Hammer, was red hot from the late 80s to mid-90s. Since then, his career has gone cold enough to run a Popsicle plant for a week.

Recently Hammer has bathed in the warmth of both a blog and, the hottest thing online, Twitter, the combination of which was just enough to raise some heat at A&E.

Last night the cable network launched a "docu-drama" series called Hammertime, "which," says Online Media Daily, "chronicles the present-day life of '90s mega celebrity and current celebritwit,* MC Hammer."

Here's the story, gold parachute pants and all.

Don't miss the video.

*This is a new word for me. At first reading it seemed pejorative, reminiscent of the classic Monty Python sketch, "Upper Class Twit of the Year."

Twitter: on the other hand (Tevya said)

2009-06-12T16:07:00.000-07:00

I just opened my latest edition of TIME Magazine (June 15, 2008) and found an article starting on page 32 titled How Twitter Will Change The Way We Live (in 140 characters or less).

So much for shark jumping.

Here's my checkered record on prognostication, so far:

- I said nobody will ever drink light beer.

After completely blowing that one, and several more like it, I hid behind a Dichotomy Strategy,

- I said I didn't know which way the internet would go (ca. 1997), it might be CB Radio or it might be TV. (Looks more like a form of TV every day)

Twitter, seems to me, will be either baseball cards on cigarette packages or a new form of the telegraph. I've written myself a note to find this post in the Internet Archive "Wayback Machine" in 2019. I hope I don't embarrass myself, too much.

Colorful, but Messy.

2009-06-12T14:04:00.000-07:00

Today's AdRants has a pretty good review of a video for Ray Ban sunglasses.

Watch the Ray Ban video, read the review, then come back here to see the Sony Bravia spot that Steve Hall is talking about.

What do YOU think?

More Evidence of Shark Jumping

2009-06-12T10:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I pondered the question: has Twitter jumped the shark?

This morning ReadWriteWeb asks: Are Trolls Ruining Social Media? Pretty much the same question.

Evidence is that celebrities are bailing out of the Big T because it's no longer fun to "hang out with people online," due to celeb-haters, says Twilight author Stephanie Meyer.

Get the story here.

While Commercial Radio Shrinks...

2009-06-12T06:45:00.000-07:00

... more American ears tune in NPR.

Here's the story on this morning's Mashable.

Fun facts:
- NPR's daily audience is 11 times the size of USA Today's circulation.
- Almost all news NPR broadcasts is available via an "open scource" policy.

One More Twitter Thing...

2009-06-11T14:22:00.000-07:00

Pepsi UK is about to print its Twitter URL on millions of cans of cola.

"Twitter has officially reached mainstream" writes Stan Schroeder on Mashable - though he also speculates that it may turn out that Twitter has jumped the shark.

What do you think?

Gone with the windy...

2009-06-11T12:04:00.000-07:00

Here's a brand new viral spot for Breyers Ice Cream. Trite, but you can't help but have a love/hate thing for Jane Krakowsky.

Find more videos like this on AdGabber

I'm biased in that I hated the movie - tried to watch it several times and never went the distance.

Twitter is here...

2009-06-11T09:58:00.000-07:00

... but I don't care what you're doing now.

"Creating cold fusion in a mayonnaise jar?" Nope.

"Casting a curse on my Ex while making a sandwich?" Not interested.

"Reading Homer in the original Greek?" Not even close.

But the potential of the technology is pretty impressive. Here's a couple of people who are making the tweeters sing:

- Nestle is inviting Moms to play along with the home vrsion of the game. They can post tweets within JuicyJuice ad units that can appear anywhere on the net.

- And this one is all about how and why Twitter works. Carri Bugbee is a PR practitioner in Portland, Oregon and she's founding a Twitter Advertising Agency. She believes that the medium works because it quickly connects people with similar interests. (AdAge video)

As Spock* says, "Fascinating!"

(*I saw the new movie. It's great.)

Ads, ads everywhere

2009-05-08T08:24:00.000-07:00

If you watched "Lost" last week you may have seen the Starship Enterprise come zooming out of the "O" in the opening sequence - a plug for the new Star Movie about to hit a screen near you.

This article in AdAge online reports on a whole lot of new places ads have appeared recently and it looks to be a broadening trend.

Another "How to" today

2009-03-18T12:33:00.000-07:00

How Chris Hughes Helped Launch Facebook and the Barack Obama Campaign.

Here's how it starts:
"The untold story of how Chris Hughes, today only 25 years old, helped create two of the most successful startups in modern history, Facebook and the Barack Obama campaign."

Read it in Fast Company (thanks for the link to SmartBrief for Social Media).

Guerilla Gorilla

2009-03-18T08:44:00.000-07:00

This morning's post is a "how to" on launching a successful viral video. The case studied is the much seen Gorilla Drummer for Cadbury.

