Category Archives: Ad Industry

Make better ads in less than 90 minutes

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Art & Copy movie posterIf you haven’t already, you should definitely make plans to see Art & Copy, playing this week at The Little Theatre. The film, directed by Doug Pray, details the creative genius of several relatively well-known and highly influential advertising creatives, such as George Lois, Mary Wells, Dan Wieden, Lee Clow, Hal Riney, and Rich Silverstein, among others, and explores the processes behind the creation of some of the most significant and moving ad campaigns of the last half-century.

It’s not a how-to guide to creating good ads, and it’s not necessarily guaranteed you’ll create better ads by watching the film, but you probably will walk out of the theater with your creative batteries recharged, and inspired to be a part of something equally impressive. Which in turn leads to great work. Something the RAF is all for.

Art & Copy
Playing at The Little Theatre, 240 East Ave., Downtown Rochester
Tuesday, 9/22 at 6:40pm and 9:10pm
Wednesday, 9/23 at 6:40pm and 9:10pm
Thursday, 9/24 at 6:40pm and 9:10pm (FINAL SHOWING)
More details on thelittle.org
Official movie website

— Scott Wolf

“Free” advertising?

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When it comes to social media, some people are keen on writing about the pecan-encrusted tilapia or risotto Milanese they had for dinner. Others—nearly 20 percent of them—are tweeting about brand names or products, according to the “Twitter chief scientist” at Penn State University. He and a doctoral student sought to uncover why people mention brands on Twitter.

The study revealed that many use the microblogging site to “inform others or express a view’’—ultimately to connect with a brand or product. The tweets involve sending out a query or responding to one. Also, the brand comments are positive as a whole. These findings are similar to those in a recent report by eMarketer, which found that more than 50% of social network users are voluntarily connecting with companies or brands.

Of course this is great news for advertisers and companies because, with this “free advertising” comes sales leads and overall brand awareness, among many other benefits. While we’re on the topic, companies that employ a listening strategy—that is, monitoring conversations about their company, competitors, and industry—glean feedback and insight directly from the end users of their product or service. This “free market research” can then be used to address concerns or issues more quickly, and even make strategic business decisions.

Statistics around social media are changing by the minute—maybe six months from now, 2 out of 5 tweets will be considered “free advertising.” But one thing’s for certain in this uncertain world of social media: it continues to evolve the way we communicate in general, and how companies can reach and engage their key audiences.

— Sharon Harper

Why agency sites (mostly) stink, and an announcement…

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Ok. They don’t uniformally stink. If you want to quickly assess the type of work an agency considers “great”, they can be useful. But visit half a dozen. Right now, I’ll wait here.

Struck by the overwhelming sameness? Like a template was handed out at a 4 A’s conference. Right down to the “proprietary approach” and 3rd person bios (“Our clients describe Mike as quietly brilliant. So they’re surprised to learn he fronts a local punk band on the weekends”). I selected two for fodder, one bad and one good:

McCann NY (bad)
I defy you to discover anything relevant about this agency in 30 seconds. Eventually I found the “what we think” section, and have concluded that concealment was intentional (summary: they’re really really open to ideas). And moving links, still, in 2009?

Full disclosure, I used to work at McCann NY prior to emigrating to Rochester. Met my wife there. Loved the place. They are better and smarter than the site suggests.

Crispin Porter & Bogusky beta (good)
In certain circles, it’s very 2005 to openly admire CPB. But when faced with conventional challenges, they continue to think and behave unconventionally. The beta site is the latest example. Video, feeds and news about CPB and clients. Not just the sanitized PR stuff either. So it captures the impact the work is having rather than assessing work in a gallery. Time on your hands? Watch “Brokaw meets Bogusky” video.

Let me know examples you admire, local or otherwise. Love to see more of the good stuff. Or tell me how wildly off-base I am.

And the announcement:
When introducing the new blog team a few weeks ago, I neglected to mention P&N CMO Sarah Hanson. Not a minor oversight. Sarah arrived in Rochester from Boston’s Digitas with a ton of digital experience. More on Sarah here. Look for her to light up the blogoshere later this month.

mj

Should advertisers invest in an iPhone application?

