Monday, December 28, 2009

You Are NOT The Boss of Me......


Sorry to sound like a 5 year old spoiled brat........but.......while you can read survey after survey and deck after deck on employee needs, it is rare to find studies that focus more on the challenges and needs of C level executives.

One of the top management consulting firms: Blessing White just released a study of "complaints" from CEO's. Among these “classic complaints” were a few head scratchers like these:

─ “Everyone always agrees with me, and that makes me uneasy.”

─ “All we talk about is results, but we don’t change the way we do things.”

─ “A lot of change is happening, but people don’t see how it all fits together.”

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Just Who is in Control Here?


The latest take on true brand development would seemingly imply that major brands and marketing organizations can exercise some modest controls over their message to a targeted marketplace.

Any "controls" they may have are quickly eroding because of the frequency and accessability of social dialogue facilitated by electronic media, including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and blogs.

Simon Clift, Chief Marketing Officer at Unilever has stated, “No matter how big your advertising and spending is, small groups of consumers on a tiny budget might hijack the conversation.”

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Seriously? Diamonds are for idiots.


OK. Doesn't anyone think anymore? Everlon Diamonds (a division of DeBeers) has just launched a new TV commercial featuring the classic Sonny and Cher song -- "I Got You Babe". The commercial shows a young man trying to ice skate on a frozen pond, he slips and falls, and eventually grabs on to a tree to hold himself up.

SONY BONO DIED FROM INJURIES HE SUSTAINED WHEN HE STRUCK A TREE WHILE SKIING !!!!

Hello.

JWT mishandles advertising for DeBeers.

See the commercial here: http://www.diamonds.net/news/NewsItem.aspx?ArticleID=28514

http://www.adiamondisforever.com/#/view-the-adverts/ad_video

And learn more than you ever wanted to know abour Sonny Bono and his accident at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonny_Bono

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Gotta be a Genius to Work at Google.

Another Reason to Hate Baseball......


A very big clean up awaited the New York Department of Sanitation last week. After the Parade of Champions held for the New York Yankees.

Over fifty tons of shredded paper was “distributed” during the parade to celebrate the Yankees’ World Series victory. NYC clean-up crews found salary and Social Security information, pay stubs, and office files among the trash.

The last ticker-tape parade was held in February 2008 for the New York Giants after their Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots.

That parade reportedly cost $331,000. Most of the money was raised by NYC & Co., the city's marketing arm.

The New York Yankees' last parade through New York was in 2000 after the Bronx Bombers beat the New York Mets in five games for their 26th World Series title

For a list of some of the biggest ticker tape parades ever.....go to: http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/local_news/manhattan/091105-Famous-Ticker-Tape-Parades

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

"This......is Where I Leave You"


I don't normally discuss (or recommend) books in this space, but.....I stumbled across this book a few weeks back and cannot get it out of my head. It is a great read. Jonathan Tropper has an incredible grasp of modern day angst and frustration. This book can break your heart one moment and make you laugh out loud the next.

I finished it on a plane and was laughing throughout --- so much so that my seatmate kept looking at me funny. I have told a dozen people about it and many have picked it up. Worth a read and can be written off as cheap therapy for waheteve ails you.

Get it. Read it. Love it.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

The Silence is Deafening.....


"The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn't being said"

-Peter Drucker

Monday, August 24, 2009

Where's the Best Restroom ?




From the "They have waaaay too much time on their hands" Department comes this newsbrief. The Top Ten nominees for “America’s Best Restroom” contest have been revealed. The final nominees are:

- Shoji Tabuchi Theatre, Branson, Mo.
- Radio City Music Hall, New York City
- Zeffirino Restaurant, The Venetian, Las Vegas
- Canlis Restaurant, Chicago
- Tremont Plaza Hotel, Baltimore
- Tampa Theatre, Tampa
- Macy’s. 6th floor *, San Francisco
- Drake Hotel Palm Court *, Chicago
- Nova 535 (special-event venue), St. Petersburg
- The Fox Theatre, Detroit
* women’s restroom only

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

"Mad Men" Yourself

A&E has developed a special website that allows you to make your own "Mad Men" doppleganger. It's fun to "Be sleek, be stylish, be yourself".

Kick around and see for yourself.