Here's the link to the critique.

And if you haven't seen it - or would like to see it again, I know I did - here's the video:

Skin? Is It In? Beach Volleyball Says 'Yes'

2009-03-16T11:41:00.000-07:00

As many often overlooked sports stuggle for attention, Beach Volleyball - which made its mark on the recent Olympics - seems to have taken the "ball by the horns."

This from Stuart Elliott's column today in the New York Times (free registration) on an advertising campaign for the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP).

What do you think? Does this degrade the sport? Or raise it to a higher level of awareness? Or somewhere in between?

Let me know!

Now You Can Bathe in Disney Culture 24/7

2009-03-11T08:19:00.000-07:00

It's probably a sign that the much awaited apocalypse is finally near. (No, I'm not a fan of The Mouse, et al. Could you tell?)

But if you are, count $74.99 out your penny jar and you can join the club and live and breathe Disney to the ultimate.

Your membership gets you, among other goodies, a quarterly ad-free magazine, Disney twenty-three, which is described as "a hybrid entertainment and lifestyle magazine." Yikes! The plague is spreading.

My advice: see if one of Amazon's used book partners has a copy of Carl Hiaasen's screed-as-book, Team Rat. 'Nuf said.

Here's the story in this morning's MediaDailyNews.

HULU May Have An Auto-immune Problem

2009-03-09T15:33:00.000-07:00

Hulu.com, my source for the best of Saturday Night Live, 30 Rock and more, has an apparently unwelcome partner in software developer Boxee - who recently figured out how to feed Hulu content to hi-def TVs.

But the folks at Hulu HQ (NBC, Universal Studios and FOX) didn't like it one bit.

Here's the latest story on MacUser by Dan Moren.

(Thanks for the heads-up to Phil Kann!)

Will We All Pay to Watch Commercials?

2009-02-16T11:37:00.000-08:00

No, that headline's no fish-hook, it's a real question.

There's a lot of ways we get content to our various screens. See the New York Times Magazine issue on "Screens." (Come back for the link tomorrow.)

It probably started with YouTube - whose videos grow longer and more professional as time goes by. And last September, Amazon joined Hulu, iTunes and Netflix in streaming significant media.

But today's MediaPost OnlineVideoInsider takes on the topic of your ISP charging you for watching content online if you go over a monthly "limit" of bandwidth. And what if that content carries ads? Will consumers revolt? After all, we watch commercials before movies. And cable TV has ads, even though we pay for the extra channels on our TV service. And, accually, we already pay a fee to our ISP to have Hulu deliver an episode of 30 Rock. Should they charge you more for delivering more, or should you be rewarded for being a loyal customer?

AdRants Scoops Up a Mound of Super Bowl Ad Critiques

2009-02-02T11:24:00.000-08:00

With tweets from AdFreak, AgencySpy and Adland, AdRants separated the wheat from the chaff.

Doritos still finishes strong.

Best Super Bowl Spot: "Doritos" Says USA Today

2009-02-02T08:20:00.000-08:00

Super Bowl Sunday has become the ad business' 4th of July - "let's kick back, eat, drink and salute the the culture that is advertising!"

And USA Today's "Ad Meter" announced this morning that Doritos won the sack race. Watch the top 11 and vote your favorite.

Chris Rock Provides Inspiration to Business Guru

2009-01-28T07:09:00.000-08:00

And in the pages of Harvard Business, yet. This morning Peter Sims described as "an author and strategic adviser specializing in leadership and innovation" wrote that "In an eerie way, Chris Rock innovates like Amazon does."

Here's the whole story.

What Medium Delivered You The Inauguration?

2009-01-26T10:02:00.000-08:00

This morning Eric Franchi, senior vp of business development at Undertone Networks, takes a glance backwards and notes that much of the technology used by people attending or watching the Obama Inauguration either didn't exist at the time of the last inauguration - or was in it's infancy.

Here's the story on MediaPost's Online Video Insider.

If You Were Going To Feature Real Products in a TV Show...

2009-01-22T07:09:00.000-08:00

... what would that TV show be about and what products could it spotlight?

Let's see, The Sopranos could feature big, black SUVs and, oh, maybe bullets. NCIS... maybe products used in autopsies like sponges and scalpels and rubber aprons. Law & Order? How about some of those lawyers (already on late night TV) who promise to get you money if you've "been in an accident?" Actually, that'd work for Sopranos, too.

Wait, there's one scenario that opens the door to almost any product - a show about an ad agency!

TNT's new Trust Me (premiering next Monday night at 10 pm) is that show. If you're a fan of Mad Men (as am I) we'll be watching just to see if it measures up. Remember, this is the show that springs from the experiences and imaginations of a couple of ad vets from Chicago.