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iPhone 3GsEveryone is clamoring about the new iPhone 3Gs and, more importantly, the iPhone 3.0 software update. And with good reason. It’s a powerful new upgrade to one of the best smartphones on the market. Video capabilities, built-in turn-by-turn GPS, internal compass, FM transmitter, MMS capabilities (which Apple is actually late on as most other phones have—even the cheap-o’s), video editing, voice control, and even internet tethering. Plus, it’s all connected to the App Store; wherein lies the real potential.

So many more robust and useful iPhone applications that take advantage of the new hardware features are likely on the horizon. Which begs the inevitable question: should advertisers (or brands) start seriously paying attention to the iPhone and investing in application development? I’m sure there are plenty of people who would say “Yes. Oh, God yes!” and plenty who would say “Nope. Not for us.” Everyone’s situation will differ. What I hope to do here is offer up some solid reasoning as to why a company might pour some money into an iPhone app, and reasoning for why it might be a good idea to hold off. So here we go…

Why it might be a good idea
First off, the iPhone is becoming (if it isn’t already) one of the best platforms for mobile advertising out there. It’s capabilities are nearly unrivaled, and has the potential to serve as an outlet for customers to interact with your brand in entirely new and exciting ways. Second, if you create an application that really solves a problem or proves incredibly useful to your audience, it could be great exposure. Think of all the tech-savvy early-adopters who could fan the flames of a rock-solid app that serves a purpose and works well.

Third, it’s advertising people would pay for. Create an app people actually find appealing or useful, and it’s likely they’d be willing to pay a dollar or two for it. Take for example Kraft Foods and their iFood app. They provide users with daily recipes, a store locator feature, the ability to add a recipe’s ingredients to a shopping list, and more. And just like similar recipe apps from McCormick and Betty Crocker / General Mills, the Kraft recipes conveniently call for Kraft products. And finally, if nothing else, mobile advertising like this literally gets you into people’s pockets and purses. They take your ad with you wherever they go, and may engage with it several times a day if you do it right.

Why it might NOT be a good idea
IMO, the number one reason one might decide to not invest in producing an iPhone app is cost. I’ve never attempted it, and don’t even know many people that have, but I gather it can get pretty time-consuming, and as a result, pretty costly. Probably even more so if your plan is to incorporate many features using several different pieces of the phone. And with development cost goes testing and debugging cost. The first version of the app won’t (and shouldn’t) be the last. Even if you have a great idea for an app, one could wind up spending as much money ironing out bugs and improving upon the user experience based on customer feedback. Nothing would be worse than to spend $100,000 on an app that users find difficult to use, and that garners only negative reviews. It’s also becoming increasingly difficult to find most new apps that don’t have some kind of pre-launch buzz behind them. The iTunes store seems to be overrun with thousands of cheezy, weak, and otherwise useless apps, that will probably get in the way of people finding yours.

I’ve also heard that although the iPhone (and iPod Touch) is one of the most popular devices and the most widely used in terms of operating system data requests, the overall user base of the iPhone isn’t that hefty. Maybe 20% of the total smartphone market according to AdMob, and probably far less in terms of the overall cellphone market. One could argue that money might be better spent on a content-rich website that has a longer shelf-life, or some kind of broader campaign with an online component.

So in short, there are equally weighted reasons for and against. Success I guess comes down to identifying a real need, having a good idea behind it, and having the resources available to pull it off and maintain it. And this is all just one web guy’s take on the matter. There’s room for a whole lot more discussion here…

— Scott Wolf

Product placement is the biggest loser.

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Unless you are The Biggest Loser.

NBC’s hit reality show The Biggest Loser does more than entertain America while contestants sweat away pounds. The show is a model for appropriate product placement that brings together brands like Subway, Ziploc, Extra Chewing Gum, and Rochester’s own Birds Eye. In an era where consumers fast forward traditional broadcast commercials, product placement is on the rise. In The Biggest Loser’s case, it’s hard to justify skipping the segments where Jillian talks about how chewing Extra gum craves hunger. (And yes, each segment is either :30, :60, or :90 seconds long). Because it’s appropriate content that is rooted in helping those on the show and on the couch. I even admire the media directors follow through. Lining up a broadcast spot in the next commercial break after the product placement takes place on the show. Although, I can’t say I watch them. I, like America, tend to fast forward.

Unsuccessful attempts were the new Blackberry on Law & Order, or Diet Dr. Pepper on The New 90210 (I just wasn’t buying the perfectly positioned cans in the cooler. Sorry). The dialogue was forced and the actors seemed uncomfortable with the sell.

So when is product placement appropriate? The show must fit your brand, and the content you provide to the consumer must be relevant. Otherwise your brand is an unwelcome participant during a time when America wants to get away.
And then guess who turns out to be the biggest loser.

RAF student member takes home national ADDY gold!

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Huge props to David Nardone who scored some more hardware for his trophy shelf at the national ADDY Awards Show & Gala in Atlanta last weekend. David took home National ADDY Gold for his “Houdini” poster series for the Museum of Magic. David also won gold at the district and local levels.

Apparently, advertising talent runs in the family. David is the nephew of Rochester ad & marketing veteran Joe Nardone of Eastman Kodak.

With over 60,000 entries annually, the ADDY® Awards are the world’s largest and arguably toughest advertising competition. The ADDY® Awards represent the true spirit of creative excellence by recognizing all forms of advertising from media of all types, creative by all sizes and entrants of all levels from anywhere in the world. The American Advertising Federation, a not-for-profit industry association conducts the ADDY® Awards through its 200 member advertising clubs and 15 districts. It is the only creative awards program administered by the advertising industry for the industry.

Check out all the 2009 winners here.

The Barbarian Group’s Adventure

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“Holy crap! I’m really glad someone is working on that!.” That’s the response The Barbarian Group (TBG) hopes to elicit from visitors to the GE adventure blog . It details behind the scenes action at client General Electric. Works like this: TBG goes on field trips to discover cool things GE is up to, and posts the experience. A simple premise that offers lessons for our industry:

1) Territory shmerritory – TBG is a digital agency. But here’s a partial list of other organizations that could have credibly proposed and delivered the idea: GE’s employee communication team, PR agencies, ad agencies, media agencies, a motivated summer intern. If you recognized that GE had cool things in the hopper and you could tell stories, it was your idea to pitch. Oh, and you’d have to know how to open a WordPress account.

2) Git ‘er done – I love that they started this without knowing precisely where it might take them (according to recent coverage). If the basic premise is sound, get started and learn on the go. To paraphrase General Patton, a good plan executed now is better than the perfect plan next week. He actually said “violently executed”, but I’d leave that out of the strategy brief.

3) Don’t wait to make an impact – By blogging this way, TBG is doing the research they would have done anyway to create a larger campaign. The campaign is still coming. They’re just making the “discovery” process public, and maybe getting more ideas from readers along the way.

One criticism. Better yet, let’s call it a question: Is the blog’s impact on the reader lessened by having an outside company telling the stories? I might rather hear from proud GE employees directly. You can tell me if I’m nitpicking.

Matt Jones

I want a young man with a good income

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Ok, I personally don’t.

What I mean is that many companies want to—and have always wanted to—reach relatively affluent young men. It’s the golden demographic. Guys with disposable income that they readily spend on beer, gadgets, and shower gel that they hope will have hordes of women chasing them down the street like something out of A Hard Day’s Night.

(Maybe that isn’t the best example. These young guys probably don’t understand the phenomenon of women chasing Ringo down the street…On second thought, do any of us understand women chasing Ringo down the street?)

And where do you find all of these guys? In front of their computers on that productivity-killing Thursday and Friday in March, watching basketball. Pretending to work.

It’s likely that as viewing continues to move from TV to every other conceivable mobile device, more and more advertising will follow. And perhaps the first two days of March Madness, where men everywhere watch games online, will eventually replace the Super Bowl as the ultimate advertising event.

“Marketing Madness” if you will.

If it does, with the personalization made possible for the Internet, a guy goofing off in Rochester will see ads for Genesee, while a guy wasting his boss’s money in Philadelphia will see them for Yuengling.

But some things never change. No doubt we’ll all still have to watch Bud Light commercials that aren’t really funny.