See it all at: http://www.amctv.com/originals/madmen/madmenyourself/


2nd Annual Canadian Cheese Rolling Festival is back

Baseball fields, basketball courts and roller hockey rinks in Canada are empty, because the 2nd Annual Canadian Cheese Rolling Festival is back. And it looks like fun. The Dairy Farmers of Canada are supporting the Aug. 15 event with a cinema spot, transit shelter and newspaper ads and interactive mirror clings. The winner snags an 11-pound wheel of Cracked Pepper Verdelait cheese and Whistler Winter season passes for two. The cinema spot opens with sporting equipment left at athletic courts and fields. Everyone is too busy participating in the cheese rolling festival to do much else. Snippets of last year's participants running and falling downhill, chasing a cheese wheel, close out the ad, seen here. I wonder what they call the person who lets the cheese roll downhill? The cheese cutter? Print ads, seen here, here and here, resemble athletic trading cards, showing participants in motion and the winner savoring his prize. See a picture of a mirror cling in action, here. TAXI Vancouver created the campaign and M2 handled the media buy.

Taken straight from: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=110726

Monday, July 6, 2009

Made in America ?!&$+*&

It's only a tee shirt.

J.C. Penney's "Made in America" tee shirt got some coverage over the Memorial Day weekend, some covergae called to question their intent. They ran ads for a T-shirt with "American Made" printed boldy across the front. Joe Allen, 78, a retired apparel maker from Dallas, bought a few. Allen, who has a story worth hearing himself.....was happy that an American etailer was actively promoting domestically produced apparel. Until he learned that the actial shirt was made in Mexico (from U.S. fabric). "I made a bit of a scene," he said. The he swug in to action. Contacting the Alliance for American Manufacturing, to complain that the T-shirt's slogan was "deceptive." JC Penney replied: "American Made" refers to "the actual person wearing the shirt," "not to the manufacturing of the merchandise." J.C. Penney is committed to selling the shirts throughout the summer. The line, it says, is "intended to evoke our American lifestyle and pride in being American."


—Brian Burnsed
See the whole story at www.businessweek.com

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Consumerist presents Top 10 Ironic Ads.......




Celebrate America today ---- and the fact that as recently as the 1980's, bad ads were getting produced relatively easily for products that were probably best left not advertised.

Safe to say that there was far less scrutiny over what and how ytou could advertise back then.ds.

At one time you could actually buy barbiturates for your baby, (after wrapping them up in DuPont's cellophane) hey, after all it really was "The cheapest specific for the relief of coughs". Or you could get some heroin from the good folks at Bayer or see how Dutch Boy could help you cover your home in LEAD PAINT !!!!

Who says it doesn't pay to advertise? Take a closer look at what The Consumerist calls "The Top 10 Ironic Ads From History".

And hey, let's be careful out there.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Boone Oakley gets pitch right.

Boone Oakley (a little ad agency in Charlotte, North Carolina) has made their website in to a new business pitch --- with grins to spare.

One of their partners has "the legs of a crab". Dave's dog poops. Other than that --- they seem like really nice people.

Kick around and see what fresh thinking looks like. Even their "Vision" is dead on.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Ad Nauseam.......

Derek and Clive Ad Nauseam is the third and final recording made by Peter Cook and Dudley Moore of their characters Derek and Clive. The record is difficult to listen to in places as it also charts the breakup of their partnership.For an advertising ploy when the record was released itcame with its own airplane sickbag and is still to this day the only record to do that. The quality of the material is more variable than that of their previous two offerings; it is widely regarded as a wise place for the duo to have stopped recording. Moore walked out before the end of this recording, unable to cope with Cook's drunken verbal attacks any longer. The two never worked on a major project again. Cook filmed some of the proceedings and these were released on the documentary Derek and Clive Get the Horn.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

“A Global Voice for Marketing Agency Leaders"


Much as been written by unimpressed clients who question both the cost and performance of their chosen advertising agencies. However, until March 2009, seemingly little has been documented about how advertising agencies view their relationships with key clients. Published on March 25, 2009 by Scan International --- their in depth report is entitled “A Global Voice for Marketing Agency Leaders”. It truly reflects frustration on the part of agency executives. Asked to rate clients regarding compensation for the value created for clients, the feedback was:

─ Excellent 3%
─ Average 49%
─ Weak 49%

Among the most significant feedback: when asked to rate the most important areas for improvement of client performance with agencies, 56% of the 619 executives polled said “strategic direction and briefings.” It just goes to show you that more and more unskilled clients expect an agency to formulate competitive differentiation and other strategic issues. In reality, most of those issues involve long standing corporate culture and company histrionics and should be formulated by the cient.