I can't wait.

In the meantime, TNT, Unilever and - we assume - media planners everywhere are watching to see if "branded entertainment" - which will be practiced freely and unashamedly on Trust Me - breaks through in a way that 30-second commercials don't. Here's the story in this morning's New York Times (free access with registration).

Dunkin' Donuts Coffee Jumps on the "Optimism" Bandwagon

2009-01-20T10:37:00.000-08:00

But Dunkin' does it better than most campaigns - like Pepsi (whose controversial new logo has been seen as possibly an egregious "borrow" of the Obama '88 graphic) or especially the heavy handed Coke "Open Happiness" campaign.

The DD Coffee campaign is themed "You 'kin do it."

A New York Times column (free registration) by Stuart Elliott quotes Boston agency Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos - senior vice president and group creative director, Tom Cawley:

“If you need a treat because you’re so hard-working, you can do it,” Mr. Cawley says, summarizing what the theme is supposed to convey. “It’s a message of positivity without pandering.”
In developing the theme, everyone sought to avoid making it “come across as rah-rah or in a frivolous way,” he adds, because “that would have felt off.”
Similarly, the agency and Dunkin’ Donuts realize the economy is “a bad situation,” Mr. Cawley says, and do not want to appear as if they are trying “to capitalize on it.”
He poked fun at that kind of ad by offering a make-believe example: “‘Times are tough. That’s why we’re your cooking spray.’”

The article also has a link to the initial "anthem" TV spot.

I like the strategy and the execution except that any caffeine beverage might be substituted DDC if it didn't brand "'kin."

Aside: Dunkin' Donuts have claimed over and over that their coffee beats Starbucks for both taste and value:

Dunkin' Donuts Beat Starbucks National Taste Test - video powered by Metacafe

How Media Is Embracing Something Medium-rare: Cooperation With Its Competition

2009-01-20T09:56:00.000-08:00

In this morning's MediaPost TV Board, Mitch Oscar writes about "co-opetition," in which several unlikely media bedmates - including the RIAA, the bad cop in music-sharing who are now working with with the Internet Service Providers who have been the "enablers" of free downloading, but may now become the good cops.

Lots more examples are also cited.

Creativity Top 5

2009-01-12T15:55:00.000-08:00

See this week's five best ads as chosen by Creativity Magazine.

NY Agency Has a Big Idea. Detroit Big 3 Hasn't a Clue.

2009-01-12T13:25:00.000-08:00

Ad execs from Madison Avenue agency Kelmenson, Davis & Associates have been trying for a year to put together a nonprofit domestic auto-industry forum that would make Americans aware of Detroit's importance to our nation's economy and culture.

KD&A think $50 million would do the trick in turning US auto buyers around (full disclosure, my wife and I bought a Ford Escape Hybrid last September - we love it!).

But the corporate jet boys from Motor City don't seem to get it and would rather claw each other to death. Have you seen the Chevy truck spots with Howie Long making fun of the dopey features of competitive vehicles? Yow! These guys may be doomed.

Move Over "Mad Men," TNT's Got A Big Idea

2009-01-08T15:43:00.000-08:00

The critical acclaim for the ad-industry soap Mad Men on TMC has not been overlooked elsewhere in CableTVland.

TNT is about to debut an advertising drama called Trust Me on January 26th. This one - unlike Mad Men - is written and produced by a pair of actual ad veterans.

Here's today's story on AdAge's Madison+Vine.

Expect a critical appraisal here on January 27th, shortly after my 8:30 am class. And let me know what you think.

A Product Demo That Changed The World

2009-01-07T14:36:00.000-08:00

But almost no one heard of these devices for 15 years and it took another 5 for people to notice. Now 40 years later these things are taken for granted.

Here's the story - and a video of parts of that presentation - as told by Scott Berkun, author of The Myths of Innovation. On todays' Harvard Business Weekly.

3D Comes to TV (again)

2009-01-06T07:13:00.000-08:00

Stereoscopic imaging, aka 3D, has now and again been described as the next holy grail in entertainment. I remember 3D comics and movies in the 50s (Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho was shot in 3D, but most widely shown in plain-vanilla 2D) and I also remember a mid-8os Super Bowl(tm) halftime stunt in 3D, a film shot in and around San Francisco, that worked - kind of.

As I recall, silly cardboard "glasses" were distributed by a sponsor (maybe Tostitos?) and we donned them in order to see the images in "lifelike 3D." I also recall it took some imagination to "see" the 3D effect.

Now, it's back and 3Der than ever before. Here's the story in today's AdAge.com.

