by mark April 28th, 2005
in Daily Thoughts.
There was an article I read last week, I think in The Wall Street Journal, (always a safe guess) that went on and on about some of advertising marvels that digital television will make possible. For example, advertisers will be able to tailor their messages geographically, right down to the zip code level. And we all know how much marketers love to “target” down to the most granular level.
As an illustration, the article showed how a message from Ted, United’s discount airline, could be served up in one market as: “Barrington, say hello to Ted”, while viewers ten miles away would see: “Arlington Heights, say hello to Ted”. To borrow a phrase from a friend and fellow student of advertising, Kristi Faulkner: “Talk about creative ‘options’!”
There’s just one small fly in the ointment.
Continue reading ‘See Ya Ted’
by mark April 27th, 2005
in Daily Thoughts.
It’s been said that the two greatest threats to any new enterprise are failure and success. A truism that applies equally to advertising campaigns I’m afraid; with the latest execution in the AFLAC campaign being a prime example.
I know the intrusive nature of this ubiquitous duck quacking out the sponsor’s name drives some people crazy, but I thought it was brilliant. I can still recall the first spot I saw–which I think may have been the first spot period–which revolved around some people on a park bench and the duck. It was engaging, amusing and did a hell of a job of making the AFLAC name memorable. And if I didn’t really grasp what AFLAC did, it didn’t matter because that wasn’t the purpose of this advertising.
Continue reading ‘Very Lame Duck’
by mark April 25th, 2005
in Daily Thoughts.
If you were looking for a textbook example of ordinary advertising, you could hardly do better (or worse) than this one. It’s not that it’s terrible; in fact, that’s the problem. It’s just so “whatever”.
Okay shot of cookie, layout 101 and a headline that gives new meaning to the word “innocuous”, so what’s the problem?
Continue reading ‘Nice, Simple & Soporific’
by mark April 21st, 2005
in Daily Thoughts.
If I sometimes make it sound like getting to extraordinary advertising is easy, I don’t mean to. Because it isn’t. First, you have to have some insight worth communicating, which the ad you see here definitely does–i.e. that taking your daughter fishing might be just as fun as taking your son.
But then, you have to find a compelling way to communicate it, which this ad tried to–four times no less–but failed to do.
Continue reading ‘One That Got Away’
by mark April 19th, 2005
in Daily Thoughts.
Like a lot of people, I’ve been following this A.I.G./General Re/Eliot Spitzer dust-up for around a month now, but it only just dawned on me what a remarkable parallel there is in the ad business.
A.I.G. is accused of using complex reinsurance deals to gussy up the numbers in some of its earnings reports. Many marketers also look to numbers to make their lives easier. Only in their case, the numbers are advertising test scores and it isn’t reinsurance they’re looking for, it’s reassurance; like that they’ll still have a job after the advertising runs.
In either case, it all comes down to the enormous comfort level people in business derive from numbers, numbers that can be manipulated in all sorts of ways and numbers that simply serve as a fall back to justify a decision. But how reliable are these numbers?
Continue reading ‘Safety In Numbers?’
by mark April 18th, 2005
in Daily Thoughts.
Business theories are a dime a dozen unless you can find some way to make money off one, either for the companies to which the theories apply or for the people who invest in those companies. Which is another way of saying all my yabbering about the value of extraordinary advertising isn’t worth spit until it correlates with some indicator of pecuniary promise.
So, it was with considerable interest that I noticed that on the exact same day I lit into that 8-page IBM ad the Company’s stock dropped $6.94, or a little over 8%. Of course, this precipitous decline of 1% per page of utterly confounding advertising wasn’t triggered by anything I wrote. I doubt there’s a single analyst or institutional investor out there who’s ever heard of me or my advertising theories. But there is an interesting connection.
Continue reading ‘“If I’m So Smart, Why Aren’t I …?”’
by mark April 15th, 2005
in Daily Thoughts.
Growing up with a dad who was a lifelong IBM executive, I learned early that the initials IBM stood for “I’ve Been Moved”. But after this advertising extravaganza I saw in The Wall Street Journal yesterday, I think the title of this post might be more accurate.
On the first page of this 8-page magnum opus, there’s a large photo of a black executive looking off to the left and a headline that reads: “The Other IBM”.
Okay, so far. Opening to the first spread reveals a full-page photo on the left of a white executive standing on the floor of an enormous warehouse with the line: “IBM Business Consulting” while on the other side is a text heavy page. And that’s where things started getting a little weird.
Continue reading ‘I Be Mystified’
by mark April 14th, 2005
in Daily Thoughts.
“Never give in–never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty…” Sir Winston Churchill continued on from there, but cutting away at “petty” seemed like the natural transition to the subject of advertising and my relentless search for examples of the extraordinary.
These two ads both appeared in the Fortune 500 issue of that magazine, which is hardly an amazing coincidence (I’ll get to that in a minute) since the firms are direct competitors. But they illustrate a key point.
Continue reading ‘Amazing Coincidence’
by mark April 13th, 2005
in Daily Thoughts.
Given my penchant for coming up with titles that don’t always spell out exactly who or what I’m talking about, (can’t a guy have a little fun?) I realize it isn’t easy for people to find out quickly if I’ve ever written about a particular brand or company they might be interested in.
So, once again thanks to my brilliant IT guy, there’s now a “Search” box over in the right-hand column. Just enter the name of a company, brand, agency or individual (although I rarely cite the latter two) and if there’s anything in the archives, it will pop right up.
I know in the world of search engines this is sort of the model airplane variety, but I figure it can’t hurt.
by mark April 12th, 2005
in Daily Thoughts.
This is the kind of thing that drives me absolutely crazy. I open AdAge yesterday and read that Safeway is about to launch a $100 million “brand-focused effort”, two examples of which you see here.
Now picture me with my eyes closed, shaking my head from side to side the way I normally would when the Cubs blow a three-run lead with two outs in the ninth. Honestly, I applaud Safeway’s initiative and good intentions, but I’ve seen this movie and I know how it comes out.
Continue reading ‘Hardly The Safeway’