The agency’s key role should always remain ------sterling execution.

The full report can be viewed at: http://www.scaninternational.com/download/pdf/SCAN%202009%20Europe-North%20America%20Client%20Survey%20Press%20Release.pdf

Monday, June 22, 2009

Pretty Soon We're Talkin' "Real" Money............


The USA NAtional Debt continues to grow, exponentially. We hear (almost daily) about government expenditures of a trillion dollars and more. Millions and billons are for rookies. Did you even know what comes after trillion?

It’s “quadrillion.”

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Bad Guys ----- Collect The Whole Set !


Topps trading cards, long established and known throughout the USA for baseball, basketball, football and even hockey and golf trading cards, will soon publish a special set of cards devoted to “the world’s biggest hoaxes, hoodwinks, and bamboozles.” These new Topps cards will include Enron, Bernard Madoff, Charles Ponzi, and other unsavory characters and ethically challenged companies.

Monday, May 25, 2009

Laptop Losses Loom Large


A recent study released by The Ponemon Institute estimated the actual cost of a lost or stolen laptop computer. Based on a study of l38 missing laptops, their study reported that the actual cost to an enterprise averages approximately $49,246. Another recent survey, this one conducted by Tech Republic, indicates that close to 10% of all laptops are stolen or lost ── and 88% of those are never recovered.

France Figures Five Far From Fair



Rachida Dati is France’s Minister of Justice. She is 43-years-old. She is also a single mother who recently returned to work just five days after giving birth. Rather than congratulating her on being a conscientious public servant, French voters are condemning her for setting a bad example. France mandates sixteen weeks of maternity leave.

Monday, May 18, 2009

How Do You Cope with Stress ????????

The American Psychological Association has conducted a survey to determine methods used by Americans to cope with stress. The results (respondents provided multiple answers):

Listen to music - 52% Attend religious services- 21%
Exercise or walk - 47 Drink alcohol - 18
Read - 44 Shop - 18
Watch TV - 41 Smoke - 16
Nap - 38 Go to a spa - 9
Play video games/go online - 37 Meditation/yoga - 8
Pray - 37 Refuse to do anything - 8
Eat - 34 Gamble - 4

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Walmart Spends Their Way Out of Trouble.


Read any advertising trade publication, and you will hear reports (ad nauseum) of major national advertisers that have cut their annual advertising and promotional budgets. A notable exception is Bentonville, Arkansas based Walmart. Walmart has actually increased their advertising budgets by approximately $300 million while their major retail competitors have dramtically reduced their ad expenditures. Walmart repoirtedly spends only 0.5% of gross sales on advertising compared to 4.5% at Macy’s and 2% at Target.

Friday, April 17, 2009

It Pays to Advertise........


Leo Burnett Advertising has agreed to pay paid former client, the U.S. Army, $15.5 million to settle claims of over-billing. The original lawsuit alleged that the ad agency calculated its average hourly cost without any allowance for the fact that in many cases, less expensive third-party contractors were used for work billed by the ad agency. The agency denied guilt when agreeing to the settlement.

Read all about it here....


Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Strativity Says........


There's a firm (named Strativity Group) and they work extensively on “the customer experience.” Their President, Lior Arussy, has made some new points to ponder. According to him most of the critical issues involved in “the customer experience” haven’t changed because of the recession. Some of his observations include:

Commoditization. Core products and services were perceived as
commodities, forcing organizations to seek new ways to innovate
their value proposition and to differentiate themselves.

Heightened Competition. Competitors were catching up and you
need to move the needle to even be in the game, let alone have a
hope of winning.

Customer Impatience. Customers demanded more for their money.
They made sure you earned every dollar through greater value.

Holistic Problem-Solving. Realizing that customers face challenges
that existing products and services could never satisfy, we expanded
to address those needs.

Value Awareness. Customers refused to be taken for granted and
perpetually demanded to receive fresh value.

Personalization. Customers wanted a solution that fits their needs
and often refuse to conform themselves to the company’s product
or business model.

One major thing that has changed ------“In the past, customer experience was a positive differentiator ── used as a means to command premium prices, generate long-term loyalty, and drive growth. Today, customer experience is no more than a value defender ── a way to retain customers, reduce churn, and control customer attrition.”
It’s becoming a condition of sale and less of a motive of sale.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Scary Stuff.


THE NEXT WORLD HORROR CONVENTION WILL BE HELD IN
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada : April 30 - May 3, 2009

How about this for a family getaway.......consider a car trip to The World Horror Convention in Winnipeg (that makes it a "World" event apparently. This one features something called a Gross-Out Contest in which writers will have three minutes to sicken members of the audience. (Party till you puke).

The World Horror Convention is an annual gathering of professionals in the horror industry; publishers, authors, artists, musicians, filmmakers, dealers and, of course, horror fans. WHC serves as both an industry insider's networking event and a chance for fans of the genre to get together, meet some of the creative talents in the field, and generally spend a weekend celebrating All Things Scary.

In the late 1980's, a growing number of horror professionals and fans who attended the World Fantasy Convention (at that time one of the only conventions for horror fans) felt that they needed a convention of their own. Founded by Beth Gwinn (who had the original idea), Joann Parsons and Maurine Dorris, the first World Horror Convention was held in Nashville, Tennessee in 1991.

There has been a World Horror Convention every year since, in cities all over the world. Guests of Honor have included virtually every living legend in the horror field in literature, movies, television, art and more.

The World Horror Convention is presided over year-to-year by the World Horror Society, an unincorporated literary society made up of professionals in the horror field and past convention chairs. The first WHS Board consisted of, Beth Gwinn, Jo Fletcher, Charles L. Grant, Steven Jones, Ginger Buchanan, Stanley Wiater, Joanne Parson & Maurine Dorris. The current Board is listed on the WHS Website.

Learn more at: http://www.whc2009.org/

Friday, April 3, 2009

The Day The Muzak Died........


Muzak has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. This is the company that was once credited with conducting its own psychological research, and customizing the pace and style of the music provided throughout the workday in an effort to maintain productivity (a technique it called ‘’Stimulus Progression’’). It also began recommending that the music be provided at low, almost subliminal, volume levels, and discovered that alternating blocks of music with periods of silence increased the effectiveness of the product.

Muzak is also the company that Ted Nugent once said he wanted to buy so he could put it out of business. In 1989, he publicly made a $10 million bid to purchase the company with the intent of shutting it down. His bid was refused, but served as a name-branding publicity stunt for both parties.

Monday, March 23, 2009

WIRED is RFID Spelled Sideways (sort of)....


WIRED magazine is one of my favorites (and I hear the big guy likes it too). They somehow manage to work a little humor in with all their hi tech gadget idolatry.

As an earlier investor in RFID (bad investment that was) I loved their off the wall take on “Ten Top Uses for RFID Tags.”

1. Saguaro cacti. There is a landscaping black market, and on it, these succulent cacti sell for more than $1,000 each. Arizona’s Saguaro National Park plans to use RFIDs to track hot (read: stolen) cacti.

2. Indian elephants. New Delhi forest department requires pet jumbos
be chipped to prevent trafficking. No parades until implanted.

3. Surgical sponges. One out of every thousand or so intra-abdominal surgery patients “retains” a sponge. Oops! With Smart Sponges, docs can find stowaways by passing a wand over the body. Beep Beep, there it is!

4. Mexicans. Security firm Xega uses GPS chips to track kidnapped people ─ a pretty big market in a nation where 6,500 were abducted last year.

5. Pirelli tires. A chip inside the new Pirelli Cyber Tyre transmits info on road conditions and friction coefficients to the car’s computer. Rolling rolling rolling……

6. Clubbers. At Barcelona’s Baja Beach Club, VIPs are injected with
RFIDs linked to debit accounts, making wallets passé. Handy when all
you’re wearing is a thong. “Charge it to my forearm please”.

7. Tokyo. The largest city in Japan aims to blanket itself with microchips ── from bus stops to restaurants. Tourists may soon get maps, schedules, tips, and other info just by waving their cell phones. Do you know how many cell phones are in Tokyo?

8. Police badges. The Blackinton SmartShield badge hides an ID chip, preventing knockoffs. Good idea or great idea: Remember TERMINATOR 3? “I’ll be baaaaaaack”

9. Inmates. Forced to release prisoners due to overcrowding, Britain wants to chip them on their way out. Cops would know if, say, a felon enters a school, bank, hash den, etc.

10. Kitty doors. Kitty flaps are great ─ until you find a possum hanging from your towel rack. The (RFID Enabled) Pet Porte waves through only pre-approved critters.

Thanks WIRED

Friday, March 13, 2009

Call It What You will.

Job cuts are in the headlines everyday. Layoffs have become leading news on business channels and in newspapers everywhere. Where they were once big news, they have become as commonplace as "economic forecasting".

Some of the more creative Managers and companies have developed a number of head scratching euphemisms which seem nonsensical. Here are a few of my favorites:

─ “De-verticalization”
─ “Synergy related headcount adjustment goal”
─ “Surplusing”
─ “Dynamic rightsizing”

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Worst Brand Extensions Ever...........


Marketers are not as clever as they'd like to think. Many make huge mistakes under the overall banner of “Branding” and "brand extensions". There has been a rash of really bad, poorly thought out brand extensions lately. BusinessWeek cited some of the Best and Worst of the lot.

Here are a few of the more dubious ones. Hooters Airlines, Cheetos lip balm, and Precious Moments coffins.

Some of the absolute worst brand extensions of 2008 included: Disney Sleeping Beauty executive fountain pens (cheap at just $l,200), Burger King underwear (that's creepy), and Coca-Cola’s RPet clothing sold at Wal-Mart.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Free Perking



What's the best perk you've ever heard of?

When it comes to "golden parachute perks" typically given to corporate executives who have jumped the shark, the big ones almost always tick off the great unwashed masses, as well as the ones who have gone before them who ask, "Why didn't I think of that?" Consider Jeff Misner, who departed as Continental Airlines’ C.F.O. in August, 2008. His perk: free parking for the rest of his life at Jacksonville International Airport. Nice.

How Much Does A Stamp Cost?


United States Postal Service Postmaster General John Potter's total pay during the past fiscal year was $857,459. Of that total, $135,000 was listed as a "performance bonus".

I have nothing I can add to that.

Google is way ahead of us.


Google is actually a little ahead of its own set schedule to have all of the world’s information organized in less than three hundred years. Helping make this happen are the proliferation of online translation tools, rapid digitalization of content (old and new) and Google's own proprietary technologies.

Happy 2309 !!!

Monday, February 23, 2009

AdAge Names Best Ad Books Ever !




Jonah Bloom at AdAge asked his readers to name the best books ever written on advertising. As you would suspect, the usual titles came up, plus a few you might not think of. see link for details


My personal favorites include: "Where the Suckers Moon," by Randall Rothenberg. Good for a few laughs and a great look inside Weiden & Kennedy at their peak. As a bonus, it's about Subaru, the funniest sounding car ever made.

"A Big Life (in advertising)" by Mary Wells Lawrence details some of the struggles, and all of the joys, of one of the premier women ever to grace advertising. She had a lust for life, a passion for great advertising, and a true feel for the business.

"Then We Set His Hair on Fire" by Phil Dusenberry is full of business insights and more than a little bit of fun. One of the true giants in the business, and a true gentleman as well.

Oh, and anything by David Ogilvy.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

So, TV comercials are there to make the TV programs look better ???




You should read this study. Some outfit called the Journal of Consumer Research has put out a paper that essentially says that TV commercials actually help make the programming they air in look better. What?

They claim that TV commercials (even bad ones) are "helpful interruptions", which increase your enjoyment of TV by periodically reminding you how much you’d rather be watching your favorite show. Again, what?

There's some stuf in there about pacing and timing and other things that lead me to believe that people are taking this advertising stuff waaaaay too seriously.

Read about their "experiments" and how TV viewers enjoyed programming more when there were commercials to break them up.

“[A]t every given moment, watching the sitcom will still be more enjoyable than watching a detergent commercial.”

What?

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

These Kids These Days........




BBDO knows how to get attention. And BBDO knows how to pull off hi jinks. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hi-Jinks

So imagine what happens when they combine both.........

They surprised all 500 staffers at their New York offices last week with crayon tampered overlays on all computer monitors. All meant to drive awareness of "Take Your Kid's to Work Day" coming up. It's practically impossible to miss. Wonder if anyone will leave it up till the kids come in?

Fun stuff.