Admittedly, stereoscopic imaging is way off my radar, but when I Googled(tm) "3D television" I was told that I'd hit about 13,400,000 pages. When I dug in lots of them were blogs but a surprising number were gadget-for-sale sites that promised 3D imaging using your regular TV.

You learn something every damn day, if you're lucky.

Watch the Super Bowl and let me know what you think.

Don't Read This!

2009-01-02T07:43:00.000-08:00

MediaPost's MediaDailyNews reports this morning that Fact Or Fiction, Americans Blame Media For Economic Friction in a study by Opinion Research Corporation.

It's the MEDIA, don't read it. It'll scare you shitless. I mean it! It'll make you think things that you don't want to think. And stuff like that...

The Vagaries of Research - and the Language It Uses

2008-12-31T06:52:00.000-08:00

If you're a current or recent student, and if you're interested in advertising or marketing as a career, demographers have a name for you. Actually more than one.

You're probably post-Generation X (those born, it's pretty much agreed, between 1974 and 1980) so you'd be GenY or Ygen or Millennials or iGen or more. Here's a good overview about this confusion - from Wikipedia.

But that's not today's topic. Here are three studies published yesterday or today that deal with your attitudes about the economy that seem to disagree.

First, a Research Brief of a study done under the aegis of Pepsico, in concert with Lipton Tea and Starbucks, is headlined by the Center for Media Research Millennials Anxious Now, Optimistic About Future - and which uses the "born 1980 to 1990" to define "Millennials."
Note well that this research was conducted for the Pepsi Optimism Project by Strategy One, a subsidiary of Edelman Public Relations Worldwide.

Contrast it with these two studies, Fiscal Crises Shape Gen Y's Views Of Marketing and Economy Sours Gen Y On Marketing, both conducted by Media Logic.

I suspect that there is a difference in methodology between Strategy One and Media Logic. Or is it simply how they present the data?

What do you think it would be? How would you confirm this suspicion?

Coca-Cola Red Turns Green

2008-12-30T13:07:00.000-08:00

Many marketers who've jumped on the "Green" Wagon have regarded it as a fad - something to be followed until the public drifted elsewhere (see "greenwashing").

Coka-Cola Enterprises chairman and CEO John Brock seems to be saying that Big Red has a Green Soul, and means every word of it. Read on (free registration) in this interview of Brock by Knowlege@Wharton (School of Business, University of Pennsylvania). There's also an audio link at the top of the article.

And when you get done there, see this about Coke's commitment to green advertising.

From this morning's American Advertising Federation SmartBrief.

What's The Future of Video?

2008-12-29T08:03:00.000-08:00

Well, it's probably all about:
1) quality content
2) availability on demand.

While that may or may not spell "The End" of TV as we know it, here's the Big Kahuna of Hulu.com to explain it to us.

Is it just me, or does this guy seem to be a little too earnest? I keep waiting for him to talk about the fun of connecting with the Hulu brand, but instead we get a combination of a business plan backed by his impressive resumé. Almost sounds like a bad press release.

What do you think?

(From this morning's MediaPostNews Online Media Daily.)

Is It a TV Spot Or a Video Game?

2008-12-22T12:07:00.000-08:00

It's a spot for Veuve Amiot, and Ad Grabber says it's an "Ad So Weird It Comes With A Quiz."

I agree.

First, the quiz:
(My orientation question)
From who's point of view is the spot shot?
(The rest from Steve Hall/AdGabber)
What's for dinner?
What's the woman in the mirror doing?
What's that liquid in the metal tub?
What creature is on the body builder's shoulder?

Then, the TV spot produced by Amsterdam ad agency THEY:

Answers?

Why is it always the same hands?

Look here for more video from THEY...

Purina, Marley and Media!

2008-12-18T17:09:00.000-08:00

My household is between dogs right now. While all of our canines "belonged" to my wife, the late, great, Grace chose... me.

Which was way cool.

Me, I had my own dog! For the first time, ever. Drop by my office to see a picture.

She died last spring and I'm still not ready to replace her. My wife asks me monthly if "it's time yet." Not yet.

Marley and Me is a book that's becoming a movie about a man and a bad dog that became a good dog - his dog.

I don't think I'm ready to either read or watch it, but Purina is all over it!

Here's the story on today's adage.com

Opinion: Back to Basics

2008-12-17T08:38:00.000-08:00

Pete Blackshaw, EVP of Nielsen Online Digital Strategic Services writes in this morning's adage.com that 2009 is a good time for the ad industry to review our options.

Copywriting Tip: use less words

2008-12-16T07:48:00.000-08:00

Susan Gunelius, who's written advertising and marketing copy for 15 years "for some of the worlds biggest companies," has words of advice for you, beginning copywriter.

Also works for non beginners. From this morning's MSNBC/Entrepreneur